Chapter XXII – Transfer Student

“Ugh I hate Monday mornings,” Max complained with a buried head in his hands.

The group was getting ready for the first period and have swarmed around Max’s desk.

“True,” Tjay added as he leaned on another classmate’s desk, completely ignoring his existence.

There was no point in trying to get Tjay to pay more attention to others around him, so they just remained quiet and gave the classmate an apologetic look. Honestly, everyone found his presence in class a surprise. They even wagered that he’d not show up on Friday, which he did.

“I don’t know, I kind of like Mondays,” Don interrupted.

“Of course you would,” Max spoke up with a dreaded look as he leaned backward.

It seemed as if he slept poorly last night.

“I mean. . . I like it because it allows me to see you guys sooner.”

Everyone kind of chuckled, it was true that they enjoyed hanging out.

Arthur placed his hand on Don’s shoulder before speaking up, “Don, you do know we can always hang out on the weekends. . .”

He too was not a big fan of Mondays, though his reasoning was different. There were three classes Arthur disliked, math, computer science, and English. Not because they were all hard, Arthur was good at both math and English, but because they were tedious, and on Monday they had both. Math required them to repeat the same thing over and over again, which at one point Arthur got sick off, and during English class, they studied basic stuff which he already knew.

“I guess you’re right. . .”

“Nah, it’s actually you who is right. It’s good to have something to look forward to,” Arthur said tapping him on the shoulder.

“You guys are weird. . .” Nabi commented. “Class is about to start.”

Settling down in their seats, the students got ready.

Arriving in class was the English teacher, Miss Kim Eun.

“Hello class,” she spoke in English.

“Hello Miss Kim,” the students replied.

“Glad to see so many of you attending today,” she reverted to Korean. “Today I have special news for you.”

“It’s not another test, is it Miss Kim?” Max interrupted.

“No Max, it is not. . .” She sighed. “Today we got a new transfer student joining your class.”

“Transfer student?” the class whispered among themselves.

Many made comments about how it’s already midterms so who is crazy to transfer now.

“Settle down. The student in question came all the way from England. Your homeroom teacher should have been the one to introduce her but he is currently absent due to personal reasons,” she explained turning towards the doors. “Come on in.”

Walking through the door came a familiar face to Arthur, the blonde girl that he had met in the street a few days ago. Whispering began almost instantly, some of the girls already noting her beauty and the boys how they got lucky that she is in their class. She wore the school uniform but was missing the vest, thus only having a white shirt which was unbuttoned at the top slightly. Not only that, but she also came inside with outdoor shoes which were against the school rules.

“Damn, who let a goddess join our class?” Max whispered.

“Quiet down dumbass. . .” Nabi interrupted.

“Jealous much. . .” Max kept on teasing.

“Me jealous? No way. . .”

“Would you like to introduce yourself to the class?” asked the English teacher.

The girl looked around the classroom before spotting Arthur.

So he's here.

With a smile on her face, she looked at the entire class before clearing her throat.

“Hey,” she spoke up with a silvery voice, angelic even. “My name is Irene, and I’ll be in your care. I’d like to believe that I’m an easy-going person, so feel free to talk to me whenever.”

Within seconds, the whole class was captivated by her.

“Thank you, Miss Irene. Please take a seat and we can begin with our lesson.”

Irene walked down the classroom until eventually, she stopped at Arthur’s desk.

“Hmm?” Arthur looked up at Irene.

“I believe this is yours,” she took out his wallet from her school bag. “You dropped it while we were filling up the bags.”

Countless whispers occurred throughout class questioning if they knew each other, did they hang out, and such.

“Oh, thanks. . .” he said taking the wallet, but he didn’t appreciate the attention that was cast upon them. “I was wondering where it was.”

Arthur knew this was going to end up being a hassle since even his friends were staring at him.

Irene glanced towards Tjay who sat next to Arthur.

“You wouldn’t mind changing seats, right?” she asked Tjay, though it didn’t exactly sound like a request.

“Umm, right. . .” the untamable Tjay got up in confusion, there was no way he was going to allow himself to be caught in all the gossip. “The things we do for our best friend,” he whispered to Arthur, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Great. . .

“Alright class, settle down. Don’t make me test you,” the teacher threatened.

