“Really?! From San Francisco? My friend Tiffany is from there too!”

It was the end of the school day, and she was waiting on Seungri, who had promised to take her to an ice cream shop that she had heard was good. Jessica found herself sitting between four girls that Seungri had introduced her to. Although they were talking to her, she couldn’t bring herself to look up from the ground. Instead, she focused her attention on the floor tiles. It wasn’t that she was uncomfortable being around them.

At least, that wasn’t all that was making her fidgety. It was the fact that all four of them were staring at her as if she were a creature from another planet, bombarding here with one question after the next.

“Seungri told us that you‘re good at singing too. Is that true?

Jessica’s eyes widened. Sure, she loved to sing, but she never thought of herself as being a good singer. It was simply something that she enjoyed doing. She had merely mentioned it as a hobby of hers that she liked to do in her spare time. But, of course, with Seungri being Seungri, he had to over exaggerate everything she said. It took her a while to explain to them that just because she was from California, didn’t mean that she had met Hollywood stars, as he had told them.

“No, I’m not! It’s just something I like doing.” She replied, waving her hands in front of her. She didn’t think she was that good. Even if she was, bragging was something that put her off. Showing off was something that she really disliked.

“Really? Taeyeon unnie is amazing at singing. She’s helping Jiyong oppa and Youngbae oppa out in the talent show next month. Seungri told us that you were really good too; I was thinking that you could help too.”

“Yoona’s got a point there. You’re not just being modest, are you? The guys really want to win this thing.” Yuri, who was seated next to Yoona, stated.

Talent show? Jessica tilted her head in confusion. She’s only been at the school for a little over a week, but she figured she would’ve heard of this talent show during her first week if it was that important. It must be something big here if they wanted to win it that badly.

“They sing? Seungri mentioned something about them loving music, but I didn’t know that they sang.” Seungri had mentioned to her that Jiyong and the others enjoyed listening to a variety of music, but she didn’t know that they had an interest in singing as well.

“You didn’t know that?!” Yoona shouted quite loudly, obviously surprised that she did not know.

“Jiyong oppa mostly raps, but he’s really good. Seunghyun oppa too!” Taeyeon gushed, not even trying to hide the admiration in her eyes.

“And don’t forget, Daesung oppa sings really well!” Yoona added.

“Youngbae oppa’s voice is really soothing.” Seohyun’s eyes had a sparkle in them as she spoke. She sighed and shook her head. Her friends caught sight of this and offered her a smile, giggling as they looked at the youngest.

“Seohyun had a crush on Youngbae oppa for a long time. I think she still sort of does.” Yuri whispered into Jessica’s ears.

Shifting her attention from Yuri to Seohyun, she saw the young girl smile brightly at her. She couldn’t blame her for having a crush on him. On any of them, actually. All of them were blindingly handsome in her eyes. Their personalities made them even more attractive to her. Being talented is just the icing on the cake.

“But Seungri isn’t as good as he thinks he is…” Yuri commented, knowing her classmate had a tendency to over exaggerate about his skills. The girls began laughing at his antics, when something interrupted their laughter.

“Are you guys having some sort of meeting without me?!” A voice behind them shouted.

He seemed to have perfect timing.

Jessica saw Seungri approaching, Jiyong and Youngbae’s arms around his shoulders. It looked like two boys trying to keep their younger brother out of trouble. Jessica smiled and giggled at the sight.

“Oppa! Did you know that Jessica sings? You said you needed someone else to help out on your song, right?” Taeyeon asked as the boys took a seat next to them.

“Really? You sing? Are you good?” Jiyong’s gaze landed on her. His eyes were looking straight into hers and she found herself getting flustered. Her words were stuck in the back of . She knew that she must have looked dumb at the moment, but words just refused to come out.

“She’s amazing!” Seungri cut in, jumping up as if it would help him make his point. Jessica was thankful for the interruption, or else, she could have embarrassed herself even more.

“For real? You should help us out! If you don’t mind, of course.” Youngbae exclaimed, pulling on his younger friend to make him sit.

Jessica didn’t know what to say. Sure, she loved singing, but was she really good enough to help them? Especially when they wanted to win so much? What if they were to hear her sing and be disappointed? What if she was the reason they lost? Countless thoughts went through her head.

“Jessica? Are you okay?” She looked up and saw Youngbae directly in front of her, a confused look on his face. The close proximity of his face caught her by surprise and she jumped a little from shock. Seeing this, Youngbae laughed and backed up a bit.

“Sorry. You just had this blank look on your face for a while.” He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed.

Jessica looked down, an embarrassed look on her face. She had a habit of spacing out. It happened even when she didn’t notice it did. It wasn’t the first time this happened, and she knew that it certainly wasn’t the last.

