Mareridt

TWO

I reached out my hand and took his, "I'm-,"

"Alright class, settle down.  We have a busy day and have to get as much work done as we can," my teacher interrupted me as she walked in.  "First and foremost, we have a new student.  Shownu, please say hello."

The class turned and looked at Shownu as he stood and bowed.  "Hello, my name is Shownu.  Please tre-,"

Ms. Choi interrupted again, "Sit back down.  We don't have time for long interruptions.  Okay class, our first order of business is your new lab partners.  The same rules apply; only two and your partner can't be someone you have been with before.  Come up and tell me who your partner is once you have decided."

With those words, she created chaos within the class.  Everyone got up and hurriedly tried to find their friends and partner with them.  I just stayed put, waiting for the last person to be my partner.

"Why aren't you moving?" Shownu asked.

"Oh, I was just waiting for the last person.  I usually am the last person and partner with the other person that nobody wanted to be with."

Shownu looked at me and didn't say anything.  He appeared to be thinking while I just stared ahead and watched my classmates.

"Do you want to be my partner?"

Those words caught me off guard, "What?"

Shownu repeated what he said, causing me to turn and actually look at him.  I hadn't paid much attention to him at first, but now I studied his face.  He was looking at me, waiting for an answer.

"Sure, why not?"

"Now you have to tell me your name, because you were cut off the last time."

"I'm Jiwon."

He smiled at my response and went up to tell Ms. Choi about our partnership.  The entire time, I didn't take my eyes off of him, even when he came to sit back down.  Now that I was paying attention, I noticed that Shownu was actually quite attractive.  No wonder a few girls had been giving him looks.  He had broad shoulders and was about average height.  His smile lit up his entire face, causing his dark brown eyes to sparkle and form crescents.  They also held a lot of depth.  I could stare into those eyes for a long time.

"Why are you staring at me?"  Shownu didn't seem upset, just curious.  "Do I have something on my face?"  He ran his hand over his cheeks, causing me to smile.

"I was just studying the face of someone who actually wanted to be my partner."  We sat in a comfortable silence while I thought about this unexpected change in luck.  Someone actually wanted to be my partner.  Maybe I won't be as lonely in this class.  These thoughts made me feel a large sum of gratitude towards Shownu for helping me.  "Thank you," I told him, earning another smile as a reply.

Ms. Choi finished recording all the partners and began notes.  We spent the rest of the hour swiftly writing everything she said until the next bell rang, freeing us all from our misery.

"What class do you have next?  I can show you where it  is."  Shownu look at his schedule then handed it to me.  As I read it, I noticed an odd fact.  "You have the same schedule as me.  How is it possible that we are in all of the same classes?"

"Wait really?"  Shownu smiled and took back the paper.  "It must be fate.  All of the same classes and lab partners on the first day?  The universe wants us to be friends."

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't hide the small grin on my face, "Come on, you don't want to be late to your first P.E. class."

"What if I did?  Talking to you seems a lot more interesting than exercising."

I shook my head, "Trust me, you do not want to upset Mrs. Kim on your first day."