Somebody splashed acid in my eyes – at least that's what it felt like. I dug around in my duffel for the case and removed my contacts. Sure, you could swim with contacts in, if you didn't mind going blind. Shit. Now i'd have to wear my glasses all day. I should've searched harder for my goggles this morning.

The locker across from me clanged open and I blinked up to my mirror. There she was, clutching a mega cup of coffee in her left hand, a donut between her teeth. As she reached down for something in her locker, she disappeared from view.

"Ow, ow, shit!"

I whirled. The plastic lid on her cup had fallen off and scalding coffee had poured down her arm. She was hopping around, holding her wrist. I unzipped my duffel and yanked out the first wet thing on top, then charged over and slapped it up against her arm. "Here, use this."

"Owww," she yowled.I winced, knowing how that hurts. "Let me see. You could have third-degree burns."

She loosened the makeshift bandage and peered at her arm. Good, no blisters. Rash red, though. She smelled spicy, like cinnamon.

I glanced up to see her looking at me, hard. "Do you always carry around a wet swimsuit?" she asked. She indicated her arm, where I'd rewrapped my speedo.

"You never know when you might need one." She laughed. Infectious.

"Thanks, Jennie." She removed the suit. Tried to. My hands were gripping her arm so hard she had to pry them loose.

"Sorry." I let go fast. Rewind. Replay. She knows my name.

"I can't believe I did that." She rubbed her arm.

"How am I going to get through the morning without coffee?" Holding the now empty cup, she retrieved chunks of coffee-soaked donut and dropped the soggy mess into the cup.

"There's a coffee machine in the cafeteria," I told her.

"Yeah?" Her eyes lit up. "Thanks. You're a lifesaver." She plucked my swimsuit off the floor and held it up by the crotch. "Literally."

I snatched it away and she smirked. Returning to my locker, I jammed the suit into the duffel and re-zipped it.

"Where do you swim?"

I sprang upright. She'd followed me and was leaning against the locker next to mine."In the pool." Well, duh. Jennie. Dazzle her with your brilliant repartee.

"The school's pool. Downstairs. Open swim begins at six and I can get a few laps in before first hour. My morning cup of coffee."

Her eyebrows arched. "You're seriously demented."My stomach jumped. I wished it'd stop doing that.

"I'm Rosé Park." She stuck out her hand.

"I know. Jennie –"

"Kim. I Know." We both let out little laughs, nervous like, then shook hands. She Said, "You're student body president."

"How did you know that?"She shrugged. "I asked around."

"Babe, hey." Kai's voice echoed down the hall. I realised I was still holding Rosé's hand and dropped it fast. Why? We were just getting acquainted. He sauntered down the hall, a tower of books under his arm. His free hand snaked around my waist and pulled me into him.

"Long time no do this." He bent down and kissed me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rosé push off.

Kai finished with me and said, "Come on. I'll walk you to class."

I hauled down my lit and calc books, which Kai took and added to his stack. At the end of the hall, I glanced back over my shoulder to see her headed in the opposite direction.

She'd asked around. Huh. Why would she do that?

***

We headed toward the parking lot at lunchtime to rendezvous with everyone else at my Jeep. We'd decided to eat off campus at least a couple of days a week. On the way, I informed Kai of my no-school-night rule. He wasn't pleased. "I'll see what I can do about borrowing the Regal Friday night," he said.

"No, Kai. You know I hate doing it in your dad's car."

"Okay, I'll check to see if the villa's free."

He was mad. Great. "I'm sorry, but it's just gross."

"Then your place."

"Woo Bin's coming back tomorrow," I told him.

Kai sulked all the way to Taco Bell. He didn't mind doing it right under my mother's nose, but horrors my stepfather should catch us. What was that, some kind of guy thing? Granted, Woo Bin was the size of a linebacker, but underneath the blubber, he was a big teddy bear. Kai knew that.He was still sullen half an hour later when we got back to school. "I hate this," he said, stalling at the door after the others had gone in.

"Yeah, me too."

He lifted my chin with a finger. "Let's just get married."

"Okay. After Econ, though, because I have an assignment to turn it. And we're not consummating the union in your dad's Regal."

Kai blinked. "You're assuming we'd make it out of the church."

I kicked him and he wrestled me into his arms.

***

I resumed my same seat in art. I always do that, pick a spot the first day and never move. What does that say about me? Boring and predictable. Everyone else had shifted around. Dean, geek-cum-punk, slid in beside me. "Yo," he said.

