Chapter 6 

❝I wish to be an actress.❞

[Lunch Break; Beverly Hills High Courtyard]

Krystal

"And then Jason was like, 'but you said I could'. But, then I was like, 'no I never said that!'" Annie inserted a piece of gum in , ready to continue the story, but Jesy interrupted.

"Annie. You could do SO much better than him..." Jesy took a sip of her Diet Coke, "Isn't that right, Krystal?"

Without knowing what I was nodding to, I agreed to whatever Jesy had said. They didn't seem to notice that I wasn't fully into the conversation since my thoughts were on some other things. And when I mean things, I actually meant only one thing:

And that thing was a certain Genie.

Even though I couldn't see him, I could sort of... feel his presence. Chills didn’t particularly run down my spine, but I did feel something inhumane and unnatural surround me. As if I had a sixth sense or something. Maybe this was how Mickey felt that time he was acting chaotic when I unpacked the genie charm necklace.

Wait, I was comparing my human senses to a dog??

I shook my head, taking a forkful of salad and stuffing it into my mouth. As Jesy and Annie were engrossed in their conversation, I took my time to look for Jay around the courtyard. My eyes diverted to where he usually sat; the top row of the stairs, and sure enough, he was there with his so-called crew named "BTS." And as if our brother-sister minds clicked, he immediately looked at my direction by the fountain.

"Where's Luhan?" Jay mouthed as he looked around the courtyard. I looked around as well, shrugging then pointed at him.

"Didn't you see him last?" I retorted silently. It was Jay's turn to shrug; he took his phone out from his back pocket and darted his thumbs across the screen. In less than a minute, I received a text on my own phone.

To: Krystal

From: Jay

Yah, Noona! I thought you were with him all this time!!

To: Jay

From: Krystal

Please, why would I look after him? I’ve been telling him to go away since he came!

To: Krystal

From: Jay

So if you wanted him to go away... why are you so worried about him? Hmm?

My fingers lingered over the screen a bit, then I looked up at Jay who was wiggling his eyebrows at me. I stuck my tongue out at him and turned around to face my friends again without texting Jay back. He's right (for once); why was I worrying about that pesky Genie anyways? I had been telling him to go away, and he finally took my orders. So, why even bother?

"You bother because in the back of your head, you know you can't resist me nor avoid me." I let out a shrill scream, looking to my left where the voice was coming from.

Low and behold, it was Luhan the Genie.

Before I could open my mouth to say anything, I saw most of the students looking at my direction to see what all the commotion was about. Even Jesy and Annie stopped to ask if I was alright. I looked up at Luhan again; he was still inches from my face, giving me an innocent look, as if he had done nothing wrong. I bit my lip in anger as I knew that he was trying to make a fool out of me; trying to get me to look as if I was talking to myself again. I knew it would be too good to be true if he disappeared forever like that.

Jesy asked me if I was okay; I told them I was fine, thinking I was being chased by a pesky bee and excused myself to the restroom to calm myself down. As I stood up, all the students around me who were watching shrugged, figuring it was nothing important. I let out a sigh of relief as I began to walk, making eye contact with Jay once again, I jabbed my thumb behind me, hoping that Luhan was following me to prove my point on why I had really screamed. Without turning around, the look on Jay's face changed to comprehension. He seemed to want to come and follow me, but I shook my head to signal that I could handle him on my own. Jay didn't look convinced though and held up his hands numbering out 10 on his fingers. Meaning, if I didn't contact him about the situation in 10 minutes or so, then he would come and find me to see if everything was alright.

But, I had a feeling that it was more for Luhan's safety than my own, knowing that his pissed off Noona could get pretty violent.

"God Luhan, don't you dare scare me like that ever again!!" I exclaimed as soon as we got to the deserted hallway. "You almost made me look like a fool out there!”

Luhan shrugged, "You don't need to look like a fool in front of them to know you are one." I scrunched in confusion.

"Hey, if you’re going to use smart words with deep meanings for me to figure out... DON'T." I stomped my foot on the last word taking a step forward to show him my dominance. "I would rather you say it straight to my face rather than talk sh*t behind my back."

"Fine then." Luhan snapped his fingers and a cloud appeared in front of me. I realized that it was an image of me taking the Pre-Calc test during 5th period. The view wasn’t exactly of me taking the test, but it was as if he was watching over my shoulder... I held my breath knowing how it would play out. Luhan had watched me take my test. That means...

"Hey, what the hell!!" I clawed at the little cloud, dispersing it into the air before it could show anymore of my antics. "Why the heck are you spying on me like that?! God, haven't you heard of something called privacy??"

"The bigger question is... why did you do what you did??" Luhan asked me, reflecting my annoyance. "I've seen your notes in class and--"

"God, you’re such a stalker! How long have you been watching me?!" I tried to change the subject in panic. I was losing ground, fast. No one had ever caught me like this and I never planned for anyone to find out. 

