Mark slowly pulled his bedroom door shut before releasing a sigh of relief when the door closed without making a sound. He slowly walked over to his unruly bed and laid down. Staring up at his ceiling thousands of thoughts ran through his mind and he could feel a headache coming on. He wasn't sure what was more nerve wrecking, opening the envelope that was in his front pocket or his parents reaction to the news. His mother would wave her finger sternly at him but once she saw his mournful expression she would pull him into a hug and tell him something along the lines of, "I'm not angry just disappointed" and might even bake him his favorite pastry to make him feel better. His father on the other hand wouldn't take the news the same way. He would most likely yell at him using various insults until Mark was in tears causing his mother to intervene and tell her husband to calm down.

Well it's now or never.

Sitting up from his last position, Mark pulled the white envelope out from his front pocket. Printed on the front was his school's name and his home address and underneath was his parent's names written in bold. Mark slowly began to tear the envelope from the top being extra careful not to tear the paper inside. Once that was done he tossed the torn piece of the envelope and it landed on the floor. The folded letter was now in his hands and he bite his bottom lip nervously slightly afraid of what it was going to say. Swallowing the lump that was forming in his throat he finally gained the courage to open the letter.

Dear parent's/guardian's of Mark Tuan,

We have reviewed your son/daughter's transcript for this year and due to not earning the proper credit in his/her's English class, they are required to attend our summer school program...

Mark stopped reading the letter in his hand and begun to crumple the letter and toss it into his trash can. He wasn't sad but upset more than anything. When his friend Jinyoung told him he should be studying he remembers ignoring him and sleeping in or hanging out with his friends instead. A wave of regret hit him and the lump he once swallowed was now back. He would have to explain to his parents that he wouldn't be able to go to Taiwan and visit his cousins but instead he would be stuck in a classroom for most of his summer. He had so many things he had wanted to do during the his summer vacation. He wanted to get his driver's licenses, attend his favorite artist concert and even go on a road trip to San Francisco. None of these things were ever going to happen once he broke the news to his parents.

Getting up from his bed, he opened his bedroom door and made his way down the steps. Once he stepped down from the last step he saw his father watching some sports program on his obnoxiously big screen television and his mother was in the kitchen preparing dinner. He wasn't sure who he should tell first. His father who was too caught in his sports program and probably wouldn't even pay attention to Mark and just nod his head or his mother who was rushing to finish dinner.

He walked towards the kitchen area hoping he made the right choice by telling his mother the news first. His mother was too busy taking the chicken from out the oven to notice her oldest son had walked into the kitchen. Once she began to pull out plates from the cupboards she noticed a tall lankly figure in her peripheral. Wiping her hands in her apron she walked over to Mark and hugged him, asking a series of questions about how his last day of school was.

"Did you check the mail box?"

Mark tensed up and hoped his mother didn't notice but the woman did and her cheerful smile fell and she now looked at him seriously.

"Did something happen Mark?"

"No nothing happened. I'm just kind of sad that today is the last day of school."

"You're going to miss school? Since when did you like school?"

"I'm not going to miss school. Just my friends mom."

"You'll see them in September but come help me set the table for dinner then we can go online and check for plane tickets."

"Mom, I don't think I'll be able to go to Taiwan this year."

"Why not? You love your cousins and they love hanging out with you."

After he finished placing plates done on ever table mat, he mumbled something under his breath that his mother couldn't quite comprehend.

"What was that?"

"I said I have to go to summer school."

The woman didn't seemed phased by her son's comment and continued to set up the dinner table and grabbed cups from the dishwasher to place on the table.

"What for?"

"I failed English."

"Well we knew that wasn't your best subject but in summer school I expect you to at least try harder than you did before."

"Don't worry mom I will."

"Good. Now call down your brother so we can eat dinner."

The car ride the following week to his school for the summer with his father was very awkward. He knew his father was upset that his eldest son wasn't following in the steps of his eldest daughter, but instead every year barely passing his classes. Mark's older sister excelled at everything she did and her father loved her for that. She was interested in everything he was and always had father-daughter bonding time. His father wouldn't admit it but his sister was his favorite child. Mark wanted to have that with his father once his sister moved out but later found out that his father and himself were two completely different people. No force on Earth could change that, they would never see eye to eye on anything.

"We're here."

His father's gruff voice pulled him out of his thoughts. 

Looking around at his new environment, he noticed how this school building was ten times bigger than his normal school's. As soon as he walked into that building he knew he would get lost immediately.

He removed his seatbelt from his body and grabbed his book bag from the back seat. He was about to exit the car but his father's voice stopped him.

"Do you need me to pick you up after school or are you going to take the bus?"

