The Evolution

10

Rebecca headed home in sore feet. Her shoes were carelessly thrown at the shoe stand (one fell off), and she limped on the cold, wooden floor to her room. 

Her toes were sore red, blisters decorated her soles, along with band-aids that covered almost every bit of skin.

She dug for her phone in her red bag, flipped through her contacts, and called the first friend she made that day. Basically, asking if she could stay for the night. Stephenie approved.

"Mhm, sure, no problem. I just need to tell my dad."

It was then Rebecca realized how messy her room was. Books on the floor, as well as jeans and empty lotion bottles, dirty sweaty socks hanging out of drawers and cabinets, dust coating her pictures and mirror.

She threw her head back, put on some music, and started off with opening her window. Her dirty clothes were all thrown in the laundry basket, her books were placed on the dusty shelves that she didn't really bother to clean, but she did wipe down her pictures and closet mirror. Just as she was vacuuming, her doorbell rang, which surprised her with the fact that she could still hear it with loud music, plus the vacuum roaring.

The minute she opened the door, Stephenie rushed in past her, almost knocking her over. The outside air was chilly and heavy. But it never bothered Rebecca. Stephenie tried to find warmth in her room, but it was just as cold.

"You got a heater or something?" she asked through chattering teeth.

Rebecca closed the window and turned the heater on to a decent level.

"Did you do your homework?" she asked. 

Stephenie nodded, "Mhm. I did it with the boys earlier at some pool hall on campus."

For the next hour, the girls pushed themselves to go over the different formulas and equations. It was already their first day at Eunjang and they already had to take a quiz the day after. For dinner, Rebecca made tteok-bokki and fried fish, along with freshly squeezed orange juice. Stephenie enjoyed the meal very much, especially the tteok-bokki, something she's been wanting to try ever since she discovered people eating it on the internet. Rebecca may have been quite disorganized, but she made a very skilled cook. 

It was something she picked up from living alone and reading cookbooks from any nearby library. When her brother started to make money, she eventually started buying them. But she never knew where her brother was getting all that money. She prayed it wasn't anything related to drugs. In fact, she would rather have him rob a bank instead of taking in crap through his nose or mouth. 

The next morning, Stephenie and Rebecca woke up at a very early hour. Technically, it was Rebecca who woke up first, but her rustling movements nudged Stephenie awake. 

"God, how are you capable of waking up so early?" Stephenie groaned. She yawned loudly but wasn't able to fall back asleep.

"It's kind of my morning routine. I wake up an hour before school starts and I either go outside for a run or stay in and do some yoga. Other times, I study while stretching."

Stephenie was pretty taken back. "Wow, that's actually really cool! I kind of have my own study methods, but my dad has been urging me to exercise in the morning instead of the afternoon. I just hate the feeling of actively moving around on a completely empty stomach."

Rebecca was already getting dressed. "Well, I'm gonna prepare some fruit. There's a spare toothbrush in the bathroom cabinet. We'll grab breakfast on the way to school."

Stephenie smoothed out her wrinkled uniform. She reached her arms out until she felt a few good pops in her back and shoulder. Last night, they both studied repeatedly until they almost lost track of how late it was.

"Do you usually go out and take street food for breakfast?" Stephenie asked as they walked down the crowded street. 

"Sometimes, I guess. There's no particular schedule to getting breakfast from home or outside. I just do whatever I feel like doing."

As they were buying some basic breakfast sandwiches, Stephenie noticed a very familiar blonde across the street. She waved her hand and called him over. He gladly followed.

"Hey girls, are you guys getting breakfast?"

"Mhm, you want one?" 

Rebecca leaned into Stephenie's ear and whispered, "Who's this?"

"Oh, I forgot to introduce you. Teddy, this is Rebecca. Rebecca, Teddy. He was one of the guys who came to help us yesterday under the bridge."

Rebecca shook her head. "Nope, doesn't ring any bells. I had to leave pretty quickly after the fight, so I only recognized a tan and reddish-haired dude."

"That would be Ben Park," Teddy said, "He's the strongest fighter of Eunjang."

"Is he some sort of bully?" Rebecca concerningly asked.

Teddy shook his hands in front of him, "Oh, no no no. He's the type that only inflicts violence if extremely necessary."

If that was supposed to calm Rebecca down, it sure did its job. But she still had a twisted feeling in her gut. Stephenie asked Teddy if he wanted a sandwich, saying she'd pay, but Teddy politely declined, saying he rarely ate breakfast. So the three of them took their sweet ol' time walking to school. Along the way, Rowan, Eugene, and a few other Eunjang students decided to join them. Some were actually second-years as well.

Fun fact: I've actually always wanted to try tteok-bokki. Although I'm not a fan of spicy foods, I've seen people eat them on Youtube, and I hope to try them someday.