Chapter 5:
          A little Trouble

Haley P.O.V

      "I wanna love you all day, wanna love you all night! You got me feeling so hot, oh yeah~ oh yeah~" A smile unconsciously spread across my lips before my eyes could peel open. Once they did, I was greeted by the morning sun sneaking in through the curtained windows. With an escaping yawn, I pulled myself up into a seated position while raising my arms over my head for a morning stretch. Then after, I picked up my phone to turn off my still ringing alarm clock. Teen Top's 'Be Ma Girl' stopped playing, revealing the time of 6:00 AM. Ah, another day has begun~ Usually I'd be a zombie, hitting the snooze button a few hundred times before actually opening my eyes, but Mr. Yong let us go home early from practice last night since it was technically our first school night, so we were all able to have a good night's rest. Well, Indigo and I were able to, Aaron and Asher stayed up half the night playing 'Call of Duty'. Boys will be boys.

      Throwing my covers aside, I swung my legs off the bed and wiggled my feet around before slipping them into my panda slippers. Upon standing up, I gave myself a proper stretching session before making my way towards the window. Whoosh! I pulled the curtains aside and let the sunshine spill in. It was a clear and beautiful day, even the birds were singing to commerate the adventure ahead of us. I stood in front of the window for a bit, simply admiring the clear and peaceful essence surrounding me. "Whoa, you look beautiful even in the morning," A deep, husky, slightly rugged from sleep voice said from behind. Pink rushed up to my cheeks and my heart beat escalated. I could picture his face without even looking at it. His fingers combing through his messy, but perfect looking hair, him resting on his elbow as the blanket slid down to reveal his tight black tank top, his eyes still dazed from sleep, but sparkling while looking at me with a lazy half smirk half smile. Shyly, I turned around to meet his heated gaze-

    Only to find Aaron still very deep in his slumber. Mouth open, arm hanging off the bed, and a loud snore following the rhythm of his rising and falling chest. With wide eyes, I looked away and lightly slapped my cheeks to snap my head out of whatever delusional daydream I just had with a dreamy, knee wobbling, kokoro melting Aaron. What is wrong with me?! Obviously someone spiked the milk I had last night. Shaking my head, I stepped away from the window and headed towards the bathroom. After closing the door behind me, I looked up at the mirror, and slightly cringed at my morning state. "Of course it was a dream, no sane man- awake or asleep- would call this beautiful," I mumbled to myself as I pulled my hair back into a pony and began my face cleansing routine. 

    After checking my breath twice for minty freshness, I made my way towards the walk in closet, locked the door behind (peepers, go find another gal), and changed into the already ironed and crinkle free uniform I put out the night before. Following that, I pulled the pony out of my hair while stepping in front of a full length mirror and properly combed my locks with a brush. Soon enough, I had two neat braids resting on either of my shoulders. To pump me up for the day, I made a peace sign with a wink and blew an air kiss at the mirror, then chuckled and stepped out of the closet. Aaron was missing, but the shower was running in the bathroom meaning he already woke up. I quickly ushered to my bed and straightened the covers and pillows, then grabbed my bag and scurried out of the room.

     "Morning~" Indigo greeted musically before putting a spoonful of cereal into .

     "Good morning!" I replied with a grin, placing my bag on the living room couch before venturing into the kitchen to hunt for le breakfast. "Asher didn't wake up yet?"

    "He did, but I think he left for school early," Indigo answered with a quiet sigh. "Say, which room are you going to be in before lunch? My teacher for that period said she usually ends class a little early, so I'll wait for you outside your classroom so we could walk to lunch together." As she asked, I picked up a banana and peeled it open, then went to my bag to check my schedule.

    "Let's see, I have..." I shuffled through my books, and pulled out my daily planner. Opening the cover, I expected to see a neatly and lightly decorated pastel sheet of paper with classes and room numbers on it, but there was nothing. "Huh?" I flipped through the pages, hung the book upside down, but there was still nothing. I placed the planner back into my bag, then dug through the rest of it's contents to see if the paper may have accidentally slipped out. 

    "What's wrong?" Indigo slid off her chair and came over with a worried expression. 

    "My schedule, it's missing! And right before I memorized my classes and their rooms too! Oh god, I'm going to be so lost without it, where did I put it-" Just then, a flashback of the previous day's dance practice came to my mind. Our choreographer asked me what classes I had, and I showed her my schedule. Then, our singing instructor came in and the choreographer told me she was placing my schedule on top of the piano, since the vocal lesson quickly began and I didn't have time to put the piece of paper away. When the lessons were done, I must've forgotten all about my schedule and merrily left the studio. Darn it!

