Toward the Walk of Shame

29 {Suzy}

My eyes ran through the cafeteria at the booths and tables that were set up. A group of juniors and seniors wandered around to check out all the stuff. I let out a satisfied sigh. The first half of Career Day had gone according to plan and that was awesome. Tons of people showed up (mainly because it got them out of class for the day) and got information about work-study programs and internships. The only thing left now was the presentation in the auditorium. All i had to do was start the slide show and introduced our guest speaker.

I shuffled through the papers in my arms, pretending to look busy so people wouldn't talk to me. I actually should have been practicing my speech, and I sort of was, but I couldn't help looking up every time a guy walked in.

Where was Sehun? He should have been here by now. The presentation was mandatory attendance for all seniors. Not that it had ever bothered him before. But still, he knew how much this meant to me. I thought he would at least showed up.

"Miss Bae?"

I plastered a bright smile on my face when Mr. Kim came up to me with a Asian woman in a black dress with pink flowers. "This is Miss Anna Nguyen. She's the special speaker for today. She graduated -"

"Top of her class at Korea Uni. Law School, and not only is she the youngest partner at Lin, Phan, and Nguyen - where all the partners are women - but her dream is to someday be on the Supreme Court. Something that she clearly on the right track for," I recited, a little awe that I was actually talking to Anna Nguyen. The Anna Nguyen. She was my idol. She even edged out Appa on my hero list (although I would never tell him that).

"I think only mentioned the Supreme Court dream once in a university article when I first started law school." Ms. Nguyen gave me an admiring smile. "I'm surprised you found that."

"Well, Suzy has always been on top of everything. This entire fair was planned and organized by her," Mr. Kim said with a hint of smile. "Someone told me before that there's nothing she can't do, and he was right."

Looking at him in surprise, I beamed with his praise. It was almost indirectly admitting that he was wrong about me. Not exactly an apology, but I'd take it.

There was a bit of shouting on the other side of the cafeteria. His head jerked up, and the familiar frown crossed his face as he excused himself.

Grateful as I was for his compliment, I let out a sigh of relief when he walked off. He was nice (sort of) and all, but with all the stress of the past couple of weeks, I definitely wasn't going to miss him when high school was over.

Ms. Nguyen took a few steps closer to me. "So I heard that you'll be heading to Korea Uni. Law School next fall."

I looked at her. "I just found out this past weekend. How did you know that?"

Her finger rose to her lips, and she winked. "You're not the only one who's good at research."

I just blinked. This  would have been the perfect timing to show off my wit and charm, but nothing came to mind. At all. "You look a lot younger than I thought you would." I blurted out, secretly cringing. Yeah, maybe I should stayed quiet.

"It's the genes. People thought I was twenty-one through law school. It was annoying back then when I couldn't get into clubs, but now it's not so bad."

Okay, she just kept getting more and more awesome. Any type of small talk that I had planned evaporated with each second that I spent with her. Thank goodness the cafeteria lights started flickering, signaling the beginning of the presentation, before I had asked her about her dog or something and she figured out I was a stalker and a complete idiot.

She smoothed at the invisible wrinkles in her dress. "Are you ready?"

"Of course! I . . ." A familiar car zoomed right by the window in front of us, for a moment distracting me.

Squirtle.

My feet automatically raced forward, and I leaned out the window just in time to see Squirtle park right outside the auditorium entrance . I could sort of see Sehun's shadowy figure inside the car, but he didn't move. He just kept sitting there, drumming his hands against the steering wheel.

Why wasn't he moving?"

A light hand touched my shoulder, bringing me back to reality. "Is everything okay?"

I nodded but couldn't help looking out the window again in case he disappeared. My heart jumped at the sight of that rusty old car. And the person inside it.

Ms. Nguyen glanced toward the window and gave me a small smile, like she understood. "You can go if you have something to do."

"But your introduction -"

"Someone else can do it. Heck, even I can do it. Who knows me better than me? And well, you," she joked with a wave of her hand. "Go."

With a grateful smile, I stacked all the papers and note cards together. My stomach was bouncing with different types of anticipation now. Searching around, I found Seolhyun standing on the side with a scowl as she looked at everyone walking around. "Here, Seolhyun, you can do the speech."

Her mouth dropped, and she stared down at the papers in her hand, like it was a ticking bomb. "What are you - I can't - I'm not ready . . ."

"Look, the slideshow is already loaded and set. Just click Play and read off the cards." My hands waved in wide circles as I explained, already backing away. A twinge of regret and disappointment hit me for missing the presentation and for all my wasted work, but I shoved it deep down. It wasn't as important. There was somewhere else I needed to be. Someone I needed to be with. "Give the speech and take all the credit. You know you want to." Before she could respond, I turned around and left.

Mr. Kim's mouth dropped as I ran past him. "Suzy! Where do you think you're going? You need to start the presentation! You can't just leave before it even starts!"

His stern words made me want to pause. Especially because he was so loud that everyone turned to stare at me. But I forced myself to just think of Sehun and run even faster. The pointing and whispering followed me out the door and down the hall, but for once I didn't care, because I knew that Sehun was just outside, and he was the only one that mattered.

I ran down the sidewalk toward him just as he got out of the car. I skidded to a stop behind him, barely able to stop before I smacked into his butt as he bent over the backseat to get something.

My eyes widened as I soaked in the sight of him. When I spotted him through the window, I couldn't actually see him that well. He was standing on the sidewalk next to Squirtle in a handsome suit. I repeat, in a suit. Black suit. White shirt. Black tie. Simple and classic.

OH. MY. GOD. My heart started slamming in my chest, and the suit was only part of the reason. I'd been waiting, yearning, to see him for days, and now that he was finally here. I barely knew what to say. I wanted to apologize. I wanted to congratulate him. I wanted to tell him how proud I was of him, but only three words kept running over and over through my head.

I loved him.

Guys, the final chapters are coming soon! Please comment and vote! Thank you all!