I kept walking towards the group standing outside Mrs. Lee's classroom. The group had expanded to have most of the guys, who had gotten there before I did. Honestly, it was great to see everyone again. It was senior year; our victory lap of high school. How could I not be nervously excited?

The one-minute bell rang before I could get to Irene. Mrs. Lee was waiting outside her door greeting everyone when they walked in. Irene and Suelgi walked in first. Somewhat saddened I couldn't greet my friends before going to Hell, I walked two doors down to Mrs. Kwon's room: Hell.

The door was closed so everyone was standing outside. 

"YOOOO WENDY." It was Eric. 

"Sup ," I replied Eric gasped and pretended to look offended. He held his hand to his chest sarcastically, saying, "Well is that a way to greet your best friend?"

I rolled my eyes. "Well yes, Especially if they're as much of a loser as you are."

V screamed. "GET WRECKED!"

As we were starting the regular back and forth wrecking banter, Mrs. Kwon opened the door. The door to Hell, that is. "Hey guys, sorry. I lost track of time. Please don't sit at the table closest to the door or the tables by the opposite wall. There should be enough seats to have all of you in the middle. Good morning."

She greeted everyone by shaking their hands. Syllabi were placed in front of every seat. But, we actually needed the tables by the wall, as 3 students walked in right before she shut the door.

Eric, V, and I tried to get seats next to each other. We were able to before V turned his back, wasn't paying attention, and got his seat taken by another student. So, he sat a seat away from Eric. Bleehhhhh

"Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I am your AP Literature teacher, Mrs. Kwon. Nice to meet all of you. This year will be full of literary goodness and all that fun stuff." Mrs. Kwon was one of those really loose and droopy kind of teachers who tried to be close to their students. But, secretly, all their students hated them. I knew very little about her. What I did know was not promising. From what I heard, AP Lit was AP .

"Now, I see that you have chosen your seats. But, do understand that these seats are tentative, meaning if you cause trouble I will move you." A murmur of laughter and sarcasm spread across the classroom. "If you could read over the syllabus that I passed out, I will discuss any questions you may have. Is two minutes ok?" 

After she stepped away from the front, Eric nudged my shoulder. "What," I answered. 

"Is it Lit yet?" Oh my god. 

I made a sarcastically happy face and looked at V. Both of us pretended to laugh before I punched Eric in the arm. "We're going to make those jokes all year. Do you really have to start them now?"

"YUP." I scoffed. In those two minutes, I barely skimmed over the syllabus and instead caught up with everyone in the class. Like I said, the school was small so I knew everyone in the class. The student sitting with us was JiEun. She's annoying. 

Yeri was sitting next to the new girl. They were sitting at the table behind V and JiEun. She was an unlikely addition to the school, especially since it was senior year. She was nice. A little odd. But, so was everyone else at this school. Joy was sitting behind her talking to another girl. Suelgi's boo-thang was sitting behind us with the annoying JiWoo. Goddamn, I'd known this kid longer than anyone and unfortunately, I had to deal with him all year right behind me in my worst class. 

I looked around the class. As much as I hated the class, at least I got a few friends in here. I had Kay and V. They would keep me company all year. I had Yeri and Joy, thank god. Plus, I had a few great acquaintances.

"Ok, class. Now that you've looked over the syllabus. Do you have any questions?"

"Yeah, when is this class over?" We all glared at JiWoo. This dip. We were stuck with his stupid behavior all year. He let out his annoying signature cackle and laughed with the other JiWoo next to him. I could stand Kim JiWoo, BUT NOT Song JiWoo.

"For you, JiWoo. It might be today because with that attitude, I'm going to kick you out of the class." A collective OHHHHHH sounded throughout the classroom. Everyone laughed, even his friends, because it was JiWoo. He was a who couldn't keep his mouth shut. V screamed,"GET WRECKED!" And indeed, he did.

