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Just to be with You

this is a very long story i noe...and um...excuse the profanity also...i'm nowhere near done...i need ideas on how this should end. so plz reply and tell me how u think i shud finish it. the weird thing is...i started writing this round valentine's day wen i didn't noe there wuz gonna be an SM audition in america...now there is! whoa freakay

“Melissa, you bitch, I’m gonna kill you!”
“Oh shut up you motherfucker, you know you wanted to go ask him anyway.”
I sighed in exasperation. When dealing with thick-skulled blockheads like Melissa, there was no point in getting mad. Only in getting even.
“This is wonderful. Just PEACHY. Thanks Mel. Now Tony Ahn, the most popular boy in the entire SCHOOL, knows what a dork I am thanks to you! I can’t believe you actually went on my screen name and talked to him. I regret I even signed on at your house. How could you, you evil hearted woman?”
Melissa merely smiled and slid her arms around my neck and gave me a light hug. “I believe you should be thanking me, Em,” she purred. “I just did you a great favor. Everybody knows you’re in love with him anyway—I was just confirming it and saving you the trouble and humiliation of you having to ask him to be your Valentine yourself.”
“Thank you so much!” I exclaimed in mock excitement. I clapped my hands in glee and jumped up and down. “Oh my goodness! I cannot believe you are so considerate towards me!” I dropped my arms and glared at Melissa, who was on her bed and trying unsuccessfully to suppress giggles.
“Goddamn, I can’t even stay mad at you,” I muttered as I collapsed onto her bed and buried my face in her pillow.

“Aww, poor Em,” said Melissa, patting my back. “Well, don’t you wanna know what he said?”
“Not really.”
“Sure you do!” she exclaimed cheerfully, reinserting a loose pin into her bobbed black hair. “Um, at first, he didn’t know who he was talking to, and I don’t think he knows who you are…but I explained that you were that girl who was always watching him like a hawk and he was like, ‘Um, ok…’ Exactly like that! You know, he’s not a very interesting person to talk to. Well, I asked him if he wanted to go to the Valentines Dance you know? And he said he already had a date. Too bad.”
“Indeed,” I said, sitting up and tying my thick curly black hair into a ponytail. “What a pity.”
“Yeah. So, I guess you’ll have to ask some other lucky guy to be your date.”
“Bullshit,” I retorted, getting off the bed to look through her British cd’s. “You and Jenny can go to the fucking dance with any fucking idiot you want, but I am going to stay home and wallow in my misery.”
“Em! Don’t talk like that! You, Jenny, and Ada are ALL going to the fucking dance and I, Princess Melissa, am going to find suitable dates for all of you. You can be a little more helpful, you know, if you start talking to more guys.”
“Argh! Aiyah, Mel, you think and talk too much. Anyway, I gotta go home now. Call Elaine, ok? I still wanna go see that movie on Saturday.”
“Sure thing babe. See ya tomorrow at school.”
“Bye.”
I went out her British pop poster-laden room and slid down the stair banister. I popped my head into the study room to say goodbye to Melissa’s mom, who was reading a Chinese magazine. “Zhaijian, Lee a-yi,” I said. She looked up from her magazine to smile and wave.
I walked home in the crisp afternoon air. Tugging my thin jacket tighter around my shoulders, I went a little faster against the deepening dusk as the wind blew faster through the trees. I was glad that winter was coming; I loved the cold weather and I loved rain. I couldn’t wait to go skiing next Friday at Tahoe with my family and church friends.
Since my younger sister opened the door when I rang the doorbell, I knew that Mommy wasn’t home yet. I brushed by my sister without a glance of recognition. I tried to overlook her existence; her presence was a constant plague to me. Instead of asking her why she was still dressed in her school clothes when it was already five o’clock, I took the stairs up two at a time and slammed the door to my room.
Once I was in my haven, I put on 1TYM’s third cd to drown out the sound of the brat prattling on the phone. I sank onto my bed face down and rubbed my temples. I still could not BELIEVE that stupid idiot Melissa had used my screen name to talk to Tony Ahn. I didn’t know how I would face school the next day.
My musings were interrupted by my biologically related inmate, who intruded my room to throw the phone down at me. Holding in a groan, I picked up the receiver. “Hello?”
“Hey, Emily, it’s Leticia.”
“Leticia,” I breathed with relief. Not Melissa—yes! “What’s up?”
“Hey, you comin to dance class on Sunday?”
“I don’t have much of a choice,” I replied, turning over and looking up at the ceiling. “Please don’t tell me we have to extend practice.”
“Sorry, but we have to practice more so we can perform for the multicultural fair.”
In spite of my efforts to remain selfless and uncomplaining, I sighed. “Wonderful.”
“Yeah. Another hour after regular practice, ok?”
“Sure.”
“Ok. See you tomorrow.”
“Bye.”
Nooooooo! This was such a wonderful day, the only thing that would make it better would be if there was an earthquake and my house crumbled down upon me!
“Emily, lai zhu fan!”
I had to restrain my scream. “Ok, Mommy!” I yelled down the stairs. Damn it, the first words that woman says to me is to cook the fucking rice!
I tripped down the stairs and cooked the goddamn rice. “Have you finished your homework?” asked Mommy
“No.” I didn’t add I that I in fact hadn’t started.
“Go! Don’t forget you still have to practice the piano later.”
“Ok.”
I took the stairs three at a time to return to my sanctuary. After shutting the door, I changed cd’s and put in JTL’s “A Better Day.”
Three hours later, after I had completely finished with reading Charlotte Bronte and graphing logarithmic functions and learning three new invertebrate phyla and reviewing the conjugations of the verb connaître, I went to eat dinner. Mommy chattered to Daddy about her day and what Tracy said to her at work while he only nodded and chewed his rice. Grace and I were silent; I ate as quickly as possible and then returned to my small kingdom. This time, I listened to SES’ “Dreams Come True.” If only my dreams could come true…

