The day started off pretty well, excluding the long line that wrapped around three blocks. This time when I skipped, I didn't get caught. When I got in, I saw Elias and Alaric. They were calmly chattering amongst themselves as the crowd of students crushed them. I squeezed through some people and slapped Alaric on the back of his neck. His head snapped behind him, but I was too quick and held in my laugh as he glared at an innocent person.
When he turned to talk to Elias again, I flicked his ear. Not quick enough, he caught me and broke out a grin. I smiled and stood next to them.
"Good morning." I chirped and Elias returned it. Alaric's hand found my bun to be more interesting and I rolled my eyes. "Hey, it's equal to you flicking and slapping me." I sighed as we slowly moved. "What exactly is so interesting about my hair?"
Alaric dropped his hand and put his elbow on my shoulder. "Well, your hair texture is different from a lot of people I know. I find that to be pretty cool." I got my ID out and shrugged his elbow off. "Is that so? How about I touch your hair all the time?" I muttered. "I wouldn't mind." he replied.
Sighing at his annoying response, we finally swiped in. Twenty minutes later, I arrived to first period, but it was already ending. Had I went to the back of the line, I probably would've got in by third period. After graphic design, I headed off to Government and awaited Andrews' stories about surviving his mid life crisis.
Master Min started to take attendance. I stared at the floor, not wanting to make eye contact with the demon. Where the hell is Aimee? The sound of boots crying behind me let me know she finally came.
"Hey!" said Master Min as Aimee walked in, "You think you're cool for walking in late? Run around the gym six times."
Aimee's mouth dropped. "S-Sir, I didn't change into my u-"
"Do you think I care?!" Master Min's voice echoed off of the walls, "Now go run around six times. When you reach the point you started, say one sir. Yes sir?!"
"Yes sir..." she muttered as she dropped her stuff at the door. Master Min took attendance as she ran around. By the fourth time, Aimee was panting but didn't stop. I frowned at her when she made eye contact with me. Finally when she reached the sixth, her back hit the wall as she panted.
"Are you o-"
"I'm fine." she cut me off, obviously upset. Pushing the gym door, she went into the girl's locker room to get changed. I felt really bad for her, and it's worse he humiliated her. A shadow interrupted my view of the floor and I looked up.
My breath was hitched in my throat when Master Min glared down at me. I didn't know what to say as the expectant eyes of my classmates stared at me.
"I guess Len is absent." He muttered as he moved on to the next person.
"Sir, wait! I'm sorry, I was just thinking." Master Min shrugged and kept on taking attendance. "Sir, please mark me present." I said once I glanced at the attendance sheet and notice he marked me absent.
At this point, I wanted to strangle him. When he finished taking attendance, he threw the folder on the desk and began the lesson. My frustration grew ten fold. What's the point in being here if I'm not going to be marked here?! I had the strong urge to walk out. I felt my legs pick up, but instead of walking towards the gym door, I walked towards him.
"I understand you're trying to discipline us, but don't you think you're being too harsh? Sir, I told you I was thinking, and I apologize for not answering you, but please do not mark me absent."
His dark eyes looked down on me. Suddenly, his lips curled into a smirk. I felt my face get hot as I held eye contact. "Is that so?" I nodded and he looked towards the class. "Everyone, get the kicking pads." Looking down towards me, he gestured to his desk.
We both walked to it in silence. Master Min sat down and for once, it was him looking up at me. "Len, why are you always deep in thought? What exactly are you thinking about for you not to hear me? This isn't the first time."
"I... I was thinking about how unfair you can be, Sir. Aimee showed up late, that's true, but you don't know exactly why. Something could be going on at home that causes her to come late."
Master Min raised an eyebrow. He crossed his fingers together and looked at the clock. I noticed how defined his neck muscles were and quickly shifted my attention back to his dark pools when he looked back at me. "Stop worrying about matters that aren't your own. As for paying attention, this will be the first and last warning."
I looked down and nodded. I felt a smile tug at my lips and turned away.
"Did I dismiss you?"
