The cafeteria was serving its special cheese pizza roll, along with milkshake and a side of brownies loved by most students. Who wouldn’t want junk food all day after cramming late nights on finals week? Soon enough, the area was bustling as many individual groups began to intermingle. The sun was merciful and didn’t glare down on campus, allowing dozens to sit outside comfortably. Announcements in schools these past few days were different than usual topics such as sports and other events. Rather, the student council mentioned minor natural disasters that had been occuring around the world lately, which did raise awareness, only for people to forget over time, today being no different. As lunch ended, students headed back to class, going home being the only thing to look forward to now. Giselle gathered some textbooks from her locker before sitting next to her best friend for the past decade, Gowon.

    “Hey Aeri, what’d you get on number nine?” She asked while looking through homework. Giselle raised an eyebrow, amused. “I thought that question ‘wasn’t hard’.”

    “Yeah, that was until I had to do it.” Gowon rolled her eyes at the teasing. “How did you solve this step?” After a moment of analyzing, she quickly recognized the issue. 

    “Oh, here. You’re supposed to bring this over and then follow the formula.” 

    “Ugh, I knew it! I really need to start believing myself more.” Gowon shook her head while Giselle giggled. “You’re getting the hang of it without my help.” She reassured her.

    “Thanks. I just don’t think I’ll be ready for the exam tomorrow.” Groaning, Gowon leaned back in her chair, contemplating. 

    “No worries, we can study some notes again.”

    “You mean I will. This stuff is like elementary math for you.” Giselle waved it off. “Pft, no way. Trust me, when we get to advanced calculus, our brains will be reduced to a puddle.” 

    The teacher finally walked in and began lessons for the rest of the day. First starting off with good ol’ math, to everyone’s displeasure. Though, surprisingly, there wasn’t anything else to learn, other than just reviewing with more problems to solve. They breezed through science, literature and now it was history left. While Gowon intently paid attention, Giselle didn’t bother sparing any. Instead, she scrolled through her phone to catch up with the latest news, texting friends, as well as playing games. The teacher had been too busy to even notice since he mainly focused on telling a story about some king and the era he’d once ruled, neither of which sounded interesting. While playing some zombie game, she began growing more frustrated as hordes grew and grew. However, an abrupt loud sound made her look up, only to see the teacher glaring back at her. 

    “Miss Aeri, since you’re not paying attention to this lesson whatsoever, I assume you already know everything about King Sejong?” He adjusted his glasses while looking expectantly. 

    “Yes, I do.” No one, besides Gowon, believed her, so the teacher chuckled. “If you’re so sure, please summarize the whole story about the king I just presented to the class.” 

    Giselle almost smirked, but held back before standing up. “King Sejong, born in 1397, ruled from 1418 to 1450. His greatest contribution for this country was creating the Korean alphabet, otherwise known as Hangul. He is also credited for other inventions and reforms that further helped the nation flourish during the Joseon Era.” Thanks for coming to my TedTalk, she thought to herself. Needless to say, the summary was very spot on, especially for one who didn’t listen to a single word the teacher said. Gowon looked away so no one would notice her silently laughing at their classmates staring in awe. 

    “I-I…wow.” The teacher simply remarked. “Impressive, Miss Aeri. Please take a seat then.” She did so, then immediately resumed her attention on her phone. Suddenly, there was a message from Gowon. 

wonwon: as expected of class prez :pp my heart almost dropped when he called u tho

You: lmaoooo he really thought he did something there

wonwon: be more careful next time, i dont want u getting detention lol

You: wats the deal, detention isnt gonna do anything to me 

wonwon: ok and? he’s tough guy u know

You: ugh tru 

wonwon: exactly 👁👄👁 btw wat game were u playing?

You: world war z again

wonwon: aw siiick add me in a bit

You: lmao alrite

    Not long after, the best friends indulged themselves into rounds of fighting endless hordes of the undead. They spent half an hour shooting, bulldozing, and surviving. While Giselle stuck with the most powerful weapons she could earn, Gowon pulled out a gargantuan, golden rocket launcher and went to town, sending numerous corpses into the air like rag dolls. Surprises like these always reminded Giselle of her friend’s wealth. The things Gowon did never failed to make her laugh. From getting an entire set of poop shaped soaps to fifteen different types of horse masks for s and giggles. They both often pulled pranks on Gowon’s neighbors, cracking up at their priceless reactions. During the last round of their zombie game, Giselle decided to take a water break and picked up her bottle. They resumed right after, but a minute into the game, she noticed something weird…the water began vibrating. She squinted, getting a closer look and then realized. Giselle’s eyes widened in fear, frantically gripping Gowon’s shoulder. 

    “Get down!” The room shook violently as bookshelves tipped over, lamps fell from the ceiling, windows cracked, and more. Everyone panicked, despite their teacher urging them to remain calm, knowing this would be over soon. But soon enough. Giselle and Gowon stayed under their desks, avoiding debris as much as possible. Lights flickered until the power shut off, though this earthquake only grew in intensity. Glass shattered, causing all of the students to scream in fear. Giselle frowned upon hearing Gowon as well, knowing the girl always stayed calm in this situation. She glanced over to see what happened, only growing pale noticing a glass shard sticking out of her bleeding ankle. Afterwards, when everything finally stopped moving, Giselle arrived at Gowon's aid without hesitation. 

    “Here, let me see that.” 

    She hissed in pain while moving a little. “Ow…god, it hurts.” With closer examination, there were more in the room that needed treatment. 

    “Come on, I’ll carry you to the nurse room.” Giselle carried her like a bride, wasting no time to rush down the hallway and towards their destination.