Between a frenzy of tests and new assignments, I found myself inundated with paperwork and an immense stress I’d never experienced before. And on top of that we had to practice for the stupid talent show. At least Kris and I had gotten over our immense awkwardness in dancing with each other and we'd fired an extremely disgruntled Chen as our dance instructor. 

Maybe it was because I’d never really took my grades seriously until now.

Karma was a .

“Your dark circles are so bad I almost mistook you for Tao today,” Kris teased as he headed out of English Class with me. I lacked enough energy to not even send him a glare. I sighed and tried to juggle my biology cell model on top of my history textbooks. He huffed and took my heap of crap into his own arms.

“Wha-“

“Don’t question me when I’m being nice or might regret it,” he replied, avoiding my curious gaze.

“Thanks,” I mumbled, ending my sentence with a giant yawn.

“Not getting much sleep?” he asked. “Your light’s always on even late into the night.”

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled tiredly. “Does it bother you when you sleep?”

“It’s okay, I can draw my curtains shut,” he replied with a grin.

“But you never do,” I pointed out with a smirk. “You’re such a creep, spying on your neighbour huh?”

“No-no that’s not what-no why would you, wait no-“

“I was kidding,” I chuckled, nudging him gently with my elbow. “Gee, no need to get so flustered. I’ve been familiar with your creepy ways ever since I was born so it doesn’t really bother me.”

He poked his tongue at me, his arms rendered unable to be used to whack me since they were occupied by my tacky science project and mountain of textbooks. “Did your ranks go up?”

“They went up by 70,” I replied with a slight touch of pride. “Who knew memorising content from a textbook could be such a pain? It’s like diarrhoea, it just doesn’t stay in.”

“Great analogy,” Kris commented in a dry tone.

“You’re rubbing off on me,” I complained. “Only you make stupid comparisons like this.”

“Oh I’m so honoured to have such a profound effect on your psychology, Hee Hee,” he joked. I shot him my trademark oh-god-its-kris-again glare and he scampered back like a puppy. “Don’t hit me, I’m sorry!”

“I wasn’t going to, I just like seeing the scared look on your face,” I laughed, enjoying the insulted expression that resulted from my words.

“My lord, you could win a gold medal for being snarky,” he breathed. “Were you always this foul mouthed?”

“Mothering bloody hell yeah,” I replied. Kris’s face contorted into one of utter horror as I bit my lips to prevent myself from doubling over in laughter. 

“Do you need help?” he blurted out.

“Psychological help?” I asked with a teasing smile. “Probably, I’ve always been slightly weird in the head and you would know much better than myself.”

“I agree,” he muttered. “I meant, do you need tutoring sessions? Not just maths, you’re behind in rankings on English as well so it’s a disgrace that the friend of a Canadian is gracing the detention room with her presence for getting bad grades.”

“Well gee thanks for your overflowing support,” my reply was short and curt. After a few moments silence I sighed and my shoulders drooped a little. It was true that I’d spent all my time wasting my life away on procrastination while other kids attended exclusive academies to improve their studies. Maybe I did need a little help if I wanted to get into the course I wanted. “I probably need it.”

“You want to become a nurse right?” he asked with a soft smile. “That’s cute.”

“How do you know?” I yelped, shocked.

“But you could work on making your personality more people friendly,” he said, ignoring my question.

“I’m friendly enough,” I grumbled. “Can’t you see I’m a fine ray of sunshine?”

“That course is really competitive,” he told me seriously.

“Yeah which is why I’m never getting in no matter how much I study,” I sighed dejectedly. “It’s okay, I can always be Eunji’s fellow partner in crime if she ever decides to join the mafia.”

“No don’t say that!” Kris protested. He turned to look at me through his gorgeous, amber eyes. “Look, I’ll help you.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled gratefully. “Just don’t get annoyed with my thickness.”

“I believe in you.”

“What?” I thought I’d heard wrong.

“I believe in you. The one thing I’ve always admired about you ever since we were kids was your determination because once you have your heart set on something, you never give up.”

I was so touched that I was about to burst into tears but that would result in utter humiliation so I swallowed the lump in my throat, grabbed my science project and textbooks and walked to my class without replying.

“Mom, dad,” I yelled from the living room. Sprawled over the coffee were college application booklets and course information booklets. I obviously wasn’t aiming for Korean National University since that place was for the smartest of the smart but I hoped I could at least make it into a lesser known college. “What do you think about nursing?”

They exchanged uncomfortable looks as my mum laid a gentle, sympathetic hand on my shoulder. “Maybe that’s not such a good idea.”

“Why?” I whispered, shocked.

“Well, sweetie you’ve never been very good at studying even when you were younger,” my dad explained with a soft smile. “It’s a very competitive course and the chances of you even entering are very slim.”

“I could try harder,” I said, a smile quivering on my lips as the lump in my throat grew larger. “I’ve just never had any direction until now.”

“Darling, you’re such a sweet girl and I know you want to help people but you don’t need to be a nurse for that,” my mum added with a nod. “You could earn a First Aid certificate and then volunteer at events. It’s still a pretty good experience.”

“But I could still try… right?” I searched my parent’s eyes for any sign of faith.

Nothing. Blank.

“We thought rather than going to college, you could help your father out at the mechanic’s garage,” my mother suggested. “You’ve been pretty good with cars ever since you were young and the business will probably be yours after we pass on so how about you-“

“But I could still try right?” I said defiantly. “If I fail I could always fall back on my plan B-“

It was at that moment I realised the worst feeling in the world at the age of sixteen, two years away from taking my college entrance exam.

My parents didn’t believe in me even 1%.

They’d given up on me.

The school day ended late for me, I was stuck in an extra afternoon class for students that needed “special attention”. Although my teachers were impressed that I was putting so much more effort into my academic career, they still couldn’t see a very bright future for me. I trudged out into the school oval, inhaling the still slightly chilly air. Spring was coming soon which I was happy for.

“HEE HEE!” Kris’s conspicuous blonde head protruded from his car like a piece of corn.

“You waited for me?” I hollered, running to the car as fast as possible, trying to ignore the murderous gazes of all the females within a ten metre radius.

“Of course not,” he scoffed. “I went home, changed clothes, ate some food, did some homework then decided you probably wanted a lift so I came over to pick you up. Unfortunately for you, I actually have a life.”

“Shut up,” I hissed, punching him good naturedly as I slipped into the front seat.

He chuckled and reversed dangerously, narrowly missing Jiyeon’s and advanced onto the main road. The guy was a crazy driver, something I’d never get used to.

“So I propose a late night study session at my house,” he said cheerfully. “You’re not getting out of here until you finish all this homework.”

I followed his gaze and found myself staring in horror at a metre high pile of textbooks and notes.

A/N:

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