Mr. Chemistry

03 • Attitude

Mae Asha • October 2, 2018

As I walked into school, my phone began ringing. I looked at the name as I started up the stairs.

Yoongi, Min Yoongi, AKA my brother, but he's technically my cousin. His mother was my father's sister, but she passed away when he was a baby, so my parents stepped in and adopted him. He and I were raised as siblings.

I answered the phone. "Yes, Suga?" I asked.

"Ashie!" Yoongi cheerfully said with a mouthful of food. "I'm coming to Seoul soon!"

"Really!?" I asked with a smile across my face.

Thank God. If anyone can help me with Mr. Park, it'll be Yoongi.

"Yes!" Yoongi said. "I have nothing better to do, so I'll be there in a week or so."

I made it to the third floor. "Yay! I'm so excited," I said.

I'm early for class, mostly because I don't wanna be late again. I hate detention.

"Me, too!" Yoongi said. "I actually have to go, I'm so tired."

I walked into room 306, finding only Mr. Park in here. "Okay. See you soon, Oppa," I said.

Yoongi laughed. "See you, sista' from anotha' mista'!" Yoongi hung up.

I reached my seat. My phone call earned me a weird look from Mr. Park.

I squinted as I sat down. "What?" I uneasily asked.

"Detention," Mr. Park said. "Tomorrow," he nodded.

"What? I didn't even do anything!" I practically screamed.

"You had an attitude," Mr. Park said.

"Uh, no, I didn't," I shook my head.

Mr. Park slightly smiled as he looked at me. "I'm quite certain you did, Ms. Mae," he told me.

"Why are you such a d**k to me, Mr. Park? Is it because you can't get yours wet?" I asked. Mr. Park bit his bottom lip as he stared at me, but he didn't reply. He seems amused. "I guess that's it," I stared at him.

"You know, Ms. Mae," Mr. Park took a deep breath, "if you like my face this much, you might as well come here. You could do a hell of a lot more than just stare," his tongue grazed his bottom lip.

My cheeks immediately heated up as my eyes widened.

Did he actually just say that?

He did.

He did, and, for some reason, I can no longer breathe properly. I immediately looked away.

"You are an awful human," I mumbled.

Mr. Park quietly laughed, then he took his attention to his phone just as other students started to come in.

A boy sat to the left of me, and Neri sat to the right of me. She smiled. "Hey, Asha," she said.

I nodded to her as I glanced over in her direction. "Neri."

Neri squinted. "Why are you all red?" she questioned.

I angrily breathed in. "No reason," I mumbled.

"Open your books to page seventy-two," Mr. Park told us as he stood up.

"Mr. Park?" Lee Mila said from behind me. Mr. Park looked behind me, he tilted his head as he looked at her. "You look really good today," she giggled.

Today, Mr. Park is wearing a black suit with a white dress shirt underneath. His ears have earrings in them, and his fingers have many rings on them.

Mr. Park gently nodded. "Thank you, Ms. Lee," he simply replied, which caused Mila to giggle even more.

She must be crazy if she likes Mr. Park, because he's crazy.

•••

"Finally! I'm starving," Neri complained as we made our way to the cafeteria.

Jackson Wang -- a boy in some of our classes -- is walking beside us. I couldn't help but notice Neri glance over to him several times.

"Do you like him?" I asked her.

Neri's eyes shot over to me. "Keep your voice down!" she whisper-yelled.

I smiled. "How scandalous," I giggled.

Neri rolled her eyes. "Jackson doesn't even notice me, Asha," she quietly said.

"He seems quiet, have you tried talking to him?" I asked her.

Neri shrugged. "No," she answered. "There's no point," she looked at me with wide eyes. "Talk to him for me! Please!?"

"I don't like talking to boys! I can't, I literally can't. I wouldn't know what to say," I told her as we reached the cafeteria.

"Just find out info! Come on, please?" Neri tugged at my arm. "Jackson doesn't eat lunch, so go talk to him! I'll be over in a few, thanks!" she walked away from me.

I rolled my eyes, then I scanned the cafeteria for Jackson. I spotted him sitting at an empty table. He's reading a book.

I stopped at Jackson's table. "Can I sit with you?" I asked him.

Jackson slowly looked up from his book with an eyebrow raised. "Sure," he said. He glanced around as I sat down. "So, what's up with you and Mr. Park?" Jackson quietly asked.

I widened my eyes as I stared at him. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"It's obvious that something happened. Detention on the first day, then today, then again tomorrow... he's targeting you, why?" Jackson asked he closed his book.

"I don't know," I said. "Cause he's a d**k?"

Jackson squinted as he stared at me, then he sighed. "Fine."

I glanced around the cafeteria. "So, how old are you?" I asked him.

"Seventeen," Jackson said. "You?"

"Sixteen," I looked at him. "Girlfriend?"

Jackson stared at me for a moment, then he looked down at his hands. "No," he replied. "Boyfriend?"

"Gross," I mumbled. "Boys are gross, and weird."

Jackson smiled. "I can agree with that. Where's that other girl? The one who's been following you around like a lost puppy?"

"Her name's Neri, she's seventeen, single as a Pringle and ready to mingle," I gave him a cute smile.

This earned me a laugh from Jackson. "So that's why she's been staring at me since school started?" Jackson asked.

"I mean, can you blame her? You're cute, you know?" I motioned towards his face.

Jackson tilted his head as a smirk played at his lips. "You think I'm cute?"

I lowered my eyebrows for a moment. "Yes. No. No. Well, yes, but you aren't my type."

