Chapter Three

 

‘She’s become my sky and my ground…while I flutter in the middle...’

 

The sky had not much cloud in there, nothing much to see, it was just clear, in fact so very clear, Jiwoo had not seen such clear blue sky.

 

Pancakes, Jiwoo could see pancakes on the sky. Her taste bud still enamored by her breakfast meal. ‘Damn Tiffany makes such great pancakes, why do I have to be such a foodie?’ Taeyeon was keen to inform her that it was indeed her significant other that prepared the breakfast and Tiffany telling her that it was the best recipe in her repertoire to which Taeyeon wittingly say ‘out of two recipes’ in which the other was a sunny side up egg.

 

Tiffany is pretty, in fact so pretty that it was intimidating, but Tiffany cleared it out immediately with her people’s charm and street knowledge of where to get the best dresses at and where most young folks hang out, then gave her chocolate bars to give to help her make friends, to which Jiwoo was planning to do anyway.

 

Taeyeon was giving her a car ride to school, so there was nothing to do but gaze at the sky and compare it to the dull blue of the city’s. Her mother didn’t talk for the whole duration of the ride, instead letting the songs on the radio do their job.

 

Pancakes and dresses won’t cut it

 

“I’ll pick you up” Jiwoo’s mother offered to her.

 

“I’ll take the bus later…I’m 17 I’ll take care of my own self” Jiwoo said, not looking at her mother and getting out of the car instead.

 

Taeyeon could only mutter a soft ‘of course’

 

Jiwoo wished to know what it means but her mother already drove off.

 

Wearing her new uniform on, Jiwoo braced herself across unfamiliar faces. She had been given an assigned class section before her first day but she really didn’t have any expectations for it. Not really knowing what to do, she sighed in relief when she crossed path with the principal and remembered who she was. The principal had a kind smile, she liked that, it calmed her when she was being interviewed by her before.

 

The principal opened her classroom’s door and introduced her to their homeroom teacher “Good morning Mr. Choi, she will be your new student, she’ll be joining us from now on”

 

A strong smell of masculine perfume greeted Jiwoo when Mr. Choi raised his hand to gesture for her to get closer in the middle “Thank you Mrs. Jung for bringing her here” He said.

 

The principal bade the whole class a goodbye and told them to be welcoming of Jiwoo.

 

All eyes were on Jiwoo, her homeroom teacher had asked her to introduce herself. She smiled at them, the very best she could muster and introduced herself. When she saw one girl smiling back, her smile widened.

 

“Where should I sit?”

 

Jiwoo asked, she felt rather being guided to than moving on her own, scanning her eyes across the classroom, looking for more friendly faces.

 

Mr. Choi smiled warmly at her “Right next to where you think is the cutest”

 

Jiwoo whipped her head towards their homeroom teacher, mouth gaping open. Did she just get played? Mr. Choi’s smile that she thought was warm at first turned playful.

 

“Even if the seat's taken...you can have it"

 

The tables were shared by two people through two chairs and Jiwoo would have preferred to sit next to the girl who gave her a smile earlier, but she had already a seatmate, Jiwoo could take it, as their teacher had said, but that would mean she considered the girl to be the cutest, and that would be just weird, why did Mr. Choi had to make it hard for her?

 

“Why don’t you seat next to Ten? Yeri get up”

 

“But Mr. Choi!”

 

At the middle, a girl got up huffing which Jiwoo guessed is Yeri while the boy next to her who must be Ten smirked and threw a glance at her then their teacher.

 

However, a small patch of strong blue emerged from the blue sky and entered the classroom’s opened window…it was a blue butterfly, Jiwoo followed where the blue butterfly was fluttering its wings to with her gaze. It alighted on a table with one more vacant seat, it flapped as it settled there and Jiwoo could have sworn it flapped slowly she counted three times of the gesture. Jiwoo fluttered her eyes and without knowing it, she was already standing by the table where the butterfly was resting.

 

There was a collective ‘Oooh’ inside the classroom, and the butterfly left the table along with the memory of it, that was when Jiwoo realized what she just did.

 

She looked around and everyone was staring at her, some were smiling, some were frowning and some were just waiting what she would do next.

 

And the owner of the seat next to where she had chosen outside of her own volition was a jet black haired girl with eyes shaped menacingly glaring at her.

 

Their eyes met.

 

Her heart beat stopped for a moment and both looked away and her heart beat went back but pumped faster she could feel the warm blood on her cheeks.

 

“Just sit there Ms. Kim…” Mr. Choi instructed from across the room. He seemed upset.

 

Was it because she didn’t follow his instruction to sit next to that Ten guy? But Jiwoo didn’t mean it, she really don’t.

 

The other girl shifted, crossed her legs and clasped her hands together, body leaning away, chin tilted up and cold eyes darting at their homeroom teacher, she seemed rather upset too.

 

Somehow it felt that Jiwoo did something wrong even though she doesn’t know what it is.

 

Jiwoo would have chosen another seat if it weren’t for the fact that she was already standing there inched away and with Mr. Choi’s permission, she allowed herself to sit next to an obviously unwelcoming girl.

