Chapter One

Gah, it’s crazy how I am getting first day jitters on my junior year of high school. But I guess my jitters were justified, since it was my first day in a new school. Being the new girl has always been a label that didn’t sit well with me. I was lucky that my Appa and step mom hadn’t insisted on bringing me to school today—that would’ve been extra embarrassing.

“I can do this,” I chanted to myself, “I can do this!”

After quick deep breaths, I turned to peek at my reflection through my pick up’s rear-view mirror: Not perfect, but it’d do. With my long brown locks tugged into a ponytail and a plain, fitted, red tee over my black skinny jeans, I was convinced that I was dressed well enough to blend in. The last thing I wanted was to stick out like a sore thumb.

With a silent wish for a peaceful and uneventful first day, I finally stepped out of my car.

The moment my white sneakers hit the ground, everyone stopped to take a look. A couple of girls raised their brows, while several guys cat-whistled as I passed by.

Great—so much for not being a sore thumb!

“Hey, Stranger,” I stopped at the sound of a familiar voice. Turning sharply, I find Taecyeon smiling widely at me—his short dark hair neatly falling over his eyes, his plaid polo shirt thrown over a plain, white, untucked tee.

All my desire to look inconspicuous was thrown out the window as I broke into a run, jumping into his arms with my legs wrapped around his waist. He chuckled, spinning me in a small circle.

“I missed you, Taec,” I murmured against his neck as I clung to him tight. Noticing that we were garnering unwanted attention from a crowd that was staring at us with mouths agape, I pushed myself off him after giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

“I missed you too, Tiff.” He replied, kissing my hair before automatically flinging an arm over my shoulders as he guided me toward the entrance hall. “It felt like such a long time since I last saw you. It’s been, what—two weeks?”

“Uh-huh,” I nodded in agreement, “I wish Appa and Hyori-Eomma didn’t have to drag me with them for their honeymoon.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were starting school here today?” He asked, hurt that he didn’t know beforehand. “I could’ve saved you the trouble of bringing in that old truck of yours.”

Hugging him in an attempt to appease him, I answered: “It’s one of ze new Eomma’s surprises, I didn’t know until last night too. It was too late to give you a heads up. Besides, I love bring Cordelia around.”

“Aisht, when did I ever mind taking late night phone calls from you?” Taecyeon hissed in frustration, looking back at my car with venomous eyes, “And I swear that old car is going to bail on you one of these days.”

“One of these days,” I agreed with a shrug, “When that happens, you’ll have to come pick me up in the morning and drop me off after school.”

Shrugging too, he gave me a smirk before replying: “Like that’s ever a problem, too.”

Chuckling with him, I allowed him to push me through the maze that was my new school. Entering the crowded halls, we walked toward a group of jocks huddled by the lockers. When we stopped in front of them, I felt the unwanted attention on me once again. The guys looked from me to Taecyeon, prompting me to look from Taecyeon to them.

“Guys, let me introduce to you my most favourite person in the world, Hwang Tiffany.” He announced giddily, “Tiffany, these are my friends: Nichkhun, Junsu, Chansung, Wooyoung and Junho.”

One of the guys, Junho, I think, gave a low cat whistle. Pushing Taecyeon aside, he slung his arm over my shoulders. “Why is it that a girl as hot as you hasn’t appeared on my radar until now?”

“That’s cause my girl is off limits, Bro,” Taecyeon said in a dangerous monotone, tapping Junho’s arm away from my shoulders. “Lay on finger on her and you’re dead.”

I snorted as Junho raised two hands in front of him to signify surrender. It wasn’t the first time Taec has threatened a guy to keep his distance. In fact, I blame him for my lack of a boyfriend at the moment.

“Seriously, Taec,” I sighed, resting my elbows on his shoulder despite the awkward gap in our height. “The protective older brother routine is getting old.”

The boys doubled up in laughter as Taecyeon’s angry face immediately shifted into a lost puppy frown. He was about to protest against my last jibe when slender hands wrapped around his neck—followed by a breathy purr from a shapely brunette.

“I missed you last night, Taecyeon-ie baby,” She breathed, her lips dangerously close to his. “You didn’t call like you promised you would.”

Is this girl for real? I blinked, surprised to find her still there. Taecyeon cleared his throat, looking at me as if to cry for help. “I was... Uh, busy with school stuff, Yoona.” He told the girl, whose hand now drew sensual circles over his chest.

“What stuff could be more important than me?” She whined.

Oh, Okay, that was my cue to leave. As fun as a cringing Taecyeon was to look at, a girl practically ing my best friend in the middle of the corridor was too nauseous for my taste.

“See you around, Taec,” I announced before turning to leave, waving at him and the rest of the boys—I even waved at what’s-her-face. “Got to go get my schedule. You know how it is, first day, new student, and all.”

