Chapter 3
When Grace stepped out of the guidance office, Zoe was leaning on the receptionist desk waiting for her. The TV mounted on the wall was playing the end of the morning announcements, which meant they’d both missed homeroom.
“So, is our Gracie becoming a baby delinquent?” Zoe asked playfully.
Grace laughed as she shoved the paper Mrs. Brown had given her deep into the bottom of her bag. “Yes, I’m expelled, so you’ll have to bother someone else for their notes in health class.”
Zoe slung their arm over Grace’s shoulder. “Silly Gracie. I don’t borrow those notes because I want to. I borrow them because I know you’d have an aneurysm if I failed health. Again.”
Zoe was right. They didn’t share Grace’s desire to excel in academics.
In fact, so many of Zoe’s quirks were custom-made to stir up Grace’s anxiety. Yet they somehow worked as best friends.
Zoe had always used their power for chaos to protect Grace. Ever since sixth grade, when they’d stopped a boy from doing the uninspired move of pulling the edges of his eyes mockingly in Grace’s direction.
They’d shoved one of the boy’s fingers into his eyeball. And when he cried out in pain, Zoe’d said it was his own fault for making it so easy for them. Grace had immediately developed a crush on Zoe, which had bloomed into a steady friendship. And they’d been inseparable ever since.
“Hey, Zo.” Grace drew out the single syllable until it became a thoughtful hum.
“Yeah?” They tipped down their heart-shaped sunglasses (because of course they were wearing pink heart sunglasses on a cloudy day).
“Is that you on your T-shirt?” Grace pointed to the graphic tee of a young kid with wild curly hair, exactly like Zoe’s, blowing a kiss while sporting the same pink heart sunglasses they were currently wearing.
“You know it.” They winked.
Grace laughed at Zoe’s unabashed confidence and wished, not for the first time, that she could borrow a bit of it.
“So, what were you doing in the front office?” Grace asked.
Zoe shrugged. “Dropping off a detention slip.”
“Another detention slip?” Grace held in a sigh. Her friend’s antics were as regular as the moon cycle, but they still gave her bystander anxiety. Which was hilarious since Zoe never seemed to stress about anything ever. “What did you do this time?”
“Eh, Mr. Davis thinks I have an ‘attitude’ and am ‘disruptive in class,’ ” they said, using air quotes.
“You are disruptive in his class, Zo. You told him that his Eurocentric colonizer version of history was making us all lose IQ points,” Grace said as they turned into the long hallway with the junior class lockers.
The janitor’s commercial-grade floor cleaner valiantly tried to mask the musty smell that always permeated the building whenever it rained.
Zoe just grinned. “Am I wrong?”
Grace pursed her lips. As much as she agreed with Zoe, Grace would never dream of challenging authority the way they did. “What did your parents say?”
“Nothing.”
Grace struggled to open her locker, the door so dented it always got stuck. “You didn’t tell them, did you?”
Zoe’s grin widened. “Nah, they don’t want to be bothered by such inconsequential stuff. Besides, I need to keep up on forging their signatures for school documents or I’ll get rusty.”
Grace shook her head as her locker finally flung open and she grabbed her notebooks. She knew Zoe’s parents would never care, even if they did know about the detention. They might even come to the school to argue with Mr. Davis themselves.
“If you get caught forging them, you’re going to get a lot more than a couple of detentions.” Grace shoved her locker closed.
“Well, let’s never find out.” Zoe slung an arm around Grace’s shoulder again as they stepped outside. Their tight dark curls bounced a beat before settling back into a pouf of perfection.
Grace had always envied Zoe’s hair. Her straight-as-a-pin shoulder-length locks seemed flat and lackluster by comparison.
But Grace always felt a little invisible next to Zoe, through no fault of their own.
They were just naturally compelling, from their effortless style to their devil-may-care personality.
Grace, on the other hand, was a hive of anxiety wrapped in a five-foot-three package.
With a round face that tilted more into the cute category than anything else.
Not something a girl wanted to be called at seventeen.
“So, what does Cho Sun have planned for the next episode of Sun God?” Zoe wiggled their brows. Cho Sun was the pen name Grace used to author the comic.
“What?” Grace glanced around furtively to see if anyone had heard.
Zoe was the only person in the entire universe who knew about Grace’s alter ego. And they’d sworn a blood oath to take the secret to their grave. Zoe always kept their promises.
“Anyway, I’m glad we’re meeting the big bad. He seems very ominous.”
“You think so?” Grace wrung the hem of her T-shirt. “You don’t think it was too corny?”
“No way. It was broody and dramatic. But that cliffhanger, Gracie. You already know how protective I am of my babies.”
Grace blushed. It’s not that she didn’t appreciate the praise. Who didn’t like being complimented? But Sun God was just supposed to be a fun hobby. A sort of homage to her halmeoni, who’d loved the old Korean myths. It was never supposed to get huge. Definitely not viral.
