The Boy Next Door

Chapter 9 _Four Eyes_

SUZY'S POV

It's Tuesday and I'm standing in front of the mirror with my mouth stretched open, about to let out the biggest, loudest screech I can.

Only no noise comes out.

I don't know what to say or how to feel or even what to think right now.

Hello, my name is Bae Suzy, and I wear glasses.

Mom helped me choose these frames yesterday afternoon. They're not so bad, really, it looks those nerds glasses. Cute, right? The kids might think I'm wearing them for fun, right? Also since I already had my prescription from Dr. Lee, we went to one of those places where they have these display cases packed with frames and where they make new glasses for you in an hour. I thought instant photo places and Pizza Huts were the only places that promised service in such a short period of time. Apparently, that's not true. Eyeglasses places fit into that category, too.

I just can't get used to having something on the bridge of my nose like this, no matter how light the frames are. They make my face itch. Ugh.

Mom comes into the bathroom to see how I'm doing with me new look. She rubs my shoulders and kisses the top of my head, which makes me feel better for exactly thirty seconds. After that, my nose starts to itch again and I get cold feet about showing my face in public. Even though Mom has been trying to encourage me all morning long (I've been up since 5:46 a.m.), nothing about my glasses seems to look right.

Eventually, I have to race out the front door to catch the school bus. I'm still wearing the glasses, but my head is bent to far over that no one can tell I have I have them on.

At the bus stop, though, Hyuna notices my new look right away.

"Nice glasses, chic ~" she says as soon as she sees me.

"Thanks," I mumble, staring at the ground. I hope she means it.

"You know, my sister wears glasses to see things that are far away," she goes on. "She likes her tortoiseshell frames, but says glasses always make her nose itch."

"Yeah," I smiled a little. "Mine itch, too."

"Those frames are real, right? Those type of nerds glasses, right? Anyway, it goes great with your hair and top," Hyuna said, laying on the compliments like butter-cream frosting.

Sometimes she's just too nice. Why does she have to try so hard.

I look from side to side, scoping the crowd for Luhan. But he's not here yet. I didn't have time to go by his house this morning. Besides, I haven't actually talked to Luhan since yesterday at lunch when he was hanging with his soccer buddies, acting like some kind of VIP. He tried to blow me off. Ha! No one blows Bae Suzy. I'll get him back later - for sure.

Hopefully, Jieun and Jiyeon were wrong when they said that being the youngest kid ont he team will give Luhan a big head. I say his head is already plenty big enough.

Hyuna asks me to sit with her again. But I say "No, thanks," as usual. Instead, I sit in one of the middle rows. As we drive off, staring out of the bus window becomes this totally different experience for me. It's the glasses. All at once, fuzzy trees sharpen so I can see the smooth outline of leaves and jagged bark and squirrels, with their tails flicking across the branches. For once I can actually read street signs and shop signs, and even the cottonball clouds in the sky seem clearer. I can see anything and everything - even a zit on the back of this elevnth grader's neck right in front of me.

Blecch.

I look around and notice other kids on the bus who wears glasses like me. There's one kid with big, huge, black frames that dwarf his round face. There's another girl with cat's-eye, pointy corner glasses, who looks liek she's trying too hard to look hip. It's funny how I never really notice these particular kids before. Now that I have glasses, I can physically see my classmates close-up, as opposed to seeing big blurs that just look like high-schoolers.