Nicole's POV Part 1

     It had been a full day already and I still was thinking about what could possibly be hiding behind Hyuna's door. The image of the fury in her eyes kept blinking in my head. It was like a broken record. That one word rang in my head. "Don't." The way Hyuna blurted it out without thinking was catching me off guard. It was like I couldn't stop thinking about it. The day that I finally arrived here was supposed to be a day of happy and smiles, but suddenly turned into a day of confusion.

I was forced to stop thinking when Hyuna opened the door to my bedroom, walking over to my window and ripping the curtains open. "Rise and shine!" Hyuna was wearing a school uniform with her hair tied up in a loose ponytail. She wore black stockings underneath her skirt. Maybe it was because of the snow, or maybe just fashion sense.

I yawned and stretched, getting up and walking to my dresser drawers, "Goodmorning, Hyuna-ssi..." I had suddenly forgot to unpack last night, leaving the drawers bare. "Ah..." I ran my hands inside the empty dresser.

"That's right. I forgot to help you unpack yesterday. Here, I'll help you look for your uniform." 

     Hyuna went over to my suitcase that decorated the white carpeting that was lying on my floor. She pulled out a medium-length, black skirt, and a flimsy white blouse. With pep in her step, Hyuna walked over to me and turned me towards the mirror, lingering the clothes above me to see how they would look. 

"Here, this should really compliment your outfit!" Hyuna pulled out a white, flower-shaped hairpin that was tiny in size. She held it up to my head and smiled. "Perfect."

I smiled back at her, taking the clothes and hairpin from her gently and gesturing for her to remove herself. "I'll be down in a second." I said, closing the door once she was on the other side.

     Quickly, I got changed, slipping on every piece of clothing swiftly and softly. I tried not to make too much noise because I wasn't sure if there were others that were still sleeping soundly in their rooms. Once my clothes were all on and well-fitted, I fixed my bang and snapped on my hairpin, twirling around in the mirror like a ballerina. 

"Beautiful!" I whispered. I slipped on my shoes and backpack, running downstairs to the kitchen.

     The setting downstairs was absolutely gorgeous this morning. The dark wood floors in the kitchen went perfectly well with the yellow walls that made the living room furniture dance in the sunlight. Curtains were ripped back, and the fireplace looked gorgeous, even if it wasn't going. Hyuna set a bowl of oatmeal in front of me followed by a glass of orange juice. 

Smiling, Hyuna nudged my shoulder. "Eat! Today is your first day of school. It would be terrible if you went on an empty stomach."

"Right! Meokja!" I picked up my spoon and began eating. 

     Hyuna was beautiful. It was hard to believe I was even related to her. The way she talked, the way her smile could lift my entire mood, the way she swiftly moved. Even the way that she tried to creep English into our conversations. I couldn't wait until we had time to spend in the city together. That way I could talk to her honestly. 

     Other than my thoughts about Hyuna's gorgeousness, there were also thoughts of what school would be like today. It is my first day attending school in Korea, so I am nervous. Maybe some of my questions will get answered today. I hope I find friends to hang out with, maybe even teachers that are nice to me as well. I hope everyone is as warm and welcoming as Hyuna said they would be. I also hoped that I could have freebee's on test and homework since, you know, I am a foreigner. 

"Are you done yet? School starts in thirty minutes, I don't want to be late on your first day." Hyuna had already thrown her dish away, and I was still staring at my half eaten bowl of oatmeal. I felt bad, but I pushed it away anyway, nodding and getting up from my chair.

"I'm ready! But, how far is the school from here?" My finger was tapping my chin, just like it always did when I was thinking. 

"About five minutes away by car. Ten minutes away on foot." Hyuna had thrown my bowl in the sink as well, and was now standing by the front door, motioning me to join her by the car.

"Is it alright if I walked? I want to get familiar with the neighborhood so that I know my way around." 

Hyuna looked confused at first, but shook her head in response, grabbing me by the arm softly and pulling me outside. "Please, don't be ridiculous, it's your first day of school. You wouldn't want to take a risk of getting lost with only..." Hyuna checked her watch, "fifteen minutes to spare." 

I nodded and smiled, opening my door and hopping in. "Ne, I'll take your word for it. Kaja, we don't want to be late!" I leaned over and unlocked her door.

Hyuna settled in her seat and started the car, before long, we were moving down the street and it wasn't long before we reached the school.

     My mouth was set agape when I stared up at my new school. The building was white, and it had balconies that looked out over the snow-filled school-yard. I could already tell where my secret hiding place would be. This school was so much bigger than the school I attended in LA. Rather than being small and short-spaced, this school was huge and wide. It was on it's own island, and that's what I liked about it. I liked being secluded from everyone when I wanted to do thinking, and with the school having this much open space, I could tell it wouldn't be hard to find a place where I could think alone to myself.

"Nicole-ah. Let's go inside. Class starts in ten." Hyuna was standing outside my window, backpack slung over her shoulder and a scarf tied around her neck.

