Characters in the Story:

*Kim So Hyun as "Athena" Myung-hee Park

*Tom Hiddleston as Himself

*Claire Coffee as Ms. Hadsell

*Sasha Roiz as Mr. Renard


Chapter III: Well, I Should Head Back to School

~o~

.

.

~o~

I blink a few times, and the image becomes clear. Perfect jawline, gorgeously high cheekbones, eyebrows knit with concern, and bright blue-green eyes. I'm so busy loving his looks that I almost forget who I'm staring at. "Are you Tom Hiddleston?"

He lets out a sigh of relief and shakes his head. "Yes, that's me. Does that mean you're alright?"

"Y-yeah. I'm fine. Just a little b-back pain."

He stands up and offers me his hand.

I look up at him; the sun is directly behind him, making an almost heavenly light surround his head. He's so tall. I've never seen someone so tall. Six feet. At least. Should I ask him? No, never mind. That's weird. I reach up and take his hand.

His long fingers wrap around my wrist, and he pulls me up to my feet.

As soon as I'm up, I let out a groan. I twist side to side, trying to ease with a few cracks of my spine. "Aya, {Ouch,} that's gonna hurt later."

He smiles. "Are you the person from Stamford High School?"

"I don't know. Have you spoken to her already?"

His smile grows wider. "No."

I give him a smile. I tuck a few strands of hair behind my ear. "Well, then, yes I am." I should be making eye contact with him, since this is an interview. No time for insecurity. Look at him! I look into his eyes, and I'm so glad I did.

He's staring at me. His eyes, they have something in them. Whatever it is, I don't know. But it's powerful, and it making me melt.

I feel myself getting lost in them when he looks away, breaking the connection. Its good thing he did. I hadn't realized I had stopped breathing. I look down at the ground. Too much?

"I needed to tell you that I was actually on my way to go help a friend of mine unpack. He's going to be staying here for a while, so he needs my help. I was wondering if we could actually do the interview there. I mean, if it won't be a problem with you."

Tom Hiddleston is inviting you to go with him somewhere. Tom Hiddleston is asking you t-to ride in a, in a c-car with T-Tom Hiddleston. Tom… Hiddleston… oh, if only he knew how my mind reacted to his question. "Well, my teacher sent me here for this period, and I have Study hall next, so… sure."

"Good." He takes out his phone and checks something on there. "Well, I'm just waiting for my ride, so do you have any questions I could answer now?"

Omg, his skin is flawless. And his hair! I want to run my fingers through his hair. Should I? Ani-yo {No}, that's testing dangerous waters. Last thing I need is for him to think I'm a freak… eom-ma-ya! {oh my god!} He's asking me a question! "Yeah, sure. I have them… um, I have them in my bag. Let me just…" I set my shoulder bag on the ground unzip it.

"Are there going to be a lot of them?" he asks.

"No. Maybe just five. I'll only ask more if you want to answer more."

"Perfect. I just wanted to make sure, so I don't take up too much time with my answers."

You're so considerate! My mind is squealing at this point. "Okay well, there you go. The column is not that big, so five is more than enough." Right when I get the last notebook in my bag, I realize I've had the notebook out this whole time. "Oh!" I look at the entrance.

My notebook lays on the ground, right next to the doorway.

I run to get it, slightly blushing, and return with it and the pencil.

"Why was it over there?" Tom asks.

"Oh, I was sitting over there before. I forgot I had put it down for a second." I open it up to the page with the questions. "Okay, um-"

"How about we sit over here?" He holds his hand out to his left, directing my attention to a blue bench with snowflakes painted on it not too far away.

"Uwa. {Wow.} How did I not see that?" I head for the bench, Tom following behind me.

I sit down, leaving my shoulder bag next to my hip side.

He sits down next to me. I hadn't noticed his outfit: red, plaid, button-down shirt well-fitted jeans with brown shoes. He crosses his legs, resting his ankle on his knee. "What would you like to know?"

If you're single. "Um, how about when and where you were born.

"February ninth, nineteen eighty-one in Westminster, London, England to Diana and James."

"Uwa. {Wow.} You must have answered this question a lot."

"Like you would not believe.

"Sorry, I tried not to make them too common, but-"

"Don't apologize," he says with a kind smile. "It's only a question."

"Sorry, I mean, my bad. I mean, no. Not my bad… you know what? I'm just gonna write now."

He laughs his oh-so-famous "ehehe" laugh.

I can't help but smile. I write down the information as quickly as possible.

We finish the interview in half an hour. He even let me squeeze in a couple more questions. I was supposed to ask ten, but I'm sure Ms. Hadsell won't mind. I close my notebook and slip it into my bag.

"I cannot believe my ride hasn't arrived yet." He says with disappointment.

"Yeah, well. On the bright side, you'll now have more time to help your friend." I check the time on my phone. Fifth period isn't even over yet. "Well, I should head back to school." I stood up and slightly bow in respect like how my people did back in South Korea. "Thank you so much for doing this. My teacher most definitely appreciates it." After that I shake his hand.

"Leaving so soon? You don't have any more questions?"

"No, that's more than enough. More than I expected, actually." I get up, slinging the belt of my bag over my shoulder then I bowed again respectfully. "Thank you." I lift my head to face him before I started to walk away.

