Bae Joo-hyun!In this cla.s.s of 30 she clearly stands out. I knew it. She is not from this world.
The homeroom teacher unaware of my current act of reverence grows irritated with the level of commotion and mildly irritatedly says;
"Settle down kids, if you disturb the other cla.s.ses, everyone of you will be punished got it?"
"Dylan, do you have any trouble with your sight?"
"No, ma"am"
"It"s settled then"
"huh?"
"Cla.s.s Monitor!"
"Yes?"
I turn towards the person who just answered and time seems to have slown down. That was Irene speaking? She"s the cla.s.s monitor? I don"t think I"ve heard about this before. She told the story of her being an Ulzzang, but I"d never heard her mention being cla.s.s monitor. Thinking again this shouldn"t be strange.
School is basically a popularity contest. The more popular you are the better your school life is. For those of you who wants tips on how to survive High school. If experience has taught me anything its one thing, there are two types of standing out .
1) The good kind, the athletic, smart, funny or good-looking and 2) The bad kind, the loner, weirdo or different. If you can"t be in the good kind, you"re not entirely screwed but you are going to have to learn a skill. Pretending. Read books learn as much about various topics so that you can speak about anything that the lead character brings up. Learn your role. Not everyone is a Main Character in life.
Anyway, the stern looking homeroom teacher turns to Bae Joo-hyun
"Joo-hyun, Dylan will be your new desk-mate, so show him around school during break, i"ll be trusting you to take care of him."
"Yes, Mrs Han"
"Greetings"
"Stand up"
"Bow"
She then c.l.i.tter clatters out of the cla.s.s holding a few books and shuts the door. I then move down the isle towards the last the last row , just in-front of the in cla.s.s lockers. I put my bag and turn to towards the girl next to me.
She"s gorgeous even though she"s not wearing any makeup. Her pitch black hair is tied up into a high pony tail makes her look much more mature than her age. While her cherry like lips, are put together. Her overall vibe is that of ... an older woman. A pretty noona. The stylish one you had a crush on when you were just a kid.
"Hi, I"m Dylan Park, nice to meet you"
"I know, you just said your name"
Strike 1
*brrrr* *brrrr*
It feels like the temperature in the room just drop by 10 degrees. Not one to be perturbed, I gather whats left of my pride and smile.
"And you are?"
"Bae Joo-hyun"
"That"s a pretty name, And a pretty accent"
She just ignores my comment and turns away.
Strike 2!
The rest of the morning just pa.s.ses by, I occasionally glance towards her during lessons but she just seems too focused on the teacher to pay any attention to what"s happening around her.
*Ding Ding Ding*
And with that bell its lunch break. As i"m about to stand up and stretch. I get surrounded by the girls in my cla.s.s who start bombarding me with questions.
"Where are you from?"
"Seoul"
"Why did you transfer to this school"
"Forced to"
"What"s your number?"
"I don"t know"
"Do you have a girlfriend"
"No"
Just as the girls were about to begin their second round of Q&A. Irene , interrupts them
"Dylan, follow me"
"Uh okay"
I bow towards the girls and start running after her. She really wastes no time. Seems like she wants to end this as fast as possible. Over the next 10 minutes, she shows me where various buildings are. The gym, cafeteria, library , computer and science labs etc.
We end the little tour by the soccer stand. She sits down, we did just walk around the school. Even my legs hurt a bit. She looks out towards the field while I just stand there not knowing what to do.
She turns to me and for a moment seems to be contemplating something. I just wait for her. Eventually she manages to utter something
"Did you mean it?"
"Mean what?"
"My accent, you like it?"
"Yeah, uhm ...us Seoul people find it really cute"
She seemed to have accepted that compliment and smiles
"Thanks"
"No problem"
The conversation just stops there. Seems like she"s insecure about her accent. What teenager wouldn"t be? Especially if they want to appear on Television in the future. I wonder how much months it is before she pa.s.ses the S.M audition.
I start to grow a bit anxious, it"s almost the end of break and I haven"t even gotten to speak a full sentence to her. Think Dylan! Say something.
"Uhm do you like books?"
She turns to me, a little surprised but answers anyway
"Yeah, why?"
"I just thought of a line to describe what I"m feeling right now. Want to know what is?
Not giving her any time to answer. I bring out the big guns that is sure to make any book nerd week at the knee"s. In the coolest of voices I can muster, I look towards the sunset and say
"You are sunlight through a window, which I stand in, warmed."
*Silence*
"Is that a pickup line?"
d.a.m.n!
Strike 3
I answer anyway
"Yeah"
She then turns to me and can"t seem to hold it together anymore.
"Hahahaha thats just crazy! Does that ever work?"
"Huh?"
"So was that Strike 3 or not?"