The next day, rain poured heavily outside. Half the time my attention was on the windows rather than what the teacher was lecturing. While staring out the window, I thought about it would feel to dance in the rain without single care in the world. Probably a feeling of freedom. The rain would soak into my clothes, my hair, my skin, cleansing me of all the sins that I had made in the past. I would have all my burdens lifted off of my shoulders and the only thing I would have to worry about was myself.
With a sigh, I looked away from the window, but rather than looking back at the board, my attention shifted towards the transfer girl. Questions still flood my head about how she and that one guy knew each other. Why did he decide to talk to her when they weren’t even in the same classroom? Normally I wouldn’t think about these things for too long, but this really bugged me for some reason.

Maybe I should try being her friend, my mind unconsciously suggested. I frowned at the thought and shook my head. It would be too weird to just suddenly decide to talk to her when I didn’t even try to when she came here 2 months ago. I mean, I had friends of my own, but I always blew off their invitation to go to the coffee shop instead. Unconsciously, I began to tap on my desk, letting my mind wonder off into thoughts and whatever nonsense I was willing to think deep about. For instance, if I should let my brother know that I had accidently broke the chain on his bike because I had decided to ride it the other day. It wasn’t like as if I had meant to break it on purpose, it broke on its own. I knew that he wasn’t going to be happy with me so I had to think of a way to compromise with him. What could I do to make him not be as mad—?

My name was suddenly called, interrupting me from thinking of a plan any further. I straightened up in my desk and cleared my throat to answer the teacher, “Y-Yes,”
“Are you impatient?” As soon as she asked her question, every pair of eyes in the room gazed towards me.
I shook my head in response, “No, I am not,”
“Then maybe you can stop tapping on your desk,” she slithered the last couple of words and turned her back against the classroom. “As I was saying, the differences in x and y is the fact that…”
I sighed and slumped in my chair. My cheeks felt like as if they were burning—from embarrassment.

-

Afterschool, the transfer girl and I were, again, the last ones in the classroom, packing up our things. I thought about going over to her to say hi, but I found every bit of doubt biting me the more I thought of greeting her. She could disregard me and I would feel every bit of embarrassment or she could return the greeting. Though I wanted the latter to happen, I knew the outcome would be that she disregarded me. Heck, if I were in her shoes and someone came to say hi to me after 2 months, I would began to wonder why and think that they just want something from me.
Getting off of my chair, I swallowed back a lump stuck in-between my throat and gave myself some confidence to go and talk to her. Why was I going with this plan? I don’t know, but I thought that if don’t say something to her now, I would only regret my choice. Then again, why exactly did I want her to be my friend? What did we have in common that I so desperately want to talk to her for? I stopped in my tracks, only half-way to reaching her desk and decided that I shouldn’t go and talk to her.
Turning my body towards the exit, I was startled at the sight of the same guy again. Though, rather than noticing me, his eyes were on the transfer girl.  His right hand twitched towards the girl, but he doesn’t move an inch of his legs towards her. Strange, I thought, yesterday he walked in and helped her carry her things, yet this time he’s hesitant about it? With the awkward feeling gazing upon me, I cleared my throat and found myself walking towards the transfer girl. I tapped her shoulder and she looked up at me in surprise.

“Shouldn’t you be heading home?” I asked, “Class is over, you know.”
She looked away from me and at the clock that was hammered on the wall before us. Her eyes widened in surprise, as if she really didn’t notice that class was over with. She doesn’t say another word and began to pack up her things.
I took a step back from her, noticing that she was loading a lot of stuff into her bag. “D-Do you live far from here?” I asked out of curiosity.
She shook her head and stood up, “Thanks for telling me,” she said and walked away from me towards the exit of the classroom without saying another word. I raised a brow in question as to what had just happened. Was she that into the lecture that she forgot what time it was or what? I shrugged and made my way out of the classroom also.
However, as soon as I exited the classroom, I was stopped. The same male stood before me, arms crossed with a goofy smile on his face. Geez I thought the guy had already left school grounds, seeing that he wasn’t even able to walk to the transfer girl. I cleared my throat, “Please get out of my way,”
He shook his head, “What was that in the classroom?”
I raised a brow, “What do you mean?”
“You walked up to Seohyun so easily and calmly to tell her that class was over,” he stated, “this is the first time that I’ve seen you do that,”
“What do you even know about me?” I questioned with annoyance.
“I know that you like going to the coffee shop to write and sip on delicious coffee,”
I exhaled and pushed the guy aside to walk by.