   "You'll have to go without me to school, I'll meet you in the lunchroom!" I shoved whatever was left of my banana into my mouth and threw my bag over my shoulder, then raced out the door- leaving a confused and concerned Indigo behind. 

    After two blocks of running and five unreasonably slow bus stops, I was able to reach the studio and luckily my schedule was still on top of the piano. God bless the janitor! There was a train station nearby that appeared more promising than the bus, so I quickly hopped on the next train towards St. Rose Academy, or, well, the station three blocks away from it. Unfortunatley, the train was packed and I had to squeeze my way in and stand up the whole ride. At least I had human cushions to keep me from falling. A ding signalled my stop, but since it was so congested inside, the doors closed before I could escape. I had no choice but to get off at the next stop, which happened to be sixteen blocks away from school.

    Long story short, it was 8:30 by the time I reached the school gates, meaning I was ten minutes late to my first class. Oh, and did I mention it started raining? No, oh, well now you know. My clothes were damp and clinging to my skin, my hair was all tugged and wet and abused- thank god I don't wear makeup, or else I could've kissed that goodbye. The gates that were usually wide open with a warm welcome were now shut tight. I tugged on the bars, but they wouldn't budge. It was then I noticed a sign hanging a few feet above of me. Lateness will not be accepted. Isn't that just perfect.

       Just as I was about to give up and trudge back home, I took a good look at the wall barricading the outside world from the academy. It was about twice my height, but with a good run and leap, I just might-

    Before I could give myself a good, loooong list on why this was the stupidest idea in the history of the planet, I threw my bag over the wall (which surprisingly made it over) and backed myself up in preparation to jump. One... Two... Three! I pushed myself off the groud and grabbed onto the top of the wall. Then, swinging myself from side to side, I managed to raise my right foot up high enough to grip onto the top of the wall, then pull myself up on the ledge. Holy shi- Did I just do that? Talk about awesomesauce! Of course, as with every swag action I've attempted, something went wrong. In this case, I lost my balance and toppled down the wall- at least I fell inside the barrier and not back out. However, my petite little body made a lovely encouter with a bush, right next to my bag. "Owwiee..." I groaned in pain as fat droplets from the pouring rain splattered on my face. Remembering I had a class to attend, I shot to my feet and picked up my bag, then raced towards the building.

     Seeing that lateness is a no-no around here, going through the main entrance where the principal's office was didn't seem like such a bright idea. Well, at this point, anything I was doing was wayyy off the limits of sanity. I passed by a classroom window, and saw a bright green board with a familiar title and name written on it. "ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENGLISH LITERATURE- MS. JUNG" Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember seeing those same words on my schedule when I glazed through it before leaving the studio just now. My mind was only able to process that this was my class, any sane thought after that was pushed aside. One of the windows were open, and as I did with the wall, I threw my bag in and hurled myself through the open crack without a second thought.

      "MADE IT!" I announced successfully before I could hold my tongue. I stood up on the nice, dry, wooden floorboards with my back to the class, and picked up my bag with a triumph smile. Then, I my heel only to have twenty something judging eyes piercing into my soul- one of them being a middle aged woman with a business suit on and a ruler in her hand. Gulp.

   "And who may you be?" She asked with a slight accent to her English, showing her Korean origins.

   I immediatley bowed a full 90 degrees before answering, "A-Annyeonghaseyo, H-Haley K-Kazi im-n-nida!"

   "Oh, I called your name during roll call but you never answered." She gave me a once over, and I held my breath. "Well, seeing as you made an effort to attend the class, I'll let you off this once. But remember, lateness is not tolerated in St. Rose Academy, and you will be punished severly if you are tardy again."

  "Yes m'am!" I answered with a quiet sigh of relief.

  "Now take a seat, we have a lot to cover." I bowed my head before quickly finding an empty seat near the back of the room. As quietly as I could manage, I pulled out a notebook and pen, then wrote down the words I soon found written on the board. Heavy stares came from all sides of the room, making me feel all exposed and insecure. Well, I probably looked like a mess, but did everyone have to look? Pay attention to the lesson, people! I squirmed in my seat, trying my very best to ignore the stares.  Another teacher came in to ask Ms. Jung something, and the two stepped out a bit- allowing the rest of the class a moment to breathe. I didn't dare look up, afraid of whose harsh gaze I'll meet.

