By the next morning, I had given Shim the front row.
That was the story I told two girls at the shoe lockers. They had seen the senior move us during dance practice and wanted to know why. I said I'd asked to switch. Shim knew the steps; there was no reason to keep her behind me.
One of the girls said that was nice of me. I hadn't expected to be called nice. I liked it.
Sooyoung stood beside me, changing into her indoor shoes. She had watched the senior stop the tape the day before. She knew I hadn't asked for anything. When I looked at her, she pulled at a loose thread on her sock and let me keep talking.
Shim arrived in time to hear the girls praise me. She took her shoes from the locker above mine. For a moment I thought she hadn't understood. Then one of the girls said, “Amy told us she gave you her place.”
Shim shut her locker. She thanked the girl for telling her and went to class without us.
At lunch, she sat at our usual desk. She laughed when Sooyoung told a story, but when I tried to join in, she turned to me.
“You told them you gave it to me.”
“I said I asked to move.”
“You didn't.”
The other girls were talking loudly enough that no one beyond our desk could hear. I could have admitted it then. Instead I thought of the senior's hand pointing me toward the back row, and how many people had seen.
“I didn't want them to know she moved me,” I said.
Shim looked at me for a long moment. “So you made it sound like I was there because of you.”