7:30 am

I should be sad. It’s the last day of secondary school. That means leaving her and seeing her less. Not being able to speak to her every day or have lunch with her. Not being able to share our breaks together laughing and fan-girling over idols at the back of the Spanish classroom. Everyone who is walking in and out of this shop are hugging each other and crying. The reality that things will change from now on has hit them too. As for me, I guess I was still hoping and making myself believe that things wouldn’t change, that we wouldn’t change. That our friendship will stay as strong as it is now.

I felt my phone vibrate. I took it out of my pocket to see that Mina, my best friend, was calling me at the exact same time she did every day. I answered the phone and waited for the “Yoboseyo” greeting that she greets me with every morning for the last two years. I laughed quietly and replied, “Are you always going to do that?”

“Obviously, it’s our thing,” she stated confidently, “as long as we’re friends, you’ll always be my Kpop bestie.”

I couldn’t help but smile at that response. “Where are you anyways?” I asked.

There was a small moment of silence. There was no response “Hello? Mina, are you still there, where are you?”

“I’m behind you!”

I heard the familiar voice from behind me and seeing her instantly made me happy.

After a hug, we started walking up to school. City of London School For Girls, the secondary school we have been attending for past five years. So many memories, but only two years of them are ones that I shared with her.

Whenever we are walking, we always share headphones and listen to whatever kpop song we had been obsessed with that week. Mina handed me one of the headphones. As I brought it closer to my ear the beat was very familiar. Exo’s Growl, good choice!

I was about to ask her whether she had plans after school when Jeon Jungkook, Mina’s boyfriend, turned up. That was strange. They usually met by the gate. Why did he walk further down? I looked down the pathway and saw his friends. The two boys he is always with, I never learnt their names, they never spoke to us. I’ve asked Mina once before but she said that she didn’t know either. They were always there watching from a distance whenever Jungkook came to meet Mina. They just stood there on the boy’s side of the gate.

You see, we go to an all-girls school and they go to an all-boys school but the schools were built next to each other. I know it’s stupid, kind of takes the point out of it but that’s the way it is.

Jungkook asked to speak to Mina privately so I stood at a distance by the gate and started lip syncing to the incredible talent that is Exo. My efforts to get lost into the music were wasted when I heard laughter. It was a short type of laugh. I took the headphones out and looked up to see who was laughing at me. He was one of Jungkook’s friends, the shorter one with black hair.

“What?” I asked in an irritated tone.

“Nothing” he said in a quiet voice and smirked.

I was just about to ask him to clarify himself until I heard Jungkook say, “I’m breaking up with you.”

Just like that Mina was gone. They make running after someone look so easy in dramas. Well, that isn’t quite the case when you have a friend who is a sports goddess and can run faster than a wolf.

Out of breath and sweaty, I finally got into school after chasing Mina. The cafeteria was full of students waiting to be allowed upstairs. Only we Year 11s can go up early. I ran up the stairs as fast as I could and rushed down the corridor, knowing where she’d be. SP 12, the Spanish classroom. I turned the handle and opened the door slowly, still a little out of breath. She was sitting on the floor in the corner, hugging her knees and her head faced down.

I hate it when people cry. I’m not the best person when it comes to these types of situations. I never know what to do or what to say. I sat next to her and put my hand over her shoulders. She looked up at me and said, “I’m fine.”

A tear rolled down her face and I wiped it away.  I hate it when my friend, especially my best friend is upset.

“No you’re not fine,” I replied, “Don’t try to lie to me, I know you too well.”

She nodded and we sat there like that for twenty minutes until the bell rang for the start of lesson. Since this was her first class, I left her in her seat at the back of the room and made my way towards the door.

“I’ll see you later,” I said, “Remember to meet me before the leaver’s assembly so we can sit together,” and with that I headed to my class.

11.40 am

It was almost time for the assembly. I stood outside the hall waiting for her. After five minutes she turned up. I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the assembly hall. We took our seats at the front and waited for the rest of the students in our year to come in and sit down. The hall began to fill up until eventually everyone was present.

The next few hours consisted of the head teacher, deputy and a couple of the teachers delivering speeches; people getting awards and an embarrassing video that was a compilation of the last five years. At this point, everyone around me was crying. I turned to look at Mina who eyes were b with tears.

Why was I not crying?

The assembly ended and the teachers rushed us out of the building. On our way out, there were crowds of younger years staring and pointing at our shirts that had messages written on them from other students. Once we were outside, everything was more relaxed and less crowded. It was sunny outside. One of those great summers day where the sun is shining brightly but there is a slight breeze.

Students and teachers bid their farewells and people starting leaving. I looked for Mina and asked her where she wanted to go, since I didn’t get the chance to ask her in the morning. She got up from the wall she was sitting on and gave me a hug.

