I laid in bed for the past 15 minutes staring at the ceiling. The morning sunlight filtered through the curtains and on to my face. I could barely open my eyes, the sun was too bright and my eyelids were heavy. I'll just lay in bed for 5 more minutes. I pulled the sheets over my head to block out the sun. Before I knew it I fell asleep again.

I looked up at the clock and it read 7:26 AM. ... I'm going to be late again. I quickly threw on my uniform and washed up in the bathroom. I could smell my mother's cooking from upstairs. I walked down and I saw a bowl of porridge and some cut apples set out on the dining table.

"What am I going to do with you Jiae.. you might as well eat before going to school. You're going to be late even if you walk out the door right now." Sometimes I feel like my mother just accepts the fact that I'm going to always be late. Luckily, my grades make up for it, so she doesn't really care.

Hurriedly, I gulped down the food and took a few pieces of apples with me out the door. The autumn breeze blew against my face. I'd have to admit it was pretty darn cold and I didn't have a jacket on or anything. The wait for the bus seemed longer than usual. I would walk to school... but then it would take 15 minutes or so, and I felt lazy. Why walk when you could take the bus?

Just as the bus was approaching, I see a tall, slim guy running. He was maybe a street away, or even further. It didn't seem like he was going to make it for this bus anyway. I looked out the window just as the bus started moving, he was standing across the bus stop ruffling his hair in frustration. He looked kind of familiar, but I couldn't pin point who he was exactly. He probably goes to my school that's why.

I sat down on the bleachers with my p.e. uniform on after having my attendance checked. First period physical education is a drag. I wouldn't consider myself to be an athletic person anyways. Maybe I can run a bit, but that's about it. Besides I'm too sleepy to be exercising at 8 in the morning. I laid my head on Minah's shoulders. "Minah-ah, I'm so sleepy." I whined.

She lightly shoved me, "When are you not tired? Don't tell me you slept at 3 again." I gave a small chuckle. "How do you know me so well?"

"Tell me how long I've known you for Nam Jiae. I could easily name every single dish you like."

To be very honest, I don't know how long I've known Minah for. All I remember is that its long. Really long. I have a bad memory for these kinds of things. It's not that I don't try to remember, it's just that it slips out of my mind really easily.

In this whole entire world, there's only two people I trust with my entire heart. Minah. And Kyungsoo. To think about it, they are probably the only friends I have and I've known them for the longest time. Believe it or not, I'm not that popular amongst people. I find that I have trouble expressing myself and meeting new people. It's just difficult!

After p.e., as usually, I walk to my second period class. Usually by the time I get into the classroom, everyone would already be seated and I would be the last one to enter. I walked inside and it was completely empty. I was the only one inside. Did I walk into the wrong classroom? No, right?

I sat in my seat for a good ten minutes. Still, no one walked in. Not even the teacher. I took out my phone from my backpack.

4 New Text Messages: Hwang Minah, Do Kyungsoo.

From: Hwang Minah (1)

“Ya! Where are you?!?”

From: Hwang Minah (2)

“Turned around you were already gone from the gym. Hurry and come to the school yard!”

From: Hwang Minah (3)

“Are you really going to not reply me? Seriously where are you? Are you lost?”

From: Do Kyungsoo (1)

“Are you coming yet?”

Ugh. I forgot there was an event for 3rd-year students out in the school yard today. No wonder no one is in the classroom. Quickly I walked to the school yard. It had so many people. I never knew there were so many 3rd year students. From what I see, there is roughly 800 students standing right now. 

I walked over to where Minah and Kyungsoo were. Minah gave me a punch on the arm. "Where did you go? Took you forever to get here! You didn't even respond to my text messages!!" 

"Oh... uhm... I went to class...by mistake." I felt my face burn. I swear I probably looked like a tomato. Kyungsoo ruffled my hair. I shot him a glare and fixed my bangs. Does he not know? You should never mess with a girl's hair. That is one of the worst things ever. Well to me. I don't like people touching my hair.

In these kind of school events there isn't much to really do. Standing all the way in the back, I could barely comprehend what the principal and vice principal were saying. It's nothing of great importance anyways...I think.

Anywhos. My legs started to cramp up after standing for about an hour. Who talks for this long? Can they not see that making us stand, making me stand, for an hour is inhumane! I honestly need to sit down because my legs are killing me. It feels like there are tiny little devils stabbing at my calves and thighs with pitchforks. I whispered to Minah, "When is this going to be over?" She just shrugged. I asked the same thing to Kyungsoo.  "No idea." 

