“Mom, where’s my…nevermind!” A female voice rang through the house.

“Dad, can we take the Rolls to school today?” A male voice followed.

“You have your own car; why do you want mine?” The father’s voice answered.

“It’s our first day of school; we have to make an impression on these people!”

There was a pause. “Will you take your brother to school as well?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you can take the Rolls.”

It was a normal morning in the McPherson house – save for the fact that up until recently they had been living in another country. The head of the household, Pádraic McPherson, was a lauded observational astrophysicist. He and his wife, Pearl, moved often, bouncing from university to university, observatory to observatory. Pearl, a fashion designer, wasn’t bothered by the constant moving – in her opinion, drinking in the different cultures made her a better designer.

Their children, on the other hand, were different stories altogether. Their eldest, Peyton, had moved nine times while he was still living at home. Now 26, he had returned to his birthplace of England to set up his own law practice. The middle children, Parker and Piper, had moved five times and bemoaned the fact that they had moved yet again. The twins were both 18 if it were measured by Korean standards - to the rest of the world, they were only 17. Either way, Parker thoroughly enjoyed holding it over his twin sisters’ head that he was older. The youngest was Prosper – the miracle child, as it was thought he’d be stillborn – and at the tender age of 7 had moved to two different countries.

Assisting Mr. and Mrs. McPherson in rearing their rowdy children were the Boyles, affectionately called Nan and Pap by the children. They were responsible for teaching the children the language of their new home, both skilled linguists having once worked as translators for the UN, as well as assisting Mrs. McPherson in taking care of their home. For all their wealth, the McPhersons weren’t ones to bother with maids and various staff to do household tasks they could do themselves. Their children would never learn the value of hard work if they had everything done for them.

The three children made their way down the stairs, each dressed in the uniforms of their prospective schools. They were greeted by their parents and adoptive grandparents at the bottom of the stairs, their mother and Nan both holding cameras and taking multiple pictures.

“My babies’ first day in Korea,” Mrs. McPherson gushed, taking yet another picture.

“I hate uniforms,” Piper muttered, fluffing her carefully curled hair.

Though she wasn’t completely high-maintenance, she had a good amount of self-confidence. Given her vast knowledge that first impressions were everything – especially in a school like the one she was headed to – she and her brother had made sure they were coifed, combed and curled to perfection.

“Seriously, mom,” Parker added. “Why did you send us to a school where we have to wear uniforms?”

“Because all schools have uniforms here,” their father interjected. “Now, if you don’t want to be late for your first day, I suggest you get a move on.”

He tossed the car keys to his eldest son, who caught them with a pleased smile. Piper took her younger brother’s hand in hers as they said goodbye to each of the adults and made their way out to the driveway. The charcoal gray Rolls Royce Phantom sat there, waiting for them to drive it through the streets of Seoul.

Their first stop was Prosper’s elementary school. The four-story building had students and teachers milling around the front area, waiting for school to begin. Piper climbed out of the passenger seat and took Prosper by the hand once again, leading him up to the school while their brother sat in the car, waiting.

“Excuse me,” Piper waved down an older woman, who she suspected to be a teacher. “Are you a teacher here?”

“Yes,” the woman replied, noticeably surprised at the girl who was clearly not Korean speaking the language fluently. “What can I help you with?”

“This is Prosper McPherson, a new student here,” Piper inclined her head towards her younger brother, who had shied behind her. “Would you do me a favor and take him to the office? My older brother and I have to get to our school. I have all the rest of his admission forms here,” Piper held out the manila folder containing the documents.

“Of course,” the woman complied, taking the folder as she held out her hand for Prosper.

“Go with the nice lady, Prop,” Piper nudged, slipping back into English.

Prosper, the shy one, eyes the woman carefully before gingerly slipping his hand into hers. Once Prosper had been transferred from his sister to the teacher, the woman looked back up to Piper, her eyes immediately on the school crest on her blazer.

“You’re going to Jeguk High School?” The woman asked.

“I am,” Piper nodded. “Why?”

“Let’s hope you’re in the first group,” the woman informed her, turning and bringing Prosper to the building.

“Yes, because that makes so much sense without any kind of context,” Piper muttered, watching the woman lead her youngest brother towards the school before making her way back to the car.

The twins drove to their new school, making sure to blast some electronica as they neared the building. It was huge – much larger than their younger brother’s school. There was a drop-off point under an overhang for the chauffeured students to be let off, and a lot for students to park their own cars. It was a good thing Parker had convinced his dad to let them bring the Rolls Royce – the cars of the other students were extremely expensive. Sneers and disdainful glares were sent their way because of the loud music as Parker pulled into an empty spot in the parking lot.

“Are you ready?” He asked, turning to look at his sister.

