Less than two hours of studying later, Minhee found herself laying on her stomach, face down in a textbook. She sat up and stretched only to find Mark still cross-legged and asleep. The girl watched his limp head as it bobbed towards his left shoulder. Right when she held out her hand to poke him awake, a cellphone ringtone blared. This woke the boy and Minhee checked but it wasn’t hers. Mark dug the device from his pants pocket and his eyes widened at who was calling.

“Yeah, I’m still going. You’ll be here at 9?” Mark said to the other person on the line. Minhee checked her own lockscreen, it was a quarter till eight.

“Sure. Obviously. Yeah,” Mark continued the conversation with his one word replies as he stood from the bed and walked towards his closet. Minhee took the hint and started packing up her things.

“Yeah. Bye,” Mark said before hanging up. The zipper of Minhee’s backpack caught the boy’s attention.

“Hey, do you wanna come?” Mark asked as he shuffled through his wardrobe.

“Where? Minhee asked, a bit surprised a guy like him was actually going out on a Friday night.

“The club,” Mark said, dead serious while pulling out a few different shirts. Minhee was sure she must have heard him wrong.

“The club?” Minhee asked.

“I mean this place in particular is actually called ‘Wonderland’. Why? Do you have a preference of where you go to get -faced?” Mark asked, this being the most she’s heard him say all day. Minhee restrained her jaw from completely dropping. In all honesty, she’d rather be doing anything other than studying. The idea seemed a bit appealing but still far-fetched.

“I don’t really get -faced,” Minhee stated, pausing to think before adding “but I’m down.”

“Cool, you should go get ready,” Mark said as he turned around and looked at the girl. She looked down at her school uniform and agreed.

“What do I tell my parents? I can’t just walk in wearing my uniform and leave an hour later looking like a ,” Minhee said.

“Hmm....” Mark said aloud as he laid different outfits on his bed. Minhee stood up to give him more room.

“Say you forgot a textbook. Then grab what you need and come back here to get dressed. My parents always visit their other kids on the weekends so you can also tell them you’re spending the night here,” Mark said casually as he started to eliminate unwanted garments from what was strewn out in front of him.

For the first time in a long time, Minhee felt excited. No, she didn’t enjoy lying to her parents. But they did always compare her to Mark and wished she accomplished everything he had. If this is how the golden child spends his weekends, who were they to complain?

“I’m going to leave the front door unlocked, okay?” Minhee said as she walked towards the bedroom door and opened it.

“Yeah. Hurry up though. Don’t forget anything,” Mark said.

Minhee walked out of the room and into the dark hallway. Mark’s apartment had the same layout as her own, so she easily navigated herself to the front door and slipped on her shoes. The girl was walking up the stairwell as adrenaline started to flicker her awake. She may have been an awful student, but Minhee never rebelled against her parents in any other way. Tonight would be a first, so she was prepping her emotions. The girl pulled her house key from her blazer pocket and unlocked the door.

“Are you hungry?” Her mother asked from the couch as she stared at the television screen. “You just missed dinner but there are leftovers in the fridge,” the woman finished. Now that the topic had been brought up, the girl did feel like eating. But that wasn’t part of the plan. Minhee suppressed her hunger and cleared .

“I have to grab a textbook. Mark stays up late studying so I’ll probably be down there for a while. But Mrs. Tuan said it’s okay for me to sleep on the couch if it gets too late,” Minhee said, hoping her lie sounded legit. Her mother looked at the girl who stood still as a statue, staring back at her. A second later Minhee realized this meant she approved, so the girl blinked a few times and nodded before walking to her room.

Once inside, she turned around and locked the door, tossing her bag on the ground as well. According to her phone, it was eight o’clock on the dot. She had time, but not much. Minhee resisted jumping up and down from excitement as she walked over the her closet. Sifting through her endless amount of b