Momo

I wake up to the sound of soft snores behind me, and I stiffen. Terror keeping my heart from beating, keeping my body still. I try to focus my senses, strain my ears to all sounds and focus on the surface of my skin for unfamiliar heat or pressure. I don’t pick up anything immediately alarming.

 Whoever it is is sleeping, so I might be able to get away if I … 

I jump out of the bed to make a quick escape, but my legs get tangled up in my sheet as it slips from the mattress. I make one step before I fall to the ground in a heap. I make a small sound of pain when I land on the floor and curl up, bracing myself for the intruder's attention and my inevitable demise.

I close my eyes and wait. And wait. And wait. And nothing. 

When I’m sure nothing is happening, I peek over the edge of the mattress, expecting the worst, but there's nothing. The sun shines silvery light through my blinds. Not enough to light up the entire room, just enough to see by. And I don't see anyone or anything out of the ordinary. Nothing but my phone on my pillow, that's it. I get up and look over my room just to make sure, but everything is fine. I must have just had a night terror or sleep paralysis or something. 

I look over at my clock and it's 6:28 am. Usually, I wake up way before my alarm, but I only have two minutes to spare. Not only that, I'm actually super tired. This morning is getting weirder by the minute. 

To top it all off, my phone isn't even plugged in. I pick it up to put it on the charger and just then, another deep breath shudders through its speaker. I freeze looking at this contraption in my hand as if I've never seen it before. It certainly feels like that. I turn it on to find an unlisted number in place of caller ID, and it all comes back.

Nayeon. I stayed up all night talking to Nayeon. And she's still on the line. She's sleeping. I slept with Naye… Yeah, actually let's not entertain that thought. But she is still on the phone. Which means we both fell asleep and forgot to hang up. That’s… fine, right?

I feel a smile pulling at the sides of my lips and this bubbly tension building at the base of my stomach; it’s rising, floating higher and higher, and a fight to keep the sound it inspires from spilling out. Why does that thought make me feel giddy? I frown at the thought and look back at the screen. Nayeon snores softly on the other end. Should I hang up now? Or should I wake her? Mmm, probably shouldn't. Nayeon seems like the type to wake up late and be totally ticked if her sleep was interrupted. Not that I want to. Instead, I press the phone to my ear and listen to her breathe softly. There’s something insanely comforting about the surety in every exhale, and I match her rhythm without any thought. It's a soothing experience but I can't help the creeping feeling of self-consciousness after a while. This is weird, right? 

I put the phone on speaker and hook it up to the charger and walk to the bathroom to start my day. By the time I am ready, I’ve just about forgotten that the call is still connected and in my hurry to leave, I shut my sock drawer too hard. I cringe when I hear a tired groan come from my nightstand.

"Hello," a groggy Nayeon's voice comes through the speaker. She has the same gravelly sound as last night when she first called, but now, there's a hint of confusion mixed in. This added feature gives her a childish innocent feel. She sounds cute. Really cute.

"Good morning," I say hoping she recognizes my voice.

"Morning," she says, yawning. I kind of feel bad since it's so early. 

"Sorry I woke you."

"'So'kay," she mumbles, I can hear her turning over. "How come you're up?" She asks, then yawns again. Cute

"I have to get to practice."

"Mm."

She sounds half asleep already. I chuckle to myself. "Go back to sleep okay, we were up pretty late last night," I tell her. 

"Mm," she hums again. "Have a good day."

"You too."

"Bye," she says, but stays on the line. I can hear her deep breaths for a while and I think she might have gone back to sleep.

"Are you gonna hang up?" I ask. There's no reply.

"Nayeon?" I call out a little louder, grabbing my phone. 

I'm about to hang up when she finally responds sounding more coherent than before. Suspiciously so."Can I see you today?" 

"Uh… I missed practice yesterday so I'll be home late." I don't know why I hesitate. Is it because I want to see her and can't or… do I not want to see her? 

"Can I pick you up?" She asks.

"That…" I can't think of a reason not to let her, besides I want to see her, don't I. "...would be great," is my reply.

"Great." Another yawn. "Good night caramel Momo," she says then hangs up.

I giggle at the nickname, suddenly feeling energized for the rest of the day. Oddly enough, I also can't wait for the day to end. 

