Rival

Hanna's Warning

                “That’s not funny Gin,” I growled.

                “I’m not worried,” Bom grinned, “she can’t do anything that bad without getting into juvenile.”

                “True,” Hyori agreed, “but if she bothers you at us, tell me. I’ll make sure I kick her sorry little ass.”

                All four of us burst out in laughter. Hanna continued to glare at us.

                “Glad to know you guys are so excited to be in my class,” Mr. Costa announced.

                Gin coughed loudly and frowned.

                “So…did everyone remember the assignment I gave out last class?” he asked.

                The classroom fell silent.

                “Okay…” he grinned, “well…we’ll have to work on our listening skills…all right. It doesn’t matter. One by one, all of you are going to get up here and share one book you read in your life.”

                There were loud complaints and murmurs of worry from the class.

                “Don’t worry about it,” he laughed, “don’t even be nervous. It’s not for marks or anything. Just introduce one of your favorite books, tell us something about it, and why you chose to share it.”

                The class nodded.

                “Okay, who’s up first?” No one answered back.

                “Come on, anyone brave enough?” Mr. Costa sighed.    

                A single hand flew into the air.

                “Hyori, excellent, come up here,” Mr. Costa grinned, “class listen up. This brave girl is going to share!”

                I looked back at Gin who looked as if he was going to puke.

                “I chose pride and prejudice, an amazing book written by my favorite author, Jane Austen…”

                “Hyori’s on a roll,” Bom muttered to me.

                “About the book or Mr. Costa?” Gin retorted from the back.

                “Oh please,” Bom rolled her eyes and turned around to face Gin, “sure the guy is hot, but Hyori isn’t the type to go all ga-ga over her teacher…”

                “Are you sure?” I raised my eyebrows.

                “Trust me,” Bom smiled, “besides imagine liking someone like twenty years older than yourself!”

                “That is pretty gross,” I agreed, “and Hyori’s the last person that will do that.”

                “But Bom – you joke about her liking him,” Gin looked utterly confused.

                “Yeah,” Bom scoffed, “joke. That’s the point of the word, ‘joke.’”

                “I think she’s finished,” I pointed out and we faced the front again.

                “Thank God,” Gin grunted.

                “You didn’t listen to a single word anyways,” Bom pointed out.

                “I tried, that counts for something,” Gin stuck out his tongue.

                “Oh how old are you Gin, two?” Hyori teased as she took a seat.

                “No, I’m a bit older than that,” he snapped back, “and I thought you were the smart one!”

                Hyori just replied back with a silent glare.            

                “All right next, how about Soo-yung who seems to dying to share,” Mr. Costa grinned and signaled Gin to come up to the front. Gin gave out an exasperated sigh and shouted out, "it's GIN. sir," making the whole class snicker. Mr. Costa didn't look offended at all and apologized. 

                Gin looking satisfied with himself got up from his seat and walked up to the front.

                “I chose the book, Lord of the rings, because it is the best fantasy book ever,” he said out loud.

                “Tell us about the book,” Mr. Costa urged.

                “Okay…” Gin sighed, “There’s this guy, he’s a hobbit and he goes on a quest after this great old wizard comes to tell him that he’s in danger since he has like this powerful ring or something. So the guy, Frodo goes on a quest with his faithful friend to destroy the ring. Meanwhile big war happens between monsters and humans. Creepy guy, Golem appears. Then…the ring gets destroyed, peace is returned, and happy ending.”

                There was a moment of silence then the class broke off in a loud cheer.

                “Well…” Mr. Costa looked quite dissatisfied at Gin but decided to let it slide, “thank you for that…wonderful…story Gin. You may return to your seat. Next…ah, yes Sora, why don’t you come up?”

                “Nice story,” Hyori hit Gin on the arm lightly.

                “I know right?” Gin grinned, “Better than your story, don’t you think?”

                Hyori rolled her eyes and focused them onto the front as Sora begun her story about Sherlock Holmes.

                After several students Hanna was called up. While she was listening she must have wiped her face because there was no more make up smeared all over her face.

                “I like the book, Twilight because the girl gets the guy she wanted after all the stupid other people gets in the way,” Hanna stated. Her incredibly short and simple speech gained several applauses and she returned to her seat looking quite satisfied at herself.

                Next Bom was called up. She briefly shared the book, 1984, which was awarded with a couple of claps. It was too much of a depressing book to cheer on about.

                Mr. Costa coughed and then called me up.

                I groaned and went up to the front. I tried to focus on people that didn’t make me feel awkward and embarrassed. I kept my eyes straight on Bom, Hyori, and Gin.

                “I like the book Metamorphosis because it’s the creepiest book I’ve ever read in my life and frankly, it still sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it,” I shared then looked at Mr. Costa hoping that he would give me an okay signal so that I can leave.

                “That is a great book that you shared Jung-woo,” Mr. Costa smiled, “how about giving us a short summary of it? We’ll be investigating the novel during the course anyways.”

                “Um…okay,” I sighed, “there is this young man and when he wakes up he finds himself turned into a gigantic beetle. Basically his entire family is disgusted by his changed features and in the end he is killed by his own father.”

                The class exchanged uncomfortable glances.

                “Fascinating book, shows how human nature can become so cruel…and so inhuman,” Mr. Costa said passionately, “but enough with that. We’ll discuss about this later. Thank you, Jung-woo for sharing that lovely book.”

                Bom smiled at me and I grinned back.