The new year was starting. New school, new people, new environment and I thought I would become a new me. I did a total makeover. I cut my hair, I bought contacts to replace my prescription glasses and went shopping for clothes. I even decided to lose weight and I didn't see Jia for the two weeks before school started because of it. I wanted to surprise her.

We promised each other we would wait at the bus stop together on the first day of school. I was early and she came on time. It was funny to see her react. She was looking around, trying to search for me when I was right beside her. She only got to recognize me when I stared right her. She turned to me and stared right back for the longest time before realization hit her. "Woohyun?" she asked in surprise.

I laughed and nodded. "It's me!"

"Oh my God!" She grabbed my hand before whirling me around. She pinched my articles of clothing and even the tips of my hair. She was as surprised as I hoped her to be. "Is this why you didn't want to hang out with me during the two last weeks? You got yourself a new makeover!"

"New school, new me. Do you like this?"

"Of course I do! If you want to be a new you, then go all out! But don't forget me and help me on my homework, too." She's too cute. Like I would ever forget her.

Fortunately, we were in the same class. The school wasn't big but the classes were. The school did not have enough teachers, so there would probably be around 30-40 people in each class. It was really crowded too since the classes weren't big. We would have to maneuver ourselves between the desks and chairs if we wanted to get out of our seat. Whenever we have tests, we would relocate into the gym or the cafeteria because of the closeness of our desks and the high probability to cheat. 

Not only was Jia in my class, she sat right behind me. We were getting "special privileges" because we just got out of middle school and our teacher wanted to give us the freedom. The beginning of the year was great; the teacher was cool, and everyone seemed to get along quite nicely. I've also made a new friend that year, although I forget his name. I think his name was Kibum or something along those lines. He wasn't someone who impacted my life as much so I slowly forgot him. 

Anyways, the boy kept pestering me to eat with him and his friends but I kept rejecting them because I wanted to eat with Jia. "Go with him," she said when my friend approached us both. "A couple of my girl friends have been wanting me to eat with them, anyways."

So, we split and I went with my friend. Turns out, the boy had a lot of friends. He had a group and from what I know, they were labeled the "popular" ones. I got along with everyone in that group, surprisingly. They were very fun to hang out with. They joked around a lot and laughed a lot. Day after day, I would hang out with them during school and I would hang out with Jia after school. It seemed like she found her own small group of friends, too. If she didn't, I would have kept her company or I would have introduced her to my group of friends. I knew she wouldn't like the latter because she wasn't that type of person to be around so many people who talk all at once. 

After a couple months or so, they split the class up, which was stupid. We've already learned so much material in those couple months but now the split class had to relearn everything with the new teacher. There was one more thing that was stupid. They put half of the freshmans with the sophomores. Why in the world would be mix half of us with half of the students in the higher grade? It was so dumb! Another thing was, Jia was part of that split class. I felt so bad for her. She had to learn the things the sophomores were learning.

When I thought things were going great, they went downhill instead.

For instance, Jia and I never hung out together anymore. We usually did our homework together but her work was different from mine. She also had to go to a tutor class after school because the difficulty was too much for her. My grades dropped, also. Because Jia and I weren't together to do our homework, I hung out with my group. I didn't study much and that resulted in my grades dropping. 

On top of all that, one of my friends were caught with illegal drugs. Honestly, I never thought that could have happened. This was a school right next to an orphanage with a small school population. I never thought there would be any chance of anyone possessing drugs. I guess it goes to show anything can happen.

And it happened the wrong way. Since he was a part of our group, the principle suspected all of us. The word got out and the parents were called in for a meeting. Apparently, it had been the first incident of anyone possessing illegal drugs. My parents were so disappointed in me for hanging out with the wrong group. I defended them back then but now that I look at it, they had all the right to be disappointed. 

With my parents ashamed of me and my friends all in the same situation, I looked for Jia for help. I went to her house one day and knocked on the door. To my luck, her mom opened the door. Her face was the same face as my mom's: disappointment. "Can I see Jia?" I asked.

"Woohyun, you should not see her anymore."

"Why?" I asked, although I perfectly knew the answer.

"You're going to influence her."

"But you know me. You know I'll never do that to her."

"You've went through a change."

"I only look different, but I'm still the same. Please. I want to talk to her about this."

"...fine. I'll only give you 10 minutes. Her dad isn't home and if he finds out you're here, he'll be very angry." She stepped inside to let me in. I thanked her and to Jia's room. I knocked twice and heard her call me in. I opened the door to see her lying on her bed flat on her stomach. She had a textbook in front of her and a messy bun on top of her head. "Hey, what's up?" she asked casually.

I closed the door behind me. "Can you really be asking me that, right now?"

