Sunday, January 25, 1903

I think I should start to say hi to my diary. It’s fun to figure on anything, to share my feelings or my daily activities through this.

Hi, diary. Or maybe, dear diary, dad has bought me a new diary when he was off to Pennsylvania! I’m very happy because I really want to have one but don’t have enough money to afford it.

Tomorrow is going to be my first ever day to school after been homeschooling for quite while. Yeah, I will meet new people and get new friends. But there’s a thing that I’m still doubting about. Since I’m a half Korean I just afraid that my classmates will slowly avoiding me. I wish it wouldn’t happen.

So, that’s all I can tell. Good night.

“Mommy, wait for me,” a little girl shouted as she carefully ran through the pavement – which had been covered with snow – to her mom. The thickness of the snow definitely made it difficult for her to run a bit hurry and had to keep her balance to not fall down. Northwestern had been snowing hard these past few days. A slight thundersnow hit New York and some surrounding states last night, kicking down the temperature to nearly zero. Nevertheless, frown wasn’t printed on her oriental face. Her apple cheeks reddened as the result of her body to straighten up the heat.

“You’re walking like a snail, don’t you?”

“Blame it on the snow. It’s sooo thick!” she excused as she tread her left foot on the snowy pavement. Her soft pink lips formed a big ‘O’ when she said ‘so’.

“Alright, but we have to hurry, Jessica-ah. The class is about to start within ten minutes. I even haven’t take you to the principal office,” her mom suddenly panicked when she realized that she had to take Jessica, her daughter, first to the principal to get her academic things.

St. John Elementary was actually just a few blocks away from their apartment. It was a newly-built public school but became popular in such a short time for its good educational system and had already known widely. Mrs. Han, Jessica’s mom, knew it from her neighbor. Agreed with her friend’s statement, she finally decided to transfer her from homeschooling – she had been homeschooled for five years; normally she was already a fifth grader then –  to the said school.

Once they arrived there, a huge three-storied building built magnificently among the old buildings around caught on their vision. It was designed in a classic Romanian style with some  Spanish accents, a bit different from the other buildings. The school had a front side mini forest with many trees and the leaves had already withered.

Jessica was holding her mom’s hand. Her gaze travelled to every inches of the building as if she were entering a new dimension. It aroused her excitment a lot. She couldn’t resist it when her lips began to form a wide smile, showing off her dimples.

“Good morning. You must be Mrs. Han,” an old woman suddenly greeted both of them warmly.

“Yes, and you are?” Mrs. Han raised her eyebrows as she shook the other woman’s hand.

“I’m Mrs. Claire, the principal.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t know if you’re the principal,” she apologized while bowing several times to the elder woman.

“It’s not a big deal, Mrs. Han,” Mrs. Claire replied, giggled at how eastern cultured the woman who was standing in front of her was. She looked at Jessica and immediately lowered her body. “Hello, Jessica.”

Jessica widened her eyes and groggily hid behind her mom. “Mommy, who’s she?”

Her mom didn’t answer her and apologized the principal. “I’m sorry Mrs. Claire. Jessica isn’t used to study in a public school. She’s been homeschooled, and a kind of silly. But I’m sure she will get used to it quickly.”

“It’s ok, Mrs. Han. I even can help her to adapt herself in her new school.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Claire.” She then moved Jessica away from hiding. “Introduce yourself, sweetie. She’s Mrs. Claire, the principal of the school.”

She then hesitantly gave her milky hand, while the other hand was still gripping her mom’s hand tightly. “I’m Je-Jessica Jung. Nice to m-meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, Jessica,” Mrs. Claire smiled at her while patted her head gently. “You’re such a pretty girl. I’m sure boys would turn their gaze to you.”

Her cheeks reddened at how Mrs. Claire said about boys. She had never think about boys before. She spent most of her time by studying besides her daily homeschooling, so it was nearly impossible for her to ever think about the opposite .

However, she smiled at how kind and warm person Mrs. Claire was.

“So, let’s go to my room. I will give you the academic things.”

Sorry for the short starter, but I promise that the upcoming chapters will be longer!

I will always put the italic-ed paragraphs as the diary.

Thanks for those who subscribe :D