When I leave for practice I ignore the growing feeling of anticipation for what’s to come. A part of me thinks this could turn out bad, but how bad could it really be, really. It’ll be fine.

~~~

Momo

Turns out that growing feeling was the anticipation of facing more inquisition from the peanut gallery. I don’t know how I could have forgotten about yesterday’s popularity, but today is more of the same. People walk up to me make assumptions, ask dumb questions, and whisper behind my back. Also to my face if they're feeling bold. But somehow, I'm less bothered by it. Most of my answers are shoulder shrugs and indecipherable smirks. I mean, it is kind of amusing now that I think about it. They're making up these absurd stories about someone they don't know and have no idea what she looks like, but each person that approaches is so sure of their own facts.

It's kind of a fun guessing game where only I know the answer and everyone else has no idea. No clue that the business mogul, and the CEO of this enterprise or that, is really a rental girlfriend, and our secret rendezvous was just me standing in for my neighbor on his rent-a-date. 

Not that I mind all of that now. After all, I've made a new friend because of that. A friend that makes me smile so hard my cheeks throb and who's kind of super annoying sometimes, but also a little cool.

Suffice to say, I'm looking forward to Nayeon picking me up this afternoon. Though I admit, I'm not trying to brag to the whole school that she's coming. In fact, I'm still pretty adamant about people minding their own business, but my change in attitude from yesterday invites a whole new kind of speculation. However, I'm too excited to worry about that now.

"So you gonna tell me why you're smiling like a clown who just squirted water on a 12-year-old?" Sana shakes me out of my reverie, bringing me back to the class assignment. 

I look down at the math book and decide cosine is not a friend. But not even complex arithmetic can dampen my mood today. 

"Well," Sana nudges me expectantly. It's the last class of the day and I can't wait for the bell to signal the end. I involuntarily look at the clock over the teacher's desk and sigh. It feels like it said fifteen minutes to go, fifteen minutes ago.

I jump and yip at the sharp pain in my shin and look over at an annoyed Sana.

"Did you just kick me?" 

"Answer my question," she says seriously. I return the favor and she lets out a loud squeal that gets the attention of those closest to us. She waves them off before giving me the stink eye.

“Yesterday you were all pouty puss and sulky. Now your acting like some kind of love-struck moron. Don't tell me it's true?”

“What are you talking about? I'm not acting love-struck”

Sana scoffs, “Would you even know? Besides you'd probably agree if you could see your face.” 

The teacher looks over and glares at her. She ducks her head and starts quietly. “Tell me what happened.”

“Nothing happened,” I say purposely not looking at her. “I just decided that I can't control what people think or say so I'm not gonna worry about it. Life is so much easier that way. You know?”

She squints at me in suspicion. “How un-Momo of you.”

I just shrug and brush off her suspicion. It's not like I think I need to hide Nayeon from her. But I definitely can't just tell Sana about Nayeon. She’ll get the wrong idea and go around the school exaggerating the facts. Besides, it's not like it’s something that requires an announcement. I made a new friend; there’s nothing exciting about that. Disregard the fact that the thought of seeing Nayeon today brings an automatic smile to my face. It's not a weird smile or anything. It’s completely normal. Whatever, I refuse to let anything ruin this for me. 

I ignore Sana for the next fifteen minutes and rush out of the class once the bell rings. Three more hours to go.

~~~

Momo

I practice hard and it goes by fast. I throw my whole being into it and let the music sweep away my every thought until I'm transported in time. Detaching from my thoughts probably has something to do with it, but that’s nothing new. Not even this new fascination with a certain rental girlfriend can change that. 

I walk into the locker room debating whether I should shower or not, but I figure since Nayeon's picking me up, might as well. I texted her earlier when we'd be done, so I hurry in case she was waiting and throw on my extra clothes. I don't even bother completely drying my hair.

I rush out before anyone can try to stop and talk to me, and make my way through the school. It’s eerily quiet in the halls, but when I make it to the entrance of the school there's a crowd just outside the doors. I start trying to inch around them but somehow end up smack dab in the middle of these adolescents who are worked up over some… fancy car and a gorgeous driver. They murmur to each other, not daring to get any closer yet not having the decency not to gawk either.

I finally find an exit to the sea of bodies; they spit me out front and center of the one causing the commotion, and I swear it all plays out like a dream or some cheesy rom-com. Slow motion, cut scenes with a smidgen of fairy tale prince charming-esque vibes.

I notice the car first. I might not know much about cars in general, but I know ones with sleek bodies and animal mantles are probably really expensive. And really fast. At least that's the feeling I get from the all-white finish, tinted windows, and overall aura.

I take an intimidated step back into the crowd, and it starts to swallow me again. I’m jostled and shoved by others eager to take my place at the front.

"Hey." 

It's a familiar voice. One that has the day’s anticipation hurling to a he