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Six: Oh ... Why?
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2024-10-29 19:42:56He doesn't speak a single word of Korean, even though he was half Korean. Ever since his mother died there was no one who speaks Korean at home. His stepmother was French, so he knew a little bit of French.
He danced to the number one Korean boy band without understanding a single word of the lyrics, except for the English parts. He said dancing didn't need an understanding of words but the emotions from the music. It was true for a lot of things.
They followed each other on I*******m, he has around 5000 followers there and quite actively posted his dances in there too. While she has less than 300 followers, most of them were school friends and family.
Most of her posts were selfies and wefies with Jan, sometimes she posted her journal entries in a blur, and also her favorite bubble tea with a beautiful panoramic background. She got likes to all her posts from Lee at the end of that day, and a little blue heart on one of her caption that said, "Just a small town daydreamer loving life to the fullest" underneath one of her outdoor selfies.
They texted each other every day whenever he's not at dance practice which is not a lot of time. Usually between 7 to 8 PM after dinner time. They talked about anything, everything, the things they like, the things they don't like.
Jan had been spending a lot of time with Kyle lately, so Lee was a nice exchange. She never thought it would be so easy to make friends with a guy she only just met less than a week.
When it was time for him to start the joint rehearsal at another school, she felt a little lost because the rehearsal was closed for an audience. They wanted the performance to have a surprise effect. She was back being alone after school hours with nothing to do.
She strolled around the school corridors and saw how it was already transformed for Valentine's day. Some girls even stayed in classes to write their love letters in groups. Some girls write multiple letters for multiple boys, while the boys didn't seem to have a care in the world. But they write letters too, in private, ripped the back of their calculus notebook and folded it asymmetrically before putting it inside the letter bowl.
She felt more confident turning in her letter for Theo. It'll probably be buried under hundreds of similar notes from other girls. She had nothing to lose.
The bowls were already filled with letters, the next day would be the last day to submit the letters, and then they will be distributed to the recipients. She'll come early, she thought, no one would see her come, drop the letter and go.
When she turned around, she bumped into a guy who just came in.
"Mickey ... I haven't seen you in a while? Where have you been?"
He was holding a letter in his hand then he put it in his pocket.
"Hey ... oh ... you know ... I've been watching the dance practice for the tournament ... are you dropping in a letter?"
He shrugged, a bit embarrassed he was caught, "You know ... Peyton ... I won't hear the end of it if I don't," he laughed lightly, "Are you?"
"Oh ... no ... I was just looking around, there's no dance practice today so ... I'm gonna head on home now."
"Aren't you going to watch soccer practice? Go home with me and Max later?"
She thought about it for a moment, she guessed it would be fine, she didn't have anything better to do anyway, "Okay," she said.
They walked together to the field after he put his letter into the bowl. Some of the girls who were there were whispering and giggling when they saw him came in. He had that effect on the girls at school. She wasn't the only one.
"You haven't been coming home with us lately, where did you go?"
"I was with Lee ... we've been walking home after dance practice."
"Who's Lee?"
"He's a sophomore, our star dancer ... he's really good, a new friend."
Theo paused for a moment, "Oh ... that's nice," he nodded.
It felt great to be able to tell him that, letting him know she's got other friends, she had other things to do than to wait by the sidelines for Max every day, even though she was really just waiting for him.
"So you're not hanging out with Jan anymore?"
"Pfft ... she's been ditching me, new boyfriend prospect ... you know?"
He laughed lightly. There it was. His playful laugh took her breath away for a fraction of a second.
"What about you? No boyfriend prospect yet?"
Shit. It would so lame to say no. "I don't know ... maybe ..."
It surprised him, he turned to her, "Really? This Lee guy? That would be really weird."
"What? Why?"
He stopped on his feet and looked at her, "I don't know ... it's just weird seeing you with a boyfriend ... I guess ..." he smiled.
She had no idea what that meant for him, or for her. She smiled back. Of course, the possibility of that happening with Lee was too far ahead. She didn't know if he was interested in her that way, or if she was interested in him that way. They were friends, they barely know each other, but to put that thought in Theo's mind was satisfying. She didn't want to be that little sister who was single throughout high school, something had to happen.
"Okay then ... I'll catch ya' later, Mickey ... I have to go practice," he said with a wave and ran across the field to his team and Peyton who was waiting for him at the player's bench.
She saw them kissing from afar. She felt totally weird-ed out after what he said, which made her question if she could ever really move on from her crush that doesn't feel like it'll ever go away.
She took out her phone and sat on the bleachers. Still not able to break from her old habit, she went to I*******m and started browsing on Peyton's account. Theo barely posted anything on his Insta, if she wanted to see pictures of him, she has to go to Peyton's.
She basically displayed him like a trophy on I*******m. Dating the coolest and hottest guy in Pinehurst Valley or probably in the whole Chestnut had gotten her a lot of likes and followers. But then again, she was equally popular and hot, it literally gave her stomach ache to see them together in pictures looking all smiles and happy. Then she accidentally liked a photo with her clumsy finger and realized she didn't even follow Peyton on I*******m.
"Oh ... why ...?" she covered her face.
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