“Guess what I just did.” Tiffany sat down on the grass and joined Jamie, Hiba and Jisu for lunch.
“Did you finally figure out how to do a reverse French braid?” Hiba asked.
“What? No. I officially said yes to UC Davis. I’m officially enrolled!”
“Congrats, that’s great, Tiffany!” Jisu said.
“They already have their fall course schedule available and I started looking through it. And I’m thinking about how I want to set up my dorm room—”
“Can we please stop talking about college for once?” Jamie interrupted. “It’s literally all we’ve been talking about every lunch period since school started. I’m so sick of it.”
Jamie had just gotten rejected by NYU, so her resentment was understandable. Jisu knew exactly how she must feel. Remaining static as your friends zipped past you at a hundred miles per hour. In the last few days, she had received acceptances from her safety college choices—Vassar, UMichigan, the New School, UC Riverside. All perfectly reputable and highly respected schools. It had calmed her nerves, but a few important colleges remained MIA, including UChicago. And all she could do about Harvard in the meantime was continue to send whatever glowing reviews and letters she could garner from old tutors and teachers.
“Ooh, I know something we can talk about,” Tiffany said. Her eyes lit up and she leaned in like she was about to tell them a big secret. “Have you guys heard about Sophie Bennett and Dave Kang?” she continued. Jisu froze as her heart skipped a beat. She waited for someone else to inquire further. None of her friends at Wick knew about what happened on the bleachers that day.
“No, what happened?” Jamie asked.
“Apparently, they broke up,” Tiffany said.
Hiba gasped. “But they were together for so long!”
“Jeez,” Jamie said. “Something bad must’ve happened for them to split up.”
Jisu felt like a bus had run over her, backed up and run over her again. She wanted to clutch her stomach and keel over. Nothing good was going to come out of that kiss with Dave. It didn’t matter how much she’d secretly liked it. Jisu was responsible for the end of one of Wick’s most beloved couples.
“So, apparently Sophie was caught making out with a kid from another high school. It was at a Marin party, so it was someone from there.” Hiba and Jamie stared at Tiffany with their mouths agape. Jisu’s breathing became short and little black spots started to cloud her vision.
“What was Sophie doing at a Marin party?” Jamie wondered aloud.
Jisu was dying to ask more questions. Had Sophie gone off to find another boy to make out with for revenge after finding out about Jisu and Dave? Or had it happened completely separately? Jisu clamped down her tongue and tempered her curiosity.
“Poor Dave. How could Sophie do such a thing?” Hiba looked concerned.
If they only knew. Jisu wanted to tell Hiba she had no reason to feel sorry for Dave. That he was just like the rest of the guys. Acting without thinking, without meaning, without restraint.
“But she wasn’t cheating! Apparently, they broke up months ago. Right before Christmas.” Tiffany’s voice rose and fell, and Jisu thought she might actually pass out. This was the biggest bit of gossip all semester and Tiffany was telling it the way an actor would deliver a dramatic monologue. Jisu had to make a real effort to not collapse onto the floor. Her limbs were losing every bit of strength. Keep it together, Jisu! “They were going to pretend they were still together for the rest of the year so that they could win prom king and queen.”
“Yikes, then that makes it really obvious,” Jamie said.
“Makes what really obvious?” Hiba asked.
“That Dave is the one who broke up with her, and it was Sophie’s idea to pretend stay together through prom. Do you really think Dave cares about being prom king?” Tiffany said.
“Yeah, that was definitely not a decision they made together,” Jamie said as she chewed through the last of her baby carrots. Jisu hadn’t even touched her lunch.
“Apparently she practically begged him to pretend they were still a thing,” Tiffany said. “She must really want the prom queen title. But that’s all over. Word’s out.”
Jisu was utterly floored. So Dave hadn’t been acting reckless. He’d been...real. Jisu’s heart beat faster and faster. Her gaze darted around the field searching for him. It felt like a heavy fog had lifted from her feelings. The clarity was overbearing.
She revisited the memory of them on the bleachers. A part of her was relieved that she could now freely and fondly think of that moment. She hadn’t hated the kiss at all, but the circumstances had made her pull away, run off and be cold. Jisu felt awful all over again, but for different reasons now.
“I can’t believe none of you guys knew about this,” Tiffany said. She turned to Jisu. “Especially you.”
“Me? Why me?” The tiny black spots reappeared in her line of vision. Only, they were large blots that threatened to take her out. Did Tiffany know about her and Dave somehow? She really did always have the latest tea on everyone.
“You guys seem like hella close friends, and you’re always hanging out.”
“Oh...no. I had no idea.” Jisu tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, her hand shaking ever so slightly. She packed her untouched lunch back into her bag. She had to find Dave. They hadn’t seen each other since she’d run away from him as fast as she could—it was likely strategic avoidance on his part.
And then she spotted him leaving the cafeteria. He was alone. This was her chance.
“Dave!” Jisu said as cheerfully as she could, trying not to sound too overexcited or out of breath. Maybe if she pretended nothing drastic and embarrassing happened between them, he would pretend also.
But there was no pretending. Dave didn’t even say hi. He simply stopped walking and stared at Jisu.
“Um, I haven’t seen you around—” she started, feeling a warm glow radiating from her cheeks.
“I’m right here. Do you need something?” Dave said. His tone was entirely devoid of warmth, like a long, cold winter night.
“I wanted to apologize for the other day and how I ran off—”
“Are you all set for the presentation tomorrow?”
“What?”
“For Mrs. French’s class.”
“Oh...yeah, I’m all set.”
“Good. Me, too. I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”
Dave walked around Jisu and continued on down the hallway. Each stride he took was like a dagger to her heart. A wave of dread washed over as her as she watched him walk away and realized that her chance was gone. It had been gone the moment she backed away on those bleachers only two weeks ago.