Luna slammed down onto her bed, burying her face into her pillow. The bed sunk with her weight, cocooning her like a comforting embrace.
How in the world could Adam think that she liked Kwon? That she was in love with him, with Kwon?
The thought sent shudders down her spine. There was no way that she would ever have feelings for him. He could do a one-eighty and change completely and she still wouldn't have feelings for him. She wouldn't even think about being his friend. That was one mistake she would never make again.
During their freshman year, he had transferred into their school. It had been during the middle of the school year and his arrival had raised many eyebrows. The students and staff were used to transfer students from all around the United States and even from other countries. But Kwon was the first one that they had seen from South Korea, especially since the majority of their foreign students came from either Japan, China, or Taiwan.
_____
Luna sat in her seat, reading the book that Mrs. Dickinson had assigned for homework the day before. The book was none other than Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. She was enraptured by the book. She dove into the Shakespearean world and lost herself in the plot and characters.
The quiet of the classroom became a different kind of quiet. One that was filled with whispers and murmurs that were loud enough for her to pick out individual words and even full sentences.
"A new student?"
"A foreigner."
"Wonder if he speaks English."
"Cute."
Luna flipped her book over onto the desk. Turning around in her seat, she looked to see who was the cause of all the commotion. Standing inside the doorway, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt was a boy around her age. His hair and eyebrows were a deep black and his eyes were a dark color. His skin was the color of toasted almond, and it reminded her of the Japanese student who had studied at their school the year before.
He shifted his weight onto his other foot and looked down at the floor. A pink blush bloomed across his cheeks. Luna looked behind her to where Mrs. Dickinson's desk was located. It was empty. Weird, class technically started five minutes ago, and she still hadn't arrived.
Luna stood up from her desk and walked across the little walkway in front of the desks to the other side. Lining the wall by the door were shelves filled with books. She grabbed a copy of Romeo and Juliet and walked up to the boy. She held out a hand for him to shake. "I'm Luna, Luna Ravenwood."
He looked up at her, taking her hand in his, and gave a small, relieved smile. "I'm Kwon Mark. I mean Mark Kwon." The whispers around them increased as the students soaked up the information.
She smiled at him, hoping to show him that he didn't need to be embarrassed or nervous. "This is the book that we're reading for this class. We just started reading it yesterday, so it shouldn't be too hard for you to catch up." She handed him the book. He grimaced as he read the title. "It's not that bad and if you need any help with understanding the old English, just ask someone."
"Trust me, you won't be the only one lost," Lyla told him. When Mark looked at her, she gave a small wave. The blush on Mark's face deepened, causing a few of the girls surrounding Lyla to giggle.
"Must not be used to all the hot girls." Johnathan sneered, causing the boys around him to snort and to make their own rude comments.
"More like blind," Carl scoffed, his lingering disdainfully on Luna for some reason.
Luna shot him a glare, making sure to include the surrounding boys. That only caused them to burst into laughter. She needed to work on her glare if she wanted to be more intimidating to the idiots that she was surrounded by.
Shaking her head, she turned her attention back onto Mark. "Do you have your schedule yet?" Mark fished around in his back pocket and handed her a folded piece of paper. She carefully unfolded it and read the schedule. "It looks like we have lunch and biology together." She smiled.
"Lunch? Does everyone not eat lunch together?" He took the paper back from her and stuffed it into its home in the back pocket of his black skinny jeans.
She shook her head at his question. "Because there are so many students, lunch is broken into two sections, A and B." He looked down at his feet. His fingers found the hem of his shirt and started twisting themselves in the fabric once again. "By lunchtime, if you haven't found anyone to sit with, you're always welcome to sit with me."
Mark looked up. Hope shined in his dark brown eyes. "Only if you want your social reputation smeared by being friends with the nerd." Carl scoffed.
"You say that like it's a bad thing." Luna tilted her head in contemplation. "I would think that it would be a good thing to be friends with someone who could help you with homework problems."
"You wouldn't have to worry about failing a class." Lyla smiled sweetly at Carl while her tone of voice was mocking.
"Oh!" Mrs. Dickinson almost bumped into them. Luna instinctively tugged Mark out of the way. "You must be my new student. I'm sorry I'm late. The printers on this floor are malfunctioning."
Mark gave a slight bow. "I'm Mark Kwon." He introduced himself.
Mrs. Dickinson gave him a warm smile. She handed him and Luna each a paper. "The desk behind Luna is empty." She called over her shoulder as she handed papers out to the rest of the class.
Four hours later, Luna sat down at the table that she and Isaac had claimed at the beginning of the year. Today's lunch was hamburgers and french fries. She, of course, just had a side of fries and what was constituted as a salad. "Did you finish your biology homework and did you hear about the new student? Apparently, he's a total cutie."
She fished her biology folder out of her bag and handed it to Isaac. "Remember not to copy it word for word."
He gave her a look, his hands on his hips. "I know. I don't even know half of the words that you use."