Nook in the Forest

VI

Chapter 6: Jealousy?

The next few weeks seemed to pass by slowly. As schoolwork and class routines became established, everyone seemed to fit in their newly peer-pressured statuses. Basically, just like every year of high school.

It was completely normal...until Jiji realized that both Tae Seok and the weird customer from the café were in her class. After a couple days, she figured out that the customer's name was Julian. Deciding he was a jock who wasn't worth her time, she put him on her mental list of people she should avoid at all costs. Even though she would never admit it, Jiji spent most of her time ignoring Julian's attempts at making eye contact. She also secretly listened to the class gossip, making a note of anything she could use against Tae Seok to convince her brother to "un-hire" him.

Unfortunately, all Jiji found out was that the girls in her class were really childish–and slightly dumb. They spent a majority of their time discussing what his favorite color could be, or what he liked to do in his free time. Honestly, they spent their days wracking their tiny little brains for the answers to basic icebreaker questions. Yet, whenever Tae Seok walked by, they would just giggle and blush, loudly whispering to each other like he wasn't standing right in front of them.

Today, Tae Seok was sitting at his desk, which happened to be surrounded by Adelaide and her posse. Jiji studied the scene lazily through half-closed eyes, resting her head on the desk. Adelaide beamed at Tae Seok while saying something that likely made no sense, which elicited a shy wave and weak smile in return. When he turned around, the smile was gone, an exhausted grimace in its place.

I wonder why he's so tired.

"Why are you staring at the new kid?" Benji questioned, laying on his desk and effectively blocking Jiji's line of sight.

"I'm not staring." Jiji sat up, crossing her arms.

"Yeah. You were just 'watching him without looking away' for like 20 minutes." Her best friend scoffed, mirroring her arm position. "Do you like him or something?"

"Or something. You know we hate each other. I'm obviously just trying to dig up dirt on him."

"Well, I know you don't like him, but we don't actually know how he feels. He could be waiting to steal you away and declare his undying love for you."

"Bestie, your insecurity is showing. Are you jealous?" Jiji teased, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, right. Like you could ever like that loser." Benji laughed with a large grin, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Okay," she responded slowly, unconvinced. She laid her head back down on the desk and continued to eavesdrop.

English class commenced, and Jiji listened to the lecture carefully, writing notes in her messy handwriting. Discussion took place during the middle of class, and she always took any opportunity to answer a question. The play they were reading–Romeo and Juliet–held her special attention, and her eagerness to respond to the teacher's inquisitions increased substantially as they continued to read it.

"Who can tell me what significance flowers have in the drama so far?" Jiji's teacher asked, kicking off the mid-class discussion.

Her hand in the air almost instantly, Jiji announced passionately, "Juliet compares Romeo to a rose, because she finds him attractive and romantic, but, like the thorns of a rose, his family causes her pain."

"Yes, Tae Seok," the teacher called on the boy, causing Jiji to turn around and narrow her eyes.

"Actually, Jiji is wrong." Tae Seok stated, looking at his open book.

"What?!" Jiji protested.

"Juliet compares Romeo to a rose, but simply laments the fact that Romeo is a Montague."

"That's what I just said."

"Not really."

"Children," the teacher spoke. "Calm down. Anyways, Tae Seok is right."

Jiji wanted to scream. So she did–internally, at least. Tae Seok made eye contact with her from across the classroom, and smirked evilly. Her blood boiled at the thought of Tae Seok gaining the teacher's respect, which would result in the robbery of Jiji's class prestige.

"That jerk," Jiji muttered spitefully, directing her attention back to the front of the room. It took everything she had to keep her glare from focusing on her enemy.

Author's note:

Short chapter, I know, but it's been a while since I've written. Hopefully, I'll update more consistently, but no promises. 

<3  kuh tay