The Boy Next Door

Chapter 3 _ A Very Big Biggie _

SUZY'S POV

It was all Jieun's idea in fourth grade. She decided to take the letters of each of our first names and make up a new name for the three of us. And so we became SJJ, for Suzy, Jieun, and Jiyeon.

I admit it was kind of dumb, calling ourselves something like the name of an old singing group, but after a short time the name grew on me. And then it just like Elmer's.

Today, I'm hanging with Jieun and Jiyeon down at the town pool. I wish this weather lasted all year long. I hate knowing that summer has to end. Sometimes I fantasize that we live in Jeju Island and not Seoul. Then we's have our own surf club. We'd know how to do the hula. I'm sure my brother Siwon wouldn't mind being tanned and eating pineapple all year long.

The only yucky thing this summer was my bathing suit. I've been wearing the same-style one-piece, tank suit forever. This summer Jieun and Jiyeon got these cute flower bikinis with little ties on the side. Jieun's hair got really lighter so she looks like a swimsuit model. Jiyeon started wearing makeup, even when it's ninety degrees or hotter.

I wonder if anyone notices this stuff besides me.

Next year it's definitely my turn to get a bikini.

Bathing suits aside, swimming at the at the town pool is just the best. The pool has three different diving levels, and this summer I finally made the monster leap off the high board. There is no better feeling than jumping off a dive board into cold water when it's scorching hot out. Even a belly flop feels okay as long as it cools me off.

The three of us have spent a lot of time together at the pool for the past few summers, but this summer was far the busiest - and the most interesting. Jieun declared a mega-crush on a lifeguard named Wooyoung, and he's in the eleventh grade. He looked so young, he has a six-pack. I don't get it. What's the big deal about this guy?

Jiyeon's cousin came up from Tokoyo for a few weeks, too. She was super-duper nice and her name was Eunjung briefly changed our name from SJJ to SJJE. Jiyeon is always so good with goods. She's won the school spelling bee three years in a row.

Now it's the last week before ninth grade, and I haven't seen much of Luhan around the pool lately. He's busy with a math tutor or something. He won't say. I think he's embarrassed. His mother is worried about school already, not that it's any big surprise. She worries about everything. I am so glad my mom's not a worrywart, bugging me about grades and report cards before school even starts.

"So did you decide on your first-day outfit?" Jieun asks Jiyeon and me.

Jiyeon breaks into a wide smile. "Of course!" she chirps. "Black pants and tank top. With a blouse covering the tank top. Perfect."

"Black?" Jieun moans.

"What's wrong with black? It is in all the magazines," Jiyeon says.

"Black isn't even a real color," Jieun gripes. "We should give you a makeover."

Jiyeon lets out one of her little snort-laughs. "Yeah, right!" she says.

Jieun laughs right back. "It could be fun . . ." she says in a singsongy voice. "Remember when we dyed you hair blue Kool-Aid on your birthday last year?"

"Yeah, and I remember my mom having a fit when the color didn't wash out for a month," Jiyeon says.

"What are you wearing, Jieun?" I ask. I'm always tempted still - after all these years - to call her IU, but I know she'd hate me for that. Jieun doesn't believe in nicknames anymore.