Me, You, & The Party Rock Crew

“I’m with the Party Rock Crew, all drinks are free.” – Shots, LMFAO, 2009. 

Third period was English Honors. Only for the nerds and the kids who had their nose in a book. Unfortunately for Izzie, she had to read all summer for this class. Truthfully, she wanted to re-read New Moon in preparation for the movie’s premiere later that year, but no–she had to suffer through classic American literature written by dead old white men. 

Still, Xandra–one of her closest friends from the grade above–told her to stay on her A-game. Not because Mrs. Wellerby was infamous for her pop quizzes, but because she was also the Theatre director for the upcoming musical, Peter Pan. If Izzie wanted a real shot at being anywhere near the cast or crew, she’d have to impress her. 

As the class shuffled in, Izzie found herself seated between Simon and another kid, Sunwoo McKinnon-Lee, who strolled in just as the bell rang. He was at least six feet on the nose, long and lanky with legs that carried him across the room in three chaotic strides. 

Mrs. Wellerby lowered her glasses dramatically from her desk. 

“You there!” she shouted like she was performing some Shakespearean comedy. 

Sunwoo froze mid-step. 

“Uh…yes, ma’am?” he blinked. 

“You just casually strolled in at the final stroke of the bell. You do know what that means, right?” 

Sunwoo visibly restrained himself from groaning and nodded. 

“Perfect!” she clapped her hands, rising from her desk like a performer taking center stage. “Class, let’s do Chapter 5, page 61.” 

He dropped into his seat beside Izzie and muttered, 

“I swear that old hag’s gonna be the death of me.” 

“Tell me about it,” Izzie muttered back. 

“Oh! My stars, I completely forgot to do roll call! Let’s do that first,” Mrs. Wellerby suddenly remembered. The class collectively tensed. Eye rolls were exchanged. Tic-tac-toe was initiated. 

Izzie absentmindedly doodled in her planner, playing a game in the margins with Simon on one side and Sunwoo on the other. 

“Simon Man-COW-ski?” Mrs. Wellerby sang. 

Simon sighed. “Man-KOV-ski.” It had been two weeks for crying out loud. 

“Oops. My apologies. Man-KOV-ski,” she repeated, this time in a musical sing-song tone. Izzie bit her lip to keep from laughing. Simon shot her a glare. 

Then came the inevitable: 

“Sun-WOO! Oh, that’s a fun name. WOO!” she giggled, complete with Ric Flair’s flair. 

Simon and Izzie’s eyes widened in horror. Sunwoo turned beet red, his lips twitching as he tried not to laugh. It wasn’t the first time someone did this, but it still stung. 

“The ‘W’ is silent,” he said, clearing his throat. 

Mrs. Wellerby tilted her head. “Come again?

“It’s Sun-oo, the W is silent,” he repeated calmly. 

“So then why is it spelled like that?” 

“I dunno, ask my mom?” Sunwoo deadpanned. 

Murmurs rose from the class. No one usually challenged Mrs. Wellerby, but he had a point, and she was being borderline…well, they all knew the word. 

“No need to be rude,” she scolded. 

“I’m not being rude,” Sunwoo replied, still calm. “That was no disrespect, Mrs. W. My Name’s Korean–as you can tell by my second last name–so if you genuinely want to know why it’s spelled that way, you can feel free to ask my mom. She’d probably give you a better explanation than I can.” 

From the front, Carter gave a low whistle and held out a fist. 

“Nicely done,” he whispered. 

Sunwoo bumped it, obviously. 

“O-kay then,” Mrs. Wellerby huffed, choosing to move on rather than argue with a fifteen-year-old. By now, Simon, Izzie, and Sunwoo already knew the deal with her–they decided not to press it. She was tenured, after all. 

As roll continued, so did the game. Simon only managed to win one round of tic-tac-toe, while Izzie and Sunwoo kept landing in endless draws. 

Finally, Mrs. Wellerby sang out, “Isabella Wallace!” 

Izzie looked up. “Here.” 

“I’ve been meaning to ask–do you go by Bella or Izzie?”

“Izzie,” she nodded. 

“Really? Even with the current state of the Twilight series?” 

“Especially because of the Twilight series,” Izzie said, deadpan. She fought the urge to laugh. Mrs. Wellerby was something else. 

The woman cackled and moved on, finishing roll at least with Thalia Zelensky. 

Now came the class reading the literary classic, To Kill a Mockingbird. The mood shifted, but only slightly, because Mrs. Wellerby still insisted on theatrics. Whoever entered last had to kick things off. After a few pages of reading aloud, the class would dive into discussion, then the first reader would “pass the mic” to someone else. 

To Izzie, it felt like popcorn reading with a theatrical twist–engaging enough to keep the room awake. Luckily, it went by quickly. By the time the last discussion wrapped, the bell rang. 

“Who’s ready for that first mile of the year?” Simon asked, way too hyped as he zipped up his backpack. 

“You, my chicken-legged brother, are the only one who seems to be excited about this,” Sunwoo snorted. 

“Izzie, what about you?” 

“I only like running if I’m chasing a ball,” she replied. “Otherwise? Not psyched.” 

“Oh, come on–it’s your chance to beat last year’s mile time, and it’ll keep you in shape for soccer.” 

“My bro,” Izzie laughed, “by the time soccer season hits, we’re in driver’s ed.” 

“Oh. Right.” He chuckled, sheepish. 

The three of them made their way out of class when Izzie spotted her again–the tall girl from earlier. Hala Khan. She was all the way down the hall, too far to call out casually. 

So, Izzie did the only logical thing: she whistled. Loudly. 

Heads turned, Hala’s included. 

“Hey!” Izzie waved. “Where are you headed?”

“P.E.! I just switched out of a class.” 

“Who do you have?!” Izzie started walking faster, waving for Simon and Sunwoo to follow. 

“Renfield. You?” 

Izzie lit up. “Same gym class!” 

She turned to the guys trailing behind. “Oh–these are my friends, Simon and Sunwoo.” 

“DAAAAMN,” Sunwoo yelped, before he could stop himself. “You are one tall Amazonian woman.” He grinned and extended a hand. 

Hala blinked and looked at Izzie. Izzie mouthed, I’ll explain later. 

“…Uh, nice to meet you,” Hala said, slowly shaking his hand. 

“Likewise,” Sunwoo beamed. “Glad to know there’s someone here that breathes the same air as I do.” 

Izzie and Simon exchanged a look and sighed loudly. Hala couldn’t help but laugh. 

She moved to greet Simon next, but he held out a fist. Without missing a beat, she bumped it. 

Izzie sighed. 

Boys were dumb.