No, it wasn't enough. She needed more makeup.

"Amber, honey! You can't be late for your first day of school!"

She looked at herself in the mirror one more time, applied one last swipe of foundation, and sighed. "Coming, mom!"

"Don't worry dear," her mother