   "Talk about making an entrance, that was pretty cool," A silky smooth voice said from my right. I slowly turned my head to see a guy with caramel brown hair and the deepest, dark brown eyes shining a friendly grin in my direction. I took a quick scan around to see if he was really talking to me, and it appeared he was since there was no one else.

    "Are you being sarcastic?" I squeaked unintentionally, afraid if I spoke in anything above a whisper, some faculty member would drag me by ear and throw me into detention. Don't ask, that's just how I am.

   He chuckled, and I swear it sounded like he practiced hard to make it sound so charming and melodious. "No, I'm not." He reached his hand over, and I reflexivley moved back a bit not knowing what he was doing. His finger pinched my hair, and then he pulled back with a leaf in his hand. "Leaf in your hair. My name is Min HaJoon but you can call me Mike. It's my stage name."

   "Oh, thanks. It's nice to meet you. I'm Haley," I replied with a small smile. From the corner of my eye, I saw some students giving us hard looks, causing me to involuntarily cringe. I hated making bad first impressions, and today may have been my worst.

    Mike leaned over closer and whispered,  "Hey, don't worry these guys. They're just acting like that because you're new. Give it a day or two, and they won't even notice you. Hey did I meet you yesterday?" He flashed an award winning smile.

    "Thanks, that's really reassuring, and I believe so." I gave a shaky chuckle in response. The teacher re-ented the classroom,  so we resumed the lesson.

    After twenty more minutes, the bell finally rang- phew. As students were exiting the class, a fairly tall but overly pretty girl rushed in with crimson cheeks, talking to Ms. Jung while she appeared to be cathcing her breath. I saw Ms. Jung nod and relief washed over the girl's expression. As Mike and I were getting our bags ready, the girl then approached us. Mike looked up and shot her a friendly smile, "Meeting ran late again?"

   "You have no idea! I thought we were going to end so I could at least have ten minutes of class, but then they started talking adding laptops to some classroom- I thought it would never end!" Both shared a laugh, then Mike looked at me standing awkwardly to the side.

   "Oh yeah! Joo-Kyung, this is Haley- our new classmate! And Haley, this is Joo-kyung, a good friend of mine!" He introduced. I shyly waved with a polite hi, and her lips pulled up into a bright, enthusiastic smile.

   "Hey Haley, it's a pleasure to meet you! I'm Joo-Kyung, and I'm also the vice president of Student Council- so feel free to come to me for anything you need! Did you just transfer here from another school?"

   "Nice meeting you too, Joo-Kyung. I just came from New York, so this is my first time attending school in Korea. I hope we can become good friends!" I replied with a glimmer of hope in my heart.To have already made friends on my first day, oh the joy!

  "Ohh~ And of course! Really really good friends! Say, what class do you have next?" She asked with a curious tilt of her head. I pulled out my schedule- keeping my eye on it this time- and handed it to her. Mike peeked over her shoulder as she squealed. "We have all the same classes!"

     "Oh, same here," Mike added with a nod of approval. 

     "Let's go before we're late to math!" Joo-Kyung hopped over to my side and we linked arms, then the three of us headed over to our next class. And you know what, the sky looked like a lot less cloudy. 

          When lunch arrived, Joo-Kyung and Mike brought the newbie me to the lunchroom and I immediatley scanned the area for Indigo. We exchanged brief introductions, then all sat on an empty table and talked as if we were friends for years. Apparently, Mike and Joo-Kyung were trainees too- in fact, majority of the students that attended this school were. As we conversed, I peeked to my right to a slightly more crowded part of the lunch room, only to see Aaron and Asher in the center of the mob. As if they were already celebrities, girls waited on their hand and feet, giggling and twirling their hair as they begged for their attention. With a scoff, I looked away. Leave it to them to be popular in no time, looks like some things never change. 

      "Haley unnie, did you arrive to school on time?" Indigo asked with concern, pulling me back to our group. In my remembrance of my livid morning, my eyes sharpened to a glare. She got the message and quickly changed the topic, "Unnie, did you enjoy all your classes?"

        My expression softened and I replied excitedly, "Yeah, they're very insightful and I look forward for what they have in store for me!" 

