บท 2: High School.
Four years had gone by and Lumi was preparing for her first day of junior year. She was so excited for her first day and to see her friend Jade. One more year and they would be out of highschool and begin their lives as adults.
"You ready?" Her father asked from the living room.
"Almost!" She shouted.
She looked at herself in her vanity mirror. She had on her favorite blue shirt and some slightly torn loose jeans. She turned to the side to view her stomach. It had grown as well as some other feminine parts like her breast and hips. She sighed at the view of her jean button struggling to hold her in. Maybe I should try losing some weight? She thought to herself but quickly brushed it aside when a knock came at her door. She was a teen now and her father no longer barged through the door.
"Yes?" She asked as he creeped his head inside.
"You look great, now let's go before you're late."
She smiled and grabbed her black backpack off the floor and headed towards the front door with him.
"Ah, I almost forgot." He said running back to grab her lunch sack off the kitchen island.
She took it from his hand and smiled her thanks.
When they arrived Lumi quickly put her hair in a low ponytail and kissed her father goodbye.
"Have a good day sweetie!" He shouted as she shut the door behind her and walked quickly into the large bricked building.
The first person she saw was Chloe, a mean girl who had teased her since grade school. She was standing amongst the other cheerleaders. They always moved in packs and the jocks were always right behind. Lumi made a face and then saw him standing nearby. Ren Kim. A senior and now standing at 6'1". He got taller and his muscles now showing with each movement of his arms. She looked a little longer admiring his dark hair which now was shorter on the sides but still long above. He had on a school shirt and some denim jeans. He was just flipping through a school book detached from his surroundings.
"Stop drooling Lume." A familiar female voice said before tapping her on the shoulder making her take a step forward to stabilize herself.
"Jade!" She turned her focus to her curly haired friend. They hugged and giggled.
"How was your summer?" Lumi asked as they crossed arms and headed to their first class.
"Oh the same. Mexico was fun. I got to see my grandparents. What about you?"
Lumi smiled and knew her friend had a good time from all the posts on her instagram feed.
Jade's brown eyes peered at Lumi's chest and smirked. "Did these get bigger?" She joked.
"Stop! It was fine. My dad and I baked a lot of new desserts and I just spent the summer drawing some new clothes."
"Oh my God you have to show me." Jade said with joy in her eyes. "You draw the best stuff. Please design my wedding dress someday."
Lumi giggled in return and assured her friend that she would do just that.
She was grateful for meeting Jade in 8th grade because she was so alone. Her best friend Ren had abandoned her and she wasn't really sure why. After Ren's mother passed, losing her battle to cancer he distanced himself completely. Then he started high school and they never crossed paths again until she started attending South Lake High. She thought maybe there was hope they could revive their friendship but he would walk right past her as if she didn't exist. That's when she knew their friendship was really over. But now there was Jade to fill the void. Jade was the new girl in school and they had been best friends ever since art class in 8th grade. She was thankful for meeting someone so kind and who understood her so well.
It was lunch time and Lumi saw Jade seated in their usual spot when she walked over to sit beside her.
"Hey you."
"Heyyy." Lumi replied.
Lumi opened her brown paper bag and inside was a sandwich and a dessert bun. Her favorite dessert and her and her dad's specialty. There was a spare which she handed to Jade.
"Oh my God thank you!" She kissed the bun before taking a bite. She made yummy moans which made Lumi giggle. She was happy Jade loved them as much as she did.
"Is that a hint of lavender?" Jade asked with a mouth half full. Lumi nodded.
From across the cafeteria there was Ren. He sat in front of a sub which he did not find interest in. He saw Lumi and Jade from across the room and nearly drooled at the site of the buns they were devouring. He tried not to get Lumi's attention over the years so that he wouldn't have to reopen that wound. It didn't mean he didn't watch her from afar. Especially during lunch he'd sneak looks to see what dessert she brought that day. He still remembered the sweet taste of her dessert buns and wished he could have them again.
"What you looking at Kim?" His friend Oliver across from him asked following his gaze.
Ren shrugged slightly and grabbed his sub. "Nothing."