“Hey wait,” Taecyeon protested, but unable to do anything because of the clingy little thing that was now stomping her feet in front of him to get his attention. Winking at him, I continued to walk away.

I was about a few meters away when I felt an arm drape over my shoulders. With raised eyebrows, I faced the very handsome Nichkhun.

“Seeing as Taecyeon was too busy to be your guide,” He said with a smirk, speaking the whole sentence in English. “I’ll be his replacement. So, tell me, why’d you think Taecyeon forgot to mention that you’re a total hottie?”

“Probably because he never really noticed,” I told him with a shrug.

“Right, I pretend to believe you” Nichkhun answered with a smug shrug as he stirred me through the busy hallway, “Here you go. Wait for you outside.”

It took me a good five minutes before the Registrar was able to produce my class schedule and a laughably huge map of the campus. I emerged from the office to find Taecyeon holding Nichkhun in a chokehold.

“Whoa there,” I giggled, tapping Taecyeon’s muscled arm to convince him to release the poor guy. “You shouldn’t kill my guide. No one’s going to show me around if you do.”

Taecyeon let Nichkhun’s neck go the moment my hand touched his arm, shooting him death glares as he told me: “You don’t need this wipe to guide you. I’ll show you around.”

I chuckled, patting Nichkhun’s back as he gasped in an attempt to catch his breath. Once he was good to go, I started walking toward a random direction and studied my schedule. Nichkhun and Taec both fell into steps on either side of me and started giving me directions to rooms indicated on my schedule.

“This is your first period,” Taecyeon told me, rubbing his palms together as he peeped through the door. “You sure you’re going to be okay?”

“Man, you sound like an anxious mother,” Nichkhun said with laugh. Noting the dangerous look Taecyeon was giving him, he told us he’d get himself to class and winked at me before strutting off. “I’ll see you at lunch, Hottie.”

“You sure will.” I told him, winking back before turning to face a noticeably upset best friend. “Hmm, what could your problem be this time?”

He kept mum, giving me a disappointed frown.

“Oh, I know!” I exclaimed in exaggerated cheer to answer my own question. “You’re upset that I was friendly to your friends!”

“Stephanie Hwang, these boys are a bunch of s.” He lectured sternly, the corners of his lips twitching in controlled anger. “None of them will ever be worth your time.”

“Says the boy who’s known to sleep with anything in a skirt,” I said with a snort.

Taecyeon has earned a reputation of being a ladies’ man. He got every girl he wanted, discarding them like yesterday’s paper as soon as he got bored with them. If there’s a perk of being his best friend that I liked the most, it was that I was never going to be discarded like all those other girls. Best friends are forever, s are just pass times.

“Exactly,” He hissed through gritted teeth, “They’re my friends. That should tell you something!”

I shrugged stubbornly, pouting at him in annoyance. “I’m your friend too—you’re best friend to be exact. Does that make me a ?”

“That was not what I meant!” He groaned in frustration as the bell rang.

Define saved by the bell. A minute more and our little altercations would have been a full-blown fight. And I would have hated that. Fighting with Taecyeon didn’t feel right ever since.

“Let’s discuss this when I come over for dinner, okay?” He told me wearily. Kissing the top of my head, he led me through the door. “See you at lunch, Baby.”

I sighed, entering the room of strangers and deadly stares. Wow, what’s their problem?

“They hate you because you’re dating Ok Taecyeon.” A blonde girl whispered to answer my unasked question, causing me to jump in surprise.

“Who said I was dating Taecyeon?” I asked as I took a seat beside her.

“Pretty much everyone,” She replied with a shrug, “Why? Aren’t you really dating him?”

My eyes grew wide and I waved my hands in firm denial. “Of course not, Taec and I are like siblings! People have got to be sick to think that of us.”

“That’s a shame, ‘cause he’s really hot!” She chuckled and offered her hand, “Jessica Jung, by the way.”

“Tiffany Hwang.” I took her hand and shook it, laughing at her honest declaration.

Throughout first period, I learned a lot of things—none of them related to American History, like the course curriculum suggested. I found myself talking to Jessica the whole period, with her filling me in on how the rest of the school really was like—a very cliquey jungle.

I wasn’t so surprised to know that Taecyeon was being worshiped like some kind of god by the female population. He has, after all, been introducing new girls to me once a week. The boy never had a girlfriend, just flings. I’m lucky to have never been part of the pool from which he selects his flavour of the week.

“I guess you’ll fit in nicely,” Jessica said when the class ended, “With Taecyeon by your side, it’s impossible not to be part of the popular bunch. Yoona and the rest of the cheerleaders may even ask you to try out.”

“Ask me to cheer?” I asked with a snort, “Seriously, I’m no cheer material.”

“Good, then we can be friends.” She said with a wink.

And just like that, I have made a new friend.