I nodded and slowly stepped out of the car, slinging my backpack over my shoulder and pulling down my skirt. "How do I look?"

Hyuna nodded and gave me a thumbs up. "You look great! I'm sure you will be fine. Let's go!"

     Hyuna grabbed my hand and we started walking towards the front of the building. Even the inside of the school looked amazing! The walls were painted teal, some walls were white. No stains in sight, not a single piece of wallpaper out of place. In fact, it smelled like new paint. There, in the middle of the foyer, stood the front desk. Behind the desk, a short, petite woman smiled and waved to everyone on their way to class. When she saw us, she smiled even more and bowed her head a little. We did the same and Hyuna began talking.

"Ms. Jung, this is my cousin. Her name is Nicole and she is from America. She's the new exchange student here, do you have her schedule set for her?" Hyuna smiled and with every word, the secretary nodded.

Pulling a piece of paper from her desk, the secretary handed it over to me and I thanked her. "Ah, that's right, Ms. Nicole. Here's your schedule, if you have any questions, just ask Hyuna, or you can come to me and I will help you as much as I can. Welcome to our school."

I felt my face turn red with excitement, but I managed to hold it back. "Thank you." I smiled warmly.

Hyuna tapped me on my arm and pulled me into a tight hug. Just like at the airport the night before. "I have to get going, and so do you." Hyuna looked at the top of my schedule before continuing, "Your locker is W145. Just down this hallway, make a left at the first turn and go all the way down. I'll meet you by the bathrooms before lunch. Second floor, turn to your right." Hyuna gave me a kiss on my cheek, "Have a good day!"

"Ne! I will meet you by the bathrooms. Thank you so much, Hyuna. You are really helping me out a lot."

     With that being said, I hugged my schedule to my chest, starting out to my locker. The directions kept repeating in my head. "Down this hallway...make a left, go all the way down."

     I follwed the thought in my head and ended up by my locker. I stared up at it, even thought it was half of a locker, I didn't care. I wanted somewhere to drop off this backpack and these heavy books. I put in my combination and jerked my locker open, letting out a breath of relief when I realized I was the only student in the hallway. I ped my backpack, placing my books inside and turning my cellphone off. I left out a notebook and my pencil case, just in case I needed it for class. 

"Annyeong!" 

     I almost fell at the sudden shock of a voice standing on the other side of my locker. Standing there was a boy, he looked as old as me, and his face reminded me of a dinosaur. He wore his hair in a tiny ponytail and his eyes looked warm and welcoming. 

"Ah, sorry! It's a habit of mine to sneak up on people." He held out his hand, "I'm Jonghyun. Kim Jonghyun. Senior, and seventeen years old. You must be Nicole. You're new, right? It's nice to meet you."

I took his hand and shook it, I nodded as he introduced himself. "Hi. It's nice to meet you, too." I spoke shyly and quietly.

Jonghyun picked up my journal that must have fallen from my locker and placed it inside next to my other books. "Sorry again. I have got to stop sneaking up on people." He mumbled and zipped my backpack back up, sliding it inside my locker and closing it abruptly. "What class do you have? I could show you to it."

"I have..."  I looked at my schedule and sighed. "Chemistry."

Jonghyun's eyes lit up, and he patted my back, motioning for me to walk beside him. "Me too! Let's go together, shall we? That way I wont be counted as late." 

We laughed and headed to our first class. I told him about my being from America, and I told him all about Hyuna and how close we were. He seemed interested in my stories, and I felt an instant friend connection to him. I wished to have more than one class with him. That way we could get to know each other better.

"Jonghyun-ah! Jonghyun-ah!" 

Down the hall, Jonghyun and I spotted a fit figure running our way. Even from a distance this guy looked gorgeous, and it was even better that he knew Jonghyun.

"Joon?" Jonghyun squinted his eyes at his friend and smiled when he stepped closer.

"Jonghyun-ah!" Joon was out of breath as he bent down to catch air. "Do you have my phone? I think I dropped it last night."

     Not once did Joon look my way, but I could tell he knew I was there. He was just too frantic to notice me fully. Joon had gorgeous eyes, and his body shape was perfect. Even the way his voice sounded made my insides turn out. Of course I had just met Joon, but he was one hot being. 

Jonghyun reached into his pocket and handed Joon his phone, laughing. "Here it is, buddy. Oh, before you go, this is Nicole, she's new h-"

Joon nodded and started playing with his phone, "Thanks, man!" He ran down the hallway and disappeared behind a door, every trace of him. Gone. 

"Sorry about Joon. He's always in some sort of a hurry these days." Jonghyun his teeth and turned back to me, smiling warmly again, "Kaja, it's ten minutes into class already."

     With that, Jonghyun slid the door open for me, stepping inside and bowing to the teacher who was in the middle of a lesson. I did the same, and looked around at everyone in the classroom. Before I could formally introduce myself, all the kids in the room immediately turned to their peers and started whispering and snickering. It didn't bother me in the least, but it definitely made me feel like I had done something wrong already.