"I know you’re trying to change the subject, Krystal. It's not going to work." He took a step forward, catching me off guard, making me take a defensive step back. "Judging by your notes and your test taking skills, I would say that you’re actually dumbing yourself down." He took another step towards me and I took one last step back, realizing my back had hit the lockers now. "Only a REAL fool would do that."

Fool.

He called me a fool.

The voice of a little kid spoke through my mind.

Look at her... she's such a fool!! Hahah

The singing started to taunt my mind.

FOOL FOOLFOOLFOOL..

" OFF AND MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS!" I pushed myself past him as I bit my lip, silently praying that he didn’t see the tear that escaped my eye. I didn't dare turn back to check if he was following me or not. I couldn't risk him seeing the real me; I couldn't risk letting him gain the satisfaction of seeing me cry. If he thought using sympathy and was a way to get me to make a wish… Then he’s in a ride for a show. 

I made it to the front doors of the school, taking a deep breath of fresh air. I wiped off the tears in my eyes, taking a mirror out of my purse, checking if my eye makeup was still intact. I fixed my hair a bit before I smiled to myself, shutting the mirror with a loud clap. I continued walking, deciding that my acting skills this time around deserved an early, unofficial dismissal for myself to start on some much needed retail therapy.

At least that's what I convinced myself. That it was all an act, that the tears meant nothing, that the flashbacks and voices in my head were just made up scenarios, a trigger for tears, a mechanism I would use to cry on cue. All movie stars had their own struggles to play a sad scene. But, then again I was no movie star…

And the flashbacks of me being bullied were never made up either.

Luhan

I stood there, watching her walk out of the school. I felt this sort of... pang in my chest when I saw those tears.

Was this what humans called... guilt?

"No nono... She’s just acting." I remembered her “fainting” from this morning and her other antics she tried on her teachers to get what she wanted. I turned around to walk away, rubbing my chest to make that feeling go away.

I decided that it was best to leave Krystal alone for a while, figuring that I would talk to her about this sooner or later. Besides, if there was one person I could get answers from, it would probably be Jay. I nodded my head, agreeing with myself as I started to find my way back to the courtyard where lunch was being held. Looking over at the spot where Jay's friends were sitting previously, nobody was there. Where could they have disappeared off to so quickly?

I looked at the time on my watch and noticed that class would begin in 10 minutes. I decided to check inside the school again, and upon entering, I heard a loud crash against the lockers. I nearly jumped in my spot, from the sound. I used my eyesight and hearing to pinpoint what was happening and where it came from. I saw two boys in the deserted, corner lockers away from all the other classrooms. I slowly made my way towards them, getting a whiff of their conversation.

"So Jay, tell me one more time who that guy was your sister went home with last night..." That voice sounded so familiar. I walked a bit more to check out the scene: it was Jackson holding Jay up against the wall.

"I don't know who you’re talking about c-c-captain." Jay didn't look like he was afraid of him, but more along the lines of just being nervous. He was smiling and laughing a bit, trying to keep his cool.

"Are you hiding secrets from your captain, Jay?" Jackson smiled, punching the wall beside Jay's head. Jay flinched, putting his hands up nervously.

"Of course not captain! Why would I lie about such a thing?" Jackson's smile disappeared, and from what I could sense, his fist was about to ask Jay the next question.

This time, it didn't look like it was going to hit the wall.

"Typical scene much," I exclaimed. They both turned to me as I made my presence known. "Kids these days..."

Jay's eyes widened as Jackson let go of his collar, letting him slide down to the floor. I stood there with a smug look on my face, as Jackson pointed at me in recognition.

"YOU!" Jackson said as he started to storm his way towards me. I crossed my arms casually, leaning one side of my body against the lockers. "Weren’t you the boy who went home with my girlfriend last night?!"

I looked around the hallway, then pointed to myself innocently. "Me?"

"YES, YOU" Jackson exclaimed as he looked at me with angry eyes. "You were the man from last night’s party..." He took a step back and pointed at me. "And you came here to get Krystal behind my back again??" Jackson cracked his knuckles to look intimidating.

Jay on the other hand was freaking out from behind Jackson, sending signals for me to either disappear or use my brainwashing magic to alter Jackson's thinking. His actions of this made him look like a show monkey, causing me to keep myself from laughing. Although the smile I was trying to hide gave away the misconception that I was laughing at Jackson. It angered him even more.

"HEY WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT YOU LITTLE--" He was about to throw a punch, but miserably failed as I caught his fist in my palm with my quick reflexes.

"Boys boys boys!" A feminine, authoritative voice exclaimed. We all slowly turned our heads to the voice and a lady dressed in a business-like attire was standing in the hallway. "Mr. Park can you please explain what is going on here?!"

