I looked outside the window of my Chemistry class, and watched the droplets of water trace the rims of the silver lining. Every time, I thought about my gym class tomorrow; my stomach starts to churn and feel awkward. Butterflies? More like frogs trying to escape my intestines. I rolled my eyes, and jotted down the notes from the white board. After bouts of motivation to try to concentrate in class, a flashback of that moment just jumps back at me. I want a reason to protect you? What am I kidding? I’m an idiot. What in the world was I thinking? I sighed, and placed my forehead on my notebook.

“Miss Hyun?” I heard my professor scowl. My head snapped up, and there was my jerk of a chemistry teacher looking down at me. I apologized almost insincerely, but as if this old man gave a—stay classy, Miss Hyun. I told myself. I smiled apologetically, and sighed once again. This will be a long, treacherous and gloomy day.

***

“A blind date?”  JR asked in disgust. His fist slammed the cafeteria table, and he looked at me with a sudden glare. “But… you’re only 18, I think. Well, I mean for that wedding part. Are you even 18? No, you’re not. YOU’RE NOT EVEN 18 YEARS OLD!” He stood on the stool, causing crowds of people look at us.

“Yah, Jonghyun-ah. Will you not make us the center of attention, babo?” I tugged on his shirt, and watched him sit down slowly. He slumped against the chair, and brushed his bangs away from his eyes. Maybe I shouldn’t have told him. If I only knew he would do such an outburst.

“Ridiculous.” He sipped on his chocolate milk. I agreed, and just chuckled while he copies my Chemistry notes. “Are you looking forward to the date?” I scoffed upon hearing the question, and asked him if he was even listening. He apologized quickly and murmured: “I’m just joking! Calm down, geez.”

There, Mr. Kim. I told him about my date. I, actually, feel much lighter. I smiled, and JR looked back up in confusion. He smiled back, and continued jotting down the notes. I didn’t tell him about what happened with the teacher though. I guess… I couldn’t.

“So, where are you dining at?” JR asked without looking up.

“Soiree Bleue.” I mumbled in a strange French accent. JR laughed and mumbled:

“Sounds fancy. French. Sounds French.”

“It IS a French restaurant, dummy.”  I flicked his forehead. JR winced in exaggeration, causing a light giggle to leave my mouth. His chiming laugh followed. “You know. I’m happy I met you, Jonghyun-ah.” JR’s pencil stopped moving. Without looking up at me, I knew he was smiling just by the way his nose crinkled.

“So am I, _____. So am I.” He paused. “You know, you’re the only closest friend I’ve got.”

What? That was the first thing that came to mind when he said that. JR, being the most kind, most generous, and supposedly, most handsome claimed that I was the only close friend he ever had. Impossible.

“It’s true.” He pressed. “I was never the most extravert kind of person, you know. If I haven’t met you in gym class, I probably would have just stayed quiet throughout the whole year. You have no idea how much courage I had to stir up just to say hi to you. You seemed lonely, so I thought hey, let’s be friends with a fellow loner like myself.” He smiled.

“Uh. Thanks?” I raised my eyebrow. He just stared back, and gave a bright smile. This guy is so weird.

“Let’s get outta here.” He smirked.

“What?” I asked.

“Don’t we have gym next?” He raised an eyebrow.

“I-I-I thought it was tomorrow!” I panicked. J.R stared back in shock, as he watched me bite the side of my nail in sudden nervousness. J.R grabbed my wrist and shook his head. He jokingly called me clumsy and forgetful of my schedule. My hands rustled through the countless amounts of paper in my bag, and pulled out my schedule. And to my disgusting horror, I had gym in less than 30 minutes. S-s- NO! I slammed my head on the table, and groaned.

“U..uh? _____?”

***

I bit on the warm waffle as J.R and I walked through the store. I had… I had to skip gym class. I can’t face him right now. I have a feeling if I see Mr. Kim , he’ll ask about what happened. I think I just made things worse for myself. Great, ____. Good job. My eyes gazed at the navy blue dress. Strapless. A bit above the knees. It was beautiful. I heard J.R chuckle, and watched him grab the dress.

