“That lip tint is so pretty!”

“Is that Gucci?”

“I love your purse, where did you get it from?”

Jennie lowered her phone. She looked at the girl straight in the eyes and put on her sweetest smile, leaning over so there wasn’t much space left between them. And with the same honey voice she would be using to get everything she wanted from her parents, she answered the dimwit.

“From France. I went there last week, isn’t it adorable?”

The girl nodded, basking in the glory that was Jennie. The fact that she was speaking to her had already lengthened the span of her life with a couple of years. And also glued her to the floor because she didn’t want to leave from her side, so Jennie put her phone in her pocket and walked past her, making sure she flipped her hair to let her Chanel perfume trail behind her.

After all, the school was her territory and wherever she’d go, her presence had to be felt. All these girls with their bright eyes and big grins, trying to copy her every move and style, even the way she spoke and ate.

Just the other month, when Jennie had a terrible headache and could not spend another minute in a lit room without her sunglasses, all the girls followed suit and began wearing differently tinted glasses in classrooms - from pinks to yellows and warm oranges. Jennie had given them up the next day, but the trend continued.

Last year, when she accidentally ripped the bottom of her dress and had to wear her sport shorts throughout the day with the dress hanging loosely over like some sort of expensive looking tee, the girls began tearing apart their dresses and wearing shorts outside P.E.

The day before, Jennie changed her lip tint from light pink to a deeper red. That day, the mouths calling out her name and praising her as she passed through the hallway were all bloodied.

Jennie scoffed. They could never be her, no matter how much they tried.

Because Jennie was the Queen and there could only be one Queen at Black High.

“Having fun?”

Jennie stopped when Jisoo joined her, books at her chest and a smugness to her that made Jennie feel comfortable.

“Would be better if I found a date for the dance.”

“You?” Jisoo sounded surprised. “Hadn’t you gotten invited yet?”

“Hmmm,” Jennie locked arms with her friend. “Two times in the morning, third before lunch and now? I guess I’ll be getting another invitation while I’m trying to feed the monster in my belly.”

Jisoo patted her tummy and cooed. “There, there, you’ll get your turn soon, you hungry beast.”

Jennie burst into laughter, pulling Jisoo closer.

Truthfully, it was a small town. Almost everyone knew everybody and everybody knew Jennie Kim, the daughter of the Kim Manor uphill. Especially the boys.

There wasn’t