We barely beat the bell.

It wasn’t my uniform’s fault though; it was all thanks to airhead Krystal, taking her precious time in the restroom for a reason unknown, while she was supposed to be my guide to class, sadly. I effortlessly shoved her out the bathroom (with a little dash of revenge as I accidentally pushed her into the frame of the doorway), and with fire balls inside the heels of my feet, we raced to the classroom (if you call me dragging her by the collar and repeatedly pushing her in front to show me the way as racing).

Am I magic? I seem to have the ability to step in the room and make everyone go quiet. I bet you could hear a mouse sneeze if Krystal wasn’t panting so loud like she had  just one the 300 meter dash.

A gruff female voice had called for Krystal. Krystal bowed warily, greeted, and said between breaths, “This...is Liu Amber...new student. Woooh.” She wiped the sweat (was she seriously sweating?) from her forehead and pointed to her seat. “I’ll sit down now.”

And you know the weird part? No one’s eyes  followed her to her seat. I mean, come on, a girl panting like a dog isn’t too distracting? Not even a bit?

I glanced at the teacher. According to Krystal’s greeting, her name was Kong- seonsaengnim. She was gray haired and had small indents of wrinkles, but she wasn’t ugly.. Rather on the petite side, she was; I was about half a head taller than her. Then again, I’m kinda tall, I guess...

I greeted her with a bow and a smile.She pushed her sliding glasses up the ridge of her nose with her index finger. “Hmm...Amber Liu. May I ask a question?”

“Yes, I am from China,” I said with pride and confidence. It’s one of those rare questions I’m glad to answer.

“Nono, not that--I want to know what in the world you are wearing?”

The quiet class had finally begun to sound...with harassing laughter. I could feel heat growing down my throat, eating away at my confidence...embarrassment.

Weeell, I guess I saw that coming. I wore my uniform skirt over the jeans. You didn’t actually expect me to wear a short little plaid skirt that revealed my whities whenever the wind was gay--and I watch anime; when the winds blow, the briefs show (oh, you actually thought i wore ? Not since 8.) Within every private school there’s a hot chick that will take a picture of something embarrassing and foreword it to anyone and everyone. I don’t see why protecting my dignity is a problem, much less a funny one.

“Ms. Liu,” she continued. I’ll give you five minutes. Take. Those. Off.”

God! Was it really that serious?! Fed up with the foolishness, I toldit to her straight. “Ma’am, I really don’t feel comfortable in a skirt.”

Giggles, giggles, and more giggles. In between, someone spoke. “Pabo! Don’t you know this is a girls’ academy? Aren’t you a girl?”

Another voice had said, "Hey, she could’ve fooled me!”

The giggles evolved into mild laughter. I looked at the students with a snooty face. Idiots.They had actually thought they had hurt my feelings.

It appeared I wasn’t the only magician in the classroom; with a raise of the teacher’s hand, the class was dead silent once again. Wow. No matter how rude these girls were, they were still trained. If it were my old school, the teacher would wait for us to stop laughing, as if we’d care if he was waiting, then resume teaching. This school is different.

~~

Geography 101 is the most boring class I’ve stayed in without falling asleep. Thirty minutes have passed and I have done nothing. Just sitting there, biting at my nails (that’s what you do when you don’t paint them), and panning the classroom. I could see everyone since I was sitting at the back row, because it was practically empty, two rows behind the freak, thank goodness. Even if they laugh like witches, these girls seemed well brought-up, terrifically mannered, ankle-crossing (I thought I’d be less likely to draw any more attention if I followed the trend.) except in one area a couple of seats diagonal of me. There were four girls sitting together in a square, two in front, two behind. They still kept the dignified posture, but they whispered to each other a lot, chomped on gum, passed notes, and I could see one was even texting.

And then their outfits...they looked like s.

Two of them bleached the hell out of their hair, and the other two had short, short skirts. I bet if they bent down, they’d be giving away some free crack.

But I had spoken too soon; the one in the back had played with the tail of her shirt a little while texting, and a black thong came into view.

Gee. Thanks.

