[CONTENTID1]

fifteen: monsters are real [/CONTENTID1][CONTENTID2]

[It was a mistake to cry; now they saw weakness. She wasn't supposed to show weakness.] [/CONTENTID2][CONTENTID3]

Juyeon's first two weeks in High Class passed by in a blur. She took diligent notes and made up for all the Problem Children history she missed in the library, although she continued to struggle. After class, she was usually dragged into the gymnasium by Baekhyun to watch them train. Juyeon was usually able to escape before he could bring her along to therapy sessions. That was one class she was not keen on going. She also made sure to leave the library before dinner and make it to her room before Exo could bring her to Extracurriculars as well.

Exo … they were strange. Sometimes they would act like she was their close friend, other times they ignored her in favour of something more interesting. There were moments when Baekhyun was charming and Kai was flirty and D.O silently rescued her from awkward situations caused by Kai and Chanyeol (whom she was starting to not-so-affectionately dub the Idiot Duo), and Juyeon almost felt flattered by their attention.

Hey, don't judge. She was a girl too. She was allowed to feel slightly happy that good-looking guys paid attention to her.

But, just as Sehun said, it never lasted long. Baekhyun could just as easily leave her in the dirt if something else caught his attention, which was often. D.O was just as silent and unfriendly as ever, and his small moments of humouring her were rare. Kai―well, Kai flirted with anyone who had s. His chance of success was another story.

Not to mention Sumi, who after warning her about the Exo groupies continued ignoring her ever since, and barely said a word to her in the dorms.

Juyeon was always one for being by herself and doing her own thing, but for once in her life she was very, very lonely. At least in the West Wing she had people to talk to. Juyeon missed Park Suji and all the other people she knew. She missed having three annoying roommates who always borrowed her school items but made up for it by buying her little snacks from the vending machines, even if she didn't actually eat them. She missed having people willingly bring her into a conversation. She even missed waging war with the slackers―at least they wouldn't kill her if she yelled at them.

Juyeon wondered if they missed her. She wondered what lies the principal told them.

Juyeon thought it over as she leaned against the bare walls of her new room. The drywall was scratchy against her skin. She sighed and began braiding her hair for a new day. The way she saw it, her lonely new life was slowly starting to revolve around Exo and the attention they gave her, the only amusing parts of her days, and Juyeon couldn't bear to let that happen. She was NOT that pathetic. She would rather stay alone than have to rely on a bunch of dumb handsome boys who didn't even actually like her to make her life worth living.

Saturday was a day of relaxation and even more loneliness. It grew deeper and deeper inside of the pit of her stomach until it became an almost physical ache. Juyeon hung out in the library for a while (the librarian was literally her only friend at the moment), but even the shelves upon shelves of books didn't bring up her spirits. Her thoughts kept straying towards Problem Children, and she knew better than to start thinking about that. Then she'll really lose her mind.

Juyeon followed her memor