Ring!

Finally it was lunch and Jennie was already standing by the cafeteria line where she swore she saw Jaebum stealing some random nerd's lunch. She watched the male as he walked towards a mostly empty table and towered over another lonesome nerd who had mistakenly sat at the popular group's table. With one glance at Jaebum, the small boy hastily packed his belongings and walked away. Luckily for him, JB already had lunch.

Jennie, having decided that she had enough of his nonsense, turned around to see Jisoo carrying two trays each with a sandwich and respective beverages that the two girls favoured. The latter walked past her presenting her a smile as she did so and headed towards the area where Jaebum was sitting. Admittedly, Jennie was touched by the unexpected fair treatment. 

"You know when I agreed to lunch with you, I didn't know you meant at the same table," Jennie uttered, glancing at her admirers every so often. I wonder what they think of me right now?

Jisoo set the trays down on the table, just a few meters away from JB. "Well I thought it would be a bit more believable."

"I guess you're right, anyways you did treat me." Jennie admitted. 

Right as the two sat on the table, Jaebum got up from his seat, stopping in front of them and towering over Jisoo in the same manner he did with the nerd just a few minutes ago. 

He glared at the girl and drew closer to her face. "Aren't you in the wrong section? Losers are to the left." 

Just as Jisoo was about to get up, Jennie held her wrist, while her eyes fixated on Jaebum. "Then I guess you should be making a right," she advised earning a confused look from the boy. "That's the section."

Jaebum scoffed, lifting himself off the table and walked back to his seat, red faced and roguish. 

Jisoo looked over at Jennie and smiled, "Thanks." The latter nodded as she twisted the lid off of her orange juice.

Meanwhile the rest of Jennie's friends varied in opinions about the new recruit.

"Thank you Jiyoon-ssi!" Lisa thanked the cafeteria lady and picked up her tray from the counter, suddenly bumping into Yugyeom who stood like a statue. "Jesus Yugyeom! You need a map? We've only been sitting at that table for three years."

The boy didn't spare a glance at her direction. "Well, look. That loser Jisoo is sitting there." 

Irene patted his shoulder and pushed him towards the pair. "Lighten up. How bad could she be?"

"He's with Jennie. Come on." Jackson added.

As the quad drew closer to the table, Jennie switched her attention to the four, re-introducing the female who sat beside her. "Guys, you all know Jisoo?"

"Yeah, we were in, uh sixth grade together." Yugyeom disclosed, hesitantly sitting down on the bench in front of them. "Uh, but I haven't seen her since then."

Jisoo chuckled to ease the tension within the group. She then cleared , trying to change the subject. "I read online that you and Jackson are highly likely to make it to preliminaries, maybe even finals this basketball season."

Jackson chomped down on his sandwich. "You go to the game?"

Jisoo clasped her hands together beneath the table. "Mhm, every one."

"I've never seen you there..." Lisa admitted.

"I have. Don't you sit in the visiting section?" Irene questioned, earning a dirty look from Jennie. The former shrugged as she threw a piece of fry into .

"Yeah, she sits there to make fun of the other team," Jennie defended. "It's psychological warfare."

Irene rolled her eyes at the comment.

Jisoo was comforted that there was someone in this table who wasn't trying to sabotage her dreams. "Yeah...In fact, I almost got thrown out of the gym three times."

Yugyeom laughed at the joke. "I'll bet!"

Jennie smiled at him, and stared back at Irene. "Now that's school spirit. Risking yourself for the team."

The pale beauty shrugged. "I guess."

As Jisoo managed to hold a three minute conversation with the popular clique, her friends had wondered how or what happened for this miracle to occur.

"Chaeng! Look over there. Jisoo is in no-man's land and she's still alive!" Wendy commented, directing Chaeyoung's attention towards the table where the five of them sat.

"What do you think she's doing there?" she added.

Chaeyoung shrugged and let out a disappointed sigh before turning her attention back to her summer class review package. "She must be helping them with their homework."

Wendy turned her attention to the red-haired girl, offering her a quizzical expression. "First morning in school...homework? Sure, Chaeng."

Honestly, Chaeyoung was happy for Jisoo. This is what the latter wanted and if it meant having to change herself completely, Chaeyoung was fine with it, all as long as Jisoo wouldn't suddenly turn her back on the girl. They were best friends since kindergarten, she wouldn't do that would she?

-----

After school Jisoo made a special request to Jennie about taking a stop at the pizza place near their neighbourhood. Inexplicably, Jisoo decided to skip out on the whole eating part of lunch and now here she was suffering the consequences of not doing so.

The girl leaned over the table, clenching onto her stomach as she picked up a piece of pizza from the plate in front of her. "God, if my blood sugar level was any lower, I'd be a corpse. Thanks for stopping," she said, blowing on the nourishment to cool it down.

Jennie looked at her own nails, plotting to satisfy herself with a good mani pedi after hanging out with Jisoo. "No problem. I stop here every day anyways. By the way, why didn't you eat lunch?"

The brunette twisted her body in a different position in hopes of subsiding the effects of hunger. "I don't know. I guess I just got nervous around your frie— Hey guys!" Jisoo immediately fixed her posture, and presented Jaebum, Jackson and Yugyeom a smile.

The three ignored her greeting and offered their own greetings to Jennie instead, who then smiled in return. Once the boys, sat down in their own booth, Jennie leaned closer to Jisoo.

"Now is your chance. Okay, why don't you go over there and invite them to come over here and join us?" the dark-haired girl suggested in a low whisper. Jisoo felt the warm breath against her ear and fought every urge not to react, instead she simply nodded.

"Good idea," she said, leaving the table and walking towards the boys who bestowed to her a minacious aura. "Hey, guys, come on over.The pizza's on me."

Immediately the boys lit up and patted her on the back, walking past her and towards Jennie who beamed at them. Just as fast as they got up from their seat, all of the pieces on the plate were gone.

"Thanks Jisoo!" Yugyeom let out with a mouthful of delicious snack.

Jisoo stared at the empty platter with only a single piece of pepperoni left, which she quickly devoured. Jennie presented her an empathetic smile and patted her back.

"This won't be easy, is it?" The brunette asked.

Jennie giggled. "You're...getting there? Besides there's still the party tomorrow."

The party! Jisoo almost forgot that she was invited to the most famous annual start-of-school party, granted by yours truly, Jennie Kim. Only all of the most popular people from school and other schools will be there, and she would be finally taking her place amongst them. Maybe this is getting easier.

-----AN-----

Not that it matters, because it depends when you read this...but Happy New Year!