"Principal Summers, I can explain..." Jackson quickly started to make himself look innocent by backing away from me, making his way towards her. As he spoke, the Principal's eyes darted to all of us. With my powers, I held onto her stare long enough to hypnotize some sort of a story, tuning out Jackson's junk that he was putting into her brain.

"Mr. Wang!" She exclaimed in the middle of his sentence, startling Jackson a bit as he took a step back. "How dare you bully our newest student at Beverly Hills High! This is most definitely NOT a good impression of our school." She turned to me and gave a gracious smile, "I apologize on Mr. Wang's behalf Mr.--"

"Luhan. Just call me Luhan, Principal Summers," I grinned. "Actually, funny as it sounds... I was looking for Mr. Wang and I guess I got lucky we bumped into each other." I walked up to him, laying a confident arm around his shoulders. "I was actually just talking to him about joining the basketball team when we got into a bit of a disagreement about our... favorite basketball teams." I formed my fist into a knuckle, messing it into his hair, as if we were old buddies. "Isn't that right... Captain??"

All Jackson could do was shake his head up and down, nervously smiling. Jay dropped his mouth open in awe of the situation. Principal Summers smiled, content with the situation.

Humans were too easy to fool nowadays, even without the hypnotizing.

"Well... Luhan, if that’s the situation, then I hope to see you on the court for our school," Principal Summers said with spirit. She turned to look at Jackson, "And I expect you to be on your best behavior if you want to keep your title as Captain of the basketball team, young man."

"Yes ma'am, of course!" Jackson exclaimed a bit too enthusiastically. Principal Summers shook her head then turned to Jay, "Mr. Park, I understand that you’re friends with Luhan?" Jay turned to her and shook his head in agreement with a blank stare still on his face. "Good. I would like you to show Luhan around our school so when he starts by Monday, he’ll get around easier."

"Yes. Show. Luhan. Around. For. Monday..." Jay reiterated nervously as he stared into an empty space. Principal Summers didn't notice his blanked out look as she bid us a good day and walked away. As soon as she left, the tension between Jackson and I thickened as he gave me a glare.

"So, you want to join my team huh?" Jackson smiled, his tongue over his pearly white teeth. He snorted.

"Why not? To my understanding, basketball tryouts are open to all students, and I’m a student at this school... am I not?" I countered, earning a snarl of displeasure from the team Captain. He took a step forward, his face inches from mine.

“Look mister, I don’t know what you’re planning in that little brain of yours to get my girlfriend… but let me tell you two things,” Jackson held up one finger, pushing it on my chest. “One, don’t think that this will be an easy tryout, I only allow the best of the best for my team and won’t accept anything less. So unless you want to get your whooped, then I suggest for you not to come at all.” He smirked at Jay, “Isn’t that right, fresh fish?”

Jay saluted, “Yes captain, sir, errr… uh…”

“And two,” Jackson now poked two of fingers into my chest. “This is MY team you’re trying out for. MY territory, MY rules, MY game, and not to mention, you’re trudging into deep waters, messing with MY girl.” With each “my” he uttered, his pokes got harder and harder. I knew it hardly affected my toned body, but for any other human being, a bruise would have surely formed. I stood, amused at the creature. Humans sure had a way into getting one’s point across, “You got it, pretty boy?”

I pushed him away from my chest, dusting off the spot on my suit where he laid his fingers. I looked at Krystal’s so called “boyfriend” with an intimidating smile. “You called me pretty.”

Jackson looked taken aback, “Is that all you got from what I just told you?”

“No, but the thing is…” I looked deep in his eyes, hypnotizing him, “I don’t like being called pretty, I prefer…manly or handsome…” I placed a hand on his shoulder, bumping our heads together, “Only a real man would admit that I am handsome.”

The cloudiness from Jackson’s eyes disappeared, and upon realizing our stance, he immediately pushed me away. The bell suddenly rang, and a flurry of students started to crowd the hallways. Jay and I stood in the middle as students caught the captain walking away in an angry manner, unapologetically bumping into kids here and there. I fixed my tie, smoothing down my suit as I walked up to Jay.

“So…” I handed him my schedule that I made up on the spot. “About that tour…”

“Yah! Yah! Yah!” Jay pointed at me blatantly, causing passing students to stare at his sudden Korean outburst. “Who?! When?! How?! What the?!?!”

I put my hands in my pockets, pointing my head towards the hallway of students, “Let’s walk and talk shall we?” I started my way down the hallways with Jay following behind me. With the way people stared and whispered, I could already tell that I was making my mark in this school. My Genie charms were working its way into their mundane hearts, and I had them all in the palm of my hand.

All except the one that mattered most, and her heart was one of a certain rich b*tch.

Officially Posted On

July 11, 2015