Bonnibel watched her leave in mild surprise, but accepted her fate and moved to find a group. It seemed everyone had teamed up with their friends already, but closer to the center of the room was a table occupied by only a boy and a girl who seemed to be pretty friendly with each other already from the looks of their conversation.
The boy was sandy haired and freckled, built like a short football player, whereas the girl was petite but very tall. Her hair was dyed an unnatural blonde color, and she wore several layers of colorful clothing that somehow harmonized rather than clashed. Bonnibel was surprised to hear them speak Korean to each other as she approached, and she was excited to become part of the group.
"Annyeonghaseyo!" Bonnibel's enthusiasm was met with friendly smiles, but the girl couldn't hold back a small laugh before returning the greeting. Bonnibel beamed.
"My name is Bonnibel Brinly. My partner went to the nurse's office because she felt sick, but I have her answers. Would it be ok if we joined your group?"
The girl replied her approval animatedly in Korean, and Bonnibel smiled happily before replying in turn. The boy's eyebrow's shot up.
"You speak! And here I thought you got your hello from a Korean drama or something. That's pretty good!" His voice was loud but warm, happily inviting. Bonnibel's smile grew sincere.
"I don't speak much, but I did dabble a bit. Mostly I took German."
The boy nodded, resting his hand on the girl's. "I see, I see! Welcome to our group! You'll get in lots of practice speaking here." He motioned back to the girl. "This is Myung Hee, but you can call her Lady, because she's one foxy lady." He waggled his eyebrows at Bonnibel, and she couldn't suppress her laugh when Lady slapped him lightly across the arm. He grinned happily at her before continuing.
"Lady moved here from Korea late last year, and since I was taking Korean lessons, I was set up to guide her around the school." The boy peered at Lady, stroking her hand softly. "From there, it's history. We're in love." Lady laughed lightly.
"I wouldn't say he was charming, but he charmed me, anyway." She sighed, shooing away his hand. "This is Jake, Jake Mertens. He is a little color blind but he likes tan. He has a little brother, Finn. And he likes reading manhua, too many to list." Lady giggled lightly when Jake sighed at her answer, placing his head on the table.
"Graphic novels, Lady, they're totally literary. My favorite right now is Persepolis." He straightened himself out, sighing. "Lady likes rainbows, and she's an only child. She likes romance novels, too many to list. The easiest fourth question is 'where are you from,' so obviously Lady is from Korea, and I grew up here in Oo. What about you?"
After furiously writing out all the answers, Bonnibel held her paper out to the others.
"Here. It's easier to just copy the answers since my partner isn't present."
Jake took the paper and started to copy it, but stopped suddenly when he reached Marceline's side. A strange noise bubbled in his throat.
"Abadeer is at this school?" Jake paused in writing out the answers, staring at Bonnibel in shock.
"What's wrong with that?.." Bonnibel wondered aloud. Still, in the back of her head, the word delinquent floated accusingly. Jake remained silent a moment, and the two continued to write out their answers before he spoke again.
"Marceline...has a bit of a reputation. You wrote here that she grew up in Nerezza which is interesting, cuz she went to boarding school in the next town over. Word got around that she was mixed up with the local gang here in Oo during middle school and well into the first few years of high school, so she was kicked out of school last year. I always thought she'd end up in a correctional facility."
Bonnibel stood in shocked silence for a minute before tentatively asking "what did she do, exactly?"
Jake scratched his head, sighing. "I don't really know for sure, but I hear she and her boyfriend stole a bunch of stuff from a clothing store and vandalized someone's car. After they got caught and released, the store had its windows smashed in, so naturally they were the first suspects. I think that's what got her kicked out of boarding school. Must have sucked for her dad, that place is expensive. But word is her dad gets a lot of money working overseas so Marceline could always afford to screw around."
Bonnibel sighed. "Her poor mother."
Jake shook his head. "Her mother passed away in a freak accident when we were all pretty young. I don't remember the details, but it was within city limits, so it was in the papers for months and it was all anyone talked about. It's part of the reason Marceline is so well known. People say she's thrashing the memory of her mother with all her awful behavior." He leaned back in his chair. "The lady was a saint. Worked for the hospital."
"Who does she live with, then?" Bonnibel refused to believe that a minor could live on her own. "Is her brother around?" Jake shrugged.
"I only know bits and pieces, Bonnibel. I have no idea. But all I've heard is she's bad news. Hopefully none of that gets dragged into class."
Bonnibel nodded in agreement, but her thoughts lay elsewhere. The rest of the class passed in a daze, and when Bonnibel went to her next period, she was relieved to find that Marceline was not in her class. After another class without her, however, her heart fluttered with something that resembled anxiety. Bonnibel pushed it down, blaming the emotion on curiosity.
After an unceremonious cafeteria lunch, Bonnibel went to another two classes sans Marceline, and she found herself working harder to swallow down her disappointment. When she had given up hope, she walked into her last period- her required elective, music- and was almost thrilled to see Marceline sitting cross-legged on a table, tuning what looked like a long guitar. Without even thinking about it, Bonnibel walked up to her and tapped her shoulder gently.
Marceline's steely gaze broke whatever image of friendliness Bonnibel's mind had woven together of this girl. She found herself the subject of Marceline's scrutinizing gaze, and she swallowed shakily before addressing her.
"Hey. Are you feeling better?"
Marceline gave her a another once over before whispering "stalker" loud enough that the other girl could hear her. Bonnibel laughed at that, relieved at what she perceived to be playfulness, and Marceline raised an eyebrow at her.
"Are you feeling better?" Bonnibel asked again, and Marceline sighed in annoyance.
"I'm fine. I spent a few periods hiding out in the nurse's office. Why, have you got some math homework to give me from fourth or something?" Bonnibel could hear the apprehension in her voice. She supposed it would be difficult for anyone in Marceline's situation to just be friendly. Thinking over what Marceline said though, Bonnibel was surprised.
"How did you know I had math fourth period?"
Marceline froze, avoiding eye contact. "I saw your name on the roster when the nurse pulled it up to mark me present."
Bonnibel nodded. That must have been why the teacher didn't call Marceline's name during attendance. She grinned.
"We've got quite a few classes together."
"Thank you for the summation, captain obvious." Marceline groaned, rolling her eyes before going back to tuning the instrument. Bonnibel moved closer, peering over Marceline's shoulder.
"That's a nice guitar." Bonnibel said quietly. Marceline's head fell back with another groan.
"Look, I'm not in much of a mood to talk right now, sweetie. And also, this is a bass, brainiac, not a guitar." She thrummed one of the strings with her thumb, and Bonnibel could feel it's deep sound in her fingertips. Marceline frowned at her. "Now, quit bothering me. Class is starting soon and I need to get her tuned up." She motioned to the dark red bass, turning her back to Bonnibel.
After a few quiet seconds, Marceline continued her strumming at the bass, and Bonnibel deflated a bit from being rejected. Still, she had to admit she was impressed to see Marceline so serious about a class when she'd been so disinterested in school before.
Bonnibel pulled out a chair near Marceline and took out her notebook, earning herself another displeased growl from the girl, who muttered quietly to herself as she fussed with the bass. When she didn't tell her to leave, Bonnibel smiled to herself and turned her attention instead to writing down what Jake had shared with her earlier, adding a few footnotes of her own to the bottom of the description. 'Playfully snarky. Easily annoyed. Tardy. A little brusque, and perhaps childish.'
She looked over at Marceline who had started playing a quiet tune on the bass, eyes closed and smiling slightly.
'Pretty smile. Good at music.'