Out From The Ordinary

Hana Lee was your average city girl born in the City Z and came from a rather middle-class family. She held no notable and distinguishing features that kept her apart from her peers and was the perfect example of a child that grew up mostly left in front of their family’s Smart TV.

That was to say—she was lazy as hell!

If it weren’t for their neighbor’s kid, Tristan Jay who happened to be right around her age, then perhaps she may have never seen the light of day and experienced what it was like to play kick the ball or even actually head to the playground in their neighborhood.

Given the chance to be left alone to her devices, Hana Lee could have spent the entirety of her day not even opening her bedroom’s window. Without the urge of bodily functions, then she may have never gotten out of bed if it were an option.

Now at eighteen years of age and a freshman in her university, Hana Lee liked to claim that she has grown up and blossomed into a mature and young lady.

“I mean look at me—can’t you say that I at least had a glow up?” Hana motioned to herself. The two of them were currently walking to university and she was trying to get her friend to agree with her.

If an Influencer wasn't beautiful, handsome or attractive, then they at least had something about them that caught people's eyes.

Hana wondered if there was something about her like that.

Tristan scrunched up his nose and rubbed the corner of his eyes. His footsteps were lazy as they strolled down the streets. “What are you going on about now, this time? It’s a quarter to eight and I’m still sleepy.”

Hana rolled her eyes. “You’re completely hopeless if you don’t even know what that word glow up means. This means you’re never going to get a girlfriend any time soon.”

“Who said I was going to?”

Hana blinked, her interest shifting to her friend. “Wait. Are you gonna get a boyfriend—?”

Tristan flicked her forehead and walked ahead of her. “Last night it was influencers and getting rich, today it’s about relationships and poking your nose into my business. You really can’t stick to one topic at a time, can you?”

Hana rubbed her forehead and frowned. “You brought this on yourself—”

“Hana! Tan!”

Hana and Tristan stopped in their tracks at the sound of a familiar voice. The two were headed to their respective college’s building and were about to split up when one of their friends showed up.

Phoebe ran up to them and clicked her tongue. She wagged her finger at them. “Geez, you guys didn’t wait for me at all. I tried shouting but you guys didn’t hear me. What are the two of you fussing over again?”

Tristan shrugged. “Just Hana and her crazy shenanigans again. The usual bemoaning of her life and wanting to get rich. This time she wanted to become an Inf—”

“Oi! You need to get to your class now, don’t you? Hasn’t your Professor warned you that if you’re late for the third time this semester, you’re dead.” Hana shoved at him and gave him a pointed look.

While Hana was comfortable saying whatever crossed her mind with her best friend, she still liked to keep some stuff to herself.

“Yeah, Hana and I are going to be late for our Business Ethics class—see ya at lunch, Tan-Tan!” Phoebe linked arms with her and then waved at Tristan.

As the two of them left the man behind them, Phoebe gave her a look. “So what was it? Spill.”

“It was just something silly, forget about it,” Hana said and fended her off with a relaxed grin. “I was just messing with Tristan last night.”

“Really now?” Phoebe raised a brow.

“Yeah.”

“Well, there’s nothing silly with wanting to be something or someone.”

“But it’s not like you can pour the same amount of energy towards multiple things at the same time,” Hana said.

"If you can't multitask in this day and age, people think there's something wrong with you," Phoebe said. "A lot of us are pursuing a lot of things at the same time. Not everyone can master one thing and expect things to be alright."

Hana looked ahead of them and at the clear words proudly marked in the college building. What Phoebe said made sense, but…

“I really just want to pass my exams, graduate college and probably work in the same firm that my dad works in. You know?”

“Yeah, but there’s nothing wrong with pursuing hobbies either.” Phoebe gave her a grin. “In between university and keeping your grades up, you’re not going to get ahead if you don’t have something else to offer.”

Hana knew that tell-tale grin was her friend's pitch.

“Like volunteer work?” she asked.

“Precisely. This weekend, the others in my org are visiting a local community center to help out. You can join us next time you know? Or maybe sign up during our recruitment again.”

“I’ll think about it,” Hana said.

"Yay! Maybe next time you can lure Tristan to join us next, we could use a little muscle in the org. We do a lot of heavy lifting."

"Are you telling me that my physical strength is actually irrelevant?" Hana teased.

"Well, it's certainly not one of your strong points."

"...dang, Phoebe. I did not want to hear that joke."

Phoebe laughed. "You still got it though, so it didn't slip your radar."

"I mean, maybe I'll try to ask him to join us. But you know him, he likes to stay at home and watch movies or play video games." Hana shrugged.

"Well, you can tell him that there's a lot of girls in our org, that might encourage him. I'm sure the others will get encouraged seeing him."

"Ew. That's gross."

"Come on, Hana. You're not that blind to his looks just because he grew up with you, right?"

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

"Get him in a white shirt and loose the hoodie, show off a little of his taut muscles and some sunshine on his golden hair and those blue eyes of his—"

Hana waved a hand in front of her friend. "Don't tell me you like Tristan, Phoebe? Are you some stalker, I don't notice those."

"Hey, don't call me that. A lot of people appreciated him during our Intramurals. Our college's cheering team was shouting for him instead of our own varsity team."

"Well, it's because he's actually good at sports," Hana wrinkled her nose. Still not forgiving him for bringing up the exercise thing last night.

Not everyone was a workout maniac like him.

"Phoebe, good morning!" Someone suddenly interrupted Hana's thoughts as they entered the college building's foyer.

"Hey, good morning guys! I'm running to class with my friend." Phoebe called out and waved at them.

Hana awkwardly nodded and met the group of student's eyes, before she quickly shuffled along forward with Phoebe.

The way that Phoebe brightly smiled at everyone else and got along with others was something else entirely.

It wasn't like she was the most popular, but she was well-liked.

Phoebe was someone that Hana and Tristan met during university orientation—she had sat in front of them and then noticed the two of them bantering behind her. Phoebe managed to end the argument by taking Hana’s side by then and agreed that choosing waffles was clearly the better option than pancakes.

Suffice to say, Phoebe was actually cool and had a lot of other friends besides Tristan and Hana… but still decided to hang out with them. She also happened to be in the same course as Hana, unlike Tristan so that was the bonus.

Unlike Hana though, Phoebe seemed to have her entire life put together.

A perfect balance of studies, volunteering and even finding time to be with her friends. This classmate and friend of hers seemed to have boundless energy for a variety of projects.

It was something that Hana envied a little.

The two of them headed to class.