"No you can pick me up, thanks."

"Alright I'll be back here around three ok?"

"Yeah thanks dad."

"Before you go."

Mark was now getting slightly irritated that his dad was holding him up.

His father dug into into his front pocket and pulled out his worn out wallet that Mark's sister had given him for Father's Day years ago. He pulled out twenty dollars and gave it to Mark.

"For lunch in case you didn't want to eat school lunch."

Mark tucked the money into his front pocket and thanked his dad again before exisiting the car. His father waved at him before driving off and leaving Mark to his own devices.

Mark walked up the steps towards the front entrance where some students loitered around before class started he presumed. Once he made it into the building he saw a large  board which turned out to be a map for the school. Thank God for this or he would have been lost forever. When he found out where the main office was he made his way towards the stairwell. As he walked up the stairs towards the fourth floor he saw groups of kids causally sitting on the stairs making his trip to the office more difficult. He also noticed how the kids here looked rough as if they had all been through some things that his mind couldn't even imagined.

Almost out of breath he made it to the fourth floor and looked around for a sign that indicated where the main office was. He felt like he walking around in circles and was losing his mind trying to figure out where he was. Giving up on his search, he pressed his back against a wall and sighed deeply. This school was practically a maze and Mark wasn't sure if would survive this for another month.

Loud laughing and giggling caused his head to shift in direction of the noise. Two guys were walking down his way and maybe they could help Mark out. Neither of them looked violent and hopefully wouldn't hurt him for asking a simple question. Just before they walked passed him Mark spoke up.

"Excuse me."

The two boys stopped walking and turned around to face Mark. The taller boy looked at him through his cat like eyes and Mark wasn't sure if he should feel threatened or not. His slightly shorter friend had a much kinder expression but the smirk that played on his lips created an unnecessary tension as well.

"Do you guys know where the main office is?

"Oh I do. We were just there a few minutes ago."

"Can you show me then? I'm really lost."

"Yeah I'll show you come on."

His taller friend looked at the both of suspiciously before walking away to his class. 

"I'll catch you later then and don't get into any trouble Jackson."

The taller boy said before walking into a classroom and leaving us alone in the hallway.

Jackson started to walk down the hall already which forced to me to walk faster just to keep up.

"What's your name?"

"Mark. Mark Tuan."

"Cool. Is this your first time here? I don't think I've ever seen a beauty like you around here before."

A beauty? Does he find me attractive then?

Mark face turned a light shade of pink and a smile crept on his face but he refused to let some random boy have this affect on him. He cleared his throat and coughed awkwardly before answering Jackson's question.

"I've never been to summer school before. I'm kind of nervous actually."

"Don't be. Everyone here is soft as . No one is as violent as they look trust me. Plus you've got the one and only Jackson Wang to keep you company."

Mark nodded his head at Jackson's statement and they continued to walk in silence.

"Here is the main office."

Jackson pointed to a large room that Mark was sure he walked by at least four times.

"Thank you so much. I thought I would never find this place."

"I'll wait out here for you when you're done."

Mark walked into the long awaited office and walked towards the receptionist at the front.

"How may I help you?" She said with a fake smile that Mark could tell was just a facade.

"I'm Mark Tuan and I would like to have my schedule."

"One moment please."

The printer began to to come to life and moments later a piece of paper came out. The receptionist grabbed the paper and gave it to Mark, sending him on his way.

"That was extremely fast normally that lady in there would be on the phone talking with his friends before she paid attention to anybody else."

Mark chuckled lightly to himself and Jackson grabbed on to his arm to lead on towards the elevators.

"Let me see your schedule."

Mark didn't even have a chance to open it himself before Jackson snatched it out of his hands. 

" this we aren't in the same room."

Mark grabbed his schedule back and looked at it for himself.

Student Name: Mark Tuan

9:00am-11:00am English Rm 307 Mr.Ritter

"Wait a minute I thought school would end at three?"

"No you only have to be here for two hours depending on how many classes you are here for."

"Then I have four hours to waste if my dad is suppose to pick me up at three."

Jackson face light up and that same smirk crept onto his face once again and the way hiss eyebrows rose created tension between the two.

"You can hang out with me."

"What?"

"After school Jaebum and I were going to head over to my house to chill for a minute and you tag along if you like."

"No it's okay I'll just catch the bus home."

"Mark I want you to be there so you're going to be there."

He obviously wasn't going to win this and decided to give into Jackson.

"Fine I'll come."

"Cool. Meet me in front of the school once class is over. By the way your class is around the corner."

Jackson stepped onto the elevator and winked at Mark before the doors closed.

This is going to be a long summer.