Jackson smiled. "Is Mr. Park your type?" Jackson asked.

I immediately covered my face, in hopes of hiding my redness.

Mr. Park is attractive, anyone in their right mind would see that, and I, especially, see it.

If Mr. Park wasn't my teacher and he was just my neighbor, I'm almost certain that I would fall deeply in love with him, only to get my heart ripped out, but he isn't just my neighbor.

"I'm taking that as a yes," Jackson spoke again.

I slowly uncovered my eyes. "No. God, I hate him, he's so mean," I mumbled.

Jackson tilted his head. "You're an awful liar, Asha," he said.

Neri sat beside Jackson. "Is it cool if I sit here?" Neri casually asked. Jackson looked at her. He smiled, then he nodded. Neri looked at me as she ate a French fry. "Why are you all red?"

"Because our new friend here thinks my type is Mr. Park," I said.

"Oh, definitely," Neri nodded in agreement.

"What?" I asked with disbelief in my voice.

I thought we were friends, Neri, how could you betray me like this?

Neri looked at me. "You've only been here for two days, and every time you look at him it's like you're mentally undressing him."

"No! That's the hate, it's burning through his clothes," I told them.

Jackson looked at Neri. "I think Asha likes a man who has some authority, don't you? One who's...dominant," Jackson smirked.

"No-," I started to say.

"Yes!" Neri cut me off.

"No!" I said. "No, no, no!"

Neri and Jackson both bursted into a fit of laughter. "Definitely!" they both said through their laughter.

"Choke on it, both of you," I stood up.

"Aw, no! Come back, Asha!" Neri called after me as I walked away from them.

I walked out of the cafeteria and went into the restroom. I stopped in front of a sink and looked at myself in the mirror.

I'm smarter than this, right? I can handle some stupid, immature teacher, right?

Just don't let him get to you, Asha.

How does one do that? How do I stop myself from getting triggered just by seeing his face?

I lowered my eyebrows as I thought about it. I'm easily angered, that's what's kicking my ass. I have too much of an attitude to deal with this the right way.

I would report him to the principal, but it would literally ruin his life.

I'll give it a month. If Mr. Park is still being this way a month from now, I'll report it.

There, it's settled.

•••

I made my way up to Mr. Park's room for detention later that day.

Unsurprisingly, Mila is in here. She's at Mr. Park's desk, leaning against it, while Mr. Park stood in front of her with his arms crossed.

Mila giggled as Mr. Park spoke to her, then I caught his attention. I slowly made my way to my seat in front of Mr. Park's desk as I felt his eyes burning through me. Mila got quiet, too.

"I suppose I should go and let you deal with the trouble maker, Mr. Park," Mila said as she shot me a look.

I squinted as I stared at her. Mila is very pretty, mostly because of the pounds of makeup she uses.

"Yeah, don't get lost on your way out, Barbie doll," I sarcastically said.

Mila rolled her eyes as she walked by me. "See you tomorrow, Mr. Park," she said, then she walked out of the room.

"Will you please close the door, Ms. Mae?" Mr. Park asked me as he fixed some papers on his desk.

I sighed. "I have nothing better to do, anyway," I said.

I stood up, then I walked to the door and closed it. As I turned back to my seat, I watched as Mr. Park erased the chemistry formulas from the whiteboard.

"Do you enjoy when young, pretty girls drool over you? Especially when they're your students?" I asked.

Mr. Park turned to face me as he finished erasing the marker on the board. He rose an eyebrow.

Oh, here we go.

"Tell me, do you get some sort of pleasure out of it? Being in control, having authority over them?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

A smile twitched at the corners of Mr. Park's mouth. "You have quite an imagination, Ms. Mae," he quietly said.

I rolled my eyes, then I pulled my phone out. "Can I write on my phone? Or are you going to take it from me?"

Mr. Park approached me. "Write, what?" he asked as he stopped at my desk.

"Why do you care?" I asked.

"Oh, I don't, I just want you to think I do, just so I can sleep with you," Mr. Park said with a serious face. My face heated up, which earned me a quiet laugh from Mr. Park. "Only kidding, Asha," he sat at the desk beside me.

I looked over at him. "You don't actually care, you just want to make fun of me," I said.

Mr. Park looked at me, he gently shook his head. "No, I'm genuinely curious."

I squinted as I looked at him, then I looked at my phone. "Well, I write books -- a series of books, actually, about people with superpowers."

Mr. Park rose an eyebrow. "Really? How many do you have?"

"Five finished ones, and I'm working on a prequel and a sixth one, too," I said. "Along with two more set in the same universe, but those are set in the future and follow different characters."

Mr. Park smiled. "You're a nerd, like, an actual nerd."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks," I quietly said.

"What's the main character's name?" Mr. Park asked.

"Alexis Taylor," I said. "Her alter ego is Wisp."

"Does she have powers?"

I nodded as I turned to face him.

Oh, God, control your inner fangirl, Asha.

"She is the definition of badass. She can remove her body mass -- like, you can still see her, but you can't touch her; she's basically a ghost. She gets other powers later on, but I won't spoil anything."

Mr. Park nodded. "That's really cool, Asha. I'll have to read them."

I smiled. "Yeah, you should," I said.

I realized that this is the most normal Mr. Park has ever been to me. He's not doing anything to make me uncomfortable, he's actually being...nice.

•••

A/N: Thank you for reading. Please vote, comment, and add to your reading list :)

S. C. Keener

11/22/18