Aren't Mondays amazing? 

I really wished that I could be that optimistic.

Monday was the day that my new classmates and teacher would join me in the only place that I felt was normal. My sanctuary, my school was about to be invaded by these boys, and, despite how cute they were, I could not bring myself to say that I was thrilled. I wondered if it would be like in the fanfictions I read where the female lead is bullied for being friends with the hot new boys. I shook my head. None of that stuff happened in real life. But then again, why was I suddenly leading a mafia? 

I rested my forehead against the top of my desk. I sighed. Of course, I sighed louder when no one noticed.

"Ema! What's with you today? There's a negative energy coming from your seat!" Aecha finally frowned and turned in my direction.

"It's nothing," I groaned. I faced away from them.

"It's obviously something. Stop moping alone over there and tell us what's wrong," Chunhei said. I slammed my hands on my desk and pushed myself back in my chair. The legs of it squeaked across the tile floor.

"Fine! I have a major problem right now!" I nearly shouted.

"And what would that be?" Chunhei asked.

"I-" I cut myself off. I couldn't tell them about the boys. They would be exposed, and so would I. Then I would have to explain about how I had met them. I was not about to let Zico have anything else on me. I already owed him.

"It's really nothing," I murmured and layed back on the desk.

"Ema!" Aecha hit the back of my head.

"Okay, okay!" I surrendered, "I have... I have a stalker!"

It really was the best lie that I could come up with. Then I realized the flaw in it - I had no stalker. Maru was too sweet to play the part, and T.K. was cool, and so was Rome. Siwoo was barely around, and Kangjun was most likely going to be busy flirting with senior girls. My only option was Ray. It was only in case they insisted on finding him. I tried to picture Ray as a stalker. I could see him, with his hair covering his eyes, wearing dark clothing, as he followed a girl down the street, taking pictures the whole way. It actually wasn't that hard to see. 

"Oh my gosh!" Chunhei cried, "That must be terrible! I remember what it was like with my stalker, you know. It was so creepy. I was afraid that I would get kidnapped!"

I remembered that year very clearly. Chunhei and I were both thirteen at the time, and a seventeen-year-old started to follow her around. We didn't notice at first, but then she would tell me that she saw him standing on the other side of the cafe that we were in. Later when I would be at my own house, she would call me saying that she had seen him outside of her house. I finally convinced my mom to let me run over to her house to "borrow a book," and, sure enough, when I arrived he was sitting on her front lawn below her window. It was scary how he would just stare at it. He never noticed me when I would go past him to meet Chunhei inside.

We had finally gotten rid of the boy after she placed a restraining order. He violated it, and at the same time he was apparently on probation after some other crime. He was put back in jail. He was still in there, as far as we knew.

"He's not as bad as yours was," I assured her.

"Are you sure? We could always report him," she reminded me.

"I'm sure. It's not that bad yet," I replied.

"Okay," she said doubtfully. At that moment, the teacher decided to grace us with his presence. With him were two people that the others had never seen before. One was a student, and one was not wearing the uniform. Instead he had on a button down shirt and tie with dress pants.

"Good morning everyone," Mr. Choi greeted us half-heartedly, "Today we have a new student. His name is Maru, please treat him well. Maru, you may sit next to Yena. Yena, please raise your hand."

A small girl with short hair did as she was told. Maru glanced at me for a second, then walked to his seat next to Yena.

"And we also have someone else joining our room today. He is our student teacher. As he is only a few years older than you, he will decide what you will call him," he continued. Rome stepped forward,

"Hello. I hope we can be good friends during this year. My name is Barom, and I'm finishing up my studoes at Seoul University," Rome introduced himself.

I was not surprised that he was at one of the most prestigious colleges in South Korea; he had told me over C-Clown's weekend bonding session. All day on Saturday we had been going around town, telling each other about ourselves. On Sunday, we went to Maru's church. It sounded kind of cheesy, but I needed to know more about them, and I was not about to let my mom see them again.

I leaned on my arm that was propped on the desk. It was going to be a long day.

The only problem that showed up was that I was constantly tense, waiting for something to happen. Nothing ever did. At least, not until music class.

The chorus director was a very sweet lady. She was in her mid-thirties and married, but she didn't have any kids. Personally, I thought that she was a better singer than a lot of the pop stars that were so popular. I thought that she should have become a singer instead of becoming a mere teacher. But I just figured that it was her joy in life to teach and pass on her knowledge. Or maybe she just never passed an audition. Lately, dance and looks had become big factors for popularity.

At the beginning of the year, she had made all of the children in her class sing a short song to see what part of the choir they needed to be in - soprano, alto, tenor, or bass. I was in the soprano section. Chunhei was an alto, while Aecha and Jinny were with me. Maru now had to sing in front of the entire class.

"Please, Maru? Everyone has sung already. No one will make fun of you," the teacher pleaded. He shook his head. She had been trying to coax him into singing for almost ten minutes. He still refused.

"Fine, just go sit with the tenors," she finally sighed, "Everyone else, take out the sheet music for 'Amazing Grace.'" I picked up my black folder and pulled it out. It was not a hard song, nor was it an easy song. We were practing with the English version.

The director raised her hands, signalling for us to start. The altos were the first to sing, and then the tenors and basses joined in with them. The sopranos were the last. Halfway through the song, there was a part with just the tenors. Usually no one could hear them, and our director had long ago given up trying make them sing out. This time however, someone was both loud and perfectly on key. I immediately knew it was Maru. When the others did not join in again, he trailed off to a whisper. The teacher was staring at him with hanging open.

"Bravo! Amazing!" she cried, "Why did you not want to sing?"

"I'm not very good," Maru answered shyly.

"And who ever told you that?" she asked.

"I did," was his reply.

After class was over, I went up to him.

"Hey, Maru," I said. He looked over and smiled.

"Hey."

"You're really good at singing. You have talent," I told him.

"Talent? Stop it. I have no interest in singing anyway," he sighed.

"Why not? You sound so good!" I questioned.

"I'd rather be helping someone. It feels good. Like when I'm helping you."

He stood up from his seat, and he had to look down at me.

"Okay then. Let's go outside. I promised the others that I would eat with them today," I said. I my heel and walked out of the room. Maru followed closely behind.

"What about your friends?" he asked.

"They'll understand."

I hoped.

We met behind the school like we had agreed that morning. I sat down on the grass with my food, and Maru sat beside me. We chatted for a few minutes while we waited. It was a cool day, not too hot or cold. There was a slight breeze, and we were sitting in the shade. A little bit later, Rome came, followed by Ray, Kangjun, and T.K.

"Sorry we're so late," T.K. apologized with a flushed face, "We had gym, and the coach made us run extra laps for talking." I waved my hand dismissively.

"It's fine." I took another bite of my sandwich.

It was actually fun talking with them. Kangjun, as I had expected, showed me how many phone numbers of girls he had gotten (there were eleven total). T.K. said that he really liked the dance studio, while Ray didn't say anything. While Rome was explaining how he was annoyed with the girls that were flirting with him during tutoring, I let my mind wander, as well as my eyes.

I looked up towards the windows. I could barely see the outlines of students that were going to their classes. They were probably discussing normal things, like homework and crushes. I wished that I was still that ordinary. Our conversation had drifted to nightclubs and Block B. I glanced over at the back gates, and I thought that I saw a figure there. It was tall, and wearing dark clothing. I looked again, but it was gone. I shivered. It was most likely just someone passing by. I wondered why it looked like it was smiling, watching us.

It scared me.

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Woo~

Good evening everyone ^^

I'm about to do homework. Yay! =_=

Okay, somewhat.......

from your evil author,

Juliette