omgosh this is realli long....this is like a page and a half. sorri writing mod plz delete...i dun wanna post this long-ass thing

aww just post it! it's cute.... mmmm.... tony ahn... haha monkey!

i'm not gonna delete anything haha...
don't you dare delete it yourself! ^^

don't worry about the cursing... just don't make it like... senseless.. but yea it's alright... ppl curse in their posts all the time.... haha

and don't worry about it being long! it's okay!

so you.... already have it all written out? or is this the end?

keke.... just post more

haha thnx! ok...this is only a pg and half...wut i hav written so far is 13 pgs... -_- do u realli want me to post it?

only 13? that's not very long....i have stories in my comp that are like 90 pages long......

those are classic ones.....i think black coffee talk is close too 60-80....i don't remember..... haha but it was a lot longer than 13 pages

so don't hesitate..... and even if it is 100 pages long still post it!

haha ok....dang 90 pgs?? whoa! o well. good luk wit ur stories!

“So, you asked Tony Ahn to the Valentine’s Dance, huh?”
I couldn’t help it. I dropped my jaw in astonishment. Only the next morning at school, and the first words out of my best friend’s mouth is what happened only yesterday afternoon! Instead of answering, I thudded down onto the ground and put my head down on my arms.
Elaine put her arm around my shoulders. “Hehe, it’s ok Emily. Only…everybody knows! God, you shouldn’t have been so stupid as to leave your password on Melissa’s computer. She was threatening for weeks that she would do something about Tony anyway. Well,” she added hastily when she saw me near tears, “he doesn’t even know who you are, so maybe you’re ok. Anyway,” she said brightly, “you know that Melissa wants to go to the dance with Jun Jin Park, so why don’t you do something about that? I’ll even help you.”
Sniffling, I replied, “Thanks, but I’m not really up to it. I’m just gonna lie low today and hope that nothing happens until lunch. Aww, man.”
Both of us laughing, we parted to go to first period.
“Oooooh, look, it’s Emily the Tony lover!” crowed Yule as soon as I entered the class.
“Shove it up your ass,” I snapped as I mussed his black hair and sank onto the couch. “Don’t mention that name or I will make it physically impossible for you to attend the Valentine’s Dance with your precious Jessica.”
“And how would you do that, woman? OW!”
“Leave her alone, Yule,” said Veronica as she pinched Yule and came to sit next to me on Mr. Brunak’s couch. “She’ll find a way, I guarantee it.”
“If nothing else, she’ll tell Jessica she saw you with Angela,” added Laura, who came to sit on the other side of me.
“God, girls are so mean these days,” grumbled Yule, rubbing the spot where Veronica had pinched him. Suddenly changing expressions, he grinned at me and mouthed “Tony.” He received a kick from me.
“Sorry—but this was inevitable,” said Mr. Brunak, starting class. He puts a model of an essay of the Victorian time period on the overhead projector. The class groans.
“You’ve read Charles Dickens and Charlotte Bronte—now you have to compare their Victorian society to an event that is happening in modern times and say how it relates back to the Victorian age.” Mr. Brunak passed out copies of that day’s San Francisco Chronicle. “Right now, I want all of you to find something in today’s paper that is somehow connected to Victorian society. I’m giving you class time today to get started on your rough draft for this paper—it’ll be due next Friday.”
“Man, this sucks cock,” I whispered to Veronica, who sighed and dolefully began looking through the newspaper. “Should freshmen even be required to do these things?”
“Hey Emily, check it out,” said Laura. She pointed to an article on page E7. “Korean Music Executive to Choose New Artist from America” read the headline.
“Oh my god, that’s Lee Soo Man!” I exclaimed. “He’s the guy behind SM! SES, H.O.T., Boa, Fly to the Sky…he wants someone from America? Oh my god!”
