"We're just strangers with some memories..." — Anonymous 

“This is your room.”

It was never easy being the new girl. Wendy unconsciously lowered her head as a way of thank you, as the student with the high-perched ponytail motioned to the entrance unveiling that of a typical classroom marked in numerical stats of ‘145’. Before Wendy could say anything, the girl whom showed her the way continued ahead without a beat; her dainty silhouette so swift to blend among the surging crowd of identical uniformed bodies stampeding along the corridors.

Following Wendy’s deflating walk of shame, a public oust of her identity and gut-wrenching rejections in the face of her former friends, she had stood in the auditorium impossibly alone; barely processing the fact the bell had sounded or the fact students were moving all around her forming a tight human barricade trying to squeeze themselves out the assembly doors.

Yet here was this student. Standing in the green line. Appearing a little different from others with that hair of hers drenched in wine red. Whilst the remainder of the girls in the House of Athena scurried away—this girl had retained an air of composure and poise amidst the anxious crowd of girls with hunched shoulders, oily black hair and askew glasses. As if she was radiating an air of serene ambiguity, as if she was carrying all the time on her shoulders. The same one who had approached her, peeped her timetable, before gesturing Wendy to follow just as quietly.

Wendy’s locks escaped her ear falling across her face.

Will they meet again? Wendy blinked. She didn’t even know the girl’s name.

Such was hope. A deceiving folly that knew no ends. Yet how she still shimmered with it. Only a fool would still hang on to such false absurdities. Because no matter how much she tried, the eleven faces still sank inside her—bleeding her wounds. And all at once, Wendy’s surroundings faded into indistinguishable lines as she swayed, pushing down the bile overwhelming her panic stricken thoughts. She hid herself behind the classroom door and swallowed, her sweaty palms repeatedly glazing the straps of her bag. She could hear her fellow peers filing in, slowly warming up the previous deserted classroom with their noisy breaths and their excessive bundles of body heat. It was becoming loud, mirroring the thudding crescendo of her heart.

She could hear them. All of them.

The sporadic bursts of laughter. Derisive snorts. The rattling of chairs and thumping tables. All the while the boisterous length of conversational tones weaving throughout. Just another Tuesday morning with a bunch of unsettled seniors. Wendy squeezed her eyes shut.

It wasn’t her first time being the new girl. This was nothing new. All she had to do was keep her head down. That was rule number one. Rule number two: never stop and always keep moving. By the end of this week she would be old news. She’d master the art of blending so well she’d practically disappear. Although who could’ve imagined conforming to the conventional school system would ironically incur the reverse effect of ensuring that she stood out like a sore thumb. Her mismatching uniform, the bag, not to mention her hair... platinum blonde at the ends. It had been something her mother had suggested the moment she had arrived back in Korea. Wendy still remembered her mother’s sympathetic smile. ‘Darling, a change or two won’t hurt your final year.’

Change.

Maybe her mother was right.

Those days when she had secretly locked herself in the school bathrooms. She had stood in front of the mirror. Her depressing reflection filling the glass. Her eyes had always been shiny for some reason having to forever slide the rectangular frames out of the way. She would place her small hands against the cold unfeeling glass swallowing the one word. Dull. Yes, Wendy wasn’t exactly your typical muse. She wasn’t your starry eyed girl-next-door type of chick either. She didn’t suit those types of glorified archetypes she had perused endlessly as a child in many of her cliché classics. Because at the age of nineteen she had been a kid at heart. The one who still believed in fairytales, and all the happy endings that came with it. But she supposed she should thank her friends whom had grown up without her. Teaching her the only life lesson that mattered. That time changed. And so did people. A bitter laugh consumed her mind as Wendy clenched her fists. Loneliness suited her after all. Forgetting to breathe, Wendy emerged from the shadows joining others at the entrance. She allowed their tide to pitch her forward. Then.

She was finally inside.

It was bright. Too bright. The generous morning beams poured through the giant arch windows. She could almost feel the exposure of all her flaws within the light and rubbed her arms, seeming insecure and out of place. Animated chatter piled from all directions. The room was nearly full with only a scatter of empty seats.

Wendy’s mistake was to pause.

She had glanced just enough to get her bearings and the classroom went still. All around eyes drilled into her. Then the whispering began. Someone laughed. Another pointed.

“ we got the new girl!”

Wendy quickly ducked her head reaching for the nearest vacant seat. Just as she slid herself the class erupted into a loud frenzy. A burning flush crawled her hot skin as contemptuous glares and amused chants whispered from all sides.

Did the really just—

Holy she sat there.

That’s ‘his’ seat.

Wait ‘till they see this.

Someone tell that Athena to move.

SHUT UP THEY’RE HERE!

The class became quiet inspecting the latest arrival with tittering murmurs. Wendy froze. It was the kind of gut feeling that told you not to look up. The one that confirmed your worst possible fears. But what did she expect? Luck was never on her side. She knew yet she looked anyway.

It was him.

Kim Taehyung.

And it was like seeing him for the first time all over again.

What was high school without one of those? The kind of guy that had the world at his feet. The one that got what he wanted. School celebrity. Campus jock. Too pretty to look at. Flocked by guys and girls alike. The one destined for greatness.

To think he had been her friend four years ago.

She tilted her head daring a glance. And as if by the laws of heaven his eyes immediately sought hers rounding before narrowing just as fast. His shock palpable in the way his mouth managed to part looking dangerous and unreadable like the pretentious son of a gun he really was.

She was in trouble.

Wendy clenched her skirt, tightening. She had broken the invisible rule—sitting in a seat she should’ve never sat at. Because she finally understood the meaning of this chair. And whom it rightfully belonged to. Her heart pounded as if she’d committed an unforgiveable crime. Wendy abated her breath. She faked notice—flickering her gaze anywhere but at the impending figure coming for her. Without realising she knew what he was about to do, what he was capable of. Because Kim Taehyung, her one time friend now the striking enemy of her heart, was going to kick her out of his seat. And all of a sudden it angered her. All of this. The dreaded shadow loomed over her desk, his desk, and the familiar deep rumble penetrated the cold silence.

“Move.”

It was an order.

Wendy Son bit her lips.

“No.”

Kim Taehyung could hardly believe what he was seeing.

It was the new girl.

Sitting in his seat.

She was taking over this school. It was amusing at first but now it was becoming an eyesore. It was something about her. He couldn’t quite place a finger on it. As if he was forgetting a memory that didn’t exist in the first place. How the was that possible. Starting with yesterday at Krystal’s place, this morning at the office, the assembly entrance and now this ty classroom. What the was up with these coincidences. What the was up with her.

Taehyung within quick three strides reached his seat seeming as his desk was positioned smack bang in the middle of the classroom. His shadow stretched over her as he merely glanced down—fully aware he was about to cause a scene. Not that it mattered. He caused one before.

“Move.”

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