I'm 110% positive that everything being said right now would be summarized in the student council after school. It's a shame how I'm the president of the student council. I don't even do much... The secretary does everything in my opinion. 

Everyone became silent for a moment. I wasn't paying attention to what was going on, before I could take everything in I felt everyone turning their heads looking at me. Then Principal Jeong repeated my name, "Nam Jiae. Could you please come up to the front?" I was lost for a moment. Nam Jiae? Me? Is he directing it towards me? Or is there another Nam Jiae. I looked over at Minah. Her head gestured for me to go up. Hesistantly I began to walk. Why are they calling me up? Did I do something wrong? 

As I was walking up to the podium, my heart rate seemed to be pacing up and my hands got all sweaty. All the attention right now...all the eyes. I dug my fingers into my palms. 

"Ah this is Jiae right?" Principal Jeong patted my back. I couldn't speak at that moment. It feels like something is clogged up in my throat so I just nodded my head. It wasn't a pleasant feeling. The taste in my mouth was bitter. I could feel my legs begin to slighly tremble. 

"I would like to congratulate you on your outstanding academics for the past 2 years at Changwon High School." He handed me a certificate and whispered into my ear. "...work on your attendance. Don't be tardy so much." I felt embarrased. I feel the heat rising up to my face. I nodded and walked back to my place. 

If I had to stand up there in front of the crowd any longer, my legs might just become jello. 

At the student council meeting, we recieved a stack of flyers highlighting the main parts of the 2 hour speech. I was right afterall. Hayoung, secretary of the student council, quickly recapped it. 

"Principal Jeong basically wants us to organize an event for the school right before Winter Break starts. So does anyone have any suggestions?" Hayoung asked. I didn't have any suggestions, my head was completely blank. I've never really liked school events, they are so much work and time consuming. One thing I didn't have is time. 

People began blurting out any old ideas that came to mind; bonfire, coffee house, movie night, etc. Listening to all the suggestions, having a masquerade ball isn't that bad of an idea. It's kind of new and quirkly. Besides we've never had one in Changwon High School. I felt iffy about saying it out loud. What if everyone else thought it was stupid? And hated the idea. What if....no one wants to participate? 

Debating with myself in my head for a good while, a male student came into the room. He had a camera hanging on his neck. "Hello, I'm Byun Baekhyun, 3rd year, and I'm from the yearbook. Sorry for interrupting, but can a Nam Jiae step outside. I just need to take a quick picture." 

I looked at him for a bit and then around. I didn't want to make a scene again, so I quickly walked out of the room. "Ah, can you please stand in front of this wall." He gestured me to the school mural. "Now, 1-2-3 smile!" I felt uncomfortable having my picture taken. I think I gave a weak smile, but on the contrary he was smiling really brightly taking the picture. He has a nice smile actually. 

I walked back into the student council room. After going back to my seat, Byun Baekhyun... Baekhyun... looks familiar. Where have I seem him before? Class? No... I don't think I've had any classes with him. I've thought about it some more, he seems to look like the person who was running after the bus this morning. Byun Baekhyun... where was he from again? Oh right yearbook. 

Minah snapped at me. I tuned everyone in the room out without even realizing. "You look lost. .what were you daydreaming about?" 

"Ah Sorry." I said. "What are we talking about again?"

Hayoung looked the slightest annoyed. "Ideas about the winter event. Do you have any suggestions?" Should I say it? "Uhm... how about being a bit creative and new, what do you guys think about a masquerade ball?" 

No one said anything. Ugh. This is horrible. Did I just make myself look stupid? I knew I shouldn't have said anything. This is embarrasing. No one's speaking. They're all just looking at each other. I felt my face begin to turn red. They must be judging me now. I began to nibble on my lower lip. The nervousness from my head is going down to my stomach. It's like there are millions and millions of butterflies flying in my tummy right now, making me cringe. 

"It's not a bad idea. I think it's actually do-able." Hayoung pushed up her glasses and began writing it down. "I second that!" Minah cheered. A breath of relief swept over me. I feel like I can finally breathe. 

"Now we're just going to have to add in the details. We could do this in the next meeting. I think this concludes our meeting today. " Hayoung recapped everything we did in the meeting and dismissed everyone. "So was that what you were daydreaming about earlier?" Minah nudged. I gave a slight nod. It's not that I don't want to tell Minah what I was thinking about. There really wasn't a need to tell her. It wasn't important anyways. 

I grabbed my bag and headed for home.