“I’m sorry, I really wanted to go somewhere so we can talk about something but because of…what happened today, I just want to go home. I’ll call you later and fill you in with everything.”

I pulled away from the hug and placed my arms on her shoulders, she’s a little shorter than me but we were practically on the same height. I looked at her and said, “Don’t be sorry, take as much time as you need, and yes definitely call me or ask and I’ll call you when you’re ready to talk about it all.”

Then we took our last walk down the pathway together. This was the end of our secondary school life. In September, we’ll be going to different colleges for further education.

After we have reached the shop, I gave her one final hug and said goodbye. I watched her walk off as I waited for my uncle to pick me up.

My phone buzzed. It was a text from my uncle saying that he would be late because he was stuck in traffic. I put in my headphones to help pass the time while I waited.

“Girls’ girls’ girls’ they love me~~~”

Without realising, I had started dancing and singing along. I supposed it was a natural instinct since I’ve been dancing for as long as I can remember.

That’s when I heard it again, that laugh from this morning. I turned around to see them all standing in a perfect line. Jungkook was in the middle with his two friends. The taller one with blond hair to his right and the slightly shorter one who had black hair to his left, he was holding his stomach as he was trying to contain his laughter.

“Is my dancing that bad that you look like your struggling to hold your vomit in?” I said a snarky tone

He straightened his body, “Aniyo.”

I looked to Jungkook and asked, “Can he not speak English or something?”

Before Jungkook could reply, the one with black hair shouted, “If I can’t speak English then how did I understand what you just said?”

He put his hands in his pockets and looked away, slightly annoyed.

Oops! I didn’t mean to offend him. Guess I was wrong there.

Jungkook stepped forward and came closer to me. I backed up towards the wall. To be honest I was afraid of the current situation I was in but I tried to act as if everything was okay.

“Where did Mina go?” he asked in a very concerned voice.

“Home, why do you even care? You jerk!” I spat the words at him to emphasise my disgust.

He moved closer, this caught me off guard and I fell backwards. Just as I was anticipating the hard surface of the concrete floor I found myself not moving. I opened my eyes to see that I was currently in Jungkook’s arms.

“I didn’t mean to make you fall. I’m sorry.”

His sincere apology made me feel uncomfortable. I straightened up and pulled my t-shirt down.

“Thank you.”

He looked at the ground and played with a rock by his foot. I knew he wanted to say something, but why was he being so shy? Just say it already! I thought to myself. I mean we were hardly strangers. We weren’t friends but we know each other quite well.

“Whatever you want to ask just say it,” I said out of curiosity.

He looked up and then at his friends who were leaning against a car that was parked nearby. “I just want to know if she’s okay,” he replied.

I didn’t believe him, that wasn’t all, there was more to that.

“Well, if that’s what you want to know then you’ll have to ask her yourself because I don’t know, she hasn’t told me anything yet.”

After giving me a look of disbelief, he went on to say, “How can that be? Aren’t you two like best friends,” he puts an emphasis on the words, best friends.

I didn’t like the sarcasm in his voice. I felt myself getting angry. “We are. That’s why I’m giving her space. She’ll tell me when she’s ready to. It’s your fault that she’s upset in the first place you arrogant-“

“ARROGANT WHAT?” Jungkook interrupted in a loud voice, “Go on and finish your sentence.”

I stared at him and then at the other two. I grabbed my bag from the floor and walked away. Purposely bashing into Jungkook’s shoulders to show I have had enough of this conversation. Then I turned back and shouted over my shoulder, “Arrogant fool!  You’re a fool for letting her go and deep down you know that’s true.”

I carried on walking but someone shouted after me, “Yah! Marie.”

It was the black-haired boy standing behind me.

“Did your so-called ‘best friend’ tell you that she’s leaving you behind? How is she any better than him?”

He pointed to Jungkook as he shouted down at me.

“Don’t talk down to me,” I said, attempting to match his tone.

He grabbed my arm, “I’ll speak to you however I wa-,” full of rage, I kicked him in his crotch and ran away. I felt bad but I didn’t look back I didn’t dare to either.

4:00 pm

I ended up walking home. Glad that I had my keys or else I would’ve ended up stranded outside my house. Once inside I saw that I had three missed calls and two messages. My uncle had rang. He left a voice message, “I’m going to be late again today, sorry sweetie. Make sure you lock up before going to sleep and there’s money in the cupboard for you to get takeaway.”

Late again, I guess I can’t blame him; he works hard to provide for me. You see, I live with my uncle not my parents. I don’t know why, I just have for as long as I can remember. I checked my other messages and saw that it was Mina. The other miss call was from her too. ‘Yo bae, call me when you see this.”

I exited the message app and called her.

The phone rang for a while until she picked up.

“Yoboseyo?” I heard her say in a quiet voice.

“Hey, you ready to talk about it then?” I asked.