“W-what are you doing?” I mumbled with the waffle still in my mouth. J.R just smiled and head to the register. “Jonghyun! That’s…” The cashier stared for a second. I continued in a whisper: “That’s expensive. Put it back. I was just looking.”

“It’s fine. Consider it as an early birthday gift.” He smiled. I tried to stop him from purchasing the beautiful dress, but him, being the stubborn guy he is, he just told the cashier to not listen to a word I say, and just process it.

“Has she tried it on yet?” The woman asked. J.R shook his head, and forced me to change into it. Fantastic.

***

“Why are you so angry?” J.R laughed. I glared at him, and stared at my reflection from the glass window. The dress is… absolutely stunning, but…. I twirled playfully and watched the dress land on my thighs beautifully. We continued walking outside, and I felt nervous for some reason. J.R ended up buying me the dress, pearl necklace, and blue heels to match.

“I’m not angry… I’m just... Isn’t this too much, Jonghyun? What is the occasion?”

He shrugged, and said: “I guess I just felt like treating you, haha.”

“Well. You didn’t need to trick me into trying it, then taking my clothes away. AND make me walk in this dress for the whole day now.”

He laughed, and said: “You could wear this for your date. Remember how you were worrying about what you were going to wear? Well, here it is. Besides, it’s an early birthday gift.” We sat on the bench in the park, and just waited for the sun to go down. My date is in about less than 2 hours.

“I guess…” I murmured. I grabbed all my bags, and unconsciously pecked his cheek. Shock and fluster was a common expression from us two. “U-uh. Thanks for everything, Jonghyun.”

J.R chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. “Of course, ____.. T-Take care, alright?” I nodded, and left for my date.

***

I stared down and fiddled my thumbs together. Whoever my date is… he’s late by 20 minutes. I stared at the red wine, and drank it all in one shot. For luck. I guess.

“May I take your order now?” The handsome waiter asked. Once again, I told him ‘no’, since my date hasn’t even arrived. Maybe, he chickened out or bailed on his parents. I would know. I would. Fed up of waiting, I grabbed my purse, and prepared myself to walk out the restaurant. I guess I got this dress for nothing, sorry, JR.

“_____?” I turned around, and stared at my gym teacher. W-what is he doing here?

“Mr. Kim!” I exclaimed in shock. My face was red as a tomato, my heart proceeded to race. ____, you idiot. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m meeting someone here.” He smiled. “I’m… guessing your date takes place here, huh? Or.. atleast, already has taken place.” I shook my head, and explained how I pretty much got stood up. Or… is he…? I gulped, and watched him approach me slowly.

His face was then side to side with mine. His cologne boggled with my mind, there was something with his cologne that just… made you weak. He whispered softly:

“Next time… Don’t skip my gym class.” He chuckled almost angrily. H-huh? I felt his arm wrap around my waist and his other hand flick my forehead.

“Ouch!” I pushed him away, and glared furiously. A childish smile was on his face. I had this urge to slap him so bad. “You’re such an as—“

“Kyoungjae-ah?”

We both turned, Eli and I, and both faced a beautiful lady. Tall, slim, mature. Red long dress with a slit that exposed her right thigh. Her lips were sleek of a coral pink, and her dark black hair tied back with a golden pin. Rich…? I assumed. She walked up to Mr.Kim and pecked his lips. Broken. Something broke.

“Who is this?” The woman looked at me with a smile. “Is she your sister? Minah? Or Hannah, was it?” Jealousy. Hurt. Broken. So broken.

“N-no, Sena. Thi-this is one of my students. We just ran into each other at the restaurant, and I had to tell her to NOT skip my class next time.”  He chuckled and scruffled my hair. Hurt. Hurt. Hurt.

“I see..” Sena smiled. “Shall we go to our table then?” She whispered seductively. Mr.Kim nodded, and we said our goodbyes. Once they were out of sight, I ran out of the restaurant, and leaned again the nearest lamp pole. It started to rain…

Perfect. Rain. Tears streaked my cheeks, but no one could tell. I felt broken. Hurt. But who are you kidding, _____. You’re just his student. You could pass for his younger sister. Sena… How could you compete with her? Easy. You can’t.

You can’t.

Finally, the girl who was dubbed as fragile and frail. Broken again.