All I could hear were my steps. Running, Racing, Stumbling over roots that appeared almost out of nowhere.
My heart hammered in my chest and terror griped me; made me sweat despite the windy air.
I stumbled and fell.
My breathing quickened and I tried to stand. But the roots seemed to come alive and wrapped around me.
Holding me to the earth.
Shadows fell over me and my hair fell into my eyes as I tried to look up at the two people in front of me.
Everything was silent.
One of the shadows bent and grabbed a fistful of my hair, pulling my head up with it.
Pain seared through my head as the roots tightened around my body.
Then, I was looking straight into the eyes and menacing smile of my father.
 

              I woke up in cold sweat just as the word ‘No’ escaped my lips. My hand absently my scalp as a result from the dream-induced hair pulling, and I took a few breaths to calm myself down. I climbed out of bed as quietly as possible so Lilly wouldn’t be awakened. The sun looked to be just coming up and I looked over at the clock on the nightstand. It was 6:38am and I didn't have to be awake until about 8am.
              I looked at Lily in her light pink sweatpants and matching tank top; she looked like a disoriented fairy with her auburn hair spread out everywhere.

              Lilly Kirkland, my best friend for a few years now. She’s younger than me by a year but we managed to talk the school advisors into letting us share a dorm. Lilly’s not Korean even though she speaks it fluently. Her father, Arthur Kirkland, is British. And her mother, Kiku Honda, is Japanese. A British Japanese girl that speaks both languages, including Korean, fluently. The ultimate combination in some people’s eyes. And they’re right. Lilly’s crazy smart. It scares me how she can read one little details in a book and remember it almost four years later. But that’s photographic memory for you.
              Lilly’s a cute girl. The shortest in our year though, the one thing that Lilly hates about herself. Other than that fact, she has no problems with how she looks. Lilly has straight auburn hair that she dyed to that color. Her hair falls just a bit below her shoulders and she has bangs that lightly brushes her eyes. She wears these glasses that kinda looks like those 3-D glasses with the lens popped out. But they’re prescribed. Trust me, I tried them on once and couldn’t see anything. The girl has really bad vision.

              I laughed into my hand softly at the thought of Lilly being a fairy and got up to retrieve my iPod that was on my computer desk. As I was tiptoeing across the room, I stubbed my toe and tripped forward. As a result, I ended up tumbling to the floor, making a racket. I sat up and Lily was standing in front of me rubbing her eyes to get the sleep out of her eyes.

              "Unnie, are you okay?" Lilly asked as she tilted her head to the side in confusion. How on earth does she remain to be so . . . maknae-ish for lack of better word, so early in the morning?

              "Yeah Lily, I'm fine. Sorry I woke you up." I replied, apologizing for waking her from her slumber. Lilly let out a yawn cutely and walked back to her bed, stopping in front of it.

              "It's okay!" She chirped happily and began straightening out her duvet. I stared at her for a few seconds before groaning and complaining.
 

              "How can you be such a morning person?!” I demanded with a hint of teasing. Lilly gave me smile. She looks like a bunny whenever she does that.
 

              "I don't know~” Lilly answered, sticking her tongue out at me at the end. She began to hum as she skipped to the bathroom. I finally stood to grab my iPod, placing it in the stereo. Immediately, I chose the song ‘You and I’ by Boyfriend to wake me up. Dancing around the room and singing along to the song, I began preparing my outfit for the day. I also ignored Lilly’s giggles from the bathroom.

              “Shut it Lilly~!”

              Well, I tried to anyways.

Fast Forward: 1 hour later

              "C'mon Lily! You've been in there forever!" I complained as I banged my fist against the door leading into the bathroom. How on Earth can such a small girl spend one hour in the bathroom?
              It was only 7am but I wanted to grab a milkshake before class began. But I haven't been able to shower because I made the mistake of letting Lily go before me. I finally gave up banging on the door and flopped back on my bed when someone knock on our door. Groaning as I stood back up, I heading over to the door with the full intention of yelling at the person at the other side. Imagine my embarrassment when it was the headmaster.
 

              "Anyong haseyo, Rin." The headmaster greeted with a bow. I blushed in even more embarrassment and bowed as well.
 

              "Anyong haseyo." My Korean sounded like a four-year-old was speaking compared to his, but at least my KSL (Korean Second Language) classes are paying off.
 

              "Rin, I’m sorry to say that I have some bad news." The headmaster switched to English, making me slightly nervous. Our headmaster was known to be very strict in the traditional Korean ways, which explains the preferred dress code. Nothing over-the-top and we must stick to simple clothing. Might as well give us uniforms. "Please come see me when you are decent." The headmaster further explain, bowing once more and leaving the doorway.

Time Skip

              "Yes headmaster, Nomu kamsahamnida . . ." I said, thanking him before shutting the door of my dorm and leaning against it. I just came back from the headmaster’s office, recently learning the bad news he was talking about.
              I felt myself slide down to the floor and wrapped my arms around my knees. I can’t believe this.

              "Unnie? What's wrong?" I picked my head up and rested my chin on my arms, staring at Lilly in her neatly ironed light pink polo shirt and black skinnies. She must have just recently gotten out of the bathroom. “Unnie?” She asked again, shaking me lightly.

              "My scholarship . . ." I began, running my fingers through my hair tiredly. "They're going to suspend my scholarship. If I don’t figure out a way to earn enough money to pay for my classes and this room, they’re going to kick me out of the school . . ." Lily dropped open in surprise.
 

              "Wha- ? No! They can’t do that! Can they?” Lilly asked as she jumped back on her feet. She may be the younger out of the two of us but she’s the one with the fighting spirit. “No way! I won’t let them kick you out Unnie!”

              "Lily, what can we do?” I asked as I sighed and stood on my feet. “It’s not like we can magically bring up millions of dollars. There’s no way.” I ran my hand through my hair again, a bad habit of mine when I’m worried.
 

              "Well, I can always pay for you as well Unnie!” Lilly persisted, a determined look in her eyes. When she gets like this there’s no stopping her.
              I began thinking back to my life in the streets before Lily found me. It was horrible. Granted, I was able to get by but just barely. Day-old bread and stale water were often all I had to eat. I always moved from street to street, each time just lucky enough to find a place to crash. It was just an enormous chance of luck that Lilly found me. Otherwise, I’d still be out there.
              I was shook out of my reverie by Lilly. It was much shaking though, what with her skinny and short arms, but it was enough to bring me back to the present.
 

              "Okay! I can do this! I'll find a way!" I exclaimed, trying to assure Lilly that I’m going to find a way to get out of this situation. She gave me a look of surprise, probably confused as to how fast I bounced back but she brushed it off and gave me a bunny-like smile.
 

              "Do your best Unnie! Fighting!" She exclaimed excitedly with one last shout of encouragement.
              I headed to the shower and dropped my smile as soon as the door closed. Getting on my knees, I began praying for a miracle. Don't get me wrong, I'm not that religious, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Faster than I would like it however, I was in front of the headmaster’s office door.

              "Now or never." I whispered to myself as I steeled myself and opened the door . . .
 

MikinoriRAWR here~ I just wanted to clear one thing up: Bunny here makes up the chapters, I just edit them and post them since she hasn't posted them yet -.- Anyways, leave all thoughts in the comment section be-low~ (Imitating guy from =3 videoes if anyone has ever seen them~)

---Awwww!! it's Bunny now :D.. i feel special :3... but seriously her up there should get as much credit as me cause without her my stories wouldnt be edited :D so...
YAY for MikinoriRAWR!---