Sometimes Grace worried it had grown so big that it had become its own living, breathing thing, and instead of Grace controlling the webtoon, it was controlling her.
Thinking about Sun God made her think of that boy. And his uncanny resemblance to the main character.
“Hey, Zo, have you seen a new guy around school?”
“No, why? Is there a new guy? Is he hot?”
“Is who hot?” Muscular, tan arms swung around Grace’s and Zoe’s shoulders, pulling them into six feet two inches of lanky boy. Lincoln Day gave them one of his affable grins that made his hazel eyes sparkle.
“Ew, you’re all sweaty!” Zoe jabbed their elbow into Lincoln’s side. He fell away from them, which meant into Grace. Luckily, his quick reflexes kept her in place. Or, and more likely, to use her as a potential shield if Zoe’s elbows attacked again.
Grace’s heart sped, which had been happening more and more over the last year. Her growing crush on Lincoln was just unfortunate. He was a boy she’d known most of her life, but he still felt completely unattainable.
Grace ducked out of his hold.
“Aw, not you too, Gracie. It’s not sweat.” Lincoln pouted. “It’s from my shower after morning practice.” And in retaliation, he shook his chestnut hair like a wet dog, spraying them with water.
It fit him, he was cute like a Labrador. Even his slightly crooked nose (from when they were ten and Grace accidentally beaned him with a basketball) added character to his otherwise perfect face.
Lincoln was the kind of guy everyone wanted to be friends with. And Grace had somehow gotten in early due to straight luck and proximity of living down the street.
His mom and Grace’s had been friendly, exchanging recipes and arranging play dates for Grace and Lincoln when they were babies.
Lincoln had taught Grace how to shoot a free throw. She’d introduced him to manga.
But over the last couple of years, Grace had felt like she was slowly losing him to his booming popularity, which had exploded after he’d become a starter for the varsity basketball team last spring.
Meanwhile, Grace’s social capital had taken a deep dive after a particularly public disaster last semester.
“What did I miss in homeroom?” Lincoln asked.
“Dunno, we missed it too,” Zoe said. “But the morning announcements were mostly stuff about the carnival.”
“Oh crap, I think I was supposed to sign up for a slot in the dunk tank.” Lincoln turned big puppy-dog eyes toward Grace.
She gave him a raised-brow stare meant to make him feel contrite, but he flashed a small cajoling grin. And Grace gave in (like she always did). “I already signed you up for shifts with a few of the other basketball guys.”
“You’re a saint.” Lincoln ruffled her hair.
“Hey, Link!” Griffin Reed waved from across the courtyard. A clear sign that he expected Lincoln to join the gathering basketball team. Because that’s where Lincoln belonged, not with awkward social-nobody Grace Bak.
“See you at lunch?” Lincoln said, even though he didn’t always eat with them anymore.
Still, Grace nodded. “Sure. See you then.”
Lincoln jogged away, and Grace couldn’t help but watch him go.
Zoe leaned in and rested their chin on Grace’s shoulder. “You should just tell him you like him.”
“I can’t. It would be too weird.” Grace didn’t add the real reason. She was pretty sure he’d think of a kind way of letting her down easy. Then he’d slowly phase out of her life due to the ensuing awkwardness. And she didn’t want to lose what little pieces of him she still had.
“Tell him you write Sun God. Maybe he’ll be impressed that you’re famous.”
“I’m not famous,” Grace said. “And something like that wouldn’t be impressive to him.”
Zoe looked disappointed, and Grace couldn’t tell if it was due to her crush or her lack of self-confidence. Probably both.
“Well, can you at least tell me what’s happening next? Big showdown? Haemosu kicking ass?”
“I don’t really know what happens next,” Grace admitted as she hitched her bag higher, starting toward her next period. “And I can’t worry about that today. I have to study for my AP Physics quiz and get started on my prep guide for my BU interview.”
“Why are you doing so much work? You know you’re going to ace it. You’re like an interviewer’s dream applicant.”
Grace pushed back the encroaching smile. She knew Zoe didn’t necessarily mean that as a compliment.
“I can’t take any chances,” Grace explained for maybe the dozenth time. “I need to get into this summer science program so I can get into their med school track.”
“Gracie, you’re seventeen. You shouldn’t be worrying about med school right now.”
“It’s really hard to get in, way more than when my parents went,” Grace said. “But if I get into this summer program, I’ll have an almost guaranteed in. Then I can relax more. I promise.”
“What about your webtoon? You could do it professionally. You should tell your dad about it. He’d be proud of you.”
Grace laughed. “My dad knows nothing about webtoons or the internet. He thinks going viral is a medical issue.”
Zoe huffed out an annoyed sigh. “I’m just saying, you have options. You really think you want to spend the rest of your life surrounded by sick people? Or would you rather spend your time with hotties like Haemosu and Yuhwa?”
Zoe didn’t know that their wish could technically come true, as a boy who looked exactly like Haemosu was probably already registering at their school.