 

Throughout the class, no one between them had said anything, Jiwoo wouldn’t start it and the girl had made it silently clear that she didn’t want to exert effort on exchanging words either.

 

And the more Jiwoo had thought it over…the more she realized that she was the most rightful one to be upset in this room.

 

Mr. Choi’s class ended and her seatmate stood up leaving the classroom, another girl went on to fill the vacant seat the former left. She was the girl smiling earlier.

 

“Hi…I’m Haseul, welcome to Eden High…you must be the city girl we are hearing about”

 

“Hearing about?”

 

Since the school was built to house every student in the town, it was easy to learn changes, like a change in breeze and everyone would have learned why. In Jiwoo’s case, it all came from the principal’s office’s student assistant who was so eager to tell her friends that someone new from the city had enrolled.

 

Before they could go deeper though, the next teacher had already arrived and Jiwoo’s seatmate was back to her seat being all silent and aloof. Small talks come naturally to Jiwoo, she can start conversations any day even with the most silent student back in her previous school, it felt wrong to have not exchange words for this long but Jiwoo didn’t want to sort it out either.

 

It finally became loud at lunch time and Jiwoo thought for a second that everything was right. Haseul had invited her to join with their group and learned their names; Heejin and Yerim, sweet and cheerful girls they were, she gave them all chocolates and everyone just went brighter, she giggled with them, chocolates always do the work. It was fun being with them, she was the center of most of their questions of course, the perks of being new; what is her favorite place, how many concerts had she gone to, how is it at night in the city, if the city is polluted, then their conversation went back to the most recent occurrence in Jiwoo’s life

 

“Hey Jiwooming…” Yerim called on her, already giving her nickname off of her pretty smile, Yerim’s words, not hers’. It was nice. “I heard you took the seat beside Sooyoung unnie”

 

“Sooyoung?” Jiwoo asked, dumbfounded

 

“Your seatmate” Haseul answered

 

The owner of the name had treated her like she didn’t even see her, knowing her name wasn’t a luxury that she could afford.

 

“You’re seatmates with her?” Heejin asked mouth agape.

 

“Ye-yeah…she’s my seatmate, why?” Jiwoo asked afraid of what will be Heejin’s answer.

 

“Heejin here thinks she’s the she-devil because she smokes and wears pants for uniform” Haseul interjected, making Jiwoo recall back what the girl was wearing earlier.

 

“You make me sound like a witch hunting when I’m not…I have my reasons okay”

 

Haseul took something out from her lunch bag, a vacuum flask and a cup, she opened the lid and gave Yerim the cup “And that’s because she stole Hyunjin from you right?” Haseul asked back and poured herself what seemed to be a tea on the flask’s lid.

 

“Oh tea…my favorite part of the break!” Yerim sitting beside Haseul offered the cup for pouring.

 

“Do you want some Jiwoo?” Haseul asked offering her drink with the lid.

 

Jiwoo accepted it with a smile and gave her thanks, she took a sip of the hot beverage, allowing her brain to process what Haseul just said to Heejin. She frowned in more confusion “She stole you whom? What did she do to you?” Her voice rose with curiosity and worry.

 

“No one…it was a natural process of friends…falling out of their friendships and finding new ones” Heejin said in dejection.

 

“You are being dramatic Heejin…Hyunjin told me herself she wants to talk to you but you won’t respond back…this is clearly on you child” Haseul said, putting period on the conversation.

 

Heejin gasped audibly and puffed out her cheeks in frustration, scoffing her attention away from them.

 

Way to go for Jiwoo’s first lunch break in her new school, it felt like it was her who brought the damp in their conversation. She took another sip of Haseul’s tea, it suddenly tasted bitterer.

 

“Our class heard what teacher Choi asked you to do for you assigned seat…we think you are dope for making an out of him” Yerim blurted out, thankfully breaking the tension on their table.

 

“Language Yerim” Haseul warned.

 

“What? That's how they say it…”

 

Jiwoo chuckled and recalled the moment a bit on her head, thinking of something blue “It was the blue butterfly…what’s it called again?”

 

No one seemed to understand so she just let it go.

 

“All ‘dopiness’ aside…I think you should be informed Jiwoo…of who owns that seat before you…” Haseul trailed, grasping her thermos and pulling it in.

 

“Who?” Jiwoo waited.

 

No one answered with a name but just Haseul pointing her head to the direction leading to a bulletin board on the wall. There were many things posted in it, but perhaps the thing that Jiwoo caught the most was a missing girl’s poster wearing the same uniform as theirs.

 

“Chaewon, she’s been missing since the start of the school year, Sooyoung and her are close too as far as I can tell...but that’s just Chaewon…she easily can get close to people”

 

Jiwoo stared at the missing poster harder, the idea of a missing girl that could have been in this premises at this moment had not yet really sank in but before she could really mull over it, suddenly a girl stood right beside their table holding a bottle, spilled its content right at her face, and then leaving without saying a word.

 

Jiwoo was frozen on the spot.

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My last daily update for awhile, I'l be back though. I seriously appreciate to have your feed back guys, so comment away.