The homeroom class of Ms. Payton’s eighth grade class was buzzing around with its usual chatter from the twenty students on a bright and cheery Monday morning. The girls of the Four Seasons were all crowded around Paige Simmons’ table as they chattered away about the fun things they did during the weekend. Shervonne McGuire was telling her friends about her date with her boyfriend, Ned Blankenship.

Rylee Thompson, who was not used to hearing about this kind of lovey-dovey stories, gagged all throughout the story and made Shervonne slightly peeved. “You can’t blame me for not wanting to listen to this,” she pointed out after receiving her glare for the fifth time.

"Ms. Payton is here,” Paige spoke up and the three other girls hurried back to their seats before they get into trouble.

Ms. Payton smiled at them cheerily. “Class, I am very pleased to tell you that I have a special announcement to make.”

Lia Douglas turned to the three other girls, a wide grin on her face. “Have you noticed that Ms. Payton always have some kind of special announcements every Monday morning?” she asked.

Paige nodded. “It’s to get us into the lesson, I think,” she explained. “That way it makes school a little less dull with these special announcements.”

“Her last announcement was awesome,” Lia said thoughtfully.

“Gee, I wonder why,” Rylee teased and she blushed.

Ms. Payton’s last announcement was that they were going to Korea for a week. Surprisingly, they met Big Bang, a famous K-pop band. Furthermore, Lia actually went on a date with the leader, G-Dragon. And, because she was adopted, she found out that the rapper, TOP, was her real brother after years of wondering who her birth parents were. It was like killing two birds with a stone. Well, three, since she also got to know the other members of Big Bang quite well.

“What is it, Ms. Payton? Do tell us!”

Ms. Payton only smiled, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “You will find out tomorrow,” she said mysteriously.

“Whaaat?” the class went.

She laughed, amused by the reaction from her students. “I will tell you at the end of the day if you all do your work.”

There was a loud groan. “Aww, man! Ms. Payton, you can’t do that to us!” Rylee called.

“Oh, but I just did. I’m the teacher.”

“Owned,” Lia muttered.

“You and Mr. Hayes are getting married, right?” Shervonne asked, her eyes twinkling.

Ms. Payton blushed at the mention of Mr. Hayes’ name. He was the ninth grade homeroom teacher, and also her boyfriend. “No, this is something that I think will benefit the class,” she said, clearing her through.

“Can’t you give us a little hint?” Mark Wedloe, Lia’s cousin, pleaded.

But their teacher was not deterred. “Nope. Just be good boys and girls today and I’ll see at the end of the day. Okay?”

The class sighed, knowing Ms. Payton wouldn’t tell them. That is what makes her special announcements, well . . . special.

The morning seemed to drone on forever. It was as if time had slowed down on pour pose to keep them on the edge. English Literature and math seemed to take so long. It was even worst during History and Geography. Finally they were allowed to go on a lunch break.

“So what do you think Ms. Payton’s special announcement is?” Paige asked as soon as they settled down on the grassy field under the shady maple tree.

“I still think Ms. Payton and Mr. Hayes are getting married,” Shervonne declared. “Did you see the way she blushed at the mention of his name just now?”

“Please,” Rylee scoffed, taking a bite out of her sandwich. “Lia blushes at the mention of G-Dragon. Like now.”

True enough Lia was blushing. “Oh shut up,” she said, shooting Rylee a playful glare. “Anyway, how does she getting married got to do with our class?”

“Well, she’ll be going on a honeymoon so that means she won’t be here to teach us,” Rylee explained. Her eyes lit up and she pumped her fist in the air with a loud cheer. “It’ll be so cool! No class for us!”

“Tough luck,” Lia sighed, shaking her head. “If it is that, Ms. Payton for sure will find a substitute for her. There is no way she’ll let us slack like that.”

Shervonne sighed dreamily. “It couldn’t hurt to dream about it. But imagine it. They are so perfect for each other. It’ll be so cute.”

Rylee rolled her eyes. “Definitely too much romance in your head,” she grumbled.

Shervonne poked her tongue out.

“Speaking of which, Lia, have you kept in touch with Big Bang?” Rylee asked.

Lia nodded, her face litting up. “Yeah, we talk on the phone every morning. They take turns calling me. Monday is Oppa, tomorrow is Ji Oppa; Wednesday is Maknae Oppa, Thursday is Dae Sung Oppa and Friday is Bae Oppa.”

“What about the weekends?” Shervonne asked.

She shrugged. “Whoever wants to call, they call,” she replied nonchalantly. “But it’s mostly Bingu Oppa or Ji Oppa who calls.”

Paige shook her head. “I still can’t believe TOP is your brother,” she said in amazement. “You have a celebrity brother.”

