Foreigner

⌞𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛 : 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚎 ! ⌝

{Shin^}

I lifted my head towards the clock above the window. The hands on the clock indicated it was now 3:30 which was the time the final class ended. I started packing all my notebooks and put away loose pencils.

"Hey Haylani" Shin plopped down in the now vacant desk that belonged to Sung-Pyo. Shin sat in the back of the class. Shin was so popular in our class. Every time the teacher asked a question, he was the first to raise his hand and answer it correctly. Our teacher also bragged numerous times about him being a successful athlete being in the top 3 in our class.

"Hey, wassup?"

"I have swim practice and a meeting after with the team, I thought we could go to the library and study considering you didn't sign up to attend the academy." He said while tapping his foot excessively and looking at me and then periodically at the floor.

Shin is a swimmer, which might be fun to do on a scorching hot summer day, but I could never imagine myself or anyone else watching the sport for entertainment. "Extra hours of studying? I'm confused why would anyone want to do that?" I've never heard of this in my life. Out of all the schools I've attended I've never heard of attending a school like program after school and then going home to study even more. It was absurd.

"Yeah, we take school very seriously" He chuckled while rubbing his nape. "Mostly everyone does it to help guarantee you pass the college exams, considering you take it seriously, you know some people don't. It'd be nice if you came to the library though, we study there too if we have an off day from the academy or if some kids didn't sign up. It's pretty intense." I couldn't say no, as much as studying more after my brain has already been fried, Shin was being extremely nice to me. I finally felt like people were focusing on me and my personality and not just the sport I used to play.

"Sure, I live about five minutes away from here, so I'll just wait there. What time do you get out of practice?" When I accepted his invitation, he hurriedly began to write down his number on a stray piece of paper.

"Text me so I know it's you, and I'll call you when I'm done. Meet you at the library?" He flashed a smile. I could feel him staring as I grabbed my phone out my bag and began to type in his number.

"Do you have to stare the whole time?" I asked jokingly without making eye contact, smirking slightly.

"Sorry." We both chuckled. I looked up to find him smiling and slight shades of pink were on his cheeks.

"Alright, I texted you." I confirmed before putting my phone away."

"Okay bye Haylani." He waved goodbye eagerly and exited the class with a skip in his steps. I giggled at myself finding his behavior extremely cute. I thought Shin was cute overall, he seemed like a really nice person, a potential friend even. I finished packing my things and headed for the main entrance. The school was surprisedly bigger than I imagined. I was ignorant to anything about Asian schools. Their grading system, their expectations, and so much more. I stood by the nearby bus stop where a lot of kids with the same uniform as me were standing. The streets looked familiar from my ride this morning. I stood in the back of the line careful not to skip because I had no idea what to do. I watched each student one by one slide a card across a machine swiftly and take their seats. I suddenly remembered and hurriedly gabbed mine out of my purse and stepped on the bus and followed the same steps. I took a seat towards the front, so the streets were easier for me to see. I only lived approximately 5 minutes from the school, so the bus ride was short. I seen students who go off before me pull a string above their heads. I have ridden In a bus before so I was familiar with this step. Once I seen the familiar bus stop by my house that I stood at this morning I pulled the lever like string to indicate this was my stop.