The creak of the door opening gave my classmates a much needed excuse to look up from their empty notes. The door slammed into my desk, as it always did, and knocked my textbook to the ground. Even though it was an everyday occurrence, it still irritated me. I glared at our teacher, a tall harried man with a face that had seen better days. He didn’t notice me, and after a short pause, he cleared his throat. A boy I had never seen before walked in through the door. I stifled a groan as the door once again pummeled my poor desk.

“Today we have a new student. Please introduce yourself to the class,” our teacher said, his nasal tone softening slightly.

“I’m Byun Baekhyun. Please take care of me.” The boy had a nice face, which all the girls noticed. I heard the closing of backpack flaps as a few surreptitiously checked their makeup.

“Does anyone have any questions for him?” Our teacher looked like he was about to die from curiosity. It was well known that he was both a gossip monger and a long-suffering bachelor. Everyone in the class disliked him enough that no one asked a single question while Byun Baekhyun stood in front of the classroom.

“Well then,” our teacher said, deflated, “please go sit behind the girl next to the door.”

Immediately, as soon as Baekhyun sat down, a flurry of girls and boys crowded around him. Questions were launched, but from what I heard, very few were answered. Our teacher was red in the face, but he couldn’t do anything to the sons and daughters of the elite. Previous instructors had learned that the hard way. Distractedly, he walked over and tapped on my desk.

“Please get the notes for today’s lesson from the office.” He handed me a scribbled note and pushed me out the door.

I was different from my classmates because I was not extremely rich or brilliant. Everyone, including me, suspected that I had only been granted acceptance into the school and a scholarship because of the positive publicity my enrollment would generate. At any rate, I was the only student the teachers would ask to run errands.

I took a long route to the office, the one past the music department. Sometimes, there would be singing or piano classes going on, and I would stop and listen for a few minutes. There was no music today in any of the classrooms, but I still lingered until I heard the sound of heavy footsteps behind me. I turned around, and to my surprise, it was the new student.

“Are you lost?” he asked, confused. I had clearly ignored all the directions to the office that lined the hallways. “I don’t think the office is near here.”

“I just took a roundabout route,” I said shortly. “Thanks for your consideration.” I quickly continued down the hallway, and he followed. He didn’t start a conversation, and I didn’t encourage him. When we reached the office, I was aware that he was still hovering behind me. I gave the note to the secretary and she pointed to the large stack of papers next to her desk. Without waiting for the boy, I scooped up the notes and slipped out.

It didn’t take him long to catch up to me. He tucked his newly acquired textbook under his arm and looked at me questioningly.

“Do you need help?” The notes weren’t heavy, and I shook my head. We walked back in silence, until he abruptly stopped.

“I’m sorry about slamming into your desk this morning,” he suddenly mumbled. “I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “I’m not mad.” My voice sounded out, a crack in the peace. My tone was cold, unforgiving and contradictory to my words. I knew it. He knew it. I meant what I said. He believed what he heard.

“I hope we can be friends.” They were empty words, and I let them hang in the air, to let him hear how they would echo through the halls. There was nothing I wanted to do with this person, with his honeyed words and brittle conscience.