ChapterThree "My face is far different from my ."

 

 

 

 

Sandara Park
 

 

Rain.

 

I love the rain. I really do love it.

 

Unless when it’s goddamn blowing my umbrella upside down. I nearly took flight a while ago, luckily my umbrella broke or I would have flown to god knows where.

 

I admit that it is my fault though. You see, this idiot woke up at seven o’clock in the morning, peeped behind the curtains and saw a big black cloud looming over Los Angeles (LA). And since this is LA, I thought the cloud was just an anomaly and it would be bright and sunny in a few minutes.

 

I should’ve listened to my gut and not attended my first day of class. Instead, I stupidly waved goodbye to my yellow Mini Cooper.

 

“Goodbye Daisy! I’ll just take a walk!” I waved happily at my car that I almost consider my baby. “Be safe!”

 

Be safe, my . I can imagine my car laughing at my state right now.

 

Almost soaked from head to toe with a stupid looking umbrella on my hand, I trudged through the main building of California Institute of Arts (Cal Arts), mentally glaring at the students snickering at me.

 

They were probably insulting me silently in their heads.

 

“Is she stupid or something? Who would walk in this weather?” Some guy on my right said loudly.

 

I sighed at my pathetic self.

 

As I continued my way down to my class, students backed away from me like I'm a pandemic.

 

Just ignore them, Dara. You’re so close to your classroom.

 

Then I remembered that Cal Arts was also a walking distance to my home, so I walk more times than I take Daisy but I have deducted that the bigger part of my brain contains idiocy for not taking her a while ago despite the dark clouds.

 

“Dara!”

 

I was suddenly tackled to the ground by some unknown entity. 

 

“A-Aoko, get off me.” I managed to grunt out. I tried pushing her away but she won’t budge. What a heavy piece of this girl is. After not even moving an inch of her off me, I eventually stopped trying and just laid lifelessly on the ground with a smiling Aoko above me.

 

“Hey girl! How are you? And ho—why are you wet?” Aoko scrunched up her nose while leaning back to check the rest of my body. This is happening while she is still on top of me!

 

“That sounds so wrong in many ways, Aoko.” I can already see bewildered faces around us as I look around. “I didn’t take Daisy today, okay?”

 

 “Why?”

 

“Yes, Aoko. Why? I have asked myself that a thousand times on the way to school.”

 

“That’s an awful lot of times for a short walk.”

 

“Obviously, Aoko.”

 

Aoko was still examining my drenched state.

 

“Stop checking me out!”

 

“I’m not checking you out babe, I can just see your bra and I like the shade. Where did you buy it?”

 

I groaned. So, not did I only walked through Cal Arts soaked to the tee, my pastel pink bra was also showing? Way to go, self.

 

“Is it Victoria Secret?”

 

“Aoko, you do know that everybody is staring at our—wait—your public display of affection thinking we’re lesbians trying to get it on in the middle of the hallway,” I said to her in a manner of fact.

 

Did I say that right? Yes, I did. In the middle of the hallway!

 

“Oh,” she said staring at me. Her slow brain is probably still processing my statement.

 

“In short, get the off.”

 

I think I saw an imaginary light bulb light up on top of her head.

 

“Oh!” Aoko scampered to get up, and at the same time pulled me up with her.

 

I fixed myself up, trying to cover my chest and turned at the crowd that formed. “Show’s over! Scram!”

 

And they did, like nothing happened. I sighed. People.

 

I turned back to Aoko who was still smiling despite the gloomy weather. “Why are you so happy?” I asked her while urging her to walk with me. “You have Art and Literature as well, right?”

 

She beamed at me, “Yes, first class. I think?”

 

I raised my brow at her. “You think?”

 

“Whatever. I’m too lazy to check my schedule but we have the same section so… yeah?” She grinned at me.

 

I stared at her. “That doesn’t work that way.”

 

“Meh.”

 

“Meh?”

 

That’s Aoko for you. The ultimate happy-go-lucky girl. Stupid at times but she was someone I like having around. I met her when I was awkwardly sitting in the corner of the room on the first day of freshman year. I am awkward with everybody, literally. I can’t make friends. They’ll die of the awkwardness sipping out of my body but that all became void when this entity came and bug the hell out of me. She the awkwardness out of me.

 

She was that good.

 

And now my mind wandered to the future, when I finally meet Jiyong. I wondered if it’ll be awkward.

 

I mentally slapped myself. I need to stop thinking about the . He just wished me good luck a while ago and so far, his good luck was . I don’t see any luck raining down on me today—no pun intended.

 

“Yah, .”

 

“Ack!” I nursed my head and glared at Aoko. “What was that for?”

 

“I have been talking to you and you’re spacing out!”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yeah, oh.” Aoko crossed her arms and eyed me suspiciously.

 

Okay, I feel like Aoko right now. See what Jiyong does to me?

 

“What’s up with you by the way?” Aoko asked. “We never hung out this summer.”

 

Well, I have been chatting with some random stranger that I met on Omegle, non-stop. Yeah right, as if I’ll say that to her.

 

“Nothing babe, just want some time alone.” I gave her a peace sign and entered our class. I spotted two vacant seats at the back and went to sit there—Aoko following close behind. I glanced at my watch to see that there was still a few more minutes before the class starts. The coldness and stickiness of my clothing irritate me, hopefully they dry out soon.

 

Aoko leaned to me. “You know who our professors are going to be?”

 

I pursed my lips. “Actually no, I don’t. I just saw Davidson, Saunders, and Valencia’s names on the schedule—the rest I don’t know. They’re all left blank but I hope Creepy Thompson isn’t one of them,” I said visibly cringing.

 

Mr. Edward Thompson is a 30-year old unmarried, well-built, and easy-on-the-eyes professor slash artist. His classes are circled around human anatomy so I was really excited for his class back then because I at it and wanted to learn the basics.

 

His method of teaching is admirable; easy to understand and not boring at the same time. Aoko and I were actually wondering why he was still single and unluckily, I found out two years ago on my sophomore year when I attended his class, Art and Anatomy: Beginner’s Course.

 

After a month of our classes, he asked me to stay to talk about my work—not. He actually wanted to ask me out on a date. I told him that that was unethical in a university and know that there are rules about student-teacher dating. You know what he said? No one would know, Dara.

 

No one would know my ing . I told him no and went out of the studio like my was on fire.

 

I turned him down because of five reasons: He’s my professor—that’ll be gross, we’re ten years apart, I am not remotely attractive to him even though he’s attractive, He’s my professor, and did I already mention that he’s my professor?

 

And ever since I turned him down, I always make sure to sit at the back of studio. Though that didn’t stop him from going near me and sending me secret winks here and there like that will change my mind. Sometimes I hold back a laugh because when he winks, he looks like someone with a twitch problem on his face which makes him look stupid. I just ignore him and try to focus on improving my skills even though I’m itching to report him at the office. He won’t possibly go beyond his winks.

 

“Yeah,” Aoko agreed. “His face always twitches I don’t know why.”

 

See, I told you.

 

I felt a vibration inside my bag and since I don’t own and bring s in school I was certain it was my phone. I pulled it out of my bag and saw an available wi-fi in the notification bar.

 

CalArts Student Wi-fi.

 

My eyes widened and pushed the notification. It has no password.

 

“Aoko,” I nudged her. “There’s a public wifi.”

 

Her eyes widened too and took out her phone for confirmation. “!”

 

“Yes,” I agreed. “Holy .”

 

She stood up from her chair.

 

“Wait, Aoko, what are you—no! Wait!”

 

“Guys!”

 

Everyone inside the classroom stopped from what they were doing to look at her.

 

“They finally installed a public wi-fi!” She shouted while jumping up and down her chair.

 

I just buried my face inside my hands and groaned as chaos ensued inside the classroom.

 

“ yeah!”

 

“What!?”

 

“ just got real!”

 

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!”

 

“o every day!”

 

“Wait, what?”

 

I looked somberly at Aoko. “Look what you did.” I gestured my hands towards the class. “It’s like freaking Animal Kingdom here. Couldn’t you just let them discover it themselves?”

 

She simply said, “Nope.” And proceeded to bury her face on her phone.

 

I rolled my eyes at her and tried to connect to the wi-fi. It re-directed me to a log-in page where it requires our student ID number and our birthdates as our password. Filled it up and bam!

 

“Connected!” I heard Aoko screamed beside me. “Finally! I don’t have so slave my plan away for the internet!”

 

That is true but I ignored her statement and clicked Kakaotalk app on my phone.

 

Dara: Hey, you there?

 

There was no reply for about five minutes so I checked the time at Korea and saw that it was almost two o’clock in the morning. I guess he is sleeping already.

 

I felt my phone vibrate. I smiled as I opened his message.

 

Jiyong: Hey, sorry. I was doing something.

Jiyong: Aren’t you supposed to be in class?

Dara: I am. There’s wi-fi here and the professor’s not in yet.

Dara: Why are you still awake?

Jiyong: I still have some work to do.

Dara: Like?

 

I hope he slips.

 

Jiyong: I know what you’re doing. Hahahaha…

Dara: Caught! You should be thankful though

Dara: I’m still chatting with you even though I haven’t seen your ugly face

Dara: and know your name and work… for all I know you’re a e

Jiyong: Yah

Jiyong: I’m not a e

Jiyong: Have a little faith

Dara: That’s what ual predators say, Jiyong

Jiyong: Yah

Dara: Hahahah, fine. It’s not like we’ll meet.

Jiyong: Let’s see.

 

Does it mean that he wants to meet me?

 

Jiyong: I can’t wait to see you drool all over my iness

 

I scoffed at his remark and immediately replied.

 

Dara: You wish

Jiyong: I am always wishing, Dara

Dara:

Jiyong: My face is far different from my

Dara: I wouldn’t know that since I haven’t seen your face. :P

Jiyong: I’ll be back ten minutes tops, okay?

 

It was usually like this and I kind of got used to him coming and going. Jiyong is the busiest person I know. The longest duration of our calls is at the average of fifteen minutes before he is swept away for work again. If not, I was the one already asleep.

 

Dara: Ok ^_^

 

At the same time that I pressed send, a loud thud sounded from the front of the room making me look up from my phone. Suprisingly, all of my classmates are already at their seats acting normal and Aoko was silently kicking my foot.

 

“What?” I said to her.

 

“Ms. Park.”

 

I looked up to see our professor, Mr. Davidson at his desk looking directly at me.

 

“I suppose you already know that the CalArts Student Wi-fi is up and running but I would appreciate it if you won’t use your phone during class.” He raised his eyebrow and pointedly looked at the phone I was still clutching on my hands.

 

“Oh!” I rapidly hid my phone and sent him a sheepish smile which I guess looked like a grimace since Mr. Davidson shook his head in resignation.

 

 

------

 

 

Dara: I am dead tired.

Jiyong: You can do it. It’s your last class. I’ll call you when you get home. Is 10:00 pm okay?

Dara: Sure, I’ll probably be settled by then. How can you even function working all day?

Jiyong: Haha. I’m used to it.

Dara: How was your nap?

Jiyong: Great actually, thank you.

Dara: That’s good to hear. You’re going to start working again?

Jiyong: Unfortunately, yes. Haha

Dara: Alright, talk to you later.

Jiyong: Later

 

I pocketed my phone and walked to the John Benassi Studios with Aoko by my side for our Lights and Shadows Master Class, which is on the far left side of the campus past the main building. She’s been with me the whole day without looking at her schedule and I don’t even know if this girl is even enrolled at all.

 

Aoko and I attended three classes to day—four if