"Wait." He says.

I stop and smile widely. I was just stopped by Tom Hiddleston. Why? I don't know. But I was just stopped by Tom Hiddleston. I turn around to face. "Yes?"

He looks around, like he's nervous or something. "Why don't come with me, anyway? I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to. I'm just sure my friend would like a couple of extra hands."

He still wants me to go with him? "No, I couldn't. I'm sure I would just be a bother to you." I wave both my hands above my shoulder a bit hysterically.

"No you wouldn't. Trust me, it'd be fine. I had already told him I was coming with a guest."

I could be crazy, but I think I see in his eyes. Eolgan-igadoeji mala {Don't be a jerk}, I tell myself. There's only one period left. "Sure. Sounds good."

"Wonderful. I mean, so I won't be bored. We won't be bored. We as in-"

I giggle. "I guess I'm not the only one who trips over words."

"Well, I'm not usually like this. Perhaps I'm just tired."

"Perhaps."

A small black limo pulls up to us. "Heading up north?"

"Yes." Tom says. He opens the back door and stands behind it.

What is he doing? I tilt my head a bit confused as I looked at him, not sure why he's just standing there.

"Well," he says, "you're coming, right?"

"Eh! You opened it for me?" I say, pointing the tip of my finger to myself.

"Well, yes. There's no one else coming, is there?" He smiles.

I know my cheeks must be red because I'm blushing like crazy. I move past him and slide into the other side of the limo. "Um, thank you." I say politely. I keep my body as close to the door as possible as he slides in as well. I don't want any chance of physical contact.

"No problem," he replies. He gives me a look, a sort of 'Why are you doing that?' look. He's about to say something, I know it.

"Yes?" I say.

Instead, he shakes his head and looks straight. "Nothing."

I roll my eyes along with a sigh. "Is there a problem with the way I sit?"

"Oh no! Not at all. I was just wondering why you decided to sit like that. You look rather uncomfortable, nervous even."

"Ah, well, I don't exactly go places with famous actors every day. "So yeah, nervous fits. It really fits well."

He stares at me, a soft smile appeared on his face. "Afraid I might hurt you or something?"

"Well, we haven't exactly met before. I'm just going by what you're like in the interviews and all that. As a matter of fact, I don't even know why I'm in here. If we're not going where you say we're going, just know that I'm pretty good at martial arts in Judo and jujutsu."

He laughs. "Believe me, I have no intention of harming you. It's not very nice to threaten the life of such a…" he blinks and looks down at his hands. He clears his throat. "… Such a nice person."

I shouldn't be worried. I mean, what do I have to lose besides my life? And he seems sweet enough… yeah, Myung-hee. You're gonna die today.

"Well, I've spoken to you," Tom says, "and I've invited you somewhere, but I still don't know your name. Who do I have the honor of calling my guest today?"

I glance at him, then back out at the window. I'm still surprised at how lovely the car ride feels. "Myung-hee… Park Myung-hee. But some call me 'Athena' as my other name in English.

"'Athena' Myung-hee Park. That's a lovely name, do you mind if I call you by your real one?"

"You mean 'Myung-hee'?"

"If that's alright with you?"

"Well, not everyone calls me by my native name. But yeah sure, why not." I shrugged.

"Alright then. So what grade are you in?"

I sigh annoyingly. I seriously don't like questions about myself. "Eleventh."

"Wow. I thought you were in your last year."

"Yeah, you would think. But, no. I still have a couple years of hell to go."

"Hell?"

"Yes, hell. Two years of hell." Don't ask me to explain, please.

"Why do you refer to it as 'Hell'?"

And you're going to ask anyway. I turn to look at him. I hope this would be a silent ride. "Well, it could be because I hate the entire idea of school. Not to mention the stupidity and immaturity of the students and the lack of successful alumni. Or it could be because I'm wasting my time when I should be looking for jobs to buy my own clothes, and food and car-" Aigo! {Whoa!} I cut myself off. Too much! WARNING! WARNING! You start off giving Tom Hiddleston an attitude you weren't supposed to show, then you decided to give him everything you say?! Myung-hee, neo babo ya! {Myung-hee, you idiot!}

"Clothes? Food? Aren't your parents supposed to do that for you?"

I stare at him, eyes widen and jaw slightly dropped. I snap my mouth shut and look out the window again. "How long until we get there?"

He hesitate to answer. I can feel his eyes on me, and it makes me uncomfortable. "Just five minutes." He sounds said. I expected him to be annoyed or weirded out.

"Thank you for, um… for inviting me." I feel my tears forming in the corners of my eyes.

"It's my pleasure."

I wait for the driver to bring to our destination. I'm honestly mad at myself. I meet the greatest actor I have ever seen, and I make it unbelievably awkward. I knew I was going screw somehow. I just knew it. Well, then again, I didn't think I'd be going anywhere else with him than the Holiday Inn.

Then it hit me.

I am missing school. For Tom Hiddleston.

I am in the same car. With Tom Hiddleston.

Tom Hiddleston.

Thomas William Hiddleston.

Saranghaneun Sin ... naneun bakk-eulo nagalgeoya. {Dear God… I'm gonna pass out.}