Stars

I walk into home group and the first thing that happens to me is my friends tackle me to the ground. “IS IT TRUE MELINDA?” “HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL US?” “THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!” “NOT FAIR!” they yell over each other. Tanya looks especially sad. “WHAT IS GOING ON?” I shout to get their attention. Luckily Mr. Dublin is not in the class yet so I can scream all I want, he’s late or something. It takes a while for Sally, Julie and Tanya to calm down, but I manage to do it. “Now tell me. Tell, not shout. What is going on. Why did you guys tackle me when I walked in?” Julie and Sally looked at Tanya. “I think she deserves to ask you.” They say. Tanya looks at me in the eyes. I almost shiver. “Are you and Hongbin going out.” My mind automatically processes the information and I react. “WAIT WHAAAAAAAAATTTT???????” I use my hands to cover my face. My body over flowing with heat, my mind spinning. “Who told…where did you….what?” I splutter. No wonder Tanya looks so upset; Hongbin is her bias. “I AM NOT GOING OUT WITH HONGBIN!” I shout. “THEN WHAT IS THIS?” Sally shows me her phone. “It was on the VIXX official website.” My eyes bulge and my palms sweat. “Oh god.” I knew I shouldn’t have taken a photo with Hongbin….. Here on the VIXX official website, is a photo of me and Hongbin from the other day. The caption is ‘Don’t they look like the perfect couple?’ I feel my face get hot as I shove the phone back into Sally’s hands. “HONGBIN AND I ARE NOT GOING OUT!” The other girls in my class seem to be giving me the death stare. They all saw it too….. Suddenly I hear Mr. Dublin’s voice; “Melinda, there is no need to shout so early in the morning.” He says as he walks into homeroom. I can feel it in my bones, today is not going to be the best day.

It seems that I’m getting death stares from nearly all the girls in my school. I am so close to sticking a piece of paper on my forehead saying ‘I AM NOT GOING OUT WITH HONGBIN YOU DICKHEADS!’ but I don’t let the stares get to me. Once they see Hyuk and I walking home, all of this Hongbin stuff will be cleared. Oh god. Now I’m making it sound like Hyuk and I are going out, which we’re not, but I think I want to. My mind freezes, I think I want to? Think? I though Hyuk was my ultimate bias, and now that I finally get the chance to live every fan girl’s dream, and I think I want to date him? What is going on? It can’t be… An image of N and Leo flashed in my head. They’re messing up my bias list!!! I take a few deep breaths. I don’t understand why I’m freaking out so much, it’s not like I’ll really get to date idols.

I wait for Hyuk to arrive. I instantly spot him in a crowd of screaming girls. I smile sadly to myself. For the first time in my life, I am intimidated by other girls. The horde of fans crowding around the idol who is looking for a particular person. It gives me the shivers thinking about what those crazy type fans can do to me. Eventually, Hyuk sees me, comes over to me, I get death stares, he grabs my hand and we run for it. This time, it takes a bit longer to lose the fans, damn they are persistent. I suck air into my lungs, in and out, in and out, the burning sensation makes it hard to breathe. “I’m sorry I made you run again.” Says Hyuk while he scratches the back of his neck. “It’s OK.” I gasp. He takes out his umbrella from his school backpack. “It’s not going to rain today Sanghyuk.” I laugh. “If Ken told you it is going to rain, he’s wrong.” He laughs and shakes his head. “This is for protection against those guys. If we run into them again.” As we walk, I get a strange feeling in my head. I’m comfortable enough to walk home with him, but I feel awkward and don’t know how to engage in conversation. Do idols want to talk about being normal or being an idol? I don’t know. What do I do? I always imagined the time I spent with Hyuk alone would be full of fun and laughter. My train of thought was stopped when I heard Hyuk speak. “So how was school?” I realize that Hyuk is also in his school uniform and went to school today. I clear my throat. “It was pretty boring, like everyday.” Should I make it sound like I’m smart and I like school? Hyuk chuckles, “Yeah, school is pretty boring isn’t it?” I smile at him. I keep forgetting that right now, he is an average teenager, who is walking home with an average teenage girl. “We have to pick up our clothes today.” He says. “I was worried that you didn’t have an extra set of uniform.” “My mum is smart, she always buys more than one set of uniform because of things like this.” I say. “Yeah, mum’s are smart.” We walk to the grocery shop near Jeesun’s house. “It’s pretty hot, do you want to buy some ice cream?” Hyuk suggests. I feel a big smile creep across my face. Some times its too hard to hide when I’m too happy. So we go in and buy a box of icy poles, enough for everybody at Jeesun’s house. As we were paying I hear something on the radio at the store. “Just a quick update on the 3:30 traffic; Herron highway is jammed all the way to Dune highway due to a four car crash. Be sure to take an alternate route. That’s all for the traffic update right now. Another one will be reported at 5:00.” We walk the rest of the way enjoying each other’s company and ice cream.

We arrive at Jeesun’s house safe and sound, but no body answers the door. “The VIXX bus isn’t here either.” Sighs Hyuk. I lift up the shopping bag to inspect the icy poles. “I hope they get here before the ice cream melts.” I say. We sit in front of her doorstep. Five minutes pass. Ten minutes pass. Fifteen minutes. Twenty! I’m so bored! I look at Hyuk, he’s staring into the sky. He looks just like the time when I saw him at the concert. His eyes go from the clouds to mine. I blink and try to hold back the redness that threatens to ruin this moment. “I’m a bit bored.” He says with a smile. “Let’s go out.” My throat tightens at the words ‘go out’. I know that he just means hang out, but the way my mind has always interpreted that word… “Sure.” I manage to say. “But what about the ice cream? And what if they come home and we’re not here?” He shrugs. “We can eat the ice cream, and we’ll come back sooner or later.” He pulls me onto my feet and I smile at him. This is like a dream come true.

Notes