Suddenly, one of them had giggled, and that brought me back to the lesson. It appeared the teacher was gratified by the girl’s effort on the last exam. She was tied for the highest grade. The teacher had asked her to “enlighten” the class by answering a question.

And woah. The words that came from and that giggle that complimented her cuteness afterwards...you could believe she was an angel from above, if she hadn’t dressed like a hussy.  

The teacher sighed a relief-filled one, as if her job depended on her getting the answer right (you could see the hope in her eyes as the girl spoke...ekh). As soon as Kong  turned around, the girl, Luna, apparently, continued snickering to the blonde and the set of girls in front of her. Conniving, isn’t it?

Then soon, it was question time. And I didn’t catch a thing on the lesson. I sit up, suddenly looking like I had paid attention all along (Let’s hope she didn’t catch that). Two people had already answered. So far so good.

“Now, who can answer number three for me?”

Fluttering hands flung up simultaneously, and you should’ve seen how desperate they looked.  Were they serious?

Nevertheless, Kong ignored the hands and called on a familiar looking girl. I recognizer the messy, pig-tailed, pink-ribboned hair. Victoria.
“Now everyone, hush, hush,” Kong goes, “Victoria’s about to speak. Settle down.”

Poor Vicky. She actually needs someone to announce that she’s speaking because of how softly she speaks.

The voices faded to silence....but I still couldn’t here anything. Then I notice, wasn’t moving yet. Her cheeks were swelling with crimson. After a sigh, however, it disappeared.

“The answer is B because by 2050, India will-”

“Seonsaengnim, I can’t hear a word she’s saying,” Luna had said, with her arm in the air.
What a , right? Sure, Vicky was quiet, but I could hear her perfectly. No one else would’ve interrupted, whether they heard her or not, because that would’ve been the lady-like thing to do, am I wrong?

Apparently, I was.

“Victoria, dear, can you please speak up?” Kong pleaded, encouraging Luna’s obnoxious behavior.

Victoria continued in a semi-louder volume, “The answer is B because by 2050, India will be the most-”

“Excuse me, we still can’t hear her,” the blond in front of Luna had chimed. Well, it definitely seems that the pack leader and the wolves of the clique had been identified. If Luna was the leader, then you already know it’s gonna go down, sooner or later.

Soooooo, why not now?

“If you aren’t deaf, you can clearly hear that Vicky is trying to say that India will be the most populated country by 2050, therefore the answer is B. I don’t see why she has to repeat herself.”

Yeah, I said it. Why? ‘Cause I’m a boss and fighting rude with rude to be nice is fun. I like mischief.

The class craned their necks to look at me. I sat there imperviously,  with a sleek smirk dominating my face. I bet you’d do the same if you defended someone, and plus you’d just answered a question without even knowing the question. I felt smart.

“Ahem, Ms. Liu,” Kong said, “if you have yet to notice, we address our fellow classmates with their full first name. Nicknames like ‘Vicky’ are unacceptable. And please, only speak if you are spoken to.”

“But Luna and that other chick responded,” I retorted rather loudly with confidence. Maybe with too much attitude though, but it had already been too late.

She scoffed. “That chick? You obviously haven’t listened to a single word that came out of my mouth, now did you, Josephine?”

...Did she seriously just do that? Did she seriously just call me by my middle name? No one outside my fam calls me that. This ugly old hag isn’t gonna be the exception.

“Excuse me, ma’am, but I go by Amber,” I said rather politely.

“Mmm-hmm, and Sunny goes by Sunny. Treat others the way you would like to be treated.”
“Yes ma’am,” which translates roughly to, “Uh-huh, message received, old bat.”
...But how did she know I didn’t want to be called by my middle name?

After that, she continued to speak and I blanked out again as revenge.

