Today’s the first day of school. As I got up excitedly which I believe that this would be replaced by reluctance to leave my beautiful bed at 6 am in the morning in the subsequent weeks, freshened up, wore my newly bought uniform and tried to look as neat and smart as possible for the first day of school. After spending 20 minutes in my room tying my hair and adjusting my ponytail, mom popped her head into my room’s door and asked if I am ready. I nodded and adjusted my uniform once again, eyeing myself in my mirror for the last time before grabbing my bag and leaving my light purple room.

“So, are you ready for your first day of school?” Mom turned to her right as she was driving.

“Yeap, a mixture of feelings mom. I am kinda nervous”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” She answered before giving me an assuring smile.

Mom dropped me off at the school gate, and I took a deep breath before walking in with many other schoolmates who looked equally nervous and excited as me.

My name’s Krystal Jung, and I am someone who is dubbed as an Ice Princess throughout my schooling years. I’ve never had close friends ever in my life because no one wants to even get close with me in fear that they would be frozen into a block of ice, and I have never bothered with them either. So I spent most of my time alone in school and with my sister at home. We are practically Siamese twins since we can’t be separated even though she is five years older. I was feeling nervous because I am in a completely new environment. My family used to live in South Korea before moving back to my birthplace, San Francisco three months back. New environment would mean that I would have to get adjusted to people looking at me with fear and gossips, which is in fact nothing new, I just have to get adjusted to the faces that are doing it and the language that they are talking in that’s all.

Even though I spent most of my years in Korea, I am able to speak fluent English thanks to my parents who would constantly remind me to practise the language at home and hiring a tutor from the States to teach me English. So I do not have any communication problems here.

“Hello!! Are you a freshman too?” A cute bubbly girl with a bright pink ribbon headband resting on her head approached me.

“Yeah. You too?” I smiled slightly, relieved that somebody approached me just as I was feeling a little lonely by just looking at the cliques around me.

“Yeap! I am Sulli!” she introduced.

“Krystal Jung.” I answered giving another small smile.

“Oh! You are Korean?!” she asked with excitement in her eyes.

I nodded.

“Oh my gosh! That is great! I am Korean too! And my family moved here two years ago and English is still my greatest enemy! Grammar never fails to confuse me every time! Can I speak Korean with you?! Speaking English is such a tough task for me to manage.”

“Sure. No wonder your English sounded a bit off.”

Sulli started blabbering in Korean telling me about the things she have seen on her way to school, how many members does she have in her family, what she likes, how many pets does she have and what she just ate. I kept my silence throughout the conversation taking in what she just spoke. She looks really excited to meet a Korean here just by looking at the spark in her eyes.

“Are you okay? You are really quiet.” She stopped and asked.

“Yeah. I am fine. I am not really someone who is talkative.”

“Ahh I see. It’s okay. We kinda complete each other since I am the talkative one.”

I was actually taken aback by her reaction because back in Korea, people would start saying that I am bossy or an Ice Princess after seeing how I don’t react to people’s words or starting a conversation.

“You don’t mind?? You don’t see me as someone rude???” I asked with curiosity.

“Why should I? There’s nothing wrong in being quiet. You are just being you. Why should I judge?” She said.

I gave her a wide grin.

“What class are you in?” She asked.

“2-1”

“Oh! We are in the same class!”

“Really?! That’s great!”

We linked arms and started walking to the classroom. I have a feeling that this would be great!

We entered a noisy and rowdy class whereby the guys are busy fooling around and pranking one another while the girls are in groups, gossiping with one another over a famous kpop idol. Sulli and I found a seat near the teacher’s table and we sat behind someone who had short and messy hair with a big black frame of glasses. There was a book on his desk and he buried his head into the book, engrossed in reading it.

A flying paper ball then caught my attention and it hit the classmate in front of me.

“HAHAHAHAHA NERD!” shouted the boys who threw the paper ball.

“Hey! Stop that! You guys have been throwing those since I came in!” the said person stood up as he took off his glasses. He looked really handsome as he turned towards the group of boys. My eyes scanned his body and found him wearing a skirt.

“Oh so I have mistaken! It’s a she!” I thought.

The boys were stunned to see that their victim retaliated and stopped teasing her and judging by her tone, she isn’t someone who could mess with.

“Woahhhhh! She looks so cool!!!” Sulli tapped my arms as the girl in front of me sat down and carry on attending to the book that she is reading.

“Yeah.” I answered without having any interest in her.

“Just ignore that creature there. She is the weirdest person I have ever met. We went to the same school last year and boy! She never fails to make me stay away from her.” A girl with brown hair sitting with her clique who is a few tables from us told us.

“That’s not something nice to say.” Sulli defended while frowning her eyebrows.

“Oh you’ll see how she is. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” That girl argued.

The bell soon rang, signalling that it is time for classes. We started by introducing ourselves to one another and I got to know her…

“My name is Amber Liu, Taiwanese-American.” She said as she got up from her seat before sitting back down in no less than 3 seconds after standing up.

The teacher wanted her to carry on but somehow stopped pressing for more information after she glared at him. It made me curious on how she’s actually like. I mean, like Sulli said, we shouldn’t judge one by its cover. That is probably just her personality, and she might be someone nice once you get to know her. Everyone has a cover and different sides that you want to show to strangers, classmates, best friends, lovers and family. We definitely shouldn’t judge based on one of the cover that you see and from my past experiences, it isn’t good to start judging as it would lead to people teasing, staying away from you, and worst case, bullying.

But Amber Liu is getting me very curious about her. Something that I have never felt before in my life. Perhaps her aura gives me something familiar, it feels like she is going through is what I have been through or even more. It feels like she is someone nice deep down, like me.

Class ended, and Sulli dragged me out of the classroom when everybody is still packing up as we were already counting down to the end of boring lessons five minutes before the bell rang. We were the first to head out and I was dragged out of the school gate.

“Wait, where are we going?” I asked.

“Uhhhhhh… To the mall? You don’t hang out after school??” She questioned.

“Nope. Home is always my destination after school. I have no one to hang out with.” I looked down after finishing my sentence.

“It’s okay! You will have me to hang out with in future!” She smiled brightly and wrapped her arms across my shoulders which warms my heart, something that I have never felt before in my life.

We spent a tiring afternoon at the mall, looking through books at a local bookstore and having lunch at a restaurant that is affordable for students. And when I got home, I got showered with kisses and hugs by my very own sister.

“How’s your first day of school? It is such a rare occasion that you are back this late.” She asked out of curiosity.

“Fine I guess. I went to the mall with a friend after school that’s why I am home later than usual.”

“Oh really? A friend?!” Her eyes lit up. My sister knew of the problems I face in school back in Korea, which explains her constant hang-out session with me at home. Hearing that I have a friend now caught her by surprise that her sister made a friend here.

“Yeah. She approached me first and we kind of clicked immediately. And she’s Korean.”

“Then you have to invite her over someday! I would love to meet someone who could warm you up!” She giggled.

After some more hugs and kisses by my overly-attached sister, she left me in my room to settle down and prepare for the next day. As I lay on my bed tonight, Amber, the mysterious girl just came into my mind. And unknowingly, I felt my eyelids getting heavier and fell asleep.

A/N: First chapter! how is it???? is it too cliche?? i cant think of any other plots >< next chapter would be out next week!!^^ I need time to write the rest of the chapters first heh.