She sat up. "Why can't I?"

"Haven't you heard what is happening? How can you act like this is another normal day?"

"Of course I've heard. Everyone who goes to the school has heard."

"Then can't you just comfort me?"

"Why should I?" she asked like it was the stupidest question in the world. 

"Because I'm involved in this!" I yelled. Honestly, I think it was the first time I ever raised my voice at her but her tone was no different. She didn't sound angry or anything but she frowned. "I don't believe you are. You didn't even know of it. You're just hanging out with the wrong group of friends."

"So you're saying I'm a bad person for choosing them to be my friends?"

"I didn't say that," she denied.

"Then, what are you saying?"

"I'm just saying, those friends of yours are making you look bad. That one person is making your whole group of friends look bad. It's not your fault."

"You are saying what I thought you meant. You're saying I chose the wrong people, right?" She nodded. "Well, maybe I made the wrong decision to be friends with you. Maybe this all happened because I became friends with you. Because of you, I came to this stupid orphanage school and I regret it so much!" 

What I really regret is saying those words. That was our first fight. We didn't talk to each other after that. We probably would have been strangers by now if it weren't for this person that was pursuing her. 

I've heard of him when a classmate asked about Jia. I didn't really want to reveal that we weren't friends anymore but then she started talking about her pursuer. I knew him. He was in my class before the class split up. I didn't remember much of him because he was quiet but after the drug incident, he started causing trouble. He would vandalize, bully and talk back to the teachers. He also wore his uniform improperly. People suspected that he smoked but never once did anyone catch him.

Anyways, the girl was telling me how he had been trying to get Jia's attention. Well, she told me how he would pick on her during class. He wouldn't pick on any other girl but her and that seemed like he wanted her attention. The only reason he wanted her attention was because he liked her. 

Although we weren't friends anymore, I still felt an urge to punch that guy in the face and put him in his place. But of course, I would never actually do that. 

One day, I was walking down the hall during lunch. I forgot my juice box back in class and for some reason, I took the long way. The long way that passed Jia's class. I looked in and saw someone in there. I realized it was Jia, eating all alone. "Why is she eating alone? I thought she had her own group of friends."

Without me knowing, my hand reached for the door and opened it. She looked at me before she turned back to her lunch. There was an awkward silence in the air. I was just standing there, watching her eat. I don't even know why I opened the door in the first place. I was trying to think if an excuse as to why I suddenly opened the door but I couldn't even open my mouth because seeing her after so long made me stand there, speechless. I missed her. I missed hearing her voice, I missed hearing her laugh and seeing her smile. I missed our talks together and our hang outs. I missed going over to her house and eating her mom's cooked food. Honestly, it tasted a lot better than my own mom's. Sorry, mom. 

I was finally going to say something but someone behind me pushed me to the side. Frowning, I turned my head at the rude person, only to see her pursuer. The boy had smaller eyes than I've expected, not to be rude or anything...well...it's true anyways.

"Who are you? Why are you standing in front of my classroom?" he asked me with a glare.

Before I could answer, Jia asked, "Why are you here, again?"

My heart leaped when I heard her voice. It had been so long that my head was forgetting what she sounded like. Then, I watched the boy respond. The glare he had given me disappeared. His facial features softened and smiled, making his eyes completely disappear. This boy liked her. "Baby, you can't ask me that every time we're alone. This is my classroom, too!" I cringed when he called her baby and I think Jia did, too. She wasn't fond with pet names.

"You say you forget something but you always end up staying here, talking non stop."

"Hey, it's not my fault I want to keep you company." He walked towards her and sat on the seat in front of her. "I don't want your company." "Ouch. But it's fine. I know you want my company. You haven't been with your friends ever since that drug incident."

I noticed how she shifted in her seat. She did not want me to know about that. She lost - or more like stayed away from her friends because of that. Because of me. And because of me, that boy started paying attention to her.

"I chose not to stay with my friends because I don't trust them. Who knows? They'll probably stab me in the back, claiming I've done nothing but bad for them." She was talking about me. 

"Aw, who's the person who bothered my baby?" he cooed in a teasing tone. "You're the opposite of me. I'm the devil and you're the angel. Why would anyone blame anything on the angel?" She smiled and I think I felt my heart shatter. Her smile wasn't to be wasted on a rebellious person like him. Her smile wasn't supposed to be for the devil. I suppose her smile wasn't meant for me either. I was the devil in her life.

I walked towards them and they watched me. I placed the juice box on her desk. "You forgot your water, again," I said. With that, I headed towards the door.

"You know him?" her pursuer asked.

"Yeah," she answered. Before I closed the door I heard her say, "He's my angel in disguise."