The rest of the class went by relatively smoothly. Arthur noticed on numerous occasions that Irene was staring at him not paying attention to Miss Kim’s teachings. She was from England, so there was probably nothing new she could learn anyway.

With the class coming to an end and break starting, Arthur sighed. One did not need clairvoyance to see the upcoming future.

“Arthur! How do you know her?” Max yelled out, slamming the table.

Arthur’s desk was swarmed by all his male classmates, while Irene was swarmed by all the girls. He could barely get a glance at her, but she seemed to be smiling among them. On the other hand, Arthur felt troubled. Most of the guys were pissed off that he, a kid they typically didn’t like, was getting attention from their newfound goddess that they could worship during school.

“I just met her a few days ago when we were gathering at Don’s place-”

“So you’re not dating?” an unknown classmate interrupted.

“No?” Arthur looked at him confused.

The group gathered around him sighed in relief before glaring at him.

“You better not cause her trouble!” some spoke up but were instantly interrupted by Tjay who stepped in between.

His gaze alone was enough to make them shy away. While the only ones left at Arthur’s desk afterward were his friends, except for Nabi who tried to get to know Irene as well, he still listened to countless whispers and gossip that went around the class.

“Why didn't you tell us?” Max asked.

“How was I supposed to know she’d be in our class?”

“Makes sense. . .” Don interrupted.

“I guess. . .” Max accepted even though he wished to pry more.

“I’m not getting my seat back, am I?” Tjay sighed disappointedly.

“Sorry pal seems that you got beat to it,” Max said tapping him on the shoulder.

“We can switch places if you want. . .” Arthur mumbled. “I’m just going to get into more trouble if I keep sitting here.”

“I’m not foolish enough to accept,” Tjay shook his head.

Truth was, nobody wanted that type of heat on them, even those who cared the least about their reputation.

“Give it a rest guys,” Nabi said as she approached Arthur’s table. “I don’t know where you met her, but I invited her over for lunch, so she’ll be joining us.”

“How’d you manage that with all of them swarming her?” Max asked.

“Well, I just mentioned that Arthur would be with us,” she giggled.

“You’re just making things more difficult for me.”

“Oh lighten up. In a few days, nobody will care. You’re probably just the most familiar one to her so I guess. So once everyone gets to know her, I’m sure you’ll have your peace back.”

“Why are you so nervous?” Sophie asked Arthur as the two of them sat at the lunch table along with Ari, Max, Tjay, and Don.

“You’ll see. . .”

“Everyone seems to be staring at us. . .” Ari commented.

“You’re right. What’s going on Oppa?”

“It’s because of the new transfer student,” Max started explaining. “It appears she has met Art before, so the gossip has been swarming him all day.”

“Oh, Irene?” Ari questioned. “We heard about her in our class as well. Apparently, some of our classmates already saw her in the hallway. She sounds like an angel.”

“Boys will be boys. . .” Sophie mumbled.

Few minutes went by before Nabi and Irene appeared at the table. Arthur found the whole situation surreal.

“Hey guys,” Nabi said sitting down.

Irene followed along before glancing at Ari and Sophie who were staring at her.

“Hey,” Irene spoke up. “I haven’t seen you two before. You’re not from our class right?”

“This is Sophie, my sister,” Arthur cut in. “And the one next to her is Ari, her best friend.”

“We are a year younger,” Sophie mentioned.

“I didn’t know we had such cute juniors, cool. Name's Irene, hope we can get along.”

And just like that, Ari and Sophie blushed. Arthur sighed knowing full well that she already had them enthralled. He’d even go as far as to consider her being a witch that used charm spells.

“So how do you know my Oppa?” Sophie asked curiously.

“He heroically stepped in and saved me from a man who harassed me on the street. The man was about to punch me because I didn’t want to give him my number, so he grabbed his hand and told him off.”

“Ah, so that’s why you got sucker-punched,” Tjay began laughing.

“Yeah, it's cuz of me,” Irene commented with an apologetic smile towards Arthur. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to stand up for me, let alone get hurt cuz of it.”

She seemed genuinely worried about the cut on Arthur’s lip which still hadn't fully healed. Her look was the same as back then.

“Don’t worry about it, it wasn’t your fault. The guy was a dick who deserved what came to him.”

“You beat him up?” Ari asked.

