Mareridt

FOUR

Our tests were collected after we all had finished.  Because it was such a long test, it had taken up most of the hour, leaving us about five minutes of free time before lunch.  As soon as we were allowed to talk, Soojin immediately turned to me.

"Okay, spill.  How do you know him?"

I sighed, realizing that she would be relentless in her pursuit of answers.  I didn't want Shownu to be bombarded with questions, so I decided to answer her as quickly and succinctly as possible.

"Shownu is my lab partner and is in all of my classes."  I could tell my answer didn't quench her curiosity, so I prepared myself to be pressed for all the juicy details of the uneventful story.  Thankfully, the bell rang before Soojin could ask anything else, sending us to lunch.

As I gathered up my things, Soojin grew quiet and I felt a presence behind me.  I glanced over to see an awkward looking Shownu standing there.

"Um...," he trailed off, seeming very uncomfortable and nervous.  Soojin was staring at him and I could understand his discomfort.

"Hey Soojin, you dropped your pencil."

My distraction seemed to work because Soojin took her eyes off of Shownu to search the floor.  Without her eyes on him, Shownu was able to lose some of his awkwardness and speak.

"Since I am new and you are the person I know the best so far, could I maybe sit with you and your friends?" he asked.

Soojin gave up her search and immediately answered, "Yes!  Of course!  You definitely should sit with us!"

I couldn't help but smile at Shownu's hesitation and Soojin's lack of it.  Shownu continued to watch me and I realized that he was waiting for my answer.

"Yeah, you don't have to ask, sit with us whenever you want to."  He visibly relaxed at my words and we all headed to the cafeteria, with a quick stop at the lockers on our way.  We exchanged our textbooks, then walked into a completely different world.

The lunchroom was extremely large and filled with students.  It was difficult to move around and get to a specific place, but we had done this countless times before and were able to maneuver all the way to our usual table in the corner.  We made sure not to lose Shownu in the crowd and approached our friends, who were already halfway through their lunches.

"Took you long enough," Minho said as we sat down.

"Sorry, we had to figure something out before we came."  I took a seat at the table and gestured for Shownu to do the same.  Soojin had already started a conversation with Hobi, leaving me to introduce everyone else to Shownu.

"To all of you who haven't met him already, this is Shownu."  I turned to face him and continued, "You've already met Minho, Hobi, and Soojin.  The rest here are Xiumin, Woobin, and Jacob."  At the mention of Jacob, Shownu gave me a confused look.  "His real name is Jang Peng but he hates it so we just call him Jacob."  I waved my arm in the direction of each then gestured to the rest as I finished, "Namsoon is your seating partner in Korean, and sometimes he sits with us, along with Nayun over there."

Once I was done with the introduction, I peacefully ate my lunch with my friends, while we joked and messed around for the rest of the hour.

Too soon, the bell rang and sent us on our way to fourth hour.  Shownu and I, along with Jacob, had one of my least favorite classes next.  I grabbed my stuff and we headed towards our destination.  When we arrived, I reluctantly walked through the doorway, into my English class.