Piper turned to return the gaze, answering only with an adjustment of her sunglasses and a mischievous smirk.

It was the same story with every new school: make a big fuss the first day, probably insult one or more fellow students and see who fights back. If all went according to their plan, by the time they left each school the fighters had become loyal friends. There were times that things ended up failing, and the twins had found themselves with targets on their backs, but thankfully nothing too severe had happened to them.

The twins sauntered up to the school, entering what they assumed to be the quad. There was a large group of students surrounding three students – two male and one female. The female was dressed in street clothes, and from her expression she was severely uncomfortable.

“Hello!” Piper called loudly, getting everyone’s attention. “Who’s going to show us to the office?”

All heads turned towards the twins. There were various expressions in the crowd. Contempt, confusion, and intrigue to name a few. Parker looked at the crowd and then inclined his head down closer to his sister, lowering his voice.

“Do we really look that different?” He muttered, switching to English so they’d be less likely to be overheard.

“Well, we’re clear foreigners in a country of homogeneous people,” she whispered back. “My guess is they’re probably wondering if we’re leprechauns.”

“Our hair isn’t that red,” Parker rebutted, self-consciously touching his dark auburn locks.

“It’s red enough,” Piper guessed, plastering a derisive smile on her face as she addressed her new schoolmates in their mother tongue. Still no one had come forward to help them – not that the twins had expected them to. “What? Does no one know where the office is in your own school?”

“Aren’t your parents paying for your education at this ridiculously overpriced school,” Parker added, tsking loudly. “What a waste of money.”

Piper turned her attention to the female in the center of the group, finally noticing she was in street clothes.

“Are you new too?” Piper asked her. The girl nodded, causing Piper to grin madly and skip over to the girl and link arms with her. “Great! We can be lost together! My first day and I’ve already made a best friend!”

The girl gave a small, nervous smile, shrinking back slightly but not untangling her arm from Piper’s.

“And she’s shy too,” Piper turned to her brother, slapping a hand over her chest as if to say the girl was melting her heart.

Parker flashed his sister a look that read quite clearly, ‘What the hell are you doing? This isn’t a part of our plan.’ Piper gave a miniscule shrug. Plans changed. It happened from time to time.

A male student finally came up to them, his nametag on his uniform reading Yoon Chan Young. “I’ll show you where it is.”

“Thanks,” Piper grinned, motioning for her brother to follow them.

His reply was a snort and a roll of his eyes and he followed the two girls, who were in turn following Chan Young. Chan Young led them down various walkways, allowing the new students to see the grandeur of the school.

“Wearing regular clothes on your first day,” Piper sighed. “I wish I’d thought of that. Uniforms don’t suit me.”

“Uh, you did think of that,” Parker interjected. “Mom said that if you didn’t wear your uniform you’d wear nothing at all.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right.” Piper leaned in to the girl, lowering her voice to a mock whisper. “And public indecency isn’t the kind of first impression I want to make.”

“The front office is down that way,” Chan Young pointed in the direction they should go. “I have to talk to my friend a moment.”

“Oh,” Piper looked between the two and gave a small shrug. “No problem.”

She untangled her arm from the other girls and began to walk in the direction Chan Young had indicated.

“Piper, where are your manners,” her brother called after her, causing her to turn around and her head to the side in confusion. Parker looked to the two others and gave a small smile. “I’m Parker McPherson, that idiot is my twin sister Piper. You two are?”

“Yoon Chan Young,” the boy introduced himself.

“Cha Eun Sang,” the girl greeted, sending a grateful half smile to Piper.

“By the way,” Chan Young interjected. “I’m not so sure insulting everyone this morning was a good idea.”

“Well, that’s just who we are,” Parker informed him.

“We insult them…” Piper began.

“Then compliment them,” Parker added.

“And confuse them.” Piper grinned.

“If they can handle all that, then they’re good enough to be our friends.” Parker chuckled. “Go have your talk, we’ll see you later.”

The twins began their walk towards the office, leaving Eun Sang and Chan Young to whatever conversations they were having. Once they were out of earshot – irrelevant, because they had switched to speaking English – Parker nudged his sister roughly in the arm and began scolding her.

“What were you doing?” Parker asked indignantly. “I mean, that was way off the plan.”

“But she looked so helpless,” Piper defended. “She was in the proverbial lion’s den back there; what was I supposed to do?”

“But we never act nice on the first day,” he reminded her.

“Well, maybe it’s time we change our M.O.” She argued.

Parker groaned, throwing his head back as he walked alongside his sister. “If we get massacred after this, I’m gonna blame you.”

“If we get massacred after this, you’re going to have to put on your big boy pants and get over it.” Piper fired back, rolling her eyes at her older brother’s immaturity.