University of Wonderland

Chapter Fifty-One

A few nights later, I lay in bed eide-awake despite the clock ticking away the hours. I heard a car pull up outside, and feet shuffle out of it. I didn't think anyhting of it, until the hushed whispers grew louder and I could decipher actual words.

"Look out! You're splashing paint all over me," a girl's voice said. It sounded so close, right under my window.

"I can't help it," another one said. This voice could only be one person. "Stop bumping into my elbow."

I popped out of bed, ripping the covers off. I parted the curtains and peeked outside to see IU looking around nervously. She clutched a paintbush in her hand that dripped red paint on the grass.

Jiyeon bent and dipped her paintbush into the silver bucket on the ground. "You have to move over then." She pushed IU with her butt, rattling my poor rosebush, the one my mom had helped me plant. The plants Sulli had doctored were all thriving now.

"Shut up. Do you want to get kicked out? Because that's what Hyuna's threatening if we don't get this done." IU slattered a glob of red paint over one of the roses.

My mom's roses!

Breathing hard, I backed away from the window and tiptoed out of my room in my bare feet. Once I got outside, I shivered in the cold air, regretting that I's worn one of my dad's oversized T-shirts without pajama bottoms.

"What are you doing?" I whisper-yelled, stepping onto the cold grass. I hopped up and down to keep me warm. "You're killing the roses!"

The girls froze, eyes wide. Flowers sagged from the heavy weight of the paint. The floral scent I'd loved was replaced by musty chemical fumes. I bit the inside of my cheek to prevent tears. I couldn't let them see they were getting to me.

Jiyeon dropped her paintbush into the bucket, and red splash splattered the side of the house.

IU stepped forward, hiding her paintbush behind her back. "I'm sorry, Suzy. I tired to protest, but -"

"We had no choice. No how. If she didn't . . . off with her head." Jiyeon drew her finger across her neck.

"What does that mean?"

IU and Jiyeon exchanged looks. Red paint dripped from the tip of a rose like a crime scene.

A car pulled up, window rolled down. A face poked out, framed in red hair, eyes aimed at Jiyeon and the rosebush a few feet away from me. "You guys are still only here? You're never going to finish every - what?" She turned to the person in the passenger seat. One guess who might that be. Hyuna's head slowly turned toward us, her face grave. "Suzy . . . ?"

I walked toward the car. "Why are they painting my roses red?"

"They're trying to break free, but you're not letting them. You tied them down." Minho swiveled in the car to face me. "Kind of naughty of you."

"Yes, yes, it's practically bondage. Now why are you doing this?"

"What's that phrase again? Trick of treat?" Minho laughed. "Seems we're each getting one tonight. Nice nightie." He smiled. "You know it's see-through with the head lights?"

"It's not a nightie. It's a T-shirt!" I cross my arms over my chest even though part of me - a very tiny part, and I didn't mean my breast - felt a little sexy. It wasn't an everyday occurrence that a guy found something worth looking at. Still, I knew my cheeks were as red as my poor, vandalized roses.

"Quick, let me see your camera. This is gold!" Hyuna reached over to Minho's side, but he must have had a good hold on it, because she gave up a second later and humped back into the driver's seat.

Curiouser and curiouser. Minho loved to take incriminating photos, so why didn't let her snap this one? Too pornographic nad not artsy enough as, say, beautiful sunsets? I was grateful, but only for a brief second until I remembered he was behind the destruction of my roses. Trick or treat, indeed.

Trick or treat. If my see-through PJs were the treat . . . then were the painted roses the trick? As in, the prank?

"Girls, move it!" Hyuna yelled. She gunned the gas and peeled away, tires screeching. IU and Jiyeon scrambled to pick up the bucket. They ran across my lawn, paint dripping everywhere.

"IU! What's going on?" I walked toward her.

"Please don't ask me to explain, Suzy," IU pleaded.

"Hyuna already stopped talking to Sohyun when she refused to participate," Jiyeon added.

IU got into her car, fumbling with her seatbelt. Before Jiyeon could even get her door shut, IU eased the car into drive, following in the direction of Hyuna. I stood there, shocked.

I'd thought the prank might be against Neverland Univeristy. But maybe it was only supposed to be against me.

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