Laura looked at me blankly. “Um, I was talking about this… ‘Rabbit Embryos to Undergo Genetic Screening in San Jose Lab’…but uh, ok. What’s a lee su mon?”
“Haha, it’s Lee Soo Man. He’s a big-time producer of Korean music. You know how I’m so into Korean music right? Hehe. Well he’s gonna have an audition in America! Omygod right here in San Francisco! Oh…my…god…”
“Um, right,” cut in Yule, pulling down the paper so he could see my face. “Emily, you think you have a chance to become one of those Korean stars when you don’t even speak Korean? Shit, you’re better off dreaming about Tony Ahn.”
“And I hope this discussion somehow relates to your topic on your Victorian essay,” said Mr. Brunak, looking over his newspaper to raise an eyebrow in our direction.
“Oh, of course, Mr. Brunak!” said Veronica cheerfully. “Emily will yet again demonstrate her singing skills for us, and that will show how…um…the people in Victorian times sang songs so passionately! Hehe!”
The class laughed and started singing in high falsettos “We all live in a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine…”
“Thanks Veronica,” I mumbled. “You just had to start them off on the time I sang ‘Yellow Submarine’ for extra credit…aaaaaa…”
Luckily, the bell rang and I was spared further reminiscences of my singing feats. I kept my head down whenever I was passing from class to class to avoid being reminded of Tony and met up with the rest of my friends at lunch.
“Emily! Oh my god, the WHOLE SCHOOL is talking about how Melissa asked Tony to the dance for you. The WHOLE SCHOOL. EVERYBODY knows about it.”
“Thank you, Jenny, for your lovely use of italics,” I said dryly as I slumped onto the bench and stared distastefully at my apples.
Ada laughed and sat down beside me. “Aww, poor Emily. You know Melissa’s just a bitch anyway, don’t care what she and everyone thinks. You know it’s not true, and you know that this whole thing will blow over by tomorrow anyway. Just hold your head high and—pwahahahahahah it’s too funny!”
“Ada, you were doing so well too,” remarked Leticia as she sat down across from us and flipped her long black hair over her shoulder. “You just HAD to crack up like that at the end…pity, as Emily would say.”
“Mmmm…stupid Melissa,” I muttered.
“What?” The princess herself came and sat down by me. “Em, you’re not still upset over how I caused a great scandalous affair for you, are you? Because you shouldn’t be. You know, with the whole school talking about it, maybe he’ll finally start to pay attention to you and then he’ll know who you are!”
“Oh, god!” Jenny exclaimed. I gently rubbed my temples to ease the dull throbbing that was beginning to pound.
“And, maybe you and him will—”
“Jenny!” I interrupted Melissa and turned to my fellow kpop fan. “Guess what! I was reading the newspaper today and it said that the producer of Boa, Shinhwa, SES, Fly to the Sky, and all those people is coming to America for an audition! He wants a new singer from the U.S.!”
“Really?” she squealed. “Oh my god! That is SO exciting! Emily, you should SO try out! Oh my god! And think if you make it, you’ll get to meet SHINHWA!!”
“Pwahahahhahahahaha!” Chunks of apple came spewing out of my mouth and onto Leticia’s lime-green sweater. Protests and shrieks of what a messy eater I was issued forth from Leticia’s pouting mouth, but her clamor was drowned out by my guffaws. “Oh!” I wheezed, gasping for breath. “Jenny! You are PRICEless! Haha! To think I could make one of SM Town’s auditions…that’s rich! Hahahahahaha!”
“All right, Emily, that’s lovely,” said Elaine, coming out of the cafeteria in time to see the last of my lunch spray out from my mouth as I continued to chortle. “Emily, turn that fountain off! God, you’re gonna drown Leticia in your spit.”
“Eww, gross!” moaned Leticia as she wiped pieces of apple off her sweater. She threw the napkin at me but missed; it landed on unsuspecting Ada.
“EWW!” she screeched, which of course only led me to laugh harder.

