The sound of her cell phone alarm woke her up. Without moving, she remained in her bed for a few more minutes after turning off her alarm.

"Eunbi," her mother called, "Are you up yet?"

"Yeah, I'm about to get ready," Eunbi replied, lying still in her bed. 

She glanced at her phone that read 6:08 am as she got up from her warm bed. She stopped in front of her bathroom door and remembered that her older brother had returned to college last night and that she had her bathroom all to herself again. She pushed herself into her bathroom and stared at herself. Her hair was messy and dark circles rimmed her eyes from the fatigue she felt after staying up until 3:00 am last night attempting to finish her winter break homework. Today was the first day back to school and the start of a fresh new semester.

Eunbi thoughtlessly brushed her teeth, washed her face, combed her hair, and attempted to put on light makeup to appear presentable for school. She gazed at herself in the mirror once again and was disappointed in her appearance. She looked so tired and worn out, even after a two-week break from school. After contemplating what to wear for a good ten minutes, she finally got ready and finished her breakfast that her mother prepared for her. Eunbi grabbed her car keys and headed to school. Parking in her usual spot, away from the traffic of other student drivers, she quickly gathered her belongings, locked her car, and started to walk towards the junior building. Everything around her was buzzing. People were excited, nervous, scared, confident, relieved that they were back in school again. 

"Eunbi!" her friend called as soon as she arrived at her locker. 

"Hey, it's been a while," she jokingly responded.

"What do you mean? We saw each other like two days ago," Saera stated, unamused. 

"I barely was able to finish all of my homework last night, Saera, I'm super tired," Eunbi said, sitting down next to her friend on the ground. 

"Blame it on the teachers that never give us a break from school work."

"Whatever. I can sleep in class," Eunbi replied, just as the warning bell sounded. 

In silence, the two friends walked to their first class of the day. It was 7:25 am.

Saera was Eunbi's most reliable friend at school. There were definitely other girls she talked to and ate lunch with, but even in their friend group, people favored one another. Most people in her school were