Luckily, 35 minutes of agony and fun from Mrs. Kwon lecturing and schooling Kim JiWoo every 5 minutes passed. My next class was AP Government. V and Eric also had the class so we headed over to Mr. Park's class. 

When we got out, the kids from Mrs. Lee had just gotten out. I made my way to Suelgi first since she was the closest and also because I was messing around with her boyfriend, DongGuk, to get to her first. 

"SUELGIIIIII," I yelled as I raced her boyfriend. I pulled her into a hug just out of reach of her boo- thang. She was surprised by my sudden attack. She almost screamed, but instead a small yelp escaped.

"I missed you too, Wendy. But, you're kind of crushing me." Oops. I apologized and her boyfriend pulled her into a hug right after. She was pleased by his hug, unlike mine. Traitor. Het couples. 

I turned around and was face to face with Irene. I startled her a bit because I turned super fast. "Haha. Oh, sorry. I startled you." 

Irene flashed a smile. "It's fine." She straightened out her shirt , while I held her mug. Yup, Chai tea.

"Did you finish your stuff for Lit?" 

"Um, yeah. After you left, I finished it and the Gov work. It was another all nighter."

I rolled my eyes. "Seriously, you have got to stop doing those so often. I can see your dark circles. You look like a panda."

She giggled at my joke. It looked like it was the only thing she'd laughed at in days. But seeing her reminded me of what I saw last time I was at her house. She didn't seem herself. More reserved if possible, with a hint of worry and being absent minded. Irene started blanking out again, after the joke. I couldn't completely explain it but something was wrong.

"Oh, looks like Park is calling us in." Irene Broke away from her daydream and nodded.

As we filed into a line to shake Park's hand, I stole a glance at Irene again. She had gotten in before I did and was looking at the seating chart. She walked into the table behind her and then into another student. Her focus was gone. Why? 

"Hey, Wendy," Mr. Park said, breaking away my attention from her. 

"Hey, Mr. Park. It's nice to see you again."

"Likewise, Wendy." Mr. Park was my English teacher in 8th grade, so I knew him pretty well. I was his first class as a new teacher at the school.

I found that I was sitting behind Irene. Awesome. Lay was sitting at the table with her. Sweet. He was pretty chill. Funny, because we sat on the far side of the classroom, against the cold- concrete wall, next to a window.

It was fun class period. I knew I was going to enjoy it. My group of friends were in the class. It was nice. We went over a few things, looked at the syllabus, and engaged in a small conversation about what we would be doing on Wednesday. 

As much as I was involved in the conversation, Irene wasn't. Given, she is normally a quiet person; but, she knew a lot about politics. She did get in a few words, but not as much as she usually would in this setting. I didn't expect her keep quiet when one of the kids made a mildly racist joke, which usually she would have called anyone out on. We all did shun him a bit for making that joke (and he was sitting right next to me), but not a single movement was made when he said it from Irene.

I keep saying it but seriously something was up. But, I couldn't put my finger on it. If it was something small, it wouldn't affect her this much. She was practically neglected what she enjoyed in class and uttered fewer words than she already did. I couldn't get V or Suelgi's attention to try to signal what was going on, so I worried more. They were genuinely enjoying the class. They were far too engaged to pay attention to me.

So there I was. Sitting with Irene in the front corner of the room, worrying about something I didn't even know about. I had to talk to Irene. Maybe I could catch her after school. Whatever was bothering her was bothering me too. I needed to get to Irene.

I tried to get to her in the halls, but Irene was walking with Suelgi and DongGuk. She was walking a few feet ahead of me and the sea of students didn't help me get any closer. 

"Hey are you ok? You seem a bit antsy." I broke away to look at Eric. , I was being too obvious.

"Um, yeah. I was just thinking... Uh trying to figure something out."

"Oh," he replied," what is it about?" Gotta lie, gotta lie fast.