“Ok, Em, that’s enough,” said Jenny hurriedly, who cupped a napkin over my gaping mouth and slapped my cheeks. “And what the hell is so funny anyway? You sing REALLY well, and I really think you can make it. You should TRY OUT at least, anyway.”
“Hehe! Whatever. I don’t sing THAT well, and I’m not pretty enough. Hello, have you seen Boa and Eugene? They’re gorgeous! And most importantly, they’re SKINNY. You have to weigh like under 110 pounds.”
“Diet! Get surgery!” chipped in Melissa, who was busy stuffing her face with spaghetti. “I can help you with an exercise program, Em, and design a diet for you. I’m good at that.”
“Yeah, just like you’re good at playing the piano and singing and badminton,” snapped Jenny, looking at her crossly.
“I’ll bet you are,” I added flippantly. “Anyway, Jenny, even if I DO try out, there’s gonna be a MILLION people there and there’s NO way I’d make it. And I’m not gonna go alone!”
“I’ll go with you!” voiced Melissa, springing up off of the bench to grin excitedly in my face. “I’m a REALLY good singer, and I can give you voice tips!”
“Oh my god!” exclaimed Jenny, turning disgustedly from Melissa to complain to Ada and Leticia. “Listen to her BRAG! God!”
“Shit, Jenny, what’s your problem?” said Melissa, eyeing her with contempt. “I’m just trying to help her.”
“Yeah, whatever,” muttered Jenny, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes.
Ada, Leticia, Elaine and I swiftly exchanged uneasy glances. This bitch-fighting had been going on for weeks, and lately we were all scared that it would accelerate to something more than just familial tension…
“Um, ok…so, children, tell me HONESTLY now, ok? Tell me the TRUTH. Do you really think I could make this audition?”
“No,” came a low voice behind me.
I spun around on the bench and confronted the person who had spoken. I stared into the dark brown eyes of a guy that I judged to be junior or senior. He stood at around 5’11” and was donned in dark baggy jeans and a red DKNY shirt. Strangely enough, I was also attired in dark blue jeans and a red DKNY shirt. His hair was gelled into spikes and his tanned skin gave the impression of athletic occupations.
In response to my raised eyebrow, he grinned and winked at me. “Just playin, sweety,” he drawled, flashing even white teeth. “Sorry, heard you talking about that audition and thought it was strange ’cause I planned on going to that audition too.”
“Really,” I said; it wasn’t a question. “That’s fascinating.”
I turned back around to my friends and was about to pose the question again when I felt a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll do fine,” the guy whispered huskily, looking at me with a serious expression from his mahogany eyes. Smiling at me again, he liberally took one of my curly fries and walked away from my table.
I stared after his retreating figure and couldn’t help but notice what a nice physiognomy he had. Not heavy-set, but not skinny; he seemed toned and full of energy.
“Whoa, E-MI-LY!” exclaimed Elaine, enunciating each syllable of my name with perfect conciseness. “Who the hell was THAT?”
“I don’t know,” I said, turning back to my table.
