“Oh my god,” Bess squeals as I told her what happened the next day. “HE'S THE NEW DANCE TEACHER EVERYONE WAS TALKING ABOUT!”

“Didn't realise he's that famous already,” I sigh as I slouch on the table. “And now I'll have to face him outside of math!”

“Gia,” Bess smirks as she leans in closer. “You're happy about that, aren't you?”

“W-what?” I splutter as I widen my eyes. Are you serious? How in the world…

“My best friend is so easy to read,” Bess laughs as she shakes uncontrollably. “Oh Gia, it was so obvious. Stop fantasising.”

“I do not fantasise about him!” I whisper as I glance around the cafeteria, hoping that no one is listening in to our conversation. “And I'm not easy to read. That's because you're my friend.”

“That's true,” Bess finally stops laughing as she turns to look at me with a look of seriousness on her face. “But Gia, he's a teacher.”

“For god's sake, I know he's a teacher!” I groan as I tug my hair in frustration. “And he's dating! I'm not gonna break em' up- ”

“Well, you know best, Gia. Don't say I didn't warn you,” Bess frowns a little and resumes to chew on her sandwich.

I let out a huge breath when Sehun rushes over and plops down next to me.

“How's my Gia doing~?” He pouts as he ruffles my hair.

“Stop being so touchy-feely, Oh Sehun.”

“But I've missed youuuuuu~” he sings in that sweetly sickening voice that never fails to make me smile.

Then he started to pout.

“Stop it,” I smack him lightly on the face. “That pout doesn't work on me!”

“Are you sure?” Sehun grins mischievously. “GIA LIKES MY POU- ”

“Shut up!” I cover his mouth with my palm as I exclaim in embarrassment. Some girls turned to face our table, but hurriedly resumed eating when they saw me.

“No one dares to offend our Gia anymore,” Tao grunts as he sits beside Bess.

Bess offers him her sandwich and he takes a quick bite. Then they start to smile at each other like a pair of love birds.

“Guys, stop,” Sehun cringes. “It's getting too hot in here.”

“Oh come on,” Bess whines. “When will you get yourself a boyfriend, Gia?”

I turn quiet. Bess looks away as she mumbles a ‘sorry’.

“It's really fine,” I smile. I'm still not fine. “I gave up on him since the day he allowed Cassie to attack me despite knowing he's the one at fault.”

“I feel like punching him every time I see him!” Chen suddenly shouts as he runs towards our table. “The troll is here, guys!”

“Holy cow, Chen,” I slap a hand over my chest. “Stop appearing out of nowhere and start screaming at us!”

“Oops,” he laughs apologetically. “But that doesn't change the fact that I wanna kick that bastard in the ba- ”

“Chennnnn,” Sehun shakes his head as he pulls him over to our side. “Sit down!”

“Did someone ever teach this kid not to be so clingy?” Chen rolls his eyes in disgust. “It's kinda gay.”

“What the hell? I'm not gay!”

“Then stop acting like you're gay!”

“Since when do I even- ”

“Oh please, you're gonna make every guy out there misunderstand- ”

“Oh my god, my self-esteem just- ”

“I didn't even know that you had self-esteem in the first place with the way you're acting.”

“I swear to god, Chen. If I'm gay, I wouldn't have had a girlfriend a year ago- ”

“But you broke up with her!”

“What's wrong with th- ”

“You could've realised that you're gay! That's why you broke up with her.”

“Am I really arguing with this retarded piece of sh- ”

“YOU DID NOT JUST CALL ME RETARDED.”

“Dude, everything about you just screams stupid.”

“Excuse me?”

“Look at yourself right now!”

“But I have such great analytical skills. I can even tell if you are ga- ”

“I AM NOT GAY.”

“YES YOU ARE.”

“NO!”

“YES!”

“I SAID I'M NOT!”

“ADMIT IT, YOU AIRHEAD.”

“YOU'RE THE AIRHEAD OVER HERE.”

“YOU DID NOT JUST USE MY OWN WORDS AGAINST ME- ”

“My head hurts,” Bess mutters.

I laugh as I listened in to their meaningless squabble. Bess and Tao resumes sharing her sandwich, and Chen and Sehun are busy glaring at each other.

I glance over at Cassie to find her doing the Pepero game with Baekhyun, her friends all eagerly leaning in and cheering for them to kiss. Cassie flings her arms around his neck as  the stick gets shorter, and shorter, and shorter…

Till there's nothing left.

I look away as I hear her friends cheering and giggling, the tears starting to well up in my eyes.

“I'm going up first,” I managed to smile as I left the table.

Along the way, many students avoided me and didn't dare to make any eye contact with me. I can't blame them, considering the fact that I'm a fearless and no one dared to insult me.

Fearless?

I'm starting to doubt that.

The way Cassie planted her lips on his was absolutely disgusting, heartbreaking. The fact that I might never be able to taste him again brings a shudder down my spine. I was jealous, I admit. But if I was jealous, does it mean that till now, I am unable to forget about him?

I love him. And it hurts to see how he could easily play the game with someone else without feeling a tinge of guilt.

Suddenly, I hit a wall. At least, I thought it was.

“Ouch…” I rubbed my head and looked up to find Mr Kim staring down at me.

Oh great, I just bumped directly into him.

I bent down to pick up some books, and he did too. Our heads were so close together that my breath got hitched in my throat. I didn't dare to breathe.

I hastily stood up and shoved the books into his face before walking past him, but he stopped me by calling my name. “Gianna.”

“What?”

I didn't dare turn around.

“If you have any problems,” Mr Kim starts uncertainly. “You're welcome to talk to me about it.”

I didn't know what to do.

“Okay,” I reply softly.

Then I walked off.

As soon as I turned around a corner, I broke into a sob. I ran, and ran, and ran, until I entered the dressing room and rushed into a cubicle, immediately locking the door. I plopped down onto the seat, burying my head into my hands.

I don't understand. I don't know what's wrong with me. At this point, I was sure that I wasn't okay. I wasn't okay with Baekhyun dating Cassie. I wasn't okay with Cassie clinging to his side. I wasn't okay when they were sharing the most intimate moments.

I wished I was her. As much as I hate Cassie, I wanted to be her. At least, I wanted to be close to Baekhyun like she is.

I knew that Baekhyun is in the school's dance club, and that was actually one of the reasons as to why I'd wanted to join. Baekhyun was the one who got me into the world of dance. It was mesmerising to watch him as he swayed his hips and the way his arms and legs turn. He was good at coordination. I'd waited for him outside of the studio, and whenever he'd walked out of the studio, he was sweaty but happy. His expression would always be one of pure bliss, and many students who belong to the dance club would scurry out behind him, desperate to ask him for methods and ways to practice the dance moves assigned to them. Baekhyun would smile, before explaining patiently to a few of them. He'd ask for their numbers and would promise to call them later when he'd got back home so he could finish off his explanation.

Then he would look at me with that dazzling smile I'd fell for. He would extend his arms, but I would push him away playfully, commenting that he was all sweaty and gross. Baekhyun would laugh that loud, hearty laugh, before scooping me up in his arms, twirling me around as I pounded softly on his back. Those moments were the best. And oh, his lips. As he placed me down on the ground, he would never fail to press his lips against mine, and I never complained. He tasted great after dance practice. As we smiled into the kiss, Baekhyun would break it first, but he would proceed to rest his forehead against mine, and I would shyly look into his eyes as he grasped my hands, pulling me into another deep, mind-blowing kiss.

I cried. I didn't know how long I'd spent inside the dressing room, but I didn't care. Slowly, I unlocked the door to the cubicle, and stepped out, making my way to the sink. I looked up.

My eyes were red from crying. I looked horrible. Even the small amount of eyeliner I'd applied was smudged by my tears, darkening my eye bags even more. I started to wash up, splashing the cold tap water on my face as I sniffled into my hands. The phone in my pocket started to vibrate, and I hesitantly took it out.

“Hello? B-Bess?” I croaked, trying to regain my breath from all the crying.

“Damn it, Gia. Where are you?” I could hear Bess's frantic and furious whispers coming from the other end. She must be in class now.

“Don't worry about me. I'm fine. What time is it now?”

“You're late for Mr Kim's class! You know, that Jongin guy? He asked me where you were and I didn't know. Come quickly,” Bess pleaded. “Come up with a believable explanation okay? I have to go. He's writing stuff on the board now. He might turn around anytime soon. I'll be waiting!”

With that, Bess hung up.

I sighed into my phone despite knowing that she wouldn't hear it. I needed to pick myself up. If no one would pick me up, I would have to do it myself. It would be worth it.

I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I pushed the doors to the lecture theatre open. I trudged in warily, refusing to meet Mr Kim's gaze.

“Where have you been?” Mr Kim asked, and I looked up in shock.

His voice wasn't one of anger and suspicion, but rather, worry.

“I…I went to the washroom.”

His eyebrows went up at that. At this point, it doesn't really matter if he chooses to believe me or not.

I was tired. I was done.

And as I felt my body tilt backwards, I let a small smile grace my face, welcoming the comforting darkness with open arms.