Oliver smiled looking at Ren who was now taking bites from his lunch. Oliver was a goofy guy. He had short small red curls and was built the same as Ren. They were teammates for the soccer team at first but Oliver grew on Ren making them friends in the end.
Oliver's chuckle caught the attention of Freddy, another teammate not so much friend. He was tall but less muscular out of the three. He had blonde hair and bright blue eyes.
"What's up guys?" he said sitting
"Caught Kim looking at some girls." Oliver teased.
Ren gave his friend the death glare from across the table. Oliver chuckled again.
"Ohhh which one?" Freddy asked while looking around the crowded room.
No one answered him. He began to talk about girls like his usual self before confiding in the males of a girl who he thought had a crush on him.
"Yeah, I think her names Lume or Lumi something. She was in my art class last year."
Ren's face unchanged. He knew she could never like a guy like him. Ren and Freddy were so different and Ren knew Lumi. He knew she loved him at some point and he had strong feelings for her before too. Maybe their relationship would have developed into something more romantic eventually but after his mother passed he didn't want to be around females that made him feel emotions. Happy loving emotions.
"Whatever man." Oliver said finishing his food.
"It's true! She's good at drawing and shit and drew a picture of me over the summer and sent it to me." Freddy said with the most confidence pulling out his phone and scrolling through his texts to look for the photo. "Too bad she's kinda chubby. Or I'd be all over that."
Ren slammed his hand down on the lunch table causing the others to look at him. He didn't bother to look back and grabbed his unfinished food and bag before leaving the table.
"What's his problem?" The blonde asked.
Olivery shook his head and followed Ren leaving Freddy.
"Wait guys!" Freddy shouted who also chased after them.
The first quarter flew by without a hinge. Lumi was getting almost all A's in her classes and Ren was about to start soccer season. Lumi and Jade were in the school hallway talking about their previous classes when Freddy came by to say hi to Lumi and then left.
"I think he likes you." Jade smiled after his departure.
"No, you think so?" Lumi asked, confused.
"Yeah he's been saying hi to you like everyday. He probably loved that drawing you drew for him."
Lumi's eyebrows scrunched up. "You think so? He paid me five bucks so he could use it for some social media thing."
Jade shrugged with a smile.
"I guess no one can top Ren in your eyes huh?" Jade asked, giggling at her friend's face. Lumi gave her friend a stare. "Yeah he's hot but we haven't talked in years. Let's get to class you goof."
Chloe was standing nearby with her cheerleading squad. They overheard the whole conversation which caused her to think up a devious plan. She never liked Lumi and over the years felt that Lumi was the reason why she wasn't able to get close to Ren. She so desperately wanted to date him. So she and her friends thought of a way to punish Lumi and embarrass her.
Over the next couple of weeks Chloe's plan set in motion to embarrass and humiliate Lumi. She had teamed up with Freddy who was supposed to act as if he had a crush on Lumi to the point where she would confess her feelings to him. He in return would reject her coldy.
Lumi and Jade were in her room taking turns braiding each other's hair when her phone dinged. She reached for it and held it up to Jade with a confused look. Jade took the phone from Lumi's hand and read it outloud.
"From Freddy...will you come watch my soccer match tonight? Whattt?" Jade smiled up at her friend.
"Let's go!" Jade said eagerly.
"Uh no. Why would I go?"
"Because he asked you to! Come one you know you think he's cute."
Lumi smiled at her friend and tilted her head thinking her friend was more interested in going than she did.
"Oh come on, we never go to any school events. Let's go!" Jade stood up and started rummaging through Lumi's closet.
Lumi stood up as well and picked the clothes her friend threw on the bed for her.
"Fine but only because I want you to experience a high school game."
"Thank you!" Jade smiled and hugged her friend.
"Do I look like a soccer fan?" Jade posed.
Lumi nodded and giggled.
She slipped out of her school clothes and put on a fresh pair of jeans and a South Lake High shirt. Jade clapped and seated Lumi down in her vanity chair and started to brush out her wavy locks.
"Let's curl your hair today." Jade said.
Lumi gave her a pleading look. "Noooo."
Jade fired up the curling iron ignoring Lumi and started for her hair. Afterwards she pulled out a lip gloss from her bag and smeared a dab of shiny balm all over her lips and passed it to Lumi. Lumi tried to deny her again but was defeated allowing Jade to apply the lip gloss for her.