"Yo yourself," I said back.

She wasn't in her seat. I scanned the studio and located her a couple of tables over, by the picture window. She was turned away from me, gazing outside.

Look at me, I thought. Look at me, look at me, LOOKATME.

God, Jennie. Shut if off. What was that about? I concentrated on doodling in my spiral. Concentrated on not looking at her.

Soji rushed in, balancing a stack of videotapes on a slide carousel.

"Sorry I'm late." He dumped the load on his desk.

"Roll call. Everyone here? Good." He opened a drawer and pulled out a ream of blank newsprint.

"Pass these around," he said, splitting the paper between the front two tables.

"My stash of pencils has gone AWOL, so use whatever you've got. Pencil, pen, lipstick."

As Dean passed me a sheet of paper, I saw Soji drag a tall stool over to the front and set an apple on the seat. "Draw this," he said, spreading his arms dramatically over the stool.

I panicked. If this is a test, I thought, I'm toast. It took a while to focus my attention on the task at hand, distracted as I was by Wendy passing Rosé a pencil and Rosé smiling thanks. She had a nice smile. I wondered how her arm was, if I should ask. Ask why she asked around about me. I studied the assignment. Granny Smith apple. Sour. My mouth watered. The best ones for pies, though, Mom always said.

A few minutes into it, my cell rang. "Shit," I hissed under my breath. I must've forgotten to turn it off. Naturally, the phone had fallen to the bottom of my bag, under layers of detritus. It rang and rang. I finally fished it out. "What?"

"Hey, babe."

"Kai, I'm in class," I whispered and ducked my head, as if that was going to make me invisible.

"So am I," he whispered back. "I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry about earlier. About being such a grump."

"It's all right."

"I love you."

"Yeah, me too. Hang up, goon." I folded the phone.

"Sorry," I said to So ji, and all the other people around me who were gawking. Including Rosé. I rolled my eyes and she grinned.

It took me a minute to remember the assignment. Get going again. Once I concentrated my energies, time flew. So ji stood up. "Okay," He said, startling me.

"Sign your masterpieces somewhere, front preferably, with your own name preferable, and hand them in. You won't get graded. I just want first crack at the next budding Picasso."

I glanced over my drawing. Not bad. I'd captured the essence of form, anyway. I watched as her essence of form exited the door with Wendy.

***

We had a student council meeting after school. I called the meeting to order, then deferred to our new faculty advisor, Mr Han. He asked us to introduce ourselves, tell what class we were in, what office we held. Kai he already knew. Probably from bio or something, since Mr. Han was the new head of the science department.

Kai ended his spiel with, "And I'm Jennie's vice," which cracked everyone up. I'm not sure Han got is. He was going to be as fun as a box of mold.

The council was composed of six class representatives, plus officers. Nayeon was secretary. Han asked her to please read the minutes of the last meeting we'd held before break.

She did, then flipped her steno pad, and added, "Oh, and we voted. It was unanimous. Our new faculty rep would have to strip to his tighty-whitelys and do the chicken dance at an all-school assembly."

We all smothered grins.

Han's eyes about shattered his spectacles.

Nayeon said to him, "Joke."

"Oh." He chortled. "Ha. Good one."

Oy. I took back the meeting from Clueless Guy. "Community Service Week is coming up in February," I announced. "What do we want to do this year?"

Nayeon piped up. "Condemn the cafeteria? That'd be a service to the community."

Everyone laughed. Nayeon huffed. "Hey, I'm serious."

Right. We brainstormed ideas that were actually doable and settled on a blood drive, a canned-food collection for the homeless shelter, and a read-a-thon for local nursing homes. Same as last year. How boring and predictable is that?

On the way out, Nayeon snagged me and said, "Jisoo told me to tell you the Mrs. Lee was still looking for you."

"Damn." I smacked my head. Nayeon added, "If you go to the career centre, would you pick me up a catalog for Western State? Thanks."

She jogged over to Jackson, who was waiting for her by the office. Jackson. He must've been her third or fourth boyfriend this year. I watched as she practically mauled him against the trophy case. He looked so young. But then he would, considering he was a freshman. I wondered if I should tell her what people were saying. Suggest maybe she cool it in school.

Kai came up behind me and poked me in the ribs. I yelped and slapped him away. "Keep Friday night open," he murmured in my ear. "I have a solution to our problem." He swaggered away toward the chem labs.

I scanned the back of his long, lean frame, letting out an audible sigh. One thing about Kai – he had a solution for everything