“Oh, you guys don’t know? That’s Eric Mun, the new senior. My brother knows him from some classes.” Leticia copiously supplied us with this information while gazing intently at me. “Eeeeemmmmillly,” she said, drawing out my name in a whining tone. “Well, I know someone thinks SOMEone is hot!”
My children all laughed and commenced teasing me. “Wow, move over Tony Ahn!” exclaimed Melissa, smiling radiantly at me through a mouthful of spaghetti. “Emily, ask HIM to the dance! He’s WAY cuter than Tony, AND he’s a senior!”
“Yes, I think we’ve all noticed that,” said Ada. “And anyway, I thought we were helping Emily decide on the audition?”
“Thank you, Ada,” I whispered gratefully. “Ok children,” I said again, glancing round their shining happy faces, “what shall Mommy do?”
“Go to the audition!” cheered Jenny, putting her arm around my neck. “Really, Emily, you should go.”
“Ehh…I dunno…I don’t want to go alone…I know! I will only go if Mel, you,” I slung my arm around Jenny’s neck, “and Leticia accompany me.”
“Oh, god,” mumbled Leticia as Jenny drew back from me in horror.
“Woman, you’re crazy!” shouted Jenny, hastily backing up from me. “You—”
“Damn, woman, watch where you’re going!” said Andy Lee, a notorious sophomore for his ways with playing girls.
“Ok, god, sorry,” muttered Jenny, flipping off his back when he kept walking.
Mmmmm…I thought I just saw Elaine look curiously enough at Andy…
“Anyway,” said Jenny, with the air of one who has had a great injustice done to them, “I—”
BRRRIINNNGG!!!!
“Oh, too bad,” said Melissa, gathering up her lunch wastes and pulling on her backpack. “Emily, will you throw away my trash for me? Thanks. Love ya.” And off she went.
“God, that BITCH,” exclaimed Jenny, taking it upon herself to throw away Melissa’s trash. “Can’t she ever just throw away her own fucking garbage? Goddamn!”
Once again, Ada, Elaine, Leticia, and I gave warning glances to each other. “So,” I said, in hopes of smoothing her ruffled feathers, “Jenny and Leticia, think about the audition, ok? They’re in two weeks. Tell me if you’re interested tomorrow and I REALLY hope you two will want to come. I’ll see you guys later, ok? Good-bye children!”
The kids waved to me and I caught up with Veronica’s crew. “Hello children!” I said cheerily, greeting Melody, Annie, Peggy, and Kate.
“Mommy!” they exclaimed. After chatting about the easily-aced math quiz we had had earlier that day, we split up and Veronica and I walked to our fifth-period classes.
“Hey, Emily, did you see that hot new senior? Eric something?”
“Haha, yeah I saw him,” I said nonchalantly. Unknowingly, the name brought a frown and drawing-together of my eyebrows.
“Let me guess—you think he’s HOT, right?”
“Well, ehh…yeah. Hehe. Sure, he could be considered hot stuff, I guess.”
“Not as hot as Tony, right?” said Veronica slyly.
“What?” I whirled upon her, but she was too quick; instead of receiving a deadly headlock from me, she only got her razor-straight black hair loosened from its inexorable bun.
“Hahahahhaah! Have fun in health, Emily! Hehe!”
“Grrrr…” I gritted my teeth and prayed for no more crossings with hot guys for the rest of the day.

