Little Miss "Perfect"
By the Book
Get ready for school - 7.00am to 7.30am. Check.
Ticking beside the task, Miyoung slotted the pen back into the compartment of my journal, which was to hold pens. She walked over to her full length mirror in her room and scrutinised every little detail of her overall look. Her auburn hair was neatly tied up into a pony tail, uniform was nicely worn on and make-up done perfectly. Not too much, yet not too little.
Just as she wanted to walk away, something caught her eyes.
A little thread sticking out from her uniform blouse.
Anxiety rose in her as she quickly scrambled over to her drawer and took out a scissors. Carefully, she snipped off the little excess thread and expertly flung it into the rubbish bin. Putting her scissors back, she went over to the mirror once again and did her overall check once more. She did not allow any imperfections on her, at all.
Confirmed that there was nothing more to be corrected, she nodded a little and walked over to her little brother's room. Opening the door, she called out to him.
"Jinyoung, are you ready?"
"Yes, sister!" Miyoung's little brother swiftly picked up his school bag that was turning black when it was suppose to be white.
Miyoung held the door out for him as he speed walked out. Closing the door once he was out, Miyoung walked into the living room, that was cleaned up well thanks to her. She looked around and scowled when her eyes landed on the woman laying sprawled all over the sofa couch.
The woman's mouth hung wide open, snoring as loud as a bulldozer. Her brown hair dishevelled, make-up smudged and clothes as skimpy as ever.
And of course, as usual, she reeked of alcohol.
Miyoung sneered in disgust as she grumbled to herself, "A mother like her. How wonderful."
Miyoung walked out from her house, with eleven-year-old Jinyoung trailing behind her. After locking the door, she stuck out her hand to let Jinyoung grab it. Hand in hand, they walked to Jinyoung's primary school.
"Be good, alright?" Miyoung advised as she adjusted her little brother's uniform.
"Okay!" Jinyoung grinned in response.
Miyoung smiled weakly, "Have fun."
Nodding, Jinyoung waved goodbye to her sister who was standing at his school gate, watching him skip into his school. Once he was gone, she opened her journal which was in her hand the whole time. She slid the pen out and ticked beside the next task.
Fetch Jinyoung to school - 7.30am to 8.ooam.
She checked her watch, exactly 8.00am on the dot.
Placing back her pen and closing her journal, she began walking to her school. Many students of the same school were seen as she was nearing the school.
Girls, with colourful clips on their hair, chatting and giggling about topics such as boys and make-up. Boys, with their ties hung a little loose, bragging about what they had done over the weekends - pumping in the gym, managing to score a date with a girl and so on. Geeks, with their usual tucked in shirts and their pants pulled up high or skirts covering the knee caps for the girls, burying their heads in the books they had probably just borrowed from the library over the weekend. You probably get the idea of the different types of social groups here.
All of them were walking in pairs, threes, fours or even bigger groups.
Miyoung walked alone with her journal and books, which she got from her locker, in hand. She made her way to her classroom and pushed the class door open. The class was half-empty, people had looked up to see who had come in.
"Perfect Miyoung is here," a boy in the back gushed to his friend.
With the 'little miss perfect' façade on, she smiled sweetly and sat at her seat and settled her books down. Pulling out her journal again, she ticked off her next task which was reaching to school. Lesson did not start for another thirty minutes so she made full use of the time to do a little revision.
*
"I'll be handing you guys back your mini test on algebra. There's only one person here who got full marks, which is very disappointing. I expected all of you to get at least a distinction. Algebra is not that hard as long as you put in all your effort in it..." Mrs Briggs, their Algebra teacher, went on and on about how the class should do well and all the usual things, "... And of course, the person who got the perfect score is none other than Miyoung."
The whole class applauded at her achievement.
"She did it again," a girl whispered over to her friend, "Sometimes I really wonder if she's a robot."
Her friend shrugged, "Well, she's not called 'Perfect Miyoung' for nothing."
Everybody watched Miyoung recieved her paper with admiration. She bowed and sat back down, looking over her perfectly-answered paper.
Mrs Briggs continued handing out the papers to the rest of the class as she nagged. Several people groaned as they tried to block out her non-stop irritating voice.
Mrs Briggs was just like that. She was this woman in her thirties who, for some reason, liked teaching Algebra. If you are wondering if she's Caucasian or whatsoever because of her surname, she wasn't. She just married one. Almost every single one of Miyoung's classmates could not stand her, her flowery-patterned clothes and her tiny frameless glasses. Oh, and of course, her nagging.
"So I expect all of you to do more revision on this topic! You'll never know when I might have some pop quiz," she lectured as she pushed up her glasses, "Class dismissed."
The boys literally jumped out of their seats upon that command while the girls started chatting loudly. It was officially the last period of the day and that was when everyone was hyper.
Just as Miyoung wanted to leave the classroom, two boys rushed over to her.
"Wow, Miyoung. Another perfect score? You're really smart. Not to mention nice and pretty as well," he blushed as he complimented her.
"Thanks, that really means a lot," Miyoung chuckled which the two boys' faces flushed even more.
"Y-You're welcome," he stuttered, avoiding eye contact.
"Alright, see you around," she bid them farewell and walked away, leaving the two boys to squeal like fan girls.
Once she stepped out of school, her attitude changed 180 degrees. Her façade was off as the cheerful smile that she always had on in school was replaced with a deadpanned look. She picked up her little brother and walked home.
As she opened the door, she spotted her mother sitting on the sofa, chatting animatedly in a voice that was high pitched than usual. She giggled and laughed frequently in between the conversation which sickened Miyoung so much. Her mother was flirting, alright. Flirting shamelessly with whoever she managed to get last night.
Miyoung went over to the kitchen and poured a glass of water.
Her mother was a lady who looked younger than her age. Much younger. She worked as a bar lady in this shabby club which Miyoung disapproved of greatly. She would often come back late with an untidy look and other times, she would just go out and did God knows what.
Pathetic was the word Miyoung would use to describe her very own mother. No, her mother died five years ago, along with her father.
The woman living with her now was a stranger to her.
Ever since her father had passed away, her mother became a whole new different person. She would come back drunk or be out all night. She did not show love to Miyoung or Jinyoung anymore and just lead her life as a lowly bar lady. The only thing she did now was to provide the siblings a home.
Miyoung gulped down her water and went to wash up her cup.
"Not going to work today?" her mother came into the kitchen.
"No," Miyoung replied, not even bothering to look at her.
"Why not?"
"It's my day off."
Her mother paused awhile and continued, "Alright then. I'll be going out to work. Remember to put din-"
"Are you done? Based on my schedule, I have to do my homework now. I don't want you ruining my schedule," Miyoung snapped.
Her mother stared at her before shaking her head. She grabbed her purse and walked out of her house without saying anything else.
Miyoung sighed as she rubbed her temples.
This was the life of Little Miss "Perfect".
So..... How was it? Do you guys get the story so far? I hope you do. ><;; Please leave some feedback if you can. It will help greatly! Hehe.
x
--peanutbutter
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