A School Life with Day6

4

That "five minute nap" turned out to be a lie. I wake up to an alarm clock that said 7:00AM. Wonpil should be here any second. I quickly remove the blankets that are on me and run to the closet. I hectically grab whatever I see and dash to the bathroom.
In the middle of my routine, Wonpil rings the doorbell. I finish brushing my teeth and answer the door.
"Let me guess, a few more minutes?," Wonpil asks as soon as I open the door. I nod as a response then run back to the bathroom. Wonpil steps into the house and sits down, closing the door behind him.
After a few minutes of my panicked screaming and movements, I'm finally ready. We both run to the car. I made sure that I tied my shoelaces this time.
Wonpil drives down the streets, and there's a sudden wave of traffic. We're definitely going to be late at this rate.

~ ~ ~

After a painful twenty minutes or so, we finally make it to the campus. The bell is about to ring in about two minutes. Wonpil and I run to first period. I feel like a freshman all over again, but I don't want to be late.
We barge into the room and head to our seats. We scared some people with our hectic entrance. Once I'm seated, I look over to Jae. The pink hair girl is sitting in front of him. Is she new here? I've never noticed her before. Wonpil notices me looking and waves to get my attention. I snap back into reality and weakly smile at him.

~ ~ ~

    The bell rings as soon as I finish writing my last sentence. I pack my stuff and do what I usually do after class; I wait for Jae.
    I stand behind my seat, waiting for Jae to walk over. Instead, he walks over to the girl, and they start heading out the door together. That really hurt. He just ignored me. Am I just suddenly nothing to him now? Was I ever anything to him to begin with?
    I'm filling up with a mix of sadness and anger, but I set it aside. I walk out of the classroom and trail behind them. I guess they would make a cute couple together. I'm preparing myself for when they hold hands, but they never do. It's obvious they like each other.
    When they reach the classroom, Jae waves bye to her. At least she doesn't have this class. I walk into the classroom, sneaking behind Jae. I sit down and brainstorm what I'm going to say to him when he enters.
    Jae walks in and takes his seat next to me.
    "Hey, sorry I didn't walk with you," he says.
    "It's fine. Who is she anyways? I have never seen her until recently," I ask.
    "Oh, May? She's a close friend of mine. She used to go to a different school, but she transferred over here," he answers.
    "You guys are just friends, right? You don't like her, do you?" I press.
    "W-what? No. We're friends, that's all."
    Jae looks down at his desk and plays with his fingers with a slight smile on his face.
    "You know," Jae says, " I used to really hate her, but something changed, and we became friends. It's weird, but I'm glad we're together."
    I slowly nod my head, trying not to tear up. He likes her for sure.
    Since we have a substitute teacher today, we don't have a lot of work to do. I decide to ask more about May.
    "So, how long have you known May?"
    "Ever since middle school, but we started to become friends during the first year of high school," Jae replies. "I-I think you two would get along well."
    I ponder that for a moment. I really don't want to be friends with her because it's going to sting seeing her and being the third wheel, but maybe he has a point. Maybe this is a way that I can get over it.
    "Yeah, maybe."
    Jae looks at me for a second. He opens his mouth to say something, but he shuts it and looks away.
    We sit through the rest of the class in awkward silence. Hearing the bell feels like a relief.
    Without saying bye to Jae, I walk out of the room. I feel bad for leaving him, but I really don't want to be with him right now.
    I spot Sungjin just up ahead of me, so I speed walk towards him.
    "Sunjin!" I call out. He turns and spots me in the crowd.
    "Hey! Don't you walk with Jae?" he asks.
    "W-what? How do you know that?"
    "Oh, sorry," Sungjin replies and looks at the floor. I'm not going to question him more on that. He seems flustered.
    "Do you know about May?" I ask as we approach the door. Sungjin opens the door for me, and he follows behind.
    "Yeah, of course. I've known Jae for years, so every person that he knows, I have to know too."
    How come I never knew about Sungjin earlier? They must hang out a lot, but I have never seen them together until recently. That's odd.
    We sit down, and I have so many questions forming in my head. Thankfully, we also have a substitute in this class. Our teacher won't be back for a few days, and I'm pretty sure that everyone is happy about that. No one likes her anyways.
    The substitute seems to have no idea what to do in this class. He lets us use this class as a time for studying and doing work for other classes, but no one really does that. Some students are already sleeping in the back or forming small groups with their friends.
    I turn to Sungjin who is scrolling through his phone.
    "Hey, Sungjin?"
    Sungjin snaps back into reality and takes his eyes off the screen.
    "Yeah?"
    "How long have you known about me?"
    Sungjin ponders for a bit, but then he finally speaks.
    "Jae met you during freshmen year, so I've known you for about four years," he responds.
    "How come I didn't meet you in freshmen year then?"
    "I... I don't know," he replies. He goes back to his phone, but I still have so many questions for him.
    "How did you know about me if we never met?"
    "Jae told me about you," he replies, almost immediately. My heart speeds up a bit when I hear his response.
    I stop bothering him and process the information that I gathered. My heart races whenever I think about Jae liking me, but that hope instantly dies when I remember May. I'm just being an idiot in love. No one would even like me anyways.
    I start to over think again, but I can't stop myself. I really wish Wonpil was here right now.
    The bell saves me once again, and I quickly head down the hall and up the stairs to my favorite class. I'm so relieved to see Young K when I walk into the class. Young K sees me rushing towards him and gets up. I didn't notice that I was opening my arms for a hug, but I'm glad I was.
    "Are you okay?" Young K asks as we both sit down. He holds my hand and looks at me with worry in his eyes.
    "Yeah. I just wanted a hug."