She never used to like the commute to school. She had to get up extra early so she could get on two different buses and then there was a long walk to add to it. It . That was until the day she stepped out of her house at the same time a girl in the house next to hers did the same. She’d never seen the girl before, and she’s lived next to the same people for her whole life. Maybe they moved and she didn’t notice? But she never saw any moving vans, and Moonbyul was pretty sure she would have noticed that. So this girl in the same school uniform as her must have moved in with the people next door. Weird.

                Moonbyul shrugged and put in her earphones. The sun was bright as it usually was, even this early, so she put on her shades and walked behind the brunette, studying her. The girl walked straight never turning back. She looked small with that big white bag on her back. How many things could she have if this was her first day? Moonbyul figured she was the studious type.

Moonbyul always stayed the same distance behind her, never catching up or falling behind, but they had to reach the bus stop at some point. Moonbyul was finally able to get a better look at the girl. She made sure to keep a healthy distance, and she stood at a position that didn’t make it so obvious that she was sizing this new girl up. Although, the girl was focused on her phone anyway.

She was cute. That was Moonbyul’s first thought. She had nice brown hair that framed her round face well, nice pink lips and brown eyes. Moonbyul especially liked the small mole just below her eyebrow.

Moonbyul looked away and thought about introducing herself to the new student, maybe offer to help her around school, but ultimately she decided against it. She looked confident enough. Instead, Moonbyul changed the song on her phone.

When they got on the bus, it was almost vacant. Moonbyul chose a seat near the back, as she usually did. The new girl took a seat near the front. They still managed to avoid eye contact. Moonbyul watched the back of her head for another minute before she leaned her own head against the window and closed her eyes. It certainly was early.

Moonbyul followed her off the bus and happened to look in the seat the girl was sitting in. She left a pocket notebook in her seat. Moonbyul grabbed it and hopped off the bus. Without saying a word she reached out and offered the notebook. The girl looked up, a small look of surprise passing her face when she saw it. She grabbed it and finally they made eye contact, though only for a moment. The girl opened and Moonbyul saw the soundless ‘thank you’. She nodded in response, knowing the girl would understand it meant ‘no problem’.

The rest of the trek to school went the same as before that moment, except Moonbyul couldn’t stop thinking about the girl. Her remaining fatigue disappeared the moment their eyes met.

Wheein dropped her tray on the lunch table and sat down excitedly, startling Hwasa and Moonbyul, who had been having a civil conversation about an assignment due soon.

“Woah Wheein, what’s got you so amped today?” Hwasa said raising her eyebrows at her oldest friend.

“Did you guys see the new girl? She’s really pretty and nice.” Wheein said grinning. But her attention wasn’t on the two friend in front of her. Instead, her head was swiveling around the cafeteria.

“We have a new girl? That hasn’t happened in a while. I feel like I’ve been seeing the same faces for years.”  Hwasa said now looking around too. If she had paid any attention to the other girls in the cafeteria, she would have noticed the other girls doing the same thing.

It was natural to be curious about a new student, but it was especially interesting when it happened at this school. The school was pretty small and newbies were rare. Everyone was pretty close. They had to be, considering most of them went to this school since grade school, and chances were, you had at least one class with everyone in your year.

“Yeah. I want to snatch her before anyone else does. I already talked to her and invited her to sit with us, but I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to do it.”

“I saw her. I’m pretty sure she moved in with my neighbors.” Moonbyul said continuing her meal like it was no big deal. When in reality, she’d had been keeping an eye out for the new girl all day. To her dismay, she hadn’t seen her since they walked into school.

Both girls stopped looking for a moment to spare Moonbyul a shocked expression.

“The ones with the dog or the ones with a pool?” Hwasa asked looking at Moonbyul intensely, like it was the most important question ever.

“The ones with a pool,” Moonbyul replied leaning back slightly, caught off guard by Hwasa’s intenseness.

“Wheein, we have to snatch her. Come on, Moonbyul. Help us look.”

Moonbyul rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. It was so like Hwasa to have an alternative motive.  

Moonbyul looked right at the door as the girl walked in. She walked in hesitant, like she was unsure what to do. Moonbyul felt for her. Being a new student must be hard. At least, the people at this school were generally really nice.

“She just walked in.”

Wheein turned to the door at lightning speed. She stood up so fast she almost knocked her chair over. Hwasa pushed her in the girl’s direction.

“Walk her over, so she can’t run off with someone else.”

Wheein did as told. The two girls at the table watched as Wheein greeted the girl with her bright smile, the new girl smiled back nodding at something Wheein said. Moonbyul noticed the relief that overcame the girl. They both started walking over, and Moonbyul chose to focus on her food instead of staring at them as they walked towards her table.

Moonbyul lifted her head again when she heard Wheein saying something about the school lunch not being so bad.

“This table is the one me and my friends usually sit at. Everyone pretty much sits in the same place every day. Anyway, this is Hwasa and Moonbyul.”

The girl smiled and waved awkwardly. She chose to keep her backpack with her instead of sticking it in her locker. Moonbyul bet she kept it like a safety blanket. Moonbyul and Hwasa waved that awkward first meeting wave in return.

“Oh, I saw you on the bus!” The girl eyes finally showed recognition when she looked at Moonbyul more closely. Some of her discomfort slipping away after having something to say. Moonbyul was wondering if they would acknowledge that or not. She got the answer sooner than expected

Moonbyul nodded, “Yep that was me. Nice to meet you…”

“Solar. My name is Solar.” Solar said as she finally sat down in the chair next to Wheein. The table was round and considerably small, so they were all pretty close together. Solar ended up adjacent to Moonbyul and in-between Wheein and Hwasa.

“You saw her on the bus, and you didn’t introduce yourself? Don’t be rude, Moonbyul.” Wheein said giving Moonbyul an angry look.