“You should have seen it, it was amazing,” Irene interrupted praising Arthur.

Sophie smiled looking at Arthur, she was full of pride.

“Ah right, I haven’t asked the rest of you for your names. . . Sorry,” Irene looked at the group.

“They are nobody that you should acquaint yourself with,” Nabi teased.

“Like you’re any better than us,” Max defended himself.

“Of course I am. At least I’m not failing classes.”

The group began laughing, and after everyone introduced themselves they all turned to question her. Everyone except Arthur who was just listening in.

“So where are you from?” Max asked.

“I’ve been between Seoul and London most of my life. However, I was schooled overseas during last year.”

“And why did you decide to move over here?” Nabi followed up.

“Well, both my parents are in London so I decided to try and live on my own here. I’ve always been the independent type.”

“Oh, you live on your own?” Don interrupted but quickly shied away.

“Yeah, I’m in my mom’s old apartment that she lived in when she went to college. It’s pretty great. You live alone as well right?”

“How’d you know?”

“Just a lucky guess,” Irene said with a soft smile.

Her words were full of confidence, she was quite extroverted and proactive in her speech, and no matter what question they’d ask she’d manage to come up with an answer instantly. Irene even seemed to enjoy the constant joking around the group had going on, even joining in on the fun.

“We chatted a bit too much. . . Class is about to start,” Irene commented looking at her phone.

“Next class is chemistry. . .” Ari dreaded.

“It’ll be fine, we’ll pull through it,” Sophie comforted her.

“Is it the lessons or the teacher that’s the boring part?” Irene asked.

“The teacher is a nightmare,” Ari kept complaining. “She mumbles all the time and it is impossible to understand anything. . .”

“Well if that’s the case, I could probably help you guys out a bit. While I might not know everything, I used to have quite a good grade in chemistry back in England. If it’s first-year stuff, it should be fine.”

“That sounds great!” Sophie commented.

“Don’t worry about our classes. I can share with you my leftover notes,” Nabi offered to Irene while glancing at Tjay who was averting his gaze.

“Deal,” Irene accepted. “Let’s exchange numbers then so I can call you after school.”

“Sure,” Nabi said taking out her phone.

“Oh, can I get yours too?” Ari asked.

“Yeah, we can all exchange them,” Irene chuckled.

With enough time, the other students finally settled down and Arthur was no longer the main subject of many conversations. The rest of the classes went by rather quickly. Arthur stayed back in the classroom alone to clean up while everyone else went to do either club activities or head home.

Picking up a chair and placing it on a desk, Arthur heard the classroom doors open and shut. Turning around, he saw Irene walking in.

“Hey,” she said.

“What are you doing back here?”

“I just went to the bathroom to wash up,” she explained before picking up one of the chairs and placing it on top of a desk.

“What are you doing?”

“Helping?”

“You don’t have to do that, it’s my turn anyway,” he explained.

“Don’t be silly. It’s a two-person job.”

“Right. . .”

The two finished cleaning the place within minutes. On occasion, they’d exchange glances but not say much.

“Thanks. . .” he said making a slight pause. “For helping out.”

“I should be thanking you for helping me out a few days ago. You’ve never given me a chance to do so.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I hope you’re not talking to me because you feel like you owe me anything,” he spoke quietly. “If anything, I’d be mad at myself if I had not intervened.”

“Oh, is that why you were so hesitant to talk to me all day?” she asked. “I didn’t talk to you because I felt like I owed you anything, who’d do a silly thing like that?”

“I guess you’re right.”

He glanced up at her, as she slowly approached.

“I talked to you because you seem to be a likable guy, but it turns out that I might just have to hang out with you because of your cute sister,” she teased.

“You two hit it off pretty well.”

“It’s cool seeing siblings so close. By her reactions, I could tell that I was right about you. Anyway. . .”

She got even closer before rising on the top of her toes, planting a small kiss above his upper lip. Taking a few steps back, she could see Arthur confused and red in the face.

“What was that for?” he asked flustered taking a step back with his guard up.

“I heard that it hurts less when someone kisses it,” she said softly before turning towards the classroom doors. “I’ll see you tomorrow Arthur. Take care.”

After she left, Arthur was left standing there for a few minutes. He watched out the window as Irene left the school grounds. All he could think about was how soft her lips were.

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.