“So, Emily, did anything exciting happen today?”
I thought carefully before answering. I took a sip of orange juice before replying. “Well, Daddy, I read something interesting in the newspaper. You see, there’s this Korean music producer who—”
“Where is Grace?” interrupted Mommy suddenly. “Why doesn’t that girl come down to dinner when she’s called? GRACE!”
I looked down at my rice to hide a smile. My “sister” could go to hell; I didn’t really care if she came down to eat dinner “as a family” or not. For that matter, I didn’t care if I never saw her face again for the rest of my life.
“Well, anyway, Daddy,” I began, taking a chopstick-ful of Chinese broccoli. “In the newspaper, it said this big Korean music producer is coming to San Francisco and he’s holding an audition.”
“Well, zheme yang, ma?” asked Daddy.
“Well…” I was taken aback by his lack of interest and failure to recognize what this meant to me. “Well, you know how I really like singing, and I was wondering if you or Mommy could take me to the audition…”
“What audition?” asked Grace, finally gracing our dining hall with her fair presence by ceremoniously plopping down at her place at the dinner table.
Ignoring her, I chopsticked some chicken and ate it with rice.
Daddy wiped his mouth and looked at me gravely. “Emily,” he started. Oh no. I saw what was coming. Instinctively, I turned off my ears and began silently humming MILK’s Crystal in my head. Meanwhile, Daddy droned on. “We’ve been over this many times. Education should be your main concern right now. As a student, you should worry about your grades. Do you know how many people dream of becoming a pop star? Thousands! Those that do have a very short-lived period of fame, and they are VERY VERY lucky or have special connections. Why waste your time, Emily? I think you have entirely too much time. You waste it by going on the Internet and downloading Korean songs and looking for pictures of those ugly Korean guys. You might as well practice the piano.”
He paused for breath, and I saw Mommy looking at me reproachfully with the identical expression of “knowing” that was printed on Daddy’s face. Repressing a sigh, I countered, “Ok Daddy, but you also must realize this is a chance of a lifetime for me because Korean mega-producers don’t come to the Bay Area often. Please, couldn’t you just take me to this one audition and we’ll see what happens? Please?”
Daddy sighed and got up for some soup. “We’ll see. When’s the audition? Where is it?”
“It’s in two weeks, December 28. It’s in San Francisco.”
“San Francisco?” Daddy stopped at the stove with the giant spoon in his hand, gaping at me. “San Francisco?”
“Emily, tai yuan le,” said Mommy decidedly.
“No kidding it’s too far!” exclaimed Grace, even though no one had asked for her opinion. “God Emily, you don’t even speak Korean!”
Thoroughly prone to break a bowl over a family member’s head, I got up and spared them this fate by excusing myself and thumping up to my room. I blasted Linkin Park this time, a definite sign that I was stressed and pissed.
“Well, it went better than I thought,” I said, addressing my poster of Sugar Ray. “At least the maternal figure didn’t repeat what my paternal figure said and adding her exaggerations and dramatizations.” Sighing, I turned to my poster of 1TYM. “Hey guys, how did your parents ever let you become singers? It’s probably really hard for all of you,” I said, sweeping my glance over my wall covered with Asian stars, “being Asian and all. You guys have nice parents.”
“Emily, ni you zai gen ne zi ji jiang hua?” said Mommy, entering my room unannounced and turning down my music. Smiling at me, she sat down on my bed. I braced myself for another tirade of how I should value education and not fanciful dreams. “Maybe you do have too much time; people who are busy don’t talk to themselves that much.” She glanced up at me and received my stony stare. Sighing, she continued, “Emily, since you really like singing so much, I will take you to San Francisco for this audition.”
I blinked. Doth my ears deceiveth me? “What?”
Mommy smiled. “You’re a good kid, Emily, and if you really want this, I guess there’s nothing wrong with trying.”
I was still wary; everyone in my family was well aware of her mood swings, but I had never heard of my mother offering her services before. “Um, ok,” I said cautiously, venturing a small smile.
“Good,” said Mommy, getting off my bed. “Finish your homework now. And what is this music you’re listening to?” Shaking her head, she left my room and went downstairs to watch corny Chinese soap operas with Daddy.