“Don’t tell me you want to become Seohyun’s friend,” he said, catching up to me.
“It’s called being classmates,” I countered.
“But she’s new here, isn’t she?”
“That doesn’t mean that I can’t go talk to her,”
“Touché,” he chuckled, “I’m Kyung by the way.”
I don’t say another word to him as we exit the school doors.
“You’re not going to tell me your name?”
“Why should I?” I questioned, “We have no relations to each other,”
“Hey now,” he clucked his tongue, “we may not be in the same classroom, but that doesn’t mean we can’t go say hi to others,”
“Well, in my rulebook, I can’t find such a line that says I have to introduce myself to someone I don’t care about.” I stated; as we exited the school gates, I stopped and turned to look at Kyung, “Stop following me, will you?”
“Are you headed to the coffee shop?”
I furrowed my brows and mentally bit on my tongue as I answered, “N-No,”
He snickered, “That stuttering doesn’t make your answer valid at all,”
“I’m not,” I answered confidently, “I’m heading home,”
“And if I find you there,” he raised a brow, “you’ll have to tell me your name.”
“You… won’t,” I turned around and began making my home, though it really made me mad that I wasn’t heading towards the coffee shop. My routine was officially broken today because of that guy.

Once I got home, I found the place to be completely empty, which doesn’t come off as a surprise since I knew where everyone was. Walking towards the small kitchen, I placed my bag on the ground and began searching for something to munch on. Unfortunately, I found nothing to my liking and wished that I could head to the coffee shop rather than be here. If met him there then I would just have to tell him that I was waiting for my friends who had invited me there. Then again, that would mean that I need to call my friends and have them meet me there, which I don’t think they would want to since I never go to their planned events. I frowned and thought of other ideas that I could come up with so the guy wouldn’t call me a liar.

Say that I had run an errand for my mother and decided to stop by for a cup? I shook my head. He would expect to see something in my hands like a bag or something to confirm that I was running an errand.

Maybe I could say that I just came by to get coffee because I was headed to meet my friends. I shook my head side-to-side at the thought, but the suggestion quickly retracted once I thought more into it.

I sighed and crossed my arms. Why was I making this more difficult than it should be? I’m just going to head there and tell him that I wanted to go there because I wanted to. I shouldn’t care if he calls me a liar for telling him that I wasn’t going there at all. With a nod, I grabbed my bag off of the ground and headed out of the house.

However, as soon as I was close enough to the coffee shop, I began to doubt my plan. I didn’t want to meet the guy there and have him tell me that he knew I was going to be there. I stopped walking and clenched my fist, debating on what to do. If I head back home now, I would miss my chance at a cup of Joe, but if I go… I shook my head and told myself that since I was already here, I might as well head in. Who cares what he thinks of me if he sees me in there. Exhaling, I walked towards the coffee shop and entered in. As usual, I ignored the looks from the employees and walked towards my usual table. Unfortunately, before I reached the table, I found it occupied by Kyung.
He smirked at me as I walked towards the table, “Looks like you came after all,”
I rolled my eyes and placed my bag on table, ignoring his comment.
“You’re even going to sit with me?”
“This has been and will always be the table that I sit at in here,” I said and sat down opposite from him. I could feel his eyes on me as I settled myself into the booth. My fingers curled at the awkward atmosphere. What was my next step after coming in here? Before I could think of something to say, Kyung leaned forward to ask me a question.

“So, why do you come here every afternoon?”
I looked at him and shrugged, “It’s calm here,”
“Why not go to a library then? It’s quiet and calm over there,”
“There isn’t a coffee shop inside of the library, now is there?”
“Correct,” he smiled with a nod, “so then you must like coffee a lot,”
I shrugged once more, “It’s a soothing drink,”
“But it isn’t healthy,” he stated, “you should try drinking tea or water,”
“Why should it matter what I drink? It’s my life,”
Kyung widened his smile, “Say, tell me what your name is now,”
“Why should I?”
“Because earlier I told you that if I find you at this coffee shop then you have to tell me your name,”
“No you didn’t,” I countered.
“Yes I did,” he confidently said, “now either you tell me or…” he reached over and grabbed my bag before I had a firm grasp on it. “I won’t give you your bag back.”
“You’re threatening me right now for my name?”
“Ridiculous, right?” He shrugged his brows at me, “Well?”

I sighed and told him my name with a frown. After doing so, I grabbed my bag back from him and placed it next to me in case he were to take it again. “What are you even doing here anyways?” I asked, annoyed.
“Hm,” he twisted his lips, “ah, I want to drink coffee too,”
“Liar,” I accused, “you just wanted to follow me here,”
He laughed, “Okay, well, fine, I did but that’s only because the last time I came here, you looked really lonely sitting by yourself.” He explained, “Don’t you have friends in your class?”
“I do,” I answered, “I just… like to come here by myself,”
“Why?” He asked.
“Because I just do,” I answered and stood up from the booth.
“Where are you going?”
“Getting myself something to drink,”
“Mind getting me something too—”
“No,” I said and walked away.