“Yeah, don’t be rude, Moonbyul.” Hwasa smacked her arm.

Moonbyul grabbed her arm, and rubbed it. It wasn’t a weak smack. “Sorry. I’m a grump in the morning.” She isn’t really, but she had to have some excuse. She looked over at Solar, to see her laughing quietly at her punishment. Solar had a big and bright smile. It was nice and contagious. If you asked Moonbyul, it rivaled Wheein’s. She had to stifle her own after seeing it.

“What kind of person doesn’t introduce themselves to their new neighbor anyway?” Wheein scolded Moonbyul.

“We’re neighbors?” Solar looked at her surprised.

“Yeah, I guess you didn’t see me come out of my house, but I was right behind you the whole time.”

“Oh.”

“You’re not the Im’s daughter are you?” Moonbyul asked. She never remembered them saying anything about it.

“No, their niece.”

“Why are you living with them?” Hwasa asked finally digging into her food again after Wheein’s interruption.

“Did you need to buy lunch?” Moonbyul asked before she could respond to Hwasa’s question. She didn’t want her to starve. They only serve lunch for so long.

“Oh no. I brought my lunch today. And I don’t really want to talk about why I’m living with my aunt and uncle, if that’s okay.” She grabbed a lunch box from her white bag and pulled out a sandwich, all while keeping her head down.

“No problem. Sorry. I didn’t mean to be nosy.”

“It’s okay. I would be curious too.” She bit into her sandwich still needing an excuse to look away. It only made them all more curious, but it was obvious to all of them that it was a sore subject, so they quickly moved on.

“So what classes do you have after lunch?” Moonbyul asked hoping that they had a class together.

                Solar looked up and made an endearing face trying to remember her schedule. It made Moonbyul’s lip quirk up the tiniest bit.

“Ah… math then drama and gym. How serious is gym here? My last school didn’t push us too hard. Is it anything like that?” Solar looked at the other three girls, wide eyed and hopeful.

They all laughed.

“You are out of luck,” Hwasa said shaking her head. “Ms. Park expects us all to be participating. It’s kind of fun if you just go with it.”

“I, for one, love gym. We have that together, so don’t worry, I’ll help you out.” Moonbyul replied with stifled excitement. They definitely had gym together because there was only one gym teacher. If she had the same math teach as her, they would have two classes together.

“Moonbyul gets competitive, so try hard or she’ll abandon you.” Wheein whispered at Solar.

“I won’t abandon you. Even if you’re the worst of the worst. I promise.”

“I’m the worst of the worst. Sorry.”

“I was afraid you would say that.” Moonbyul mock sighed in disappointment. “No offense, but I could already tell.” Moonbyul was only teasing and she smiled kindly to emphasize that.

“What do you mean you could already tell?” Solar looked offended despite the intention.

“Just the way you walk.”

“You judged that when I walked over here?”

“No, when I was walking behind you to the bus stop.”

“Why were you watching her like a creep?” Hwasa asked eyebrow raised.

“WH-what do you mean? She was directly in front of me, and it was obvious she was a new student.” Moonbyul gestured to her uniform.

Wheein clapped her hands as she laughed. “She’s so sensitive. We get her every time.” Moonbyul huffed. They did get riled up way too often. “I’m sure you’ll learn to do it. Or maybe we’ll get you. It remains to be seen which kind of person you are.” Wheein wriggled her eyebrows. Hwasa laughed besides Moonbyul.

“I’m warning you now: Find better friends.” Moonbyul told Solar.

“I don’t know. I like you guys.” Solar was smiling. She hadn’t felt this happy since moving in next door to Moonbyul.

Moonbyul pointed at Hwasa and exposed her original intentions, “She wants you for your pool!”

Hwasa smacked Moonbyul again, even harder than last time. “Don’t tell lies!”

Their antics only made Solar laugh more. With Wheein laughing next to her and Hwasa and Moonbyul bickering, she already felt a part of the group. Even despite the fact that they clearly had a strong bond.

“Don’t worry, once I clear it up with my aunt and uncle, you guys are totally invited. I don’t think they even use it anyway.”

“Just for clarification, I consider the pool a bonus to your friendship.” Hwasa stopped hitting Moonbyul and faced Solar. Though she was clearly ecstatic about the pool.

“Don’t worry. I know a liar when I see one.” Solar looked at Moonbyul to see her stunned face.

“Wow. I can’t believe you guys already turned her against me! I’m going to blast my music at night so you can’t sleep.” Moonbyul lifted her finger at Solar.

“I’ll buy earplugs.” Solar challenged.

Hwasa and Wheein ‘oohed’. Watching the exchange like they were kids at a circus.

“Earplugs, huh? Well, I’ll get you in some way. Just you wait. I can only say, you chose the wrong side today.”

“Let me just interrupt to say, you couldn’t have chosen better. Hwasa and I, the power duo, just gained a disciple,” Wheein scooted closer to Solar and wrapped an arm around her. “And we will teach her our ways. Sorry, little Moonbyul,”

“I’m taller than you, Wheein.” Moonbyul was ignored.

“You just can’t stop us.”

Moonbyul looked over at Solar again, this time with puppy eyes. “But I got your notebook for you. I didn’t even look in it or anything.”

Solar’s almost cracked, but Hwasa pushed Moonbyul’s face before she could be fully swayed. She couldn’t help the bubble of laughter that rose after seeing that.

“Don’t fall for that hamster face. She won’t lead you anywhere. Not like Wheein and me.”

“You guys exhaust me.” Moonbyul sat back in her seat arms crossed. Moping.

“You’re just a sore loser.” Wheein pointed out.

The lunch bell rang, and Moonbyul never felt more relieved to hear it. Although, she never realized how short lunch was until today.