“Come on Emma, hurry up! You don’t wanna be late on your first day!”, Lily was calling her daughter from downstairs.
“I’m coming, mom, I’m coming!”, the girl replied.

Emma looked at herself in the mirror one more time. What she saw, didn’t really look like her. Instead of the usually cheerful and fresh face, she saw circles underneath her eyes, which were hardly trying not to let more tears fall. She swallowed the lump in and stood up. She looked good in ripped jeans and a light-pink sweater. Her hair was gathered in a simple braid.
“Emma?!”, Lily shouted once more.
“I’m here mom, let’s just go.”

The ride to Emma’s new school went by a little to fast, in her opinion. Even though she was looking at ultra-modern buildings and ultra-crowded streets, she actually looked through all of it. That was one of those falls she couldn’t enjoy. She hated big changes, but a new school where she knew nobody was one. All morning she had felt sick in her stomach.
“Why are you so quiet, honey? Are you scared or something?”, Lily asked her daughter, noticing that she had hardly spoken a few words since they had gotten into the car.
“No…Yes…A little. I just don’t know if I’ll handle it, that’s all.”
Lily’s face softened and she slightly smiled, unfastening her seatbelt and turning to Emma. She looked at her with her smaragd-green eyes.
“I know it’s not easy for you, I mean, it’s not easy for me either, you should see the looks I get from my new colleagues at work! But I also know that you can manage everything, because you are a strong, capable, intelligent and beautiful young woman, full of life. No matter what happens Emma, never forget that.”
Emma glared at her gorgeous mother. “You always have the right words.”
“That’s what mothers are for. And now get out, or do I have to make you?!”
“What a perfect way to ruin a perfect moment.”
They both laughed.
“See you later, mom.”
“I love you!”
“Love you too.”

Because Emma signed up “Seoul Central High School” in the last moment, they didn’t order a school uniform for her. She was told to go to the secretariat and take care of it. That is the reason why she, in her every-day-clothes, stuck out from all the students in front of the school. She tried to ignore their curious glances. While walking to the door, she remembered her first day of high school, back in Chicago, when she wasn’t alone. Rachel was with her. They were secretly laughing at the other girls who thought they were so cool and, of course, smiling when senior boys winked at them.

The halls were so crowded that Emma took a moment to collect herself. She saw groups of girls laughing loudly, boys teasing them and couples trying to find a private spot in the attempt to share a quick kiss. She had to find the secretariat and she knew that she would have to ask somebody for directions. But when she started looking around to see who she could ask, she felt a from behind, almost stumbling to the floor.
“Oh my God, I am so sorry! I didn’t want to hit you, but I am in a rush…don’t  know why I’m in a rush, actually, I mean, the class starts in 10 minutes, I am simply shaken up, I hadn’t had my morning coffee or anything, hey I like your sweater by the way, but wait, why aren’t you in a uniform? Have we already met?”
Emma dully stared at the talkative girl, with her lips softly apart.”Uhm, uhm…”, she shuttered, but the girl continued.
“Hmm, you are new, right? Oh my, soooooooooooorry, I must’ve scared you! Okay, okay. Let’s start again. Hi. My name is Yoona.” She widely smiled.
“Emma. Nice to meet you.”
“Emma? Are you from here?”
“Uhm, no. I’m from Chicago.” She hoped that no accent could be heard.
“Really? I’ve always wanted to travel to America, the country of dreams! Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, you know, try my luck and so. My parents told me I’m crazy and that I should stop dreaming, but dreams are essential for people right? I am talking too much again, aren’t I? Sorry...” Yoona sighed, dramtically putting her hand on her head.
“What’s up Yoona, terrorizing people again?”, a tall, slender boy said, teasingly smiling. He was somehow cute, Emma thought.
“Please, please, back off, will you? You are the last thing I need in the morning.”
 “Hey, don’t listen to her too much, she is a little out of her mind”, he refered to Emma, but was gone before she managed to come up with an answer.
“Don’t pay attention to that jerk. Just to warn you, he will probably hit on you sometime in the near future. Hmm, probably? He will for sure! His name wouldn’t be Oh Sehun if he didn’t. He hits on everything that can be called a female. Gosh, I hate him!” She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyebrows, turning to the direction where Sehun was talking to some girls. Emma contained her smile. Being so ‘furious’, Yoona looked like a pouting child. Emma was sure she didn’t really hate that Sehun guy. “So, can I help you with something?”, Yoona added, after ‘recovering’ form Sehun’s appereance.
“Uhm, I’m looking for the secreteriat.”
“Easy, come follow me. Which grade are you, anyway?”
“I’m a junior.”
Yoona widened her eyes in excitement. “Me too! Let’s get your schedule then.
 “Thank you for helping me.”
“You do know that you can freely talk more? I talk too much anyway, right?”
 “Really, it’s fine. My Korean is not the best.”
“Are you kidding? I’d never tell. I thought that in your home you guys speak Korean. Wait, you are Koeran, or?”
“Well, half-Korean.”
“Oh, so cool!”
Emma smiled. The girl was spreading the kind of positive energy Emma had needed. She was also very pretty. She had light-brown, probably colored, hair which was in a funny bun with green and pink highlights. She had little earrings in the form of a smiley face and those nerd glasses everyone was wearing. Judging by all, she was somehow a hipster, what she wasn’t entirely able to show in the dull, grey uniform, even though her tie was purple-orange.

After Emma ordered the uniform and got the schedule and the locker key, they realized that they both have the first class together.
“You have locker 207. Mine is 256. Not that close, but enough. Come on, I think you’ll like math”, Yoona winked.
“I hope I won’t have to introduce myself in front of everybody”, said Emma, more for herself.
“Don’t worry about it, the teachers change all the time, and there are too many students anyway.”

At exactly 8 am the bell rang and the class started. Yoona shortly waved to a few girls. Every single one of them had long, straight hair and perfect makeup. Emma thought they kind of looked like dolls. “Those are your friends? If you want, you can sit with them. It’s totally fine.”
Yoona frowned. “They were once. Before they stabbed me in the back. Like this.” Yoona rashly thurst her pencil into her notebook cover, so a little whole remained. “Since then, I’m more of a loner. Their names are, from left to right, Yuri, Soonkyu and Sooyoun. There was another girl with us, Taeyeon, who moved to Europe. After that, Sooyoun started bossing us around and I just, well, go out of the group. As you see, we still small talk and say ‘hi’, but I bet they are gossiping about me right now.”
“Too bad”, was all Emma said. She was asking herself what exactly happened there,