I sighed and turned back to him. He looked behind me at the class and nodded. Getting up, he gestured me towards the class and I joined them. The school year barely started and I already got in trouble. I noticed my palms were sweaty and I wiped them on my gym shorts.
"Next week, you will get partners. I will pair you up by height, so if you're going to change my class, you better get that done beforehand."
I instantly thought of Alaric. He was taller than me by about three inches, but I'm hoping Min would pair us up together. "We'll be partners, right?" said Aimee as she expectantly looked up at me. "He said it'll go by height. I'm taller than you, so I'm not sure how it'll work."
She frowned and nodded. She was the shortest in this class and I suddenly felt bad for her. "Maybe I should change my schedule. I don't want to inconvenience anything, and plus, this class is too hard."
We reached over for the targets and I grabbed two. I tried to work with Aimee, but when it was my turn to kick, it was always frustrating because she would hold it too low.
"Alright everyone." He said, calling us to stop. "Now let's go over our kicks. Who knows how to do roundhouse kick?"
Jenny raised her hand and he called her to the middle. She went into fighting stance. Master Min held out a target. Jenny angled her body to the side and kicked the target. When she put her leg back down, she stared at her friends.
"Where did she go wrong?" He asked. Nobody raised their hand, but it's obvious she went wrong when she didn't yell 'aiya'. "Okay, let me choose someone. Xiao Ji." Xiao Ji shrugged and crossed his arms over. It was obvious Master Min was getting pissed off. Hesitantly, I raised my arm.
"Len?"
"She went wrong by not yelling aiya. Also, she didn't angle her body too much to the side, so it looked like a snap kick." Master Min's face was unreadable. His depthless eyes took me in as I looked down. "Look at me." Biting my lip, I looked up at him.
"You're correct. Why don't you have more confidence?"
Where is the oxygen? Why can't I breathe? I stared at him and tried to find words.
"I... I don't know, Sir." I responded, "But, erhm, yeah." He nodded and turned back to the class. Master Min began to explain more about snap kick, roundhouse kick and axe kick. I watched in fascination as he would demonstrate the kicks and put emphasis on his yells. I also noticed how he never yelled 'aiya', but turned it into something original.
By the time class was over, I was drenched in sweat. I would catch Master Min watching me do our kicking combination, but I wasn't sure whether he was giving it approval or not. As I walked out, Master Min called me back in. I went over to his desk.
"Sir?" I muttered.
"Len, how do you like Taekwondo?" he asked. His question caught me off guard and I figured I gave him a certain face when he raised his eyebrow. "I like it."
He nodded and started to stretch his back. "What do you think of me as a teacher?" I bit my bottom lip and looked away from him. "I... I think you're overly strict." His eyes seemed to glare up at me, but I put my hands up. "Wait, I find you to be a good teacher. You're just... You keep the class in order, you know?"
He nodded. "You're the first high school class I've taught here. I'm not really used to this. Where I come from, people pay to learn this. You all get this for free, so I have to be stricter."
"Master Min, I'm so sorry if I get this wrong, but are you Korean?"
He did something that was extremely unexpected. His mouth pulled into a large smile, following a small nod.
"You find him good looking?" I laughed, "Hell yeah, what about you?" I shrugged. "He's okay." Aimee looked at me as if I had two heads, "Girl, he probably has a six pack under that uniform."
I felt my heart skip and anticipated his response. The way his eyes bubbled up at the question automatically confirmed it. "Yeah, I've been here for a couple of months now. Your principal is a good friend of my uncle, so I was referred to teach a gym class."
"Is that so... Y-"
"That is enough." This guy pulled off the Kanye. His cold demeanor made me take a step back. "Len, you have class and you're late. I'll write you a pass."
"But nonetheless, the guy probably has a banana or two lodged up his ass."
I frowned and watched as he wrote on a post it. I never understood why people do that. It's obvious home hits a feeling, so why doesn't he express it? Giving it to me, he shooed me away and I headed off to my next class.
