Miram laid half-dead in her room that night. She suddenly thought of Jake, and the very time they almost first met. She thought of his warm smile and his puppy eyes, singing to her at one of his concerts with ENHYPEN, She thought of everything they could do if Yeji hadn’t had separated them and would meet officially.
But Yeji was in the picture not long after. She thought of her stealing him away. Saddened, Miriam woke up. She tossed and turned, trying to get back to fall back asleep, but she can’t stop thinking about her crush with Yeji and not with her.
“He can’t tell that I can’t breathe!” she sobbed.
She was deprived of sleeping. She was too overwhelmed and anxious about tomorrow. But eventually she calmed down and went to sleep. Only to be woken up an hour later for school.
Miriam was still drowsy from the lack of sleeping last night. She could not believe that she had stood up all night worrying about Jake and Yeji together. She kept dozing off in class. But every time, she envisioned Jake and herself together and happy.
Yeji, the stuck-up, noisy gossip, had entered our study hall session and said,
“Students, two of our best classmates are performing a piece at the Sydney Opera House this week, with Jake Shim on the violin and Bangchan, who is on the piano, needs a page turner. But the problem is, no is available for this kind of support. Can anyone here lend a hand?”
Miriam rolled her eyes.
“Lunch is provided!”
“So what?” scoffed a student, “A lot of us can earn more by just moving bricks for half a day. I mean, how and why would we be willing to go?”
And then, Miriam raised her hand up in the air.
“I’ll go! What’s the date? What time? And what should I wear?”
The bus arrived and the student orchestra and Miriam boarded. It was a struggle to find a seat. But she saw Yeji and her group of friends, sitting in a circle. She scoffed; Miriam was so distracted, she bumped into Jake.
He pretended to grimace.
“Please, be careful!” He said.
“Sorry. Can I sit there?” said Miriam.
“My violin is worth an arm and a leg.”
She raised my eyebrows.
“More than me?”
“More than you.”
If you don’t have a place to sit, then you have to do what you have to do, Miriam thought.
She had to hold Jake’s violin for him! She was glad to sit with her crush. But she felt uncomfortable that she had to hold his expensive violin.
I have to say, she thought again, This isn’t too horrible.
After arriving at the Sydney Opera House, everyone of the students in the orchestra tuned their instruments including Jake himself. Since the whole student orchestra was there with him and Bangchan, they had their performance first.
Miriam watched as they prepared for the performance. She saw Jake sitting with Yeji, since they were the first violinists. Miriam frowned completely. They announced Bangchan’s name. And Miriam was shaking uncontrollably. But then, she felt her hand being touched by Bangchan’s.
“It’s okay,” he whispered, “Everything will be all right. You’ll do well. I’ll signal you when to turn the page.”
But Miriam became nervous again. She kept a terrified expression as she walked on stage and sat down next to Bangchan, applying the music sheet on the spot of the piano.
As Bangchan began to play Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto, I glanced at Jake, playing his violin beautifully. She then smiled. As she envisioned herself in Bangchan’s spot, she wondered if Jake would really watch her performance and play a classical instrument.
But she was distracted, and Bangchan gently patted her head to turn the page. And so she did, but she was startled and her heart began pounding.
After the concert, Miriam ran back to the auditorium to fetch the music sheet. But then, on the way, she bumped into Jake. She noticed his music sheet had dropped. But he picked it up before she did. Their eyes met.
It’s her, he thought, It’s the new girl. But… Yeji told me not to talk to her.
He scrunched up his face. Miriam knew it was a bad sign. But she quickly ignored it.
“What are you doing?” he snapped.
“Oh,” Miriam stammered, “I was just fetching Bangchan’s music sheet. I was just going to give it back to him.”
Jake faked a scowl. Miriam smiled.
“Look, I know this a little soon for you to hear but…I kind of like you…and I think you’ve got talent!”
Jake crossed his arms.
“What is your name?” he asked, vigorously.
“I’m Miriam Hammington and I’m a junior.”
“You are a year below me?”
“Yup!”
Jake paused. He scoffed softly. Miriam couldn’t tell why he was acting so arrogant towards her. But she still ignored her feelings.
“Where are you from?” Jake asked as he put his hands on his hips.
“I am from Genovia. When I first came here, I think it was two years after the war in Brisbane to Queensland. So I think it’s safe to say that everything seems okay, now.”
“Genovia?” Jake asked, pretending to cringe, “That’s a country?”
Miriam’s smile faded away.
“What? But…of course it is.”