“Hey, Emily, are you ok?” Jenny put her arm around my neck and looked concernedly at my brooding features that were basking in the afternoon sunlight. “Hello? Emily, you can go home and daydream in a little while; it’s already sixth period. Wake up, Tony’s looking at you!”
“Huh?” I was instantly awake and snapped my head up. “Who? What? When? Where? How? And why?”
“Haha, I knew that would wake you up,” laughed Jenny. “Come on, Campana’s gonna close the gym and leave us stranded out here in the quad! Let’s go.”
She led me into the dingy gym. Mechanically, I sat down at my designated spot in roll-call order, still with a faraway, otherworldly look on my face. Unconsciously, I began picking at the frayed ends of my gray p.e. sweats.
“All right class,” said Mrs. Campana, sticking her clipboard on her hip and staring at us with ice-blue eyes through thick glasses, “Today we start badminton. Before I tell you your teams, and yes, I assigned you partners, I’m gonna tell you the scores of the teams from soccer. In first place, Hyesung Shin, Samantha Brown, Sue Thompson…”
“God,” muttered Jenny. I glanced at her in time to see her roll her eyes when Hyesung was mentioned. I sent her a questioning glance and raised my eyebrow.
“He’s such a little bitch,” explained Jenny, shooting daggers at his unsuspecting back. “He thinks he’s all that just because he hangs out with Tony and Kangta and he’s good at sports and he’s smart and so many girls like him. He’s so conceited and arrogant.”
I raised both my eyebrows. “Sungie? The one sitting two people in front of me?”
“Yeah, that’s the little motherfucker.”
“What? He’s not like that! He’s really nice! He’s in my math class, and yeah he’s pretty smart, but he’s nice and funny, too! He’s not stuck up like Sheila Parker, even though they hang out together. Really, he’s cool.”
“No, I heard he was mean and cold and really snobbish—”
“Jenny Xiao!” shrilled Campana. “You know, I was gonna have you and Emily on a team, but I should have known that that obviously would never have worked. Instead, I’m gonna have to break up another team; Jenny, you’re now gonna go with Hyesung, and Emily, you’re gonna be with Tony.”
I could feel the blood drain from my face and then rush back in a cataclysmic flood of color. My blush was a perfect contrast to Jenny’s abnormal pallor.
“Fuck,” we both muttered simultaneously. I caught a glimpse of Hyesung and Tony exchanging disgusted glances, and could see Tony mouth ‘who’s Emily?’.
“Teams, come get your rackets and I wanna see birds flying today,” said Mrs. Campana, setting down her clipboard and opening the can of shuttles.
“Motherfuck!” I moaned. “Shit, I can’t do this…Tony will see what a dork I am and he’s gonna hate me for the rest of his life and I just know I’m gonna say or do something stupid—”
“Damn Emily!” exclaimed Jenny, taking hold of my shoulders and shaking me vehemently. “Calm down! Get a grip, woman! Ok! Breathe! Don’t worry about that dumbass Tony. Seriously, did you know he’s failing life skills right now? LIFE SKILLS, the easiest class in the whole fucking school. At least you’re with someone who doesn’t talk much—I’m stuck with that chatterbox Hyesung. Aaa!”
“Speak of the devil,” I said, hiding a smile with my racket. “Here’s the little fuck now.”
“Hey ladies,” said Hyesung cheerfully, followed by Tony. “I’d like to congratulate you on successfully screwing up my favorite sport by rearranging my grouping status with a…shall we say, less favorable companion?”
Hyesung and I both laughed good-naturedly; Jenny rolled her eyes and stalked off to her assigned court while Tony seemed to ponder the meaning of what Hyesung just said.
“Mriaow,” said Hyesung in a low voice, curling his fingers and splicing the air with his cat’s claw. “What’s her problem? Oh well, I know at least one of us will benefit from this happy little union.” He smiled a mischievous grin at me and wiggled his eyebrows in Tony’s direction.
“Fuck you,” I said, smacking his highlighted head with my racket.
“Whoa, I’m so fortunate to be in the company of not one but TWO bitches today!” he cajoled, prancing away to his court to join Jenny.
“…”
Tony and I stared at each other for what seemed an eternity before Campana stomped over and shoved us both to a court with a waiting team.
“So…” I cleared my throat in an effort to end this suffocating silence but my mind was an empty abysmal void. I tentatively looked up to meet Tony’s unblinking gaze.
“Do you wanna start or what?”
“Huh?” I mentally applauded myself for uttering a sound when my mind was so blank.
“You have the bird.”

