(SANDARA'S POV)

Jiyong might not remember, but the last time we spoke to each other, I was hating him from head to toe and later he was stalking me.

We were classmates since kindergarten till third grade.  But we got separated on fourth grade.  Jiyong was in Mrs. Lee's class and I was in Mrs. Kim's.

I asked Mrs. Kim if I could be traded for somebody in Mrs. Lee's class but she said no.  A big, fat, crunchy, and breathy, NO.  She said I should be pleased that I was in her class because it was a very special class for special people.  But it didn't look special to me.  The only kids I knew were Park Bom, Lee Chaerin, and Gong Minji.  And there was nothing special about them.

When I told him about it, Jiyong was impressed.  "You're in the gifted class," he told me while walking home.

"I dont want to be there," I said.  "I want to be with you in your class."

"Dami noona was into the gifted program," Jiyong said.  "She was identified in the first grade."

"And you made it sound like Dami unnie was some kind of freak from outer space." I retorted.

"I'm just saying is...What I mean is, Dami noona and this silly stubborn rabbit walking beside me, which happened to be you, and stop making those faces coz you look so disgusting, is smart.  Ouch! Why'd you hit me?" Jiyong explained as he was tending on his head where I 'accidentally' hit him.

"It wasn't my fault," I told him.  "I didnt do anything."

Jiyong looked at me, puzzled.  "I had no idea, Dara.  But of course. its not always apparent."

"But I really didnt do anything," I said weakly.

"No, Dar, its  nothing you can help," he said.  "It just means you're an intelligent person.  You're smart person, you know!" he chuckled.

It didn't sound like much fun. "But I dont want to be smart.  I just want to be your best friend."  He looked at me curiously, then chuckled.  What the hell is amusing this retard with what I had said?

"Aigoo~ Someone's gonna be missing me."  He put his arms around my neck and ruffled my hair.

"Miss you?!! Are you serious? No way!"

"Are you bothered that I'd be taken away from you?  Jealous, perhaps?" Jiyong inquired.

I pondered at the thought.  Was I bothered?  Was I jealous?  Of whom?  But I know Jiyong wont change his ways to me just because we are not together.  I trust that he wont change.  I trust him.

"No, of course I'm not jealous.  Absolutely, precisely. wont be jealous at all.  I'm just afraid that  we wont have time to hang out anymore since we're in different class."  I reasoned.

"Dont worry.  I, Jiyongie, promise you, Dara-ah, that I wont change."  He said and raised his pinky finger.

"Are you sure with that, Yongie?"  I asked.

"Of course.  So are you gonna seal the promise I made or not?"

"Well, there's nothing to lose, right?"  I hesistantly asked then raised my pinky finger.

"Of course!  You silly rabbit!"  He grabbed my pinky and hooked it with his.

I should have never believed him.  He's never a promise keeper.  Or was I too?

------------oOo--------------

In the third grade, as I had remembered, Ji always had time to talk to me and kid around.  But now in fourth grade, when we'd hang out, he's always harried, always looking over my head while talking to me.  I dont know what's going on in his head, though I wish I know.  Maybe its part of the new environment we're moving into.

I was starting to hate my class!  Though a part of me was glad that Bom, Chaerin, and Minji were with me in that class, I'm still not happy.  Mrs. Kim would always remind you when you didnt do the homework or got the wrong answers.  "You're too intelligent to get away with that kind of work," she'd always say.  Nobody was really special in Mrs. Kim's class.  We were all the same--too "gifted" to be special.

I told Ji about it that one day in the yard.  He was watching his newfound friends playing kikcball, but he smiled when I came over to him, and pushed an elbow out at me and said,"Here's my ugly duckling, what's up?"

I knew I was special to Jiyong.

"I hate my class," I told him.  "I hate Mrs. Kim.  I hate being gifted--and its your fault."  I said, crossing my arms on my chest.

"My fault?!"  He widened his eyes, in mockery, I guess.

"Well, partly, it is."

"Why is it my fault?"

"Because you told me that I should around that class.  That if I'd just stay in that class, I'd be like Dami unnie.  If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have turned out gifted and I'd be with you in Mrs. Lee's class."

"You really are one goofy kid, Dara," said Jiyong.  "Mrs. Kim is the complete opposite of Mrs. Lee but you'll learn a lot more in her class.  Just give it a chance."

"I gave it a chance, and I hate it."  I argued.

"Just be patient.  It's time you learn to stretch a little."

"I wish you were there though..."  I murmured.

"But I'm not, right?  So give it a chance, okay?"

"But suppose I keep hating it."

"You won't."

"But suppose...."

"Look, Dara, get lost.  Will you?  I've got my own problems."

He grabbed me by the neck, shook me fiercely, and pushed me hard away from him.

Ouch.  It hurt.

His words hurt more than the physical assault he performed on me.

I really was special to Jiyong.  Not.

--------------------oOo---------------------

Middle school life went on like a wind unnoticed.  Whenever the weekends come by, I work over the homeworks and projects together with CL (that's Chaerin's nickname by the way) and Minji at Bom's house.  Sleepovers are always the best, but after the talk to Jiyong at the yard, he'd always there to bug me that we should go to the movie house and watch a movie.  I always tell him that I'm busy.  Not that I lie, it was just that I'm really busy with my life with school stuffs and all.

Then ask him what movie he wants to watch, you know what his answer is?  Nothing--but a shrug, a scratch at the back of his neck, and his silly grin.  I dunno.  I mean,  when he'd talk to me, he would always have this pinkish tint on his cheeks and this sparkle on his eyes that I don't know how to explain.

He's acting like a lovesick puppy that time.

But I can't be his subject of affection, right?

RIGHT?!