I was still incredibly embarrassed by the time Friday arrived. I’d barely slept in the past two days, worrying over what Hyun Joong thought of me now that I had shamefully aired my crush in front of him. I had lost count of how many times I had wished the earth would just open up and swallow me whole, and despite not sharing a class with him the previous day, I was still on edge, hoping like hell I didn’t bump into him on campus.

Arriving at my English Literature class, I was apprehensive to step inside the room, wondering if I could skip instead. However as I was standing there looking at the door, an arm slung through mine and I snapped my focus to look at the girl beside me. “Hello!”

“Hey Maddie.”

“Were you waiting for me?” she asked and I nodded, watching as her signature smile brightened her face. “Awesome! Let’s go find a seat, shall we?”

We stepped inside the room, and after a quick scan of the early students, I was thankful not to see the Korean boy in there. Relaxing somewhat, I let Maddie take me up to the third row, stalling as she walked into it. “I uh, am not feeling all that good today Madds. Just incase I need to leave quickly, I think it might be best that I sit on the end here.”

The taller girl creased her face up in concern, examining my features for signs of my illness. I was lucky that from lack of sleep, I did look pretty pale. “Good idea hun. I was feeling pretty sick the other day too.”

“I thought that’s why you weren’t here,” I mentioned and she nodded, pulling out her folder.

“Oh by the way, could I get the notes from that lecture? I heard it was a decent one.”

I almost choked on my own saliva, images of the page still scrunched up in my top drawer of my desk reappearing in my mind. Taking a drink of my water before looking over at the girl, I willed myself to calm down. “Uh, I’ve been trying to find where I put them in my bag cos I forgot my notebook that day. I’m so silly, losing things so easily!”

“Ah, don’t worry, I’ve done that!”

I smiled at my friend just as I noticed Hyun Joong follow a female student into the room. All the colour felt like it drained from my face and I promptly picked up my Moll Flanders book, trying hard to look as if I was reading it. I peeked around the corner of the book to notice he was climbing the stairs towards me, and my thumping heart started to hurt my ears. There truly had to be an end to this torture soon or I was sure to implode from the stress of it all.

Hyun Joong move up to the seat free behind me, and sat down. I didn’t dare look at him, pretending to be reading the text in my hand. Only when there was a tap on my shoulder did I reluctantly lower the book from my face, glancing warily behind myself.

He was smiling. “I dropped my pen Rochelle, could you please pick it up for me, it rolled down by you.” I glanced in the direction he was pointing and glared at the writing utensil, wondering if he had really dropped it, or just did it to tease me some more. Silently, I picked it up and placed it on his book, turning back around to face the front of the room. “Thank you,” he said warmly and I nodded, looking over at Maddie who was watching the interaction with an expression on her face. The only thing I didn’t like about my friend was how quickly she was able to read situations, and I was sure she knew there was something up between us. I was instantly awkward, the exit seeming incredibly welcoming.

The entire lecture proceeded with me trying to come up with ways to escape the situation and making sure what I was writing did not include any Korean names, or love hearts. Thankfully I made it to the end without looking behind me once, and was pleased to see actual notes instead of confessions on the page in front of me. Collecting my belongings up, I tried to listen to Maddie talking about her plans for the following two days.

“Have a nice weekend Rochelle,” Hyun Joong said as he stepped down the stairs and I glanced at his departing back, watching him all the way to the door. He turned and waved gently, before disappearing out of the room. I was too slow to wave, but my eyes remained attached to the exit until Maddie shoved me back into reality.

“So, who’s he?”

“Uh just someone I went to high school with,” I replied absentmindedly, descending the stairs with my friend.

“Just someone?” she repeated and I nodded. “Or is he someone you really like?”

“Hey!” I cried as the girl smirked at me, hitting her upper arm playfully.

“Oooh, so it is like that.”

“It’s not like anything!”

Maddie laughed. “Oh so him throwing his pen so accurately towards you this morning wasn’t nothing either?”

“I knew it!” I claimed and then covered my mouth with my hand. “It’s nothing much. He’s just someone who helped me in high school a lot. We’re just friends.”

“Uh huh,” she said, unconvinced. “Well I’m enjoying watching you two so much already; this semester is going to be a blast! I’ll see you on Monday for more fun times, Chelle.”

“IT’S NOTHING!” I called after the girl, grumbling as she grinned and waved me off, heading to her next class. I realised a few people had looked at my outburst, and ducking my head, I hurried off myself, knowing that if I couldn’t even convince myself of the fact, there would be no way that Maddie Miller would buy it.