The first day of school began with a gift from Appa to son.

On the marble steps of their French style mansion, Leeteuk received the keys to his first car, a black Ferrari convertible.

“Ooooh baby,” Leeteuk cooed, petting the car’s shiny hood.  “Where have you been all my life?”

“She’s all yours to use for the senior year,” said his proud father.  “Just make sure you don’t rub it in the other student’s faces.  Too many complaints from parents will mean that I will have to deal with the Principal again.”

“No problems, Abeoji.  I will get the chauffeur to drive it for me so that he can take it home during the day.”

Appa looked puzzled.  “The chauffeur?  Why would you want to do that?  You got your licence over the holidays, right?  I thought you’d want to drive it yourself?”

“Er, right.”  Leeteuk blushed as he lied.  He was too ashamed to tell his father that he’d failed his driving test five times, and had never actually managed to get his licence.  “I just thought having the chauffeur drive would be more responsible.”

His father beamed.  “That’s my Leeteuk!  Always so responsible!  Don’t worry.  I can trust you to drive this car safely.  So enjoy!”

Leeteuk forced a smile on his face.  After so many years of being the troublemaker at school, his Appa was still blind to all of his faults.  “Great.  Thanks Abeoji.  I guess I’ll be going...now?”

“Yes, go!”  His father gestured to the car.  “I want to see you drive off.”

“Oh.  That’s soooo great,” he said weakly, wondering how he was going to get out of actually driving the car to school.  He took a deep breath and adjusted his crisp white business shirt and tartan vest before climbing into the convertible.  The familiar wave of panic washed over him as he started up the car’s engine.

“You can do this, Teuk,” he whispered to himself, putting on his black-rimmed specs.  “You can do this-you can do this.”

The car began to toddle down to the large security gates at the bottom of the driveway.

“So far, so good,” he muttered to himself as the gates opened.  In the rear view mirror, he could see his Appa waving at him with a huge smile on his face.  “I just have to make it to the road below, and then I can call someone to drive me to school.”

The car moved a little faster as it descended the last of the driveway.

“Don’t panic, Teuk.  Just don’t panic.  You’re not going to crash the car.  The car is your friend.”

The car gained momentum.  The gates closed behind him, and with a small bump, the car’s front tires hit the road.  He looked around to make sure that his father could no longer see him, and then he slammed on the brakes.

“Phew!”  Leeteuk sat back in the car and wiped the sweat off his forehead.  “That was close.  Now which er should I ring to drive me to school?”

He pulled out his phone and flipped through the names of the kids he bullied at school.  He stopped on one number. It was a ‘fat’ kid that lived two mansions down the road.  The roundling’s father was only new money, so Leeteuk made a point of tormenting him every chance he could.  There was a hierarchy to maintain at school, after all.

A cruel smile appeared on his face as he dialled the kid’s number.

“Ya!  New Money!" Leeteuk shouted when the call connected.  “Get your wide over to my place and drive me to school.”

“Y-yes Park Leeteuk.  Right away.”

“I’m giving you five minutes to get here, fatty!  Hustle!”

Ten minutes later, Leeteuk heard footsteps approaching.

“About time, New Money!” he said, getting out of the car.

“Oh mai Gawd!  I am so not new money,” said a loud voice.  “My family tree goes way further back than yours does.”

Leeteuk’s eyebrows went up.  Kim Taeyeon was standing in front of him, giving him that fiery look that always spelled trouble.  She was dressed in a blouse, tailored shorts and heels which showed off her legs.  Her long hair was flipping out at the edges, making her seem more innocent than she really was.

She was inspecting his car with an appreciative eye.  One finger was running from the car’s rear spoiler to the driver’s front door.

“Wow!  This is a nice ride.  Is it from your Appa?” she asked, batting her eyes at him.

Leeteuk gritted his teeth.  “What are you doing here?  I called New Money.”

“New Money was busy.  He sent me to drive you instead.  Aren’t you happy that your enemy has to taxi you to school?”

“Touch the wheel of this car and you’re dead.”

Taeyeon pouted.  “But who is going to drive you?  All your usual ‘slaves’ have asked me to take over for them this morning.  You see, it’s the first day of school, and everyone is very busy, especially me.  So if you don’t let me drive you right now, I might just have to march inside and tell your Abeoji the exact number of times you flunked your driving test.  Four, no five, wasn’t it?”

Leeteuk frowned.  He didn’t know how she had found out, but he didn’t doubt that she’d go straight to his father about it.  Taeyeon got along well with his Abeoji because the innocent elder thought that she and Leeteuk were best friends.

“Okay,” Leeteuk relented.  “I’ll let you drive, but if you put a single dent in this car, or if you ever tell my father what you know, then I’m taking it out on New Money at lunch time, and then I’ll be taking it out on you.”

“In all the years I’ve known you, I’ve never once told your father what a scumbag you are,” she held out her hand.  “And I swear there will not be a single dent in this car by the time we arrive at school.   Now can I have the keys?”

Leeteuk hesitated, and then threw them over to her.

She caught them deftly and threw him a saucy smile.  “Don’t worry, I’m an excellent driver.  Get in, Mr Taxi.”

“IDONWANNADIEEEEE!” screamed Leeteuk as they flew in the air for three seconds before the car landed back on the tar road with a bang!  His head hit the canvas ceiling from the aftershock.

Taeyeon’s eyes sparkled as they reached a sharp corner.  “This car is amazing.  Watch this!”

She slammed her foot down on the accelerator, and just as they reached the corner, she lifted the park-brake as high as it would go, sending the car spinning three-hundred and sixty degrees.   Dirt was stirred up in tornadoes around the wheels. The car screamed as if in pain.

Leeteuk felt his shoulder slam into the car door as Taeyeon brought the spinning to a halt, and then watched in fear as she aimed the vehicle at the school’s driveway.

“Can you feel the power of that engine!” she shouted as the car accelerated.  “This is so hot!”

Leeteuk gasped when he saw her turn the car towards the school’s pristine lawn.  “Don’t do it.  I’ll make you regret it.  Don’t-do-it!”

Her eyes were sparkling with excitement.  “We can’t use the school’s driveway.  There are loose rocks on it.  The new paint will get damaged.”

“I said no, Taeyeon!”

Their gazes locked for a split second.

“Too late!” she answered.

With a bump and a creak, the car was trekking its way over the hills of green lawn.   Leeteuk felt sick as the walls of the school drew closer and closer as if it was going to crush him.

Twenty metres from the shrubbery that lined the car park, Taeyeon used the foot brake to bring them to a skidding-halt.  The car’s nose halted inches from the foliage, throwing Leeteuk forward into his seatbelt, and giving him mild whiplash.

“What a great car.”  Taeyeon patted the steering wheel.  “You’re lucky.  I totally want one.”

Leeteuk gave her an angry look.

“What?”   She undid her seatbelt and flipped her hair over her shoulder.  “There’s not a single dent in it, just like we agreed.”

“There will be a price,” he said coldly, pulling his seatbelt off and rubbing his bruised chest.  “I hope you have eyes on the back of your head today, because you’ll be getting a lesson you’ll never forget.”

Her expression grew as cold as his.  “So what’s new?  At least you’ll think twice before you call up New Money or any of the other students to drive you to school again.  Have a nice day.”

“Thanks, but if I were you, I’d worry about your day.”

After getting out, Taeyeon slammed the door so hard that the canvas roof shivered.

Leeteuk winced and then doubled over in his seat to throw up all over the car's interior.

The upholstery was ruined, and it was all her fault.

She was dead.