        Suddenly, some banging and screams as well as howling laughter came from our left, causing all activity to stop. Mike, Indigo's friend Jason, and Joo-kyung immediately looked down- leaving Indigo and I confused. We saw a group of girls with unreasonably short skirts and quite provacative shirts, but before I could properly see or understand what was going on, Mike pulled my head down and whispered, "Don't look! Those are the bullies of our school- they don't really care about your status or anything like that. They'll pick on you if you make eye contact, and will bully anyone and everyone, especially if you get on their blacklist. Everyone's scared of them and does their best to steer clear."

          My eyebrows pulled together, trying to get a hold of what was going on, "How come everyone is so scared of them?"

          He replied, "It's all about power. Their parents are famous lawyers that never lost a case, meaning no one can complain to the principal or else he'll have to face their mommy's and daddy's wrath. They weren't always like that, though. About a year or two ago, they went on some national music competition show, but were booed because of their lack of talent. Now it's their life's goal to bring hell to anyone who does have talent are going to become celebrities."

         How unfair! It's sad and all about what happened to them, but that doesn't mean others have to suffer! I  felt that it was unfair that they could do what they want to do, and bring the whole school in fear. As a pure blood American, justice surged through my veins and I stood up with undefiable purpose. It's time to take a stand! 

     All eyes were pinned on me in less than a second- making me regret my descision already. The mean girls looked up from the kid they were pestering and distaste crossed their faces. They began to strut their way over, and of the them- most likey the leader- stepped up and looked down at me. Curse my short height- but I looked back up with vigor. She crossed her arms over her half-exposed chest, and smirked. "Are you new here? You should know your place, foreign ."

      Indigo stood up behind me and exclaimed, "Hey, no need to throw your tongue in the gutter." The leader just laughed sinisterly, then grabbed Mike and Jason's trays and threw it's content on us. Our jaws dropped as she threw the now empty trays aside, wiping her hands with a victorious smirk. Laughter erupted from the entire cafeteria, along with some pointing fingers and camera snaps.

        Just then, Mr. Yong stepped into the lunchroom and rushed over the the scene. Angrily, he scolded, "What's going on here?! Is there no such thing as respect for your peers?" He looked from Indigo and I, not even sparing a look at Miss Potty Mouth Meanie. Really, him too?! I wanted to smack the smirks off their caked little faces. "Instead of standing here and giving you the earful you all deserve, I expect to see you after school helping the janitor clean the schools. Want to make a mess? Then clean up! Now follow me into the principal's office right this instance- you can explain to him what was going on here." He looked around the rest of the lunchroom and yelled, "Put your phones away before we consfiscate them all!" Everyone did as told, and he began making his way out- us following behind. I passed by a window as we exited- it was raining again. 

Aaron P.O.V

      I helplessly watched Haley and Indigo leave with their heads hung low. I swear, I never felt so useless- if only I looked at Haley at the right time, I could've saved her. But that doesn't mean we can't do something now. Asher and I stood up and went towards the girls that threw food at our housemates. Aside from laughing at their mock victory, they were acting as if nothing had happened. I tapped the leader's shoulder, and she just turned around and looked at me, her lips curling into a snake like smile. In a voice nonexistent from the one she had five minutes ago, a soft, overly sugarcoated one, she asked, "Oh! What brings you here?" She had to be kidding me, is she actually trying to be nice?

      My face hardened and I answered, "Don't do that again to Haley or else you'll get on my bad side.

      She giggled and said , "That's going to be hard since I don't know a Haley. Oh! Could it be that foreigner? What's she to you?" Her venomous smile grew larger.

      "A friend." I stated clearly. She stood up and leaned forward, whispering, "Friendship don't always last forever. Why don't you ditch that girl and come hang out with us once in a while. Who knows, you might be protective over me some day- I wouldn't mind a bodyguard like you." My eyes narrowed down at her, but the bell rung and everyone hurried to class. She threw a wink before snapping her fingers and strutting away with her herd. Is she serious? She has some nerve to come up strong.

          After school came faster than I thought. I contemplated waiting for the girls, but then I recieved a text from Mr. Yong- reminding me to practice if I have free time. So that's what I did. Soon, I was in the studio with a drumset in front of me. In all honesty, the drums where challenging, but not as hard as I imagined. The teacher told me that I'm a natural when I first tried my hand at the drums, but I think it's his job to say that to me. This whole music business is all new to me. I'm more of a rocker kind of guy, but kpop seems to be interesting. I remembered my first encounter with kpop- I was scarolling through my Facebook and saw some video Indigo posted. SHINee, was it? Who knew it would affect my whole life.

