There he sits, right by my side, like in chorus as always. We’re chatting about something, and all I know is that I’m feeling relaxed, comfortable, a smile easily on my face.

Suddenly Onew asks, “Hey Sonya...”

“Yeah?”

“Do you have a date?

I blinked. “Sorry?”

“A date.”

“…to Sadie Hawkins?”

“Yeah. Wanna go with me?”

“YES!” I start spazzing on the inside.

Scene fades away. I suddenly reflect and wonder if he meant date as the date, like fifteenth of January. I start cursing my stupidity inside.

I woke up in sweat and breathing hard. As the dream came back to me, I clutched my head. Why? Why did his love come back to haunt me?

I’m packing up my bag in the busy eighth grade hallway. I feel tap on my shoulder and turn.

It’s Hyunseung, and he’s beckoning me over.

I drag my bag, which refuses to be zipped, over to him and try to listen, but all I hear is jargon. And I assume he’s telling me a story.

“Yeah?”

He smiles and slips his hand into mine to shake it. “See you then, Sonya.” With that, he walks away.

I stand still now, comprehending his words. He had just asked me to the eighth grade dance.

And I just said yes.

Damn.

I shook my head and swung my legs over. I had to get up and get on with life, or I would miss the bus.

On the bus, I thought about what happened between me and Hyunseung. After the dance, I had patiently told him I didn’t like him that way. Although he then declared his love for Hyuna, one of the popular girls, he sent me emails pleading for me to stay. I then told him I wasn’t ready, and didn’t he just said I was a second tier? After all, he asked me to the dance after Hyuna already said yes to AJ, a guy at the school known to be rebellious, but have killer moves. I even couldn’t meet his eyes when he came to talk with my friends.

But now, everything was okay. We were all friends again, and Hyunseung had a girlfriend now, who was ecstatic on being with him. I was happy for him, he was okay with me, and it was all good.

Still, I had scars and insecurities due to that experience. The dream was one of them, where I again make the mistake of mishearing.

At lunch, I spilled my dream to Elizabeth, who patiently listened, and shook her head as well.

“So, do you like him?”

I sat there, stunned. She needed it spelled out? Of course she did. For all she knew, it could be some fantasy that was still going on, somehow affecting my dreams. “I don’t know,” I said slowly. “But every time I look at him, my insides start shivering.”

“My god. Girl, you like him.” She grasped my hand and looking straight at me. “I wish you the best of luck with your crush.”

Hearing it from just made it more real and world-shaking.

When I sat down to do my math homework, I could not concentrate. I began to doodle while listening to U-Kiss’s Obsession.

X=(y-3)^2+5….

If Love=Obsession,

Then Obsession=Love

So…

If Crush=Multiple daydreams×classes together±secret told to x friends where x is some positive integer

And (the length of Crush)≈4 months,

And Onew=Crush+d dreams÷unnecessary matchmaking…

How long will Onew last?