I wasn’t so sure I wanted to attend the basketball game. Both for my sake and Kim Taehyung’s. I knew he was having a hard time being accepted onto the team and that was more important than some pitiful idiots trying to pin some relationship on us. But if I didn’t go, Luhan―who I assumed was the match who started the fire―would think he had won. I had beaten Oh Sehun, so there was no way I was going to let his best friend think he could get away with it.

But the longer I waited for the game to roll around, the closer it got, the more on edge I seemed to get. The remaining classes of the day weren’t exactly a piece of pie. Some kid walked in and spotted me right off; as he passed by, heading for his desk a few behind me, he murmured “ddungddung-i” and snickered. I sighed, knowing it was coming. It wasn’t that I hadn’t been called a few names before, especially not when Oh Sehun walked around like a dictionary for insulting nicknames, but it got old over time. It was something I learned to ignore, but no matter how much I ignored it, it was still there and eventually it got tiresome to hear. It was also something I thought I had gotten rid of, but it seemed Luhan had other plans.

A few times when the teachers turned their backs, I felt paper balls hitting me in the back. It was someone trying to get my attention because when I refused to turn around, they always said: “Psst, ddungddung-i~” I guessed my very few, very short days of solitude were now over.

“Ddungddung-i, are you going to the game to support your boyfriend?” some girl asked as I headed for the exit. I rolled my eyes in her direction. It was truly unbelievable how fast they worked. One class period they were all ignoring me and the next they were all diving at me like mad cows.

It wasn’t so bad in the packed hallway, as everyone was too busy talking about the game and all were trying to hurry packing their things and get to the gym. Before I even rounded the corner, I could hear loud voices near the corner lockers. I inwardly sighed, knowing that obnoxious voice and having no doubt he was fully supportive of Luhan’s efforts. Byun Baekhyun was slapped Kai across the shoulder while laughing, with Luhan standing to the side with Minseok, both of them laughing too.

“Ay, there she is~” Luhan sang, noticing me as I tried to slink by and go to my locker. I took a look at them all, wondering where the rest of the Idiot Squad was and why Minseok decided to be a part of it when he gave me a polite smile despite his friend laughing with Baekhyun. “See you at the game, babe,” Luhan said, sending me a wink before he bro-hugged with Byun. I cringed and turned away, waiting for them all to leave. If anything was worse than being called fat, it was being called something along the lines of should-be strictly romantic relationship pet names.

When I finally heard Baekhyun’s loud voice disappear, I grabbed my things to take for the weekend and went for the back door, planning on coming around from the back of the gym instead of getting mixed up in the crowd. I managed to get inside but then I realized I really had nowhere to sit and no one to sit with. I recalled my last encounter with sitting alone at a school gathering merely hours before and frowned. A few girls watched me as I passed by, sneers on their faces. I flicked my hair off my shoulder and kept walking, planning to get at the very top of the bleachers; I wouldn’t have many people looking at me from behind and no one would really pay attention to me if I managed to basically get behind them all.

The other school’s crowd  was already settled in with bright orange filling up half of the gym. I watched as the VIPs made their way into the gym, taking seats near the bottom of the bleachers where they could have a good view of the game, and the guys a good view of the cheerleaders. They were all sporting dark red flags and things in support of our school. I realized I hadn’t even brought anything, but my red skirt would be good enough because I wasn’t buying anything. I saw Luhan and Sehun making their way to sit behind a few of the VIPs, knocking some on the head in a joking way before having a seat. I glared at Luhan, praying he wouldn’t decided to repeat the event from earlier.

Before long, the game was in full throttle. Wings High was behind by a small amount for the first half but then they picked up and Park Chanyeol began scoring baskets one after another along with Park Jimin. The opposing team didn’t really have much of a chance. It was a bit disappointing that Taehyung didn’t get to play much, but he looked happy enough just being there and didn’t seem to be getting picked on by the others for the incident from before. To make things easier, I figured I would just talk to him Monday instead of going to him after the game to avoid more rumors. Only when the game was close to ending did he turn back and spot me in the crowd. As an initial reaction, I sat up straight and waved but his reaction made me slowly retract my hand, feeling embarrassed. His eyes rounded and he quickly turned back around, facing the game once again. I frowned and glanced around, wondering if anyone had caught that, but everyone was focused on the game.

Wings High won. What a miracle, really. The other school didn’t even look disappointed because this wasn’t the first time they had lost to our school’s basketball team. Everyone was filing out of their seats, ready to head home or go to some after party. I was walking slowly, knowing it would take a while to get out, when I heard a loud commotion going in within the crowd that was surrounding the basketball team. Since I couldn’t see over anyone, I stood on one of the bleachers and peered over the crowd only to see Kim Taehyung tangled in a mess of cheerleaders. I scoffed, shaking my head, about to get down from the bleachers when I heard his voice, amplified by a megaphone.

“Hey, hey, everyone!” Both schools in the gym turned to attention, all looking