She grinned. “Yeah, Oppa is crazy. He told me this morning about how he tricked Dae Sung Oppa into going on this really long and scary water slide at the theme park they went to yesterday.”

They all laughed, trying to imaging it. They could imagine Dae Sung screaming waving his hand wildly, his eyes wide in fear.

Brrriing!

The bell rang and they quickly hurried back to class. It was time for science period.

“I hate Mondays,” Rylee grumbled under her breath as they made their way back to the four walls. “We have the most boring subjects today. The only good thing would be free period at the end of the day.”

“Hopefully Ms. Payton would tell us by then,” Paige said positively as they entered the science lab.

“I think she will,” Lia said, looking hopeful.

Science class was as boring at the morning subjects. After science, unfortunately, was civics.

“Oh, groan. Someone, please kill me now,” Shervonne muttered.

“Ms. Payton probably chose to tell us today just to torture us,” Rylee said.

Their civics teacher looked up. “Is there something you two would like to share with us, Ms. Thompson and Ms. McGuire?

“Busted,” Shervonne’s stepbrother, Toby, said in a low voice and they blushed at being caught by the teacher.

“No, sir,” they mumbled. “Nothing at all.”

“Let’s keep it that way, shall we?”

“Yes, sir.”

The class continued to go on slowly. It was almost tortuous. At last the bell rang, signaling for the end of the lesson. They teacher left the same time Ms. Payton entered the room. The whole class erupted into cheers when they saw her.

“So, have you kids been good?” she asked with a teasing smile.

“Ms. Payton, come on!”

She chuckled. “Okay, okay. Well, tomorrow we have special guests coming to our class,” she said.

“Who?” Toby called out.

“Oh, it’s a surprise.”

“That’s not fair, Ms. Payton! You mean we waited a whole day just for you to give us more suspense?”

“That’s uncalled for,” the whole class buzzed.

But Ms. Payton just shrugged. “I’m not giving any more clues,” their teacher replied. “So, now do any homework you have and try to finish it so you can be free in the night. Get it out of your way.”

The class was disappointed. They couldn’t believe they wasted a whole day just to find out the news tomorrow. After half an hour, the bell rang and they all went home, wondering who Ms. Payton could be possibly talking about.

The next morning, Lia stood in front of her full-length mirror, wondering whether she should wear her purple singlet or her black singlet to go with her grey skinny jeans when her phone rang.

It was Kwon Ji Yong, the leader of Big Bang. “Hey!” she said.

“Good morning, Lia baby,” Ji Yong said with a chuckle at the other end of the receiver. “How are you?”

“Ms. Payton said that we are going to have special guests today,” she told him. “But we have no idea who as she refused to tell us. She made us jitter the whole day just to tell us that we’re finding out today!” She frowned. Black or purple?

“Oh, I see. Hey, random question: what are you wearing?”

“What? Why?” She was still trying to decide on which color singlet to wear.

“I don’t know. I just want to picture you but I need to know what you’re wearing in order to do that.”

“Oh. Well, I’m trying to decide whether I should wear a black singlet or a purple singlet to go with my grey skinnies,” she told him of her dilemma.

“So you’re topless right now?”

“Kwon Ji Yong!” Lia blushed even though he couldn’t see her. “I’m wearing the shirt I wear to sleep!”

“Wear your black shirt,” he advised her. “You still have my Smurf hoodie?”

Lia turned to touch the grey hoodie laid on her bed. “Yeah, it still smells just like you. I wear it to sleep,” she added, smiling.

“Ah, I think I know why.”

She rolled her eyes. “Get over yourself,” she retorted.

He laughed. “Okay, wear it with your outfit. I want to at least be comforted with the fact that you are wearing my hoodie.”

“But it’s big!” she protested.

“Please?”

She put it on and wrapped her arms around herself. “Ah, it’s so snug and comfy.”

“Like I said before . . .”

She blushed again. “Ji Oppa, it’s not nice to bully people like that. Stop it.”

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing,” he replied. “It shows how much you care.”

“Of course I care!”

He laughed. “Ah, if you were here I’d pinch your cheeks. You are so cute, Lia.”

“And you are so annoying.”

“But you like it.”

“No!” She closed her eyes and imagined his cheeky face. “Ji Oppa, I miss you a lot,” she confessed. “I miss everyone too.”

“We miss you too. I know that everyone miss making fun of your height.”

“Don’t you have any other things to talk about than how short I am?” she complained.

“I miss you,” he replied sweetly. “I really do. I feel like something is missing.”

She smiled, looking at the time. “Hey, I’m so sorry but I have to go now. It’s almost time for me to go to school. I’ll chat with you later.”

“Have fun with the special guests,” he told her. “Miss you.”

“You have fun, too, pop star.” She smiled to herself as they hung up. Then she hurried to school.