COLORS:
Woori
Mom
Thoughts
Teacher

Chapter 3: Back-to-school?
 

Birds outside are singing to herald the morning, while soft light filters against my eyelids. I sit up in the bed and look over at the digital clock on my shelf. It glows the numbers 7:45. Although I’m supposed to stay home from school today, I ended up waking up at the same time as usual. It’s become such a routine to wake up at this time for school that my body has its own internal clock and wakes up naturally at this time. I rub my eyes, stretch and yawn. I feel oddly relaxed. Maybe because there’s no rush for me to get dressed and eat breakfast like there usually is on Tuesday morning. Instead I can just take my time. Wait, why am I staying home from school again . . . ? Oh, yeah. It’s because I fell off the stairs yesterday and had a concussion. Then . . . didn’t something happen after that? Strangely, I don’t remember. Ah well. If I can’t remember it, it probably wasn’t important. At the sound of my stomach growling, I climb out of bed and head downstairs to rummage around for some breakfast.
“Gyahh.”  My mom jumps when she sees me coming down the stairs.
“What are you doing?” Her hand is stretched to the doorknob and she is already in her day clothes. She usually doesn’t leave for work this early, so it’s rather unusual. At first all is silent, but then . . .
“Damn! She woke up already! So much for today’s plan.”  Mom ‘speaks’ without opening . . . It wasn’t a dream! I can still hear thoughts! Why is this happening to me?!
“Going somewhere, Mom?”
“Ah, I was just going to check the mail. Why are you awake so early? You’re supposed to be resting. Do you feel okay?” Now that I think about it, being cooped up in the house all day with my parents and their thoughts is going to be torturous. And I feel fine, so I might as well go to school. I still wake up early enough to make it in time.
“I feel fine, so I was planning on going to school.”
“YESS!!!!”
“Oh, really? Are you sure? The nurse did say to stay home . . .”
“I’m positive . . . Oh, what about breakfast?”
“Seriously? How annoying. I didn’t even fix anything this morning. Woori is already sixteen, and can’t even cook yet. She’ll never be a bride!”
“Ah, right . . . here, have some money.” Mom hands me a 500 won coin.
“You can get breakfast from the cafeteria, right?”
“Yeah, I guess. Thanks. What about lunch?”
“Here, sweetheart.” Mom hands me another 500 won coin, though I can tell she really doesn’t want to. That smile on her face is totally fake. It’s becoming much harder to be civil to my mom when I know what she’s really thinking. I never noticed before but . . . my parents have always been like this. I guess I was just used to it. What a sad revelation. I get dressed for school and start to head out.
“I’m off!”
“Don’t fall down anymore stairs.” She’s probably just saying that so she doesn’t have to pay any more medical bills . . .
“Okay~ bye.” Although my mom is a total jerk, the nice weather outside makes me feel a little better. The sun is shining and the air is warm. It’s been a really long time since I’ve walked to school by myself. I usually go to school with Sungjong, so it’s a bit lonely. My school, SM high, is about a ten minute walk away from home. Even though my school is pretty average it’s actually well-known for its advanced technology. We have some of the newest models of computers and a huge budget. Because of that, most SM graduates become computer programmers or something similar. The SM principal, Kim-sosaengmin, has never been seen before. He’s a very mysterious person who I’ve heard rumors about. Since the principal is almost always absent, the teachers are extra strict to make up for it. Needless to say, it’s an unusual situation there. I check my watch and see that I only have about three minutes left to make it. I’d better hurry so I don’t get punished again. After running, my school comes into sight within one minute. There are hardly any students outside of the building, so classes must be about to start. I drop by the empty cafeteria to grab some milk and bread for breakfast. There’s usually tons of student hanging out there, but not when it’s this close to class time.
Phew, I made it! Huffing and out of breath, I hobble over to my desk. At first all is normal. And then . . .
“I wonder is she’ll go out with me?”
“Ugh, I hate this class. I hate school. I wanna drop out!”
“Last night was totally awesome! I made it to second base.”
“Isn’t that the girl who fell down the stairs? What an idiot.”
“Why is Woori here today? I thought she had a concussion?”
“Arghhh!” Voices pound into my head like knives. They come from every possible direction. I hear all of my classmates talking at once, their thoughts echoing in my mind. I cover my ears with my hands, but I still hear them just as clearly. Some of my classmates turn around and look at me, probably confused by my strange behavior. None of their mouths are moving but . . .
“What the hell is wrong with Woori?”
“I always knew that this girl was weird.”
“Is she okay? Why did she scream just now?”
“What a freak.” I can’t take this! This is insane; there’s no way I’ll be able to concentrate. I stand up from my desk, dizzy from all the noise and crouch down on the ground with my hands pressed on my ears.
“Woori? Are you feeling all right?” My homeroom teacher asks me a question, but I can hardly hear what she’s saying over the other voices. This is worse than other people screaming at me, because the noise is literally inside of my head. It has nothing to do with my ears. I have to get out of here.
I step out into the hallway, and the voices disappear behind the door. Oh man, that was horrible. And now I have a killer headache. I slump against the wall, clutching my head. Seconds later, my teacher opens the door and comes into the hallway.
“Woori! What in the world happen in there?”
“My head hurts. I think I should have stayed home.”
“Didn’t the nurse instruct you to stay home for the day anyway? Why did you come?”
“Err, well, I just didn’t want to have to make up today’s assignments.”
“Oh, please. She never does the class assignments anyway.”
“What? That’s not true – I make straight A’s!”
“What? What are you talking about?” Uh oh, I responded to her thoughts not her words.
“Ah, sorry. I thought you said something.” This is bad. I need to get out of here, and fast. I’m making a total fool out of myself!
“Maybe you should go home, Woori. You’re acting . . . strange.”
“I think I should go home too. See you tomorrow, sosaengmin!” I stand up and take off down the hallway.
“Hey, no running in the halls!”