Warnings: Mentions of aquaphobia (fear of water)

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It’s been a month and a half since the incident happened so people would have forgotten about it. We’re all mature young adults so no one is going to make a big deal out of this. I can go about my daily life in school without having to worry about what others think of me. Or The Incident.

But that’s just what you think. And reality is often disappointing.

That bad breakup made you a scarlet letter in school. Whenever someone saw you, their eyes would lower, not-so-subtle fingers began to point in your direction and hushed whispers would fill the hallways. From now on, your name could no longer be dissociated from Im Jaebum’s.

Girl dumped by Im Jaebum.

Crazy ex that went on an assault rampage.

Loose play thing for Im Jaebum.

These were just the tip of the iceberg, and you know that more hurtful lies are probably spreading around like wildfire amongst the school population. Yet you also knows that now, more than ever, you need to keep your head high and show them that you will not back down. You will not lose a fight to Im Jaebum. You have too much pride and dignity to bow down to him.

With that thought in mind, you square your shoulders and look straight ahead at the crowd. They can run their mouths all they want, but you are never giving them the satisfaction of seeing you tremble under their gaze. Your stern expression softens when Esther hooks an arm around your neck, a soft smile lifting the corners of your lips.

“Pay them no attention Rachel, you’re above that. Let’s go set up the class booth and have fun later.”

You nod your head at Esther’s statement, determined to not let anyone ruin your good mood today.

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The annual school carnival is on at full swing right from the very beginning, music blasting from the school’s sound system and students trying to compete with the blaring music by screaming at the top of their voices to aggressively promote their class store. An ensemble of two to three other classmates typically follow behind as walking advertisements with huge boards hanging down the front and back of their bodies. Some “competitors” even go so far as to advertise right in front of your class store, and Esther has to good-naturedly shoo them away before they steal all of your business. With all the mess that you’re associated with now, you opted to help out behind the scenes. It would be better if you didn’t show your face to more people, it would give people less opportunities to talk about you. What’s out of sight is often out of mind. Even so, people still sought you out for the sake of targeting you. From your seat behind the counter preparing ice cream sodas, you get the occasional side-eye and unsolicited comments on your relationship with Jaebum but you swallow the discomfort. You have better control of your emotions now, and you knew it would not be wise to pick a fight. Esther does her best to shield you from prying eyes, and her encouraging smile keeps you going for the rest of your shift together.

“Alright you two, shifts over. Go have some fun!”

Both of you turn at the same time to look in the direction of the familiar booming voice, your homeroom teacher and school discipline master Mr Kim soon coming into view as he strides over with big, purposeful steps. He chases you and Esther out of the class boo