I glanced down to see my hand tightly clenched around the plastic shuttle. “So I do,” I faltered. I cleared my throat again, dropped the birdie, swung my racket—and completely missed it.
“SHIT,” I expounded in my head. I felt my deepening blush spread across my expansive visage and could hear the other team sniggling.
“God, how could you miss that?” exclaimed Tony, impatiently picking up the birdie from where it lay at my feet. “Switch places; I’ll serve.”
Mutely and with my head down, I trudged to my new place on the court and examined my shoelaces. From a far-off distance, I heard Tony whoop and yell when he scored a point; every time he scored, I would plod to the other half of the court with my head downcast and wishing for the period to be over. I eventually became so familiar with my shoelaces and the patterns of the tiles on the gym floor that I ventured to look up to see how Jenny and Hyesung were faring.
“Hahaha…” I chuckled softly to myself at the spectacle before me. Jenny swung her racket and missed the shuttle by about a foot, while Sungie stamped his foot and reiterated how it was even possible for anyone to miss twelve consecutive serves. Jenny then of course expounded that they might get to play the offense if he would follow the fucking rules, but Sungie, being Sungie, refused to allow the birdie to be served to him until Jenny had hit it at least once.
“Hey, watch the thing!”
I swiveled my head around to behold a terrifying scene; the little white birdie was flying directly towards my face with petrifying slowness. I raised my racket and watched its gradual descent. I saw it meet squarely with the shuttle and watched the birdie fly back.
“Oh my god!” I shouted, raising my racket in a glorious gesture of victory; but then I beheld the birdie flying beyond the boundaries of the court and landing in the twilight zone behind the bleachers.
“Oh f…” I hadn’t the energy to say it. Tony spared me the trouble when Campana blew the whistle and he bellowed, “FUCK! Damn it, we were so close to winning and YOU had to go and hit the fucking birdie too fucking HARD! Shit, you SUCK!”
“Whoa, take it easy man,” said Hyesung, coming up and putting a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “It’s just a game. Forget about it.”
“How the hell can I forget about it when I’m stuck with this whore for three weeks? We’re gonna lose every game because of that bitch!”
“Tony! Goddamn, she’s a really nice person and this counts for nothing. Maybe if you were nicer to her you’d actually be able to work as a TEAM.”
“Fuck, I don’t need this shit,” growled Tony. Turning to me, he looked at me squarely and said, “Did you hear, bitch? We better win tomorrow or something bad is gonna happen to your face and you’re not gonna smile too good.”
“Well,” I corrected, meeting his fiery gaze with a stare of ice. “Perhaps you should correct your grammar before addressing those who don’t give a shit about what you’re saying. This class means crap to me, but I might pretend to listen to you if you could speak eloquently like Hyesung at least. And anyway, I don’t give a flying fuck if you lose every goddamn game you ever play in your fucked up life. I’m gonna play badminton Emily style.”
I turned smartly on my heel and strode past Hyesung and Jenny who were staring after me with mouths opened wide enough for me to walk into.
“Emily…” said Jenny cautiously as she followed me into the locker room. She flinched when I opened my locker and slammed it shut. “So…I guess you’re getting along with Tony well…” Another bang of the locker. “Well, aren’t you glad you know the real Tony now and can see what an asshole he is? And god, I’ve never seen you this mad, not even at your sister!”
I straightened up from putting on my pants and bore my gaze through her. “By mentioning this biological relative, are you trying to pacify me or PROVOKE anger?”
“Um…whichever one means to calm down…”
I dropped my fisted hands from my hips and buried my head in my sweater. “Shoot me,” I said, the muffled sound of my voice reaching my ears as a far-away droning. “Shoot me now.”
Jenny sighed and draped an arm around my back. “Then let’s talk about something pleasant. Did you tell your parents about the Korean audition thing in San Francisco?”
I raised my face and looked at the peeling blue paint of the lockers across from me. “Yes,” I said, brightening a little when I remembered what Mommy had said. “My mom said she’d even take me. Isn’t that odd?”
“Oh my god, really?” squealed Jenny, jumping up and clapping her hands. “Oh my god! Emily’s gonna become an Asian superstar! Oh my god, you have to get STARTED! What song are you gonna sing? What are you gonna wear? Have you learned the dance?”

ummmm...is anyone reading this? haha. i'd like feedbak pplz...i need to noe how to end this! i hav more, but i guess u kinda get the gist of the story...so PLZ reply and help wit ideas :huh: