Monday

                “Ah, ah, is this working? Oh, I’m on the P.A. Right! Hey students! Your first month of school is almost over. So fast, right? We’ve got this week left of September before October, and you know what that means? That’s right; it’ll be the month of HALLOWEEN! For first years and new students, Korea Arts always has a huge dance, so be prepared. We’ll be choosing our Halloween Committee by this week, so keep an eye out for announcements. Thanks for listening and have an awesome day!”

                Once the principal turned off the P.A., the whole school began chatting about their plans for Halloween. Ideas for costumes were being thrown around. Costumes for couples, wacky costumes, elegant costumes, and mascot costumes were suggested. It seemed like this year’s Halloween will surpass the one they had last year. The Kim twins were extremely excited for October. Yeon Ah, on the other hand, hated Halloween. She just didn’t understand why people enjoyed dressing up in costumes and running around at night asking for candy from random strangers. What was the point? However, everyone was in for a special treat this Halloween.

                “I heard from the committee last year that the work is intense for the juniors and seniors. The freshman and sophomore had light work because they only had to do PR stuff and sell tickets. I’m hoping none of us gets picked. We need to work on our costumes together!” Hyo Rin and Hyo Min were praying that they would not get picked from their class. Yeon Ah laughed at her friends. She had never been picked for anything from her class because the votes were based on popularity. Seeing that she’s probably the most hated girl in her class, for god knows what, there’s a low chance that she’ll be picked. They discussed the plans for their Halloween costumes for the rest of lunch and parted when the bell rang.

                “Hey Noona, how was your weekend?” L.Joe caught up to Yeon Ah and they walked to Jazz class together.

                “Hi, Byung Hun. Eh, it was fun. I went to the amusement park with my twin br-iends,” she mentally slapped herself for almost revealing her secret.

                “Br-iends?” L.Joe looked at her, confused.

                “I said friends. You need to get your ears checked,” she brushed past him and opened the doors to the band room. ‘That was close.’ She wiped away her nervous sweat and set up for practice. L.Joe shrugged and ran in after her.

                The bell rang, signalling the end of the school day and Yeon Ah packed up her belongings. She left the school and headed off to work.

                “See you on Wednesday, Mr. and Mrs. Lee!” Yeon Ah waved and bowed to her bosses before jumping onto her bike and driving home. By the time she got home, it was around 10:30 pm. Daniel’s shoes were not there, so that meant that he was still at rehearsals. Yeon Ah took a quick shower and cooked some fried rice and left it on the table for when Daniel came home from practice. She ran upstairs, jumped into bed, and fell fast asleep.

Tuesday

                Yeon Ah rushed to school and quickly sat in her seat for homeroom. 3 minutes after, the teacher walked in. ‘Phew, I’m not late today. I can’t believe my alarm didn’t go off this morning. And Daniel didn’t bother waking me up either, that dum-dum.’ The teacher called for their attention and held up some worksheets.

                “What I have here are the ballots for the Halloween Committee. There is a list of requirements for the position and we have provided some space for you to write in the person you think is most suitable for the spot. Here’s how the process works. There will be 4 representatives chosen from each grade. Each grade is divided into 4 classes, so one person from each class will be picked to be a part of the Halloween Committee. In total, there will be 16 people in the team. I’ve handed out the ballots, so I want you all to read it carefully and choose the person who you think will represent your class well. If the principal sees that our rep works efficiently with the others, we may be rewarded with a pizza lunch. So choose wisely!” The teacher sat down in her seat as the students instantly started gossiping and looking around the classroom. They eyed each other and were scoping out the class for a potential choice. Yeon Ah didn’t bother looking around and just wrote down the name of one of the boys in her class. ‘As long as I’m not picked.  Whoever got chosen is very unlucky.’ She chuckled at the torture the class rep would have to go through. The teacher collected their sheets and brought them to the front of the class.

                “Tomorrow, we will tally up the votes from every single class and then we’ll announce the Committee at an assembly on Thursday!”

Thursday

                “All teachers please bring your students down to the auditorium for the Halloween Committee assembly,” the principal’s voice boomed over the P.A. system. Yeon Ah dragged her feet towards the front of the classroom and lined up with the other students. She didn’t understand why she had to go. It’s not like she was going to be chosen anyway. ‘Maybe the teacher will let me stay in class if I ask nicely.’ She went on her tip toes to see if the teacher was nearby. To her dismay, the teacher was already outside, leading the students out of the room. The class entered the crowded lecture hall that was buzzing with voices. Students were seated in the rows of chairs and were talking amongst themselves. Yeon Ah quietly sat in her seat and avoided the people around her.

                “Check, 1, 2, 3. Hello, teachers and students. Today’s the day we reveal our Halloween Committee. Now, when I read out the list, I want those students to come on stage. Let’s begin with the freshman grade. From Class 1D we have--” Yeon Ah zoned the second he started reading. She didn’t know how long she was spaced out for until somebody nudged her.

                “Psst, the principal called your name. Go up there,” a girl from her class whispered to her. She tensed as she heard her name get called.

                “Chae Yeon Ah from Class 3A, where are you?” he searched around the auditorium. Yeon Ah slowly stood up from her seat and made her way down the aisle to the stage. “Ah, there you are. Welcome to the Committee.” She got up onto the stage and saw a blob of pink hair walking towards her.

                ‘What the hell is going on here? This is so messed up…Why me??’ She stood with the group of students huddled together on stage. L.Joe shuffled next to her and smiled.

                “Noona! Looks like we’ll be seeing each other a lot for the next month,” he grabbed her arm. She pulled away and glared at him. He pouted at her, crossed his arms, and turned back to the front. The principal finally read the last name from the list.

