When I sit by myself in the empty classroom waiting for Kris, I am still in a heated argument…with myself.

Do I tell him about Mai? Or should I just pretend it didn’t happen?

It's basically a repeat of the discussion I had with Lauren and Kai yesterday…

“How dare she!” Lauren bangs the table, enraged.

“Um, calm down, Lauren,” I mumble, not knowing how to react to it myself. I haven’t seen Mai or Kris and probably won’t see them until tomorrow.

“I think you should tell Kris about this. I mean, he can stand up for you to Mai,” Kai says thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.

“What?! No!” its my turn to be agitated. This is my problem and Kris does not need to be brought in it. Mai is just evil and I’m sure I can deal with that. At least she’s not threatening to murder anyone, just my social status and mental state.

“Why not?” Lauren pipes up. “I think Kai’s idea is pretty good. I mean, then Mai wouldn’t dare try anything funny with you again. You’d be… untouchable,” she smirks.

“No way,” I shake my head persistently. “I think I’d rather see what Mai would try first. We don’t know what she has in mind. It might just be empty threats,” I say in a convincing tone, aiming it more to myself than my worried friends.

Kai and Lauren share a look and shrug.

“We’ll be watching out for you, Kimmy. Don’t worry, if she tries anything funny, me and Kai…”Lauren moves her finger against and Kai nods energetically.

I just smack my face in response. Both of them… leave me speechless with their ridiculousness sometimes. But I appreciate it nonetheless.

So here I am, doodling random trees and houses on my notebook, my chin rested on my hand. The class is starting to get crowded but thankfully I was early as usual so I’m settled in my usual seat: second row from the back. Someone pulls up the chair next to me and I don’t look up because that must be Kris. Everyone in the class knows Kris only likes to sit here.

“You look tired today,” Kris says in between a yawn.

“Hypocrite,” I mutter under my breath before sneaking a look at him.

He throws me a lazy smile and rests his head on the table and closes his eyes. I can’t help but notice how long his eyelashes are. I wish my face look as flawless as his. He opens one of his eyes and I look away, a little embarrassed to be caught staring at him.

“What’s up? By the way I saw you talking to Mai the other day. What’s going on with that?” He murmurs.

“Nothing,” I say immediately and look down at my book. Kris can probably catch me lying if I look at him.

“Really?” he raises his head, suddenly fully awake and interested now.

“Yep, she was just asking about..erm… math,” I say convincingly, still drawing houses on the margins of my notebook.

“Oh, that’s weird. I didn’t know you guys are friends,” he frowns.

“Oh hm, we are. Yeah, casual friends, you know,” I wave my hand nonchalantly.

He nods and goes back to his sleep. What a friend. I sigh and go back to taking notes from the teacher.

When the bell rings, we walk out together as usual and we separated again since he’s busy with his projects. I kind of feel bad, since he’s got the bad end of the stick or something. Somehow, I was given the easier classes when I like homework and assignments more than him.

I grab a sandwich from the cafeteria and ate on my way to the class. The hall is empty and I like walking in it that way. Besides, that means I will be more likely to spot Mai if she’s anywhere and that gives me a head-start advantage and run away from that witch.

But as it turns out, I didn’t see her. Good, I thought. I don’t want to have more trouble swimming around my head. It’s enough that I spent a whole night thinking about whether I should tell Kris about her or to keep it to myself.

I figure she wouldn’t do anything that would cross the line that badly anyways, so there’s really no harm in keeping to myself. Besides, Kris doesn’t need me bothering him with more of my issues. I sit down next to the window and take out my notebook.

“I like your new pink book,” a smooth voice shocks me. But it’s only Baekhyun, I realized.

“Wow, you’re so quiet. I didn’t notice you coming. Yeah, I spilled water on my other one, so I used this one I’ve been saving,” I frown a little. It was careless of me to knock my glass over. And now I regret it, since I love this pretty pastel pink notebook decorated with some lines of glitter and tiny white hearts. It’s so simple, yet so intrinsic-looking.

“Oh, does that mean I should always announce my arrival to you in a loud and obnoxious manner?” he chuckles, amused. He eyes my notebook and takes it in his hands, turning in and inspecting the corners of the book.

“No, but don’t sneak up on me like that,” I laugh in return. I watch him curiously and he puts the notebook back in front of me, smiling a little.

“I can see you probably hid it somewhere safe. How cute,” he grins and my cheeks warm up. That was a childish move on my part, I guess.

“I saved up to buy that book. First time ever I did something like that,” I explain.

“That’s nice to hear. It’s very pretty,” he throws me another charming smile that would stop any girl’s heart for a minute.

When the teacher comes in, we stop talking and Baekhyun goes back to staring at the teacher.

I brush my fringe aside and instead of doing the same, I look down on my book. Sometimes, from the corner of my eyes, I thought I saw Baekhyun gazing at me but when I turn to him… it’s like he never moved his eyes from the board in front of us.

I really shouldn’t think about him. He’s just… that friend, I guess.

But we connect… in a way that even I can’t explain.  I think he wants to talk to me and actually spend time with me, but he’s so… guarded too. I can’t break into his walls but I think the mystery intrigues me. Unlike Luhan who is just so friendly and adorable, Baekhyun’s quiet aura draws me in.

I feel like I’m betraying Luhan. I shake the thoughts out of my heavy head and thankfully, class is over.

“I’ll walk you to your next class?” Baekhyun stands beside the table and smiles sweetly.

“No, I’ll be fine. My class won’t meet today since the teacher has something to do,” I say gleefully.

He clicks his tongue in envy.

“I wish I can say the same for me, but anyways, see you next time?” his eyes are trying to tell me something. To meet him again tonight? Tomorrow night? Maybe. I don’t know.

“Yeah,” I nod. I can’t decode his cryptic eye language but it doesn’t really bother me. I don’t think he will hold anything against me.

I wave to him and I just remembered about Luhan before I head for my room. I think that dopey boy probably forgot about what the teacher said last time and is waiting in front of the class.

Sure enough, he’s there like a lost boy, scratching his head.

“Kimmy!” he shouts and the people in the hall turns their head to us.

I cover my face in embarrassment, contemplating whether I should walk away now before it’s too late. He strides to me and I peek through my hands.

“Oh Kimmy, don’t be like that now,” he pries my hands from my face.

“Now, explain,” he points to the door that’s locked. No one else is silly enough to come to class like him.

“Class is cancelled for today, Lulu. Didn’t you listen to the teacher?” I ask in a teasing tone.

“Oh um… might have remembered something like that,” he looks down sheepishly.

I laugh at him and he rolls his eyes at me. I think a part of me happy about Luhan not making things awkward between us. He’s still the same old Lulu, so hyper and friendly. He walks me to my room and hugs me goodbye. I don’t usually hug people but Lulu’s just special. I can’t say why, but I don’t mind hugging him. I think he needs it anyway.

I finally got in the privacy of my home. Time to do more homework, I thought a little too cheerfully.

Math always helps me clear my mind. I think I got too carried away. Or maybe I was thinking of too many things. But when I woke up the next day with my face stuck on my book, I felt guilty.

Guilty…because I forgot my promise to myself yesterday.

I promised to go out last night and see if Baekhyun is waiting for me.