“Come on, I hate to rush your hourly space outs, but we kinda have to hurry. I can introduce you to the watermelon master later if you want.” Chaewon’s cheeks blushed as Haseul tugged her arm, moving them quicker down the hall.

Eventually, after turning a few corners and running down a few hallways (which were empty because everyone was prepping for the club fair) the dove finally managed to bring the butterfly to the principal’s office.

“Here we are.” Haseul and Chaewon looked up at the big, vintage wooden doors.

Chaewon gulped.  I guess every principal’s office has to be big and scary. She took a step back but a warm hand caressed her back, stopping her from going further.

“Don’t worry. Principal Lee is really nice, the office was just made to be intimidating for students who get in trouble.  It’s actually pretty cool inside, come on.” Haseul’s motherly smile made Chaewon’s nerves calm down a little bit.

“She’ll love you. Just be yourself.” Haseul grabbed Chaewon’s hand as she walked towards the door, giving it three big pounds.

KNOCK.  KNOCK. KNOCK.

Chaewon shrunk. She didn’t know what to expect: a weightlifter? A witch?... Her mom? Okay, stop being paranoid for once in your life please. Mom? Really? Chaewon shook her head, trying to forget her anxious thoughts.

Creeeeeaaakkk…

The doorknob turned as the big wooden doors slowly opened revealing-

“Yeojin?”

A splash of confetti attacked Chaewon again as Yeojin burst out laughing.

“Yah Pig, what are you doing here? What about the booth?”

“Calm down, I got it all done. Also, shouldn’t you be praising me? I got the rest of the welcome party set up.” Here they go again. Chaewon chuckled.

“Whatever, Pig. Just get the snacks, give them to Chaewon, then go back to the farm-”

“Well, Cho Haseul, I would’ve never thought you had it in you to call someone a pig, even if it is your family.”

Haseul froze as an evil grin grew on Yeojin’s face.  Chaewon never saw someone bow so quickly. She probably got whiplash. Chaewon giggled a little at the thought.

Then she looked up.

A very elegant but intense woman was staring at Haseul as she bowed, playfully smiling. The woman’s eyes, brooding and intimidating, whipped towards Chaewon, her orange hair tied back in a low ponytail.

When her eyes made contact, Chaewon beat Haseul’s record, her back cracking into a 90 degree bow.

“So you must be Park Chaewon. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Chaewon, still bowed, vigorously nodded.

“Y-y-yes ma’am, I’m Park Chaewon. At your service.” Chaewon grimaced. At your service? What is this the 1800s?

The woman laughed.

“I’m glad I have your service…. Would you maybe like to stand up now?” Oh, duh.

Chaewon’s hair flew up as she snapped back into a standing position, her face red from bowing for so long.  She could feel her face burning from embarrassment, and the snickers coming from Yeojin in the background weren’t helping either. Maybe I will call her Pig… Pig.

A pale hand touched Chaewon’s shoulder, patting it.

“Don’t be nervous, this is nothing like your old school.  Believe me, I’m an alum.”

Chaewon’s eyes widened.

“Really?”

“Well, yeah.  Why would I lie to you? My name is Lee Sojung, Miduce School graduate, class of ‘09.” Principal Lee smiled softly.

Chaewon could not be more excited. All of her nerves were gone as a smile cracked onto her face.

“You didn’t like it either?-”

“I wish I was brave enough to leave.”

The two former Miduce attendees chuckled together.  Principal Lee started to walk towards her desk, with Chaewon close on her heels. Principal Lee quickly turned around.

“Before we get to discussing what Polaris Prep is all about, why don’t you get some snacks.  Haseul and Yeojin really tore Yujin’s ears off trying to find out what foods you liked.

Chaewon grinned, looking at her two new buddies.  The second cousins smiled back, though Chaewon could see them pinching each others arms, trying to make the other flinch.  Her grin turned soft looking at them. She knew that if she had been on the Welcoming Committee for whatever reason, that would’ve been Yujin and her playing around in front of the new student.

“Are you going to get some food?” Principal Lee’s big, semi circle eyes looked at Chaewon, expecting the hungry looking teen to at least acknowledge the snack table.

“Oh. Right. Yes, sorry. I’ll go now.” Chaewon shook her head to try and clear the sadness away.  Yujin will forgive me soon. That’s what best friends do.

On her way over to the table, Chaewon made quick eye contact with Haseul, who immediately picked up the drop in excitement from her new daughter.  She went over to Chaewon, linking arms with her, less aggressive than before, and smiled.

“Look what we got you, Chaewon.  I hope you like it. We were pestering Yujin so much I really thought she was gonna stomp Yeojin into the pavement.”

The thought made Chaewon giggle.  So that’s why Yujin was avoiding school so much these past few days.

As her smile grew back on her face, she looked down at the snack table, her eyes glazing over.  Her hands shook and her eyebrows furrowed as Chaewon hollered the two most precious words her tiny lungs have ever hollered:

“CHICKEN NUGGETS!!!”

Chaewon morphed into a different being, scaring Haseul into letting go of her arm.  

Everyone in the room stood still as Chaewon dug into the chicken nuggets like they would disappear if she didn’t eat them all in under ten seconds.

No one had heard Chaewon shout, out of the context of calling out for someone, so Chaewon’s chicken nugget addiction was literally the weirdest thing for the three newcomers to experience firsthand.

Principal Lee, at first horrified by the transformation of this tiny, quiet girl into a chicken nugget fiend, slowly started laughing, completely amused.  Haseul and Yeojin slowly but surely joined in, and soon their laughter filled the room along with the crunching sounds coming from the snack table.

Chaewon was done with a full table of chicken nuggets in less than a minute.  When she finished, she reverted back into herself, shyly turning around, dabbing a napkin only on the corners of like there weren’t remnants of a whole breaded chicken all over her uniform.

“Sorry about that. I just really like chicken nuggets.”

“…”

“OH MY GOSH WHAT THE ACTUAL-”

“YEOJIN! Watch your language. Also, you have no right to complain, have you seen yourself at the corner store?” Haseul laughed as Yeojin pouted.  The now certified mother of Chaewon threw her arm around the blushing girl as she helped brush the crumbs off of her.

“You know, Yujin couldn’t have been more right about you and chicken nuggets. Sorry about laughing, it’s just that Yujin warned us about what would happen when there are more than fifteen chicken nuggets in front of you but none of us believed her-”

“Including me.” Principal Lee stood up, still chuckling.

Chaewon’s cheeks were on fire.  Her eyes darted around the room, trying not to make eye contact with the woman who let her in this school and just watched her vacuum a table of chicken nuggets with .

“Park Chaewon, you are an interesting girl. Too quiet to talk in one minute but with a mouth big enough to up chicken nuggets like it’s air.  I gotta say…”

Chaewon looked down, tears starting to sting her eyes. I ruined it. Like always.<