"... My mom wanted me to come by her work after school since it's a minimum day. She wanted to get lunch but didn't tell me how I was getting there and hasn't texted me back yet so..."

"Do you want a ride? I'm sure my mom wouldn't mind." no.

"Oh uh... No thanks. I'm sure she'll get back to me soon."

"Ok just tell me if you need a ride." I smiled back in response. God, why.

I couldn't get to Irene the rest of the day. It was like everything in the world was against me. She sat on the opposite side of the class in third period. During the 15 minute break in between 3rd and 4th, she rushed off before I could even get out of the classroom. I couldn't find her during the break. I should have asked for her schedule yesterday, or even on Saturday when she had gotten it. 

After 3rd period, I had no other classes with her and she disappeared right after 6th period. Her class was downstairs, next to one of the exits; mine was upstairs away from everything. So, it was hard to try to run downstairs to try to grab her before she walked out of the doors. I had texted her in 4th period but I got no response.

Why was she avoiding me? Irene, you idiot. 

I was able to catch a glimpse of her getting into her dad's car when I finally made it outside. But they were on the opposite side of the street. Damn, so close. 

V and Eric had other plans, as did the rest of my friends did on a minimum day. So, I was alone. I walked home worrying about Irene. All the questions I had had no answers. I couldn't even get a hold of Irene. Suelgi, by the way, brushed it off saying, "She's probably just tired." No, Irene definitely was not just tired. The look in her eyes was distant. Her eyes lied when our stats teacher asked if she had a great summer. Instead, she looked like she was about to cry. Mr. Park and our stats teacher both had to catch her attention because she was blanking out. Seriously, why was I the only one who that Irene was not ok?

Yeri, her closest friend, didn't seem to care. Joy brushed it off just like Suelgi did. Are you kidding me? We've been friends for years and all they could say was, "She's probably tired." No, this was something more. It was like Irene wasn't even there anymore. Not the Irene I knew. She wasn't sparkled eye, happy, didn't have the normal shy confidence. She wasn't the leader of us girls like she usually was. She had reverted back into the shell that she took years to come out of.  

I swear I could kill someone right now. I was so mad, just thinking about it made me angry. I had already gotten to my house and pulled out my house key. I was so mad I didn't notice my mom in the kitchen or that I had angrily opened and slammed the door. I kicked my shoes off by the door. I marched towards the stairs, which was across from the kitchen where my mom was.

"Hey, hey, hey. Don't slam the door! How was your first day of school?" 

Marching up the stairs, I growled, "I hate everyone." I got up the stairs and slammed my door. Throwing my backpack on the floor, I collapsed on my bed. Why are people so complicated? Why do they have to make things more dramatic than they are? Why do they have to pretend to be ok and keeps secrets from their friends? Shut up, Wendy. You do that all the time.

"UUUGGGHHHHH," I exhaled. I stared at the ceiling fan. AAAHHHH I hate people. Goddamn. Frustrated, I jumped into the shower again. I turned up my music really loud and just let the water run down my face. 

I was letting this get to me too much. This was Irene's business. I shouldn't intervene. I should just let her come to me at the right time. We were friends, but we weren't best friends. She was actually closer to Suelgi and the other girls than we were. We may have known each other for years, but there was a time where I didn't talk to her as much. We had different schedules and she was off doing who knows what then. Just last year, were we able to connect again. I didn't want to jeopardize what we had just started. Yes, letting her come to me would kill me. It would take her a while to completely come up to me. But at the same time, I didn't want to force her to tell me. 

I got out of the shower with lower spirits. I took my time to get ready though. I was still a bit stuck on the idea of what to do with Irene. I couldn't imagine what could be happening at home. Her parent always had this wall of professionalism about them. Irene definitely inherited that from them. They never told more than they were supposed to, but who could say that was wrong? I do it all the time, except I lie a bit. Anyways, cracking away at her households wouldn't do me any good in finding out what was going on. I just had to wait. Even though it might kill me.