“I’m going abroad next year, after I go on my tour for ENHYPEN. My behavior here affects my standing at the school abroad. We have never crossed paths before. And we never will.”
“Jake…” Miriam whimpered, “If I had known, then I would have—”
“Just leave me alone.” Jake snarled softly.
“Jake,” called Yeji, looking down upon Miriam, “The bus is leaving, we have to go.”
Jake faked another scowl at Miriam and followed them.
On the bus ride home, Miriam cried uncontrollably and felt heartbroken. As she was dropped off at the bus stop near the way home, she went indoors and straight to her room, completely humiliated by what happened during the school concert.
.
.
.
The next day, Miriam struggled to keep awake in class. She had stayed up all night, crying in such humiliation. Her feelings were so hurt that it attracted the attention of Jake, who sat next to her. She was so sleepy, that she fell on top of his shoulder.
She is so adorable when she sleeps, he thought as he caressed her head.
But Yeji entered saying, “Come on, Jake. You can sit with us at lunch.”
Jake nodded wearily, shoving Miriam out from his shoulder and following Yeji and the other girls for lunch.
Miriam woke up to find herself alone. She looked all around. There was no one in sight. She then sat at the window, watched Jake sitting with Yeji and the popular girls…and softly began to cry.
Bangchan, coming into class for his lunch club, had noticed the girl crying next to the window. Concerned, he carefully advanced to her.
“Excuse me,” he said, softly, patting her by the back, “Are you okay?”
“What happened?” asked Miriam, looking at him with her puffy red eyes.
“Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just had a really long day today. I’m just tired.”
But a tear rolling down her cheek gave it away and Bangchan was quick to catch it. Miriam then gave a sniffle and whimpered gently.
“Tell me,” said Bangchan, caringly, “What happened? What made you cry.”
“Well,” Miriam blubbered, “Kang Yeji, the rich girl of the school, had been looking down upon me lately, and has been a big bully to me, and I think to Jake too. And he doesn’t even realize that he is caught in a dating scandal. And now, everyone is thinking that I’m messing up their relationship and they are wanting me to get away from the school, i- it’s just not fair! It hurts so bad!”
“Yeji,” said Bangchan, trying to remember, “Isn’t she a senior?”
“Yeah,” replied Miriam, “She’s in the same grade as Jake, everyone knows that she has eyes on Jake. But he doesn’t even deserve someone like her. He belongs with someone else.”
“She’s probably just jealous,” said Bangchan as he comforted her, “The one solution to this problem is to confess your love for him before it’s too late.”
“How am I going to do that?”
“Let the whole world know that you have feelings and they want to be respected. Say what you need to say and then give him some time to respond.”
“All right,” said Miriam, “And…how am I going to do that without letting Yeji get in the way?”
“Hmm…that’s a good question.”
“CHANNIE!” called a voice!
And then, there came Bangchan’s sister Hannah, Lea, Felix, Bahiyyih, and Kai.
“We heard that there is a girl that is having beef with Kang Yeji,” said Hannah, panting, “Is she around?”
“She’s right there,” said Bangchan, pointing where Miriam was standing, “Miriam, I would like you to meet the gang. This is Lea, Kai, Bahiyyih, Hannah, and Felix.”
“Nice…to meet you all.” stammered Miriam, shyly.
“Don’t worry,” said Bangchan, “Your secret is safe with us. And now that we are all here, we have to start planning everything!”
“That’s right,” said Felix, “We’ll need the right amount of candles to make the shape of a big heart.”
“And we’ll need mood music. Kai could play his viola. And I’ll find someone to accompany him on guitar.” said Bahiyyih.
“And we need a banner with their names on it.” said Kai.
“Oh gosh, what else, what else?” Lea wondered as she paced around the room.
“The last thing we need is Miriam herself!” added Bangchan, “Picture yourself in this. You are in a red satin ball gown. And you hear the romantic music.”
“As Jake comes center and and you are surrounded with candles that form a shape of a heart,” said Felix, “You confess your feelings to him.”
“And when he accepts,” said Kai, “He steps in the circle with you and you kiss as we hold the banner with your names on them.”
Miriam felt touched by this vision. They were going through so much trouble to get her to confess her love for Jake, especially since she hadn’t told him about how she felt for him just yet.
“I can feel it.” Miriam said, as she opened her eyes with calm and gentle nature.
“So…you’ll confess her feelings to him?” Bangchan asked.
Miriam was quiet for a moment, as she still thought of the visionary plan. She wanted it to go smoothly and without a single fail in sight.
She took a deep breath…and said, “I am going to confess my feelings.”