"But I don't want to go!"

I sounded like a whiny teenager but I did not care. It was one of those times I had a very good reason to act like what I actually hate. Jessica was immune to it, though, and she kept holding up dresses that the two of them brought with them to LA, completely bypassing MY luggage. She said she already knew I did not have one cute enough.

"And why can't I bring Soojung?"

"Because I don't like parties," Krystal said from the bed. She pulled out a light blue dress from the pile Jessica threw on it.

"And I do?"

"Come on," Jessica urged, pushing a light yellow cotton dress to me. "Try that on."

I threw it away. "It's yellow."

The oldest one rolled her eyes at me. "You're just like Soojung." She went back to the pile of clothes and pulled out a peach colored floral chiffon one piece. "This looks better. It's so summer."

I humored her, and it fit perfectly. I liked how the girl in the mirror looked but it did not mean I wanted to go in it. Jessica stood behind me to check it, as well, and she tugged the sleeves down so it showed my shoulder.

"Ya!" I complained.

"Oh my god," Krystal said, getting up from her comfortable position to check me out. "Eonni, it's perfect."

Blood rushed to my cheeks but I refused to give in to these two girls who were making me into a doll. "No."

"Go, or I'll make something up to get Yunho-oppa to come pick you up."

Threats about my big brother got my attention. I put Yunho in enough trouble and I did not want to add more to the inconvenience of having me as a sister so I did everything Jessica wanted me to. At quarter before seven pm, the doorbell rang.

"Why does this feel like sending my own daughter to prom?" Jessica muttered, going down after me to send me off. She opened the door for me. "I'll pick you up at 11PM sharp, okay?"

"Can't you come with me?" I begged, mustering up all the aegyo in my body as I hovered at the porch, delaying the inevitable.

"Generation gap," Jessica said.

"You could pass as my younger sister," I told her. Okay that was going over too much, but no one would care anyway because my cousin was drop dead gorgeous.

"Hi," Mark said, coming up at the steps. "Ready?"

What coincidence was it that Mark's friend who was throwing the party lived in Pasadena, where we were staying. It was the only place I knew in LA, and I felt goosebumps when Jessica said Arcadia was right next to it.

"After you," he told me, gesturing to the car. Someone else was behind the wheel, and a girl was sitting shotgun. Another girl sat on the back and I sat next to her.

"Guys this is..." Mark looked at me questioningly, probably hesitating if I wanted to be called by my real name, which was pretty hard to pronounce.

"Grace," I said, letting him know what my English name was.

"These are my friends," Mark went on as naturally as he could. "That's Nathan, his girlfriend Shawna, and Holly."

"Hi," I said with an awkward smile. I was sitting in the backseat for barely five seconds and I wanted to run back towards my aunt's house.

It turned out that we were going to Mark's friend's friend's house. It was Mark's first time at the place and was practically in the same boat I was. As soon as Nathan parked his car on a street, Holly grabbed Mark and pulled her inside the house, yelling someone else's name whom she probably recognized.

Mark turned his head to me, who was walking behind them and he gave me an apologetic look.

Perfect. He has a girlfriend. I was not really disappointed that much, it was natural that someone as good looking as him would be dating someone as cute and y like Holly, but I was in an unfamiliar place full of unfamiliar places. Thankfully, Nathan's girlfriend, Shawna, turned to me and gestured towards the living room where Mark and Holly had joined a group of Asian kids.

"Hey, hey, hey!" A cheery voice belowed behind me and the guy came and hu