Sooner than I knew, papers were being passed. Words continued to spill from Kong’s mouth but all I managed to pick up were, “...you will all get an F. This will be your project and if you look on the board, these will be your partners.” I hadn’t noticed the names on the board before. Hesitantly, I arose from my chair and paced my way to the front. Before I could even find my name, a firm grasp had crushed my elbow.
“Oppa, we’re PARTNERS!”
Krystal? Partners? OPPA!?
Hell to the F.ck no.
“Kong seongsangnim, Krystal and I can’t be partners!” I said all in one breath, uncaring if my loud voice had startled the class (but it wasn’t dead quiet so I guess not). “We don’t get along.”
“Of course you do.” Luna came over to us from her desk. “Everyone in Seunghyo Blossoming gets along. It’s the way of womanhood.”
Barf.
“Luna is correct,” Kong agreed. “Now find your other partner and get to work.”
“Oh, she mustn’t look any further, I’m right here.”


Ohh, sh.t fawk.

“Well, I guess that was easy,” Kong says, a tiny grin creeping onto her face, as if she had NO EFFIN IDEA she had partnered us together! That’s what I just couldn’t stand.

I could feel my scraggy nails pierce into the flesh of my palm. I unwrapped my fist and examined my hand. The marks  were deep, and I rarely  even have nails.

“Let’s go sit down,” Krystal suggests, her arm locked with mine. Look at her face. It’s like she couldn’t even feel the tension in mine. I shrugged her off. It took most of my energy, but I did it, somehow.
I sat on top of the nearest desk and they followed.
“So...,” Luna began, “you’re the new girl.” She shot me a nasty look, followed by a  smirk.
Feeling challenged, I did the same. “Obviously. Can’t you tell?”
“To be honest, I really couldn’t. When you came in with your skirt, I thought you were a gay.” She flipped her artificially black hair. “Coulda fooled me, like Sunny said.”
Hmmm, so the comments came from her puppies. I shoulda known.
“Better a boy than a nasty a.ss sl.ut,” I replied. “I saw your thong. How do tricks like you get into this high-class school?”
“The same way trannies do.”
Ha! I scoffed. She just called me a tranny. She ADMITTED to her being a sl.ut AND called me a tranny. I felt challenged, so I took one step closer to her. “Excuse me?” I heard her clearly but I felt intimidatingly tall.
However, she wasn’t intimidated. She matched my step and glared into my eyes. “You heard me crystal clear.”
“Yes?” Krystal’s petty self actually thought Luna was referring to her, the dumba.ss. I just wanted to strangle, and I know one day I will wring my hands around both of their necks. Maybe today will be Luna’s day.

“KONG SEUNGSAENG-NIM, I DON’T HAVE A PARTNER.”
Then again, maybe not...I stared out the corner of my eye trying to remember. That voice. That loud, annoying voice that rang in my ears. It sounded familar.
“Ah, really? Well then, you will join Amber’s group,” Kong proclaimed.
“Yay!” Krystal was exhilarated, jumping around like a kid at a candy store.
I step back from Luna and turn around to find the voice--
“HELLLOOOOO!”
We were basically nose to nose. She was on tip toe, vigorously waving her hand in front of my face. I remembered those big round eyes, those plump pink lips...Not that I’m gay or anything, but they stood out. Because of those, I was able to remember.

Oh no. It was that chick. Loud girl in the bathroom. The one that called me a peeper.
“I’m Sulli!” she introduced. “It’s an honor to meet again!” Sooner than I knew, I could feel my eyes popping out of its sockets, shortness of breath, and cramps all over my upper body. I was being hugged. Brutally.

“YAH, get OFF OF HER, Sulli!” A jealous sounding Krystal attempted to pry the girl from me, but instead, her long nails pierced the inner of my arms. And I STILL CAN’T
BREATHE.
My vision slowly blurrs and all I can hear are ramblings between Krystal and this Sulli girl.

Oh, God, please help me. My life is in the hands of these idiots. Literally.


Through distorted voices, I could make out Luna’s voice. “You guys are so gay.”
Gay...The word echoed inside my head until all to be heard was an earthshaking crash.

A/N: Ruki here....yeaaaahhh, I feel awful.

We hope this satisfies...at least a little bit. School is gettng hard for us, and things are compiling onto another, and I have to finish this novel before December! Nevertheless, we shan't give in.

On a lighter note, my grades are better, which is why we updated! Stay tuned!!!