During lunch, I couldn't stop thinking about his smile. It's so vibrant, so pure. "Alaric, are you transferring in?" I asked him when I stopped at the Asian Mafia's lunch table. He shrugged and turned to talk to his friend. "Okay then." I muttered. When I walked away, I caught him looking at me, but decided not to press on.
I'm guessing he won't really interact with me around his friends. That's okay, I won't force him to do anything he's uncomfortable with. I took a bite out of my pizza as I opened the door and went to the stairwell. There sat the squad. I passed them and sat on the top step.
"Hey, are you okay?" Asked Liem. I gave him a small smile and took another bite out of my pizza. "How's Taekwondo?" I made sure my mouth was cleared before I responded. "It's alright, I like it. We have to refer to our teacher as either Master or Sir."
Liem rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I've heard about that. It sounds ridiculous, Aimee won't stop going on about it. She said one day, she's going to punch the teacher in his face."
Aimee rolled her eyes and took a sip of her milk. "If I can even reach." Liem and Elias burst out into laughter and I only sat there staring at my pizza. "You said it, not us."
Did Alaric really have to act like that, though? He ignored the hell out of me, like I don't even know what to think. I sighed and continued eating. "Yo Len, what's up?" I smiled at Elias and Liem let out a drawn out sigh. "Women, I swear. One minute they're happy, the next minute they want to kill everything."
"Can you really blame me?" I muttered as I took another bite, "Because I honestly don't know what to say." All three of them looked at me with worried eyes, and that spoiled my mood even more. "I love you guys, but don't look at me like that. I'm fine."
"Fine, my ass!" Aimee challenged, "Now start talking before you get killed."
I scowled at her and looked down at my trey. "I don't know... It's just that... I don't know. I just, okay. Alaric got me tight because of how he suddenly shut me out when he's around the Mafia. Do I shut him out when he's around us? No. So why does he have to do that? Does he think he looks cool or something?!"
Elias shook his head. "You're over analyzing it. He was talking to his friend, right? Did you know what it was about?" I shook my head in response. "Exactly. Don't automatically assume he's an ass. He could be in a tight predicament right now."
What he said reminded me of what I said to Min. I slowly nodded and finished my pizza. "You're right. And everyone has a bad day, you know? I shouldn't do that, thank you Elias."
Even though he meant to reassure me, I still felt uneasy. Should I go see if he's alright? I decided to go back to the lunch room and spotted Alaric listening to music on his iPad. I walked and sat down next to him. He looked up from his iPad and gave me a blank face.
"Hey, is everything okay?" I asked. "Yeah, what's up?" I shrugged and I saw his lips pull into a small smile. "I'm a little tired, if you're wondering." He's tired. Did I not notice how he was practically asleep just now? "Oh I know, I was wondering if you wanted a bottle of water. You know, we only have like two periods after, so you need to be awake." He patted my shoulder. "I'll pass, but thank you for offering." I nodded and got up. Embarrassed, I walked back to the stairwell.
"Where'd you go?" asked Aimee as she tied her shoelaces. "I went to get water, I'm parched." I felt bad for lying, but I don't want her to get any ideas.
After lunch, two periods finally passed and it was time to leave. The squad assembled in the main office. When we were about to leave, Min walked in as soon as Aimee was walking out. They both bumped into each other, and because Min is tall, he knocked her down.
Gina looked down on them as Min apologized and helped Aimee up. Her cheeks were red, she was blushing. He held a strong grip on her arms and I suddenly felt a little angry. She somehow slipped again and he grabbed her, then pulling her to her chest. He whispered something and she nodded. Pulling back, he looked at her and dropped his hands.
When he turned his head, his eyes caught mine. I didn't know what to do, so instead, I looked at a college poster. Why do I feel like this? Why do I feel upset? He passed me without saying anything and went to talk to Gina.
On our way to the train station, Aimee couldn't stop squealing. She would describe how nice his lips looked from that angle and how strong his grip was. The more she talked, the more annoyed I got.
"Guys, I have to go home." I said. They all looked at me and before they could protest, I left.
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