        I picked up the drumsticks and sat on the seat, then began tapping the drums with my mind slipping away. This is a new beginning, a chance to restart my life. I must say I wasn't the best person to be around, I'm not bad- just not the best. Especially after my uncle died, influences swayed me from left to right. Friends became foes, and the line between real and fake became blurry. God, I remember the major headache and fever that came after my cousin offered me 'soda'- later on, I found out it was alcohol. I somehow started doing weed also, and showing up to school high and drunk. What was wrong with me? Even in such a state, I remembered seeing disappointed looks from Haley, and soon none at all.

         My parents had enough of my horrible acts, and almost kicked me out of the house. That hit me like a bucket of ice cold water, and I did my best to reform myself. But it got harder everyday- until I was offered to come to Korea. To be a better person, to live a better life- that was my goal when I came here! And yet... And yet I'm still a pretty rotten friend. Haley's face flashed before my eyes, causing a loud pang in my chest. The scene of today's mac n' cheese and chocolate milk pouring over Haley replayed in my head, and I winced. Then I saw the same disappointed look she gave me bafore. "'Friendship doesn't always last forever...' What's her face's words echoed in my ear, and I didn't realize how hard I was playing the drums until one of my sticks snapped in half. I pulled out of my thoughts, then stood up and threw the drumsticks aside while picking up my bag.

           The moon was already high in the sky by the time I left the studio, and everything was quiet- too quiet. Most of the stores were closed and not that many people were out- which was rare for the overpopulating Korea. I pulled my phone out- three missed calls and five text messages. Not to mention it was midnight! This was the longest I've stayed out without touching a bottle or cigarette. I checked the missed calls, seeing it was from 'Home', or the house where Asher, Haley, Indigo and I lived in, and missed calls from Indigo and Asher. And the text messages were from... Haley? 

       'Oi! Where are you? Asher's asking, don't get any ideas >u<'

      'It's getting dark out! Are you busy? Should I call Mr. Yong to pick you up?'

      'We're getting dinner ready! You better have your homework done! Hurry, before we eat it all up!' 

      'Seriously, are you okay? We're getting worried you know!'

      'Please don't get in trouble.'  

        She was worried about me. I don't know why, but a smile plastered itself on my lips, and I sped up my pace- up until I was practically running. When I got home, I saw that the whole house was dark, except for the kitchen. As quietly as I could, I tiptoed into the kitchen only to see Haley sitting beside the coutertop while writing something in her notebook. My sneaker squeaked on the tile, and she looked up with a slightly frightened look. Then her expression softened to relief, but flared up with anger. She slid off the stool with a ruler in her hand, then stormed towards me and smacked my arm with the ruler.

       "Do you know what time is it? It's no time for boys to be out, you should have came home right after pratice! Don't you have a quiz tomorrow?! Where were you, exactly?!"

     Seeing her concerned expression, her shining eyes looking up at me, and her slightly puffed cheeks to show her anger, something warm and overwhelming came over me. My body acted on it's own, and I pulled her small body into my arms and held her tightly. I rested my chin on her shoulder and whispered, "Thanks for being there for me." Then, I let her go and announced, "Now time to eat food!" Her face was red and shocked, which was pretty adorable. She looked down and cleared before saying, "We ate without you. Your food's in the microwave, so heat it up- it's cold." She avoided my eyes as she turned around and scurried up the steps, tripping on a few steps as she went. I shook my head with a chuckle, then headed over to the microwave and pressed 'start'. My eyes wandered to the coutertop, seeing the notebook Haley abadoned. I picked it up only to find a sticky note pasted on the cover.

      'You have a quiz for English tomorrow, right? Well, since only God knows what you were doing- probably not studying- I made a little study guide for you. I re-wrote some notes Indigo let me borrow from your class, along with some pointers and tips. Don't fail! Make sure you read it over before you sleep!' 

   I flipped through the notebook, seeing neatly written notes with examples, advice, words of encouragement, and even a few doodles here and there. The microwave beeped, and I pulled out the plate and continued reading while I ate. My eyes couldn't help but look at the stairs, a smile never leaving my face. Haley... She's always been there, hasn't she? It's now my turn to be there for her.  

'I will be a better person, for me and for her.'