“Oh, it’s okay. I just got a little shocked. I tend to space out a lot.” She explained.

“So does Seungri. It’s like there is nothing going on in his head.” Jiyong stated, earning a laugh from those around him, and a shocked face from his younger friend.

“Hyung! Why do you always have to say things like that?! How is noona supposed to fall for me if you keep making me out to look like an idiot?” Seungri stood up once again, desperately clinging onto Jiyong’s shoulders, begging him to not say such things anymore.

“Open your eyes! Jessica isn’t interested in you!” Jiyong tried getting through to him.

Seungri’s mouth dropped open. He stared, wide eyed, back and forth between Jiyong and Jessica. When neither of them seemed to have a reaction, the realization hit him hard. He blinked countless times until he finally cleared his throat, straightening up his posture. Fixing his collar and dusting off something from the sleeve of his shirt, he turned to the group of girls in front of him.

“I just remembered something I had to do. Noona, sorry, I can’t take you for ice cream today. I forgot that I had to—umm—meet my teacher for—uh—my paper… or something. Yeah. So…  I’ll see you tomorrow. Okay. Goodbye.” He stuttered, before turning his back and walking away from the group. When he reached the hallway, he stood and thought for a moment before turning and walking left. After a few seconds, the group saw him heading right instead. Jiyong sighed and shook his head in a mix of disappointment and embarrassment.

“I apologize for… him.” Jessica felt bad for him, but at the same time, she found it hard to keep herself from laughing. When she was sure that he was out of sight, she let it out. It seemed to cause a domino effect, because soon enough, they were all laughing.

“What are all of you laughing about?” Eunji asked as she walked towards the group with Daesung beside her.

“Seungri being a drama queen.” Yoona said in between her laughs.

“Ahh, what’s new?” She replied, taking a seat next to Youngbae. They smiled at each other before she greeted everybody else.

“Hyung, we have to leave now if we don’t want to be late.” Daesung suddenly said, looking at the watch on his wrist. As if he had forgotten he had something to do, Jiyong instantly jumped out of his seat and gathered his belongings. Placing one arm around his friend’s shoulders, the two quickly walked out of the building after bidding goodbye to their friends.

“Oppa, I got called in to work today too. I’m going to ride with Taeyeon today. Is that okay?” Eunji asked, also looking at the time.

“We’re both working today, so I figured it was easier. Yoona and Yuri are riding with us since they wanted to go to the mall anyways. It’s been awhile since we’ve had a girl’s day. Might as well take this small chance.” Taeyeon explained.

“Why don’t you come to, Jessica?” Eunji asked. Jessica looked up and saw her smiling.

“Yeah, you should come! You’re our friend now too!” Yoona added, clapping her hands in excitement.

“If she goes with you, you’d forget about her and just go crazy. You two are wild when you’re shopping together.” Youngbae shuddered, remembering the time he had agreed to go shopping with them.

“—I’m taking her to get ice cream, instead. She’s been wanting some anyways.” She turned to look at him. He had her full attention now.

"Really? It's always busy around this time. You should get going if you want to beat the rush." Seohyun said, knowing how much people loved having a sweet cold treat on a warm day.

Youngbae acknowledged the fact, nodding his head in agreement.

"Shall we go then?" He suddenly stood up and walked behind his girlfriend, giving her a kiss on her head and bidding her goodbye. He then looked at Jessica, gesturing her to come along with him. Though she was confused, she didn’t want to make the moment awkward and quickly stood up and placed her backpack on her shoulders. Was she really being invited out right now? By someone in the "popular" crowd?

After bowing to her new friends, she walked over to Youngbae and turned around to face the others. Taeyeon was putting her things into her bag, making sure she didn't leave anything behind. Yoona and Yuri were talking to one another about what stores they wanted to visit once they got to the mall. Jessica couldn't believe that these were the people she had become friends with during her first weeks at the school. She was finally fitting in with people. With people who seemed to actually like her. With people that people looked up to and admired.

With people from the "royal" crowd.

“We’ll see you guys later! Let’s get going!” Youngbae spoke before she had the chance to. He looked at Jessica, who looked at her friends and bowed once again. A smile appeared on her face as her eyes landed on them. The smile that spread across her face was bright and genuine. She had friends who were good people and fun to be around. Ones who didn't judge her because of her family's background. She hadn't known them for long, just having met some of them today, but she could already tell that they were different from the people she had known in California. 

For the first time in a long time, she was truly happy and enjoying her school life.

“Yeah, I'll see you guys later.” Eunji said quietly, her gaze following the slowly disappearing figures of her boyfriend and the new girl.