I woke up the next morning with a slight sadness that lingered because of last night’s conversation with Jaejoong.

At least it’s Friday today. I thought optimistically as I opened the curtains that covered my windows. And Fridays are never bad.

The sky was a somber grey since oppressive and dark clouds hovered above the horizon. It looked somewhat cold yet I still chose to wear a flowy, soft pink top with my light blue skinny jeans. Jaejoong once told me that he liked girls who dressed elegantly with a sophisticate yet cute air about them. Ever since then, I had abandoned sweatpants for skirts and hoodies for blouses. My closet became filled with warm pastoral colors and I have long since worn anything black. Despite my efforts in trying to be elegant, sophisticated and cute all at the same time, Jaejoong still doesn’t like me the way I want him to. To him, I am not even a girl. Always, always, always a close buddy or perhaps a nagging sister.

As usual, I walked to Jaejoong’s house to pick him up for school. We walked together as he continued to talk about his “battle plans” for impressing Yoona at the dance. We entered the school and walked towards our lockers.

When we turned the corner onto the hall where our lockers were, I saw a tall, lean figure leaning on my locker. He wore a black, fitted t-shirt that showed his toned torso and had dark jeans that emphasized the length of his long legs. His white converse shoes added a “sunshine” and sporty air to his ensemble. His face was directed at the ground and he seemed to be deep in thought since he did not hear Jaejoong and me approaching.

“Hey. Yunho,” I greeted as I approached him.

“Oh. Hey,” Yunho replied upon hearing my voice and jerked his face up to meet my gaze, revealing his carefully gelled spikes and his handsome face.

“Hey,” Jaejoong greeted Yunho as he walked past us to reach his own locker, a few meters down from mine.

“Listen Mia, could I talk to you?” he asked apprehensively while glancing back at Jaejoong.

“Of course,” I nodded my head, motioning for him to speak.

When he didn’t say anything, I understood and just walked in front of my locker to get my books. Yunho leaned against the locker next to mine and waited for me to finish. After I grabbed my things, I waved bye to Jaejoong and walked in the direction of my first class, while Yunho followed right behind me.

“So,” I said, after we walked far enough that Jaejoong was no longer in sight, “what did you want to talk about?”

“Well,” he began as he looked at me in the eyes, “I was wondering if you were going to the dance tomorrow with anyone?”

“Umm,” I replied carefully as I understood where he was going with this, “well, If I go, I’ll be going with our group.”

“Since you’re not going with anyone in particular, would you like to go with me?” he asked.

“Yunho, I…” I began with a pained expression, after thinking of how to refuse him.

Even though Jaejoong doesn’t like me, I don’t want to give Yunho false hope and use him as a way to get over Jaejoong.

As if reading my thoughts, he added, “its ok if you don’t want to. I know how you feel about Jaejoong. If you ever need someone to be there for you, just give me a call. I know your pains better than you think I do.”

His face was fully of sadness after he stated the last line. Then, after giving me a weak smile, he turned to leave.  

The entire day, I couldn’t focus on anything the teachers were talking about. The Reichstag government, second integrals, bromoalkanes that teachers preached just bounced off my ears. Even Pride and Prejudice, our novel study in English which I loved couldn’t capture my attention today. I kept thinking about Yunho – the way I rejected him, Jaejoong – the way he rejected me before I could even ask him and about the dance tomorrow night.

What should I do? I thought as school ended. To go or not to go?

I walked home by myself because Jaejoong was who-knows-where, preparing for tomorrow night.

I entered my house and threw my backpack on the couch, where it would most likely stay until Sunday. I was a procrastinator when it came to schoolwork. I was changing into my hello kitty pajamas when the phone suddenly rang.

“Hello,” I answered as I picked up the phone in my room.

“Hey Mia,” sherry exclaimed on the other side, “I heard you rejected Yunho when he asked you to the dance.”

Wow, news sure travels fast. I thought as I shook my head in disapproval. Not that I was going to keep this a secret from my friends, I just dislike rumors in generals.

“yeah…” I replied without much energy.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Sherry added, “He’s cute, and nice, and smart. Why did you reject him? If you keep it up like this, you’re going to turn into a nun. And please don’t tell me that it’s because of Jaejoong.”

“Even if it’s because of Jaejoong,” I refuted firmly, “I am not a nun.”

“Oh,” she replied sarcastically, losing all traces of her usual lightheartedness and becoming slightly angry, “I stand corrected. Because of Jaejoong, you have turned into not only a nun, but also a fun-hating, antisocial girl who doesn’t even hang out with her friends anymore. When was the last time you liked someone besides Jaejoong? When was the last time you went out with someone? When was the last time you hanged out with us afterschool?”

She questioned me accusingly, leaving me at a loss for words, “I…”

Sherry let out a long sigh and then began patiently, “Mia, you are such a wonderful person. And we all adore you to pieces. You’re pretty, smart and so talented. If I could dance half as well as you do, I would have won So You Think You Can Dance already. You have no idea how many people look up to you and want to go out with you. If anyone is as popular, or even more popular than Yoona, it’s you. Yet, you see nothing, nothing of your own merits and nothing of others. Your vision is filled with only Jaejoong. And it pains me to see that you are causing yourself so much pain when you could easily be the happiest girl alive.”

“I…” I searched my brain for words.

“It’s ok, I know how much you like him and I’m not trying to force you to give up on him. But, please promise me that you’ll stop blocking everyone else out. You never know when you’ll meet your true prince.” She softened her voice as she stated.

“Come with us to the dance tomorrow please. We all miss our friend dearly,” sherry begged on the phone, “you never know, there’s always a chance you might meet your other half at the dance tomorrow.”

Her suggestive tone made me wonder if she was planning anything but decided to let it pass.

“How can I refuse when you put it like that,” I .

“Yay,” she exclaimed, becoming chirpier exponentially, “we’ll be at your house around 5, that’ll give us 2 hours before the dance to ‘beautify you’ some more. Don’t you dare think of ditching us. I’ve got my eyes on you…”

Her little threat made me chuckle a little.

Then her voice softened as she became serious again, “but really, I think it’ll be so much better if you gave up on him…”

I smiled weakly as I thought. Trust me sherry, if I could give up on him, I would have done so a long, long time ago.

Sometimes, there are certain things that I just can’t help.

********

yay... I'm excited for the dance scene coming up... hehehe

sorry if jaejoong isn't appearing as much as some poeple would like ( i miss him too)... I'm trying to focus on Mia first before attaching her to Jaejoong at the hip. lol