Monday mornings were my guilty pleasure. It might sound strange to the common ear that I enjoy Mondays, but the much hated weekday held this strange sort of serenity within my mind. Mondays were my weekly new beginnings. Mondays were my fresh starts, my breaks from repetition, Mondays were days where I'd start school later according to my timetable, where I'd go out to eat breakfast outside, just a couple of hours where I'd sip my coffee, eat my croissant, smear my bagel, and look at the clouds and the birds outside of the cafe window.

This Monday was one that I dreaded, though. After our kiss, Krystal and I had silently walked back to her house. Arriving there at almost morning, most of our friends were scattered around the living room. As soon as we opened the door, Jessica had instructed me to sleep, and she had silently guided Krystal to her room. I was tired and not in the mood to argue. It would've been logical for me and Krys to sleep in her room, being her best friend and all, but Jessica's wary eyes shot me down before I dared to think of an answer. So, instead, I settled between Victoria and Sulli (and mind you, Sulli is a hugger both in the real world and in the dream world. I woke up in a choke hold), closed my eyes, and drifted off into a dreamless, light sleep.

I woke up with the smell of a freshly cooked breakfast, and Minseok gently waking me up. Krystal was no where to be seen, and frankly, I was too scared to face her. After eating a quick meal and having a small chat, I blamed my desire to go home on a hangover (it was there, but not so bad as I made it out to be). I hadn't really talked to Krystal the entire day, and the next day it was Monday, the day I had to go back to school again.

It felt extremely awkward, as if everyone who looked at me could instantly tell I had shared my first kiss with my best friend, a girl, and now we couldn't even talk to each other. My first class was math though, thank God, so I could prolong facing her a little longer. I took a seat next to a sleeping Jongin, careful not to wake him up. He did anyway.

''Hey there, Noa'', he yawned, lifting his head off of his arm. He his plum, chapped lips, stretching his left arm in front of him, he slightly covered his face while looking at me with hazy, sleepy, yet curious eyes.

''Here'', I said, handing him a bottle of Evian. The boy looked dehydrated for days. He took the bottle from me and took a few sips before placing it back on my desk again.

''Did you see that? They are drinking from the same bottle!''

''I guess the rumors are true, huh...''

I freezed all movement as I heard the two girls behind me whisper about Jongin and I. As I looked at the boy in question, he showed no sign as to if he heard what they had said, but I'm sure he did, for he sat very close to the girls. If I had heard, so had he. Since he showed no reaction, I decided to let it slide as well. I sat down in my seat, and class soon started when the teacher walked in. He was lecturing us about probability, and I diligently jotted down my notes. I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings since I was really trying to concentrate, so I was surprised when a note flew in front of my face. When I looked next to me, Jongin threw me a small smile and then turned his face towards the teacher again.

'' what they said''

I scribbled a smiley on the paper and slided it back to him. Jongin put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it lightly.

I knew he was just trying to reassure me, but I felt like he was just making things worse. The girls behind us started to frantically whisper again, and I felt my face turn into a light shade of red. I quickly disregarded the situation as the school bell rung, indicating that we had our lunch break. I felt anxious, as I hadn't talked to Krystal yet. I packed my bag and shot a smile at Jonging who was waiting for me.

The walk to the cafeteria passed by in a wink, even through the throng of students we had to get through. As I walked past them, I noticed more and more people were shooting us weird glances. 

I mean, sure, we had played spin the bottle, but Jongin and I hadn't actually kissed. What were these rumors these girls were talking about?

We walked into the cafeteria and walked to our usual table. Immediatly, Krystal caught my eye, and she smiled at me gently before patting the seat next to her. She removed her bag she had placed on the chair to save the spot for me, and I sat down next to her. I felt a strange sort of relief was over me. Everything was good, everything was good. I kept chanting this inside me as some sort of mantra.

Everyone around us were talking loudly (Tao and Sehun were in a fierce battle about who the better rapper was on Show Me The Money, Victoria was braiding Luna's hair, and Luhan was trying to convince the lot that he had in fact made a wheelie with his bike this morning. The boy was mentally five years old), so Krystal took this opportunity to quietly asked me how I was doing.

''This day is so weird, Krys. Everyone is looking at me as if I'm an alien or something...'', I mused.

''Not just you,'' she said, nodding in front of us. As I looked up, everyone was stealing glances at our table, whispering left and right, some even pointed towards us. ''What's going on?'', I asked.

''Don't freak out, but... Appareantly, there is this rumor going round that you and Jongin slept with each other as some sort of weird birthday initiation. I told everyone it wasn't true, and I can't seem to figure out who started it either. I told the group that they should just keep it quiet and not pester you with it. We all know the truth anyway, so...''

I felt my whole face fall. I probably looked as white as a ghost. I stood up with trembling limbs, grabbed my bag, and walked towards the door. Once there, I sprinted towards the toilets, before locking myself in a stall. Sitting on the toilet seat, I suddenly felt sick. I turned around quickly, and as I thought, my whole breakfast came back up.

''Noa?'', I heard Krystal ask worriedly.

I opened the stall, and she went inside. She locked the door behind me, and immediately craddled me in her arms.

Only then did I break down, and only then did I start sobbing.