Chapter 09 - Not Today

Twenty minutes from when the lesson had started, I was already asleep on my desk and Hwayoung had to push me a couple of times from my side in order for me to lift up my head and stare into the eyes of an angry teacher.

“I’m sorry?” I hesitated a bit and gave her a apologizing smile. When the teacher gave me a note and turned around, Hwayoung leaned forward towards me.

“You pretty much snored on her lesson. Of course she is angry.”

“I didn’t snore!”

“Yes you did. Everybody heard you.” Hwayoung leaned back on her chair and stretched out her arms. “If you want to sleep you should do that when you get home.”

I sighed and looked through the notebook laying in front of me.

“Chen is going to help me learn how to skate today.”

“Really?” Hwayoung turned around and watched me while I was giving a triumphically smile. “I thought you was going to learn how to actually dance today.”

“Okay, true. But tomorrow!”

“I bet you’ll fall.”

“What if I’m a born ice skater?”

“I doubt so.”

“Why?”

“Because you have an awful balance in general.”

“Keep quiet in the back of the class” The teacher snapped and me and Hwayoung exchanged a smile.

When the lesson was finished i hurriedly placed everything in my bag, said goodbye to Hwayoung and decided to take the bus to Chen’s dance studio. The bus was crowded and I had offered my seat to an old lady rather than taking a seat when she need it more. Four stations from my school I jumped off, walked ten minutes and opened the door to the studio. Walking up those stairs I could hear the upbeat music loudly and a couple of giggling girls came running down the spiraling stairs when I was walking upwards.

When I arrived on the third floor, two door stood open and I went to my left. A girl was helping a boy with his moves while the rest of the class was moving on with the rhythm of the song. They seemed to be about fourteen years old, all of them. I recognized the dance teacher immediately. It was Ji-Neul, one of Chen’s colleagues. I went to the other room and the room was almost emptied. I saw Chen on the other side of the room drinking water from a water bottle while some girls was standing in the middle of the room, stretching. When the girls saw me, they hurriedly left t