New Guy

The weekend went by quickly and by Monday morning, Haewon had been able to put the event of Friday night out of her mind.

It was as though by unspoken agreement, her sisters had decided not to inform anyone in the family about what had happened during the weekend video calls, and she was grateful to them for that.

Haewon knew that there was no way that she was going to be able to avoid Charlotte now that they would be meeting in school.

She knew that the only reason Charlotte had not visited to find out why she was ignoring her calls was because Charlotte was busy with her weekend part-time job at a bookstore, and even if she wasn't, Haewon had tried to make herself scarce by accompanying Selena to everywhere she went over the weekend.

Almost immediately after she walked down the school hall to her locker, Charlotte caught up to her in front of her locker room.

"Did your phone get broken? Or did I do something wrong? Why haven't you been taking my calls?" Charlotte asked without beating around the bush.

Haewon turned to her, her brown eyes blazing angrily, "Did you just ask me if you did something wrong? I can't believe you're asking me such an annoying question after you abandoned me at a party you made me attend!" Haewon snapped at her angrily, attracting the attention of some of the students in the hallway.

Without another word, Haewon turned to leave but Charlotte stepped in front of her, "You have got to be kidding me," Charlotte declared looking annoyed too.

"How can you be mad at me when you're the one who left me at the party? I didn't realize I ate something bad and was stuck in the restroom. Can you imagine how I felt when I came out and couldn't find you? I kept calling to find out where you were, not only did you not answer my calls, you went as far as turning off your phone!" Charlotte snapped right back angrily, surprising Haewon.

"I get that you attended the party only because I asked you to, but the least you could have done was tell me you were leaving or take my calls," Charlotte said, but Haewon was not having any of that.

"I asked everyone! No one saw you go into the restroom and your line was not connecting either!" Haewon retorted.

"Yeah, right! How silly I was. How could I have forgotten that I was supposed to announce to everyone that I was going to use the restroom?" She asked sarcastically, and Haewon sighed.

"That doesn't explain why your line wasn't connecting," Haewon said, and Charlotte raised a brow.

"Is that all you are going to say? You are going to keep trying to make this about me when you're the one who left the party without me? Well, if you must know, my battery died. I had to power it using Sandra's power bank," Charlotte said angrily, and without another word she turned around and walked away, leaving Haewon feeling guilty.

Haewon ran after her immediately, "Wait up, Lottie," She called, and Charlotte spun around to glare at her.

"What? You want to talk to me now? Why don't you go right back to ignoring me as you did all weekend?" She asked, and Haewon sighed.

"I'm sorry, alright? I was wrong. I was mad because I thought you left the party without me. I got attacked by some guys on my way and…."

Charlotte's eyes widened in horror at that, "You were attacked? How? What happened?" Charlotte asked in alarm, her anger forgotten as she took a second look at Haewon for any signs that she had been assaulted.

"I will tell you about it after you forgive me for misunderstanding the situation," Haewon said, and Charlotte embraced her.

"You know I can't hold grudges against you. I love you too much for that," Charlotte assured her and Haewon smiled.

"Good. Let's go to the classroom then," Haewon said as she linked arms with Charlotte, and as they made their way towards their classroom, she told her all that had happened that night.

"Oh, my God! That must have been so terrifying. I'm so sorry," Charlotte said as they walked into the classroom, but Haewon was not listening to her.

Haewon had stopped in her track and was now staring at the back of the class. Seated on the spot beside her seat was a familiar tall figure with a short crop of hair and dark eyes that seemed to pierce through her.

It was the very guy who had saved her. Her ill-mannered savior. What was he doing here in her school? In her classroom? And why did he appear to be even more handsome now in the light of day than she remembered him to be that night?

Charlotte raised a brow when she caught Haewon staring at Jake, "Don't tell me you are smitten by the new guy too. It was crazy when he walked into the class this morning. Quit staring," Charlotte whispered for Haewon's ear only.

"New guy?" Haewon asked, reluctantly breaking her gaze away from Jake's expressionless eyes to look at Charlotte.

"Yes. His name is Jake. Jake Davies. He's pretty hot, isn't he? I heard he's from a really wealthy home too. But that is expected. I'm here on a scholarship after all. Not many people can afford to send their wards to the best school in the country."

Jake Davies. So, that was the name he had refused to tell her. Well, she had been tempted to delete his number from her phone after that annoying phone call but had edited it instead and saved his number as 'mannerless savior' just in case he decided to call her back later.

She had no intention of changing it now that she knew his real name. It was going to remain just the way it was on her phone.

"Let's take our seats," Charlotte suggested as she pulled Haewon along with her to their desks.

Haewon wasn't sure what to do with this new and unexpected development. Should she say hello to him? Should she ignore him? What was he expecting her to do? She wondered as she sat on her desk which was next to him.

Thankfully she didn't have to wonder for long because he slid a sheet of paper to her discreetly and answered her unspoken questions.

[Don't say hello to me. I'd rather you pretend you don't know me. I intend to do the same.]

Haewon crumpled the paper and didn't bother to spare him a glance. If that was what he wanted, then that was just fine by her. She wasn't going to put up his with attitude.