"Perfect. Now let's go!"
After saying their goodbyes to Lumi's father they got into Jade's car and headed to the school soccer field. The whole ride there Lumi begged for them to turn back but Jade shook her head to every request. They parked her small beat up Toyota and then headed to the home side stands where they found a seat close to the front. The soccer teams were out on the field warming up as the game was about to start.
Freddy kept looking up at the stands missing Ren's passes which was starting to annoy him.
"Do you see Lumi?" Freddy asked but then soon met her gaze in the crowd. He threw both his hands up in the air for a wave and flashed a bright smile. He sure knew how to turn on the charm.
Ren looked up at the stands where Freddy was waving. There she was. He was shocked he stared a little longer. Lumi didn't like sports and she barely ever came to any of his middle school games when they were friends. Did she curl her hair? He thought.
"I asked her to come watch me play tonight." Freddy confessed running a hand through his luscious sweaty blonde hair.
Freddy turned back to Ren and winked before kicking the ball back to Ren. Ren was annoyed with the whole situation and pondered why Lumi would do such a thing and what Freddy was up to.
"Hey the ball..." Freddy said as Ren walked away from him and to the sidelines. The match was about to begin.
During the whole match Lumi found herself staring at Ren. He was so athletic and hot she thought. She always knew he was good looking since the first time they met but now as a young woman she felt more intense attraction. She was glad she could come with Jade. She was shouting and clapping the whole game. You would have never guessed she had never attended a sports event before.
It was down to the end and the schools were tied. Ren had the ball and he was running with it steadily towards the opposite goal. Everyone stood up from their seats except for Lumi. She unknowingly held her hands together and hoped he would land the ball into the net for the game winning score.
"AND THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS. REN KIM WITH THE GAME WINNING POINT! GOOOO SOUTH LAKE!"
Everyone in the crowd roared with victory as the cheerleaders on the floor screamed and shouted "Go South lake!" over and over. The team grabbed their things and headed to the locker rooms. Lumi begged Jade to take her home.
"Let's wait to say goodbye to Freddy."
"I don't want to."
"Aw are you shy? He invited you. You could at least stay and say bye before you leave."
Lumi looked at her friend and thought you would make a great girlfriend. They waited a little longer but didn't see Freddy or Ren again. Just as they were about to get to the parking lot a shout came from behind.
"Lumi!" Freddy called out.
Lumi and Jade turned around to see 3 tall males headed their way. Lumi bit her bottom lip forgetting she had lip gloss over it.
"Hey thanks for coming out." He said and then leaned in to give her a brief hug. She was shocked and unsure what to do so she just stood there.
"These are my friends Oliver and Ren."
Lumi looked up at them and noticed Ren was looking away to his side. Oliver gave a smile and said hi. The other males obviously didn't know about Lumi and Ren's past.
Jade coughed slightly which brought Lumi back.
"Oh this is my friend Jade." Jade flashed a smile up at Freddy and Oliver.
An awkward moment passed.
"Um great game." Lumi said trying her best to smile. Ren tried not to smile from the comment knowing Lumi didn't care to watch sports.Or had she changed? Was that lip gloss? When did she become so girly? All the things going through his mind as the other's talked. He was never a fan of girly girls when he was younger but the older he got the more he noticed the small things which bothered him at times.
"Thank you, I hope you can attend more." Freddy said energetically.
Before leaving the group Lumi noticed something shining in the corner of her eye. She looked at a clip that was attached to Ren's athletic bag hanging off his shoulder. Is that...it is!. It was the dessert bun keychain she gifted him when they were kids. It was tarnished and the color was faded but she recognized it. When Ren noticed her gaze he slid his bag further behind him. She looked up at him confused. It was the first time in a long time they locked eyes. Ren gave her a look as if he dared her to make a comment about the key chain. He licked his lips to keep from frowning when she didn't. If their relationship was still the same he knew she would have called him out on it but it wasn't.
"Have a good night." Freddy said smiling at Lumi.
She snapped back and smiled one last time at Freddy before leaving with Jade to get in her car. As they drove away she told the story of that Christmas day to her friend.
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