                “Lee Dong Rim from class 4A. Please come forth. Okay, so here are the 16 students that you’ve chosen to represent your Halloween dance. Let’s give them a hand,” he stepped away from the microphone and clapped for them. The whole auditorium burst with the applause and cheers of relieved students. ‘Lucky bums. Now I’ve got to help out with this stupid dance. I hate my life.’ The principal dismissed everybody, but told the group to stay behind. Yeon Ah felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to look at who it was.

                “Oh, Tae Woon. You’re here as well?”

                “Yup, sadly. I heard from the seniors that it’s hard work. Hopefully we get easy jobs,” he grinned and she laughed with him. The principal told them to come closer so that he didn’t have to yell.

                “Let me first congratulate you guys for being chosen as the class representatives. Anyway, let’s get down to business. Freshman, you will be our Art crew. You will need to make all the posters, flyers, and banners that the others request. Sophomores, you are all in charge of Promotions and ticket sales. You need to get the word around the school and have people come to our dance. Tomorrow, the seniors and juniors need to meet me in my office afterschool so that we can figure out what jobs you will take. You are dismissed.” The group dispersed and left the auditorium.

                The final bell rang and everybody crowded into the hallways to leave. Yeon Ah shoved her way through to her class and grabbed her things before running off to fencing practice. She had a lot of frustrations and needed to get it out of her system. There were already people sparring, so Yeon Ah practice with a dummy off to the side. ‘What was the class thinking? Do they realize what they’ve just done? They probably did this on purpose so that they could work on their costumes. Just because I don’t like Halloween, doesn’t mean I’m their scapegoat. I hate this. Those selfish bas---’ somebody called her name, interrupting her train of thought.

                “Yes, Coach?”

                “Everybody’s left already, shouldn’t you get going too?”

                “Oh, right. Sorry Coach. I’ll close up. See you next week,” she bowed as he walked off. She pushed the equipment away into the storage room and locked up. ‘Let’s just hope I get an easy job for this darn Committee.’

Friday

                Yeon Ah walked through the empty hallways to the principal’s office. Everybody had already left, but she was still there. ‘I could be on my way to work right now. I SHOULD be on my way to work. But no. I have to go to this stupid meeting. Save me, somebody.’

                “Hey Yeon Ah! What’s up?”

                “Hey Dong Rim. You are heading to the office as well?”

                “Yes m’am. Are you excited for this dance?”

                “No. Not at all. I hate this.”

                “Okay. Well, we’re here.” They knocked on the door and entered. The principal sat behind his desk and smiled at them.

                “Ah, you’ve made it. Now that everybody is here, let’s start the draw. I’m going to be handing around this box of paper. On each slip of paper, I’ve written out the jobs. There are 3 jobs. Committee Heads, Tear Down group, and the Sponsors group. Two pairs will work together to find Sponsors who will provide prizes for our dance, and the other two pairs will either be Committee heads or tear down.”

                “How come the sponsors group has 4?” a random senior asked.

                “Because I said so. Anyway, I’ll pass it around now,” he handed the box to the students closest to him and the box made its way around the circle. “Okay, you may look at your sheets.” Yeon Ah flipped hers around and her heart sank. Scrawled on the piece of paper was the word ‘Committee Head’. She honestly felt like crying because somehow, she knew that this was probably the worst job of the three. Scanning the room, she saw relieved faces and a couple of frowning ones. “Please find your partner or group and stand together.”

                “Who’s in tear down?”

                “Are you also in the sponsor group? Me too!”

                “Who got head of committee?” Yeon Ah raised her hand and turned to find the voice. She was somewhat relieved that the voice belonged to Young Won. “You seem happy about our pair.”

                “I’m just happy I have a partner who will work. We’re in for a roller coaster ride. You prepared?”

                “More than I’ll ever be.”

                “Sponsor group and tear down group may leave. Heads of Committee, I need to talk to you. So, you’ve got the most important job. You will be planning the whole thing. So I want to have some lists written up and handed in ASAP. Costs, materials, everything. You will act as the Set up crew as well. Also, I was thinking of having a haunted house this year? Are you up for the challenge? I can count it to your school credits if you like,” the principal’s piercing gaze made Yeon Ah slightly nervous.

                “Um, we’ll do the haunted house if you’d like. It shouldn’t be that hard,” Yeon Ah looked over at Young Won like he was crazy. He furrowed his eyebrows at her and gave her a look. She turned to the principal. 

               “We’ll make a haunted house,” the principal smiled and thanked them. They left the office and sulked all the way to the parking lot.

                “There’s too much on our plate.”

                “You think? Crap, I’ve got to go to work now. Let’s start planning tomorrow? Here’s my number. Text me when you’re free,” Yeon Ah scrambled onto her bike and booked it to the candy shop. ‘This month is going to be chaotic. I hate my life,’ she slumped down onto the stool behind the counter and tugged on her ponytail. She was not looking forward to the next 4 weeks.

Yay~~~ I really hate my writing style LOL Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Comments are more than welcome >_<;;

COMMENT REPLIES:

@shikshin28: ah, thanks for understanding >_< your comment makes me feel less guilty 

@hai_young: LOL yes. she only uses when she's feels threatened in any way XD and thank you so so soooo much!

@winterflowr: isn't everybody else possessive of their cotton candy as well.....?.......I think I've hurt some innocent people LOL

@ShyMin: Yay~! Let us be fail authors together! *gets shot* 

Anyway, the next chapter is going to get interesting! I think =S

See you in the next Chapter!

-greenninjapanda GNP-