[Please read the authors note at the bottom]
The minute bell blared as I closed my locker quickly and swerved around the corner to math. As I turned the corner and looked down the hall I noticed someone waiting by the door with Mrs. Ray. I approached quickly and my presence immediately stopped the conversation between the two people. Mrs. Ray pointed towards me and RapMon turned around quickly, placing a folded piece of notebook paper in my hand after he had run up to me.
"I'm sorry if I made you worry yesterday." He said quickly, then pointing at the paper. "Just... read that."
I looked up and noticed the dark circles under his eyes, slightly powdered like he had tried to cover them up. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came to mind. I suddenly remembered Jimin and how he was worried too.
"What about Jimin?" I asked, cut off by RapMon's quick nodding.
"He knows already. Don't worry."
Mrs. Ray, who stood a few feet away at the door of the room cleared her throat, attracting both of our attentions.
"Namjoon, you don't want to be late." She reminded him.
"Right, see you later." He nodded as he made his way down the hall and around the corner at a jogging speed.
"No running in the halls-" Mrs. Ray began, suddenly cut off by the loud and annoying bell. I walked up to the room, hoping I wasn't considered late. I lowered my head a bit in apology as I began, "Sorry I'm late Mrs. Ray."
"You're off the hook for today." She smiled, then pointing at the paper in my hands. "Namjoon informed me that that paper is very important but don't read it during my lesson."
I nodded and walked in, quickly finding my seat. Almost everyone was working on the warm-up but anyone who was previously whispering became silent when I walked in, followed by Mrs. Ray.
I plopped into my seat, setting the folded paper on my desk under my binder.
~~~
"You can go ahead and pack up or work on the homework." Mrs. Ray concluded, causing a sudden shuffle of papers around the room - a sign most people weren't going to work on their homework. I noticed not even the smart kids across the room did either, so I checked my watch which said we had about 3 minutes left.
"Rona," Jungkook whispered, making me look up from my watch. He wore a little smile that made me want to smile too. "How much time is there left?"
"Three minutes," I replied, looking at my packed binder. I picked it up to be ready to go when the note Namjoon gave me slipped from underneath and fell onto the floor. Jungkook picked it up for me as I silently prayed he wouldn't open it. Luckily he handed it back, quickly beginning, "That's from Namjoon hyung right?"
"Yeah." I replied, "How'd you know?"
"Ah," Jungkook sighed, "He writes letters when he has explaining to do. I... I heard about what happened last night and I think it'll make sense if you read that." He said, pointing at the paper in my hand. I was obviously tentative when he glanced at me, then at the people around us.
"Don't worry about it, I'll make sure no one tries to read it." He whispered, leaning over me slightly. I looked to make sure he wouldn't look super suspicious, then quickly unfolded the letter.
Reader,
I'm not gonna include names in case you loose this paper, not that I don't trust you but something has happened before with another letter. Sorry if you were all worried yesterday, he did call my house if you're wondering and everything's sorted out with him. The group knows about this, I do it quite a lot, although my parents think otherwise. You know how I said my sister went to the hospital? About 6 months ago, in April, my sister went to the hospital for trying to kill herself with an overdose of some drug and apparently cost my parents a fortune for hospital bills. My parents always liked me over her, I don't know whether it's their sexist minds or because I'm older, but she was always looked down upon. When I joined the group I thought it may make me look less scholarly and help her out, but it did the opposite. I always feel like it's my fault since soon later she ran away and moved out. She got a job and quit school and she's now living by herself in a shabby apartment. My parents have forgotten about her but I still visit her and bring her food every couple days when I can. Yesterday the whole song thing reminded me of how much that even screwed up the way I acted and also how much I could help my sister. She's changed, no longer happy in general, always with dark circles and slouching shoulders, and that reminded me of how she used to be. In fact, she was like you, happy and cheerful, ready to go and talk - I realized maybe I could change her back. I snuck out yesterday and ended up spending the night at her place. I realized there was a little hope, so thank you.
~The boring 94 liner
I slowly looked up and at Jungkook, who happened to be reading over my shoulder too.
"I promise you I wasn't the one who lost his before he stopped putting names on it. You can probably guess who lost that particular one." Jungkook smiled. I forced a laugh as I looked back at him, the story still lingering in my mind.
"Don't worry, he's been dealing with it for a long time, he's okay." Jungkook said. Before I showed any reaction he quickly shook his head. "That doesn't help, does it...just know that he has hope; as long as you do too he'll stick with it." Jungkook nodded at his better answer. When I didn't look super convinced he tried to give a supportive side hug, awkwardly blocked by the desk.
I trust Namjoon to be okay.
~~~
I walked into Mrs. Carter's classroom early as usual, the room very empty. Instead of with the group, Jin had walked in alone before them. He sat down and unpacked, not distracted by the empty seats around him. Looking around at the people around me I decided to get up and make my way over to the seat next to him.
"Hey Jin-" I began cut off by his sudden coughing. He hit his hand on his chest for a second, swallowing whatever he was choking on. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?" I asked quickly. As he coughed a few more times he nodded, concern showed on my face. "I am so sorry-" I began, Jin shaking his head and smiling as he cleared his throat.
"You're fine." He said raspily, voice slowly becoming his normal tone. "I was hungry and hoping Mrs. Carter wouldn't come and find me out." He laughed.
Would Mrs. Carter really care if someone was eating in here? I wondered, I guess more than Mrs. Walby would, since this is a science classroom and all... I must've been staring off into space because Jin waved one of his notebooks in front of me. "You thinkin'?" He asked.
I nodded and turned as I heard Suga's voice at the door. "Mornin' Mrs. Carter," He greeted with a yawn, followed by RapMon.
"Good Morning." He said casually, entering the classroom and coming row of tables towards their seats. Suga arrived first and plopped into his seat, his head instantly hitting the desk.
"Ah, Suga!" I nearly shouted, causing him to lift his head that had previously been loudly slammed onto the hard surface. With his eyes still closed he groaned, peeking them open towards Jin and my direction. "What happened?" I asked, causing him to set the side of his head back on his desk.
"Spent the night writing," he nearly whispered as he closed his eyes.
"Like always," Jin added, flipping through the pages of the notebook he held.
"Nun-uh," Suga rebuffed, eyes still closed. "I'm just always a certain level of tired."
I heard a laugh behind me and turned around, my cheek met with RapMon's arm that laid on the back of the seat. "Hey, what's up?" I asked.
Tilting his head he responded, "Nothing much, just chilling here."
Suddenly realization hit me and I jumped up from the seat. "Sorry, sorry, this is your seat," I apologized quickly, backing up so he could sit down. I heard a chuckle from Jin and cringed, yet keeping a smile on my face.
"Thanks Rona," RapMon said, giving a little nod. "Did you read the thing?" He asked, still standing and leaning on the back of the chair.
I quickly nodded and he smiled. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine, see?" He assured, gesturing towards himself.
"I don't see how..." Suga mumbled, then pausing for a moment. "You texted me at like 2am this morning; How are you not tired?"
"I run on jams," He replied, slowly making his way to sit down. [a/n: wyd author-]
"Okay class!" Mrs. Carter shouted over the talking, trying to clap to get everyone's attention. I quickly head towards the back of the class and taking out my notebook as well. I caught myself staring ahead at Suga's asleep head on his desk, unnoticed (or at least unmentioned) by Mrs. Carter. Jin turned around with a squinted smile and I made a little courtesy smile back. As he turned around I heard a cough from the other side of the room. Carefully looking over I felt Ivy's signature death glare. Even though the glare was distracting I noticed what was around her - other than the bright red short skirt that she had on, the same two girls were near her table. The other black haired girl sat looking at her desk, simply staring at whatever book was on her desk. The other girl was surprising though, her blond hair up in cute pigtails and sitting on legs on the chair. She flashed a large grin, using her right hand to give Ivy bunny ears behind her back.
And I couldn't help but laugh.
~~~
Hope you enjoyed that chapter! What's happening with RapMon's sister and who's this blond girl? fIND OUT NEXT TIME ON-
Anyway, opinions needed from readers:
Should I continue this pace of chapters (20 chapters for just 3 days of school...) or speed it up? Keep in mind that FMF is a little less than 1 month away. I want to be able to write about FMF by the end of this book, so should I skip every other day to show change? Chapters would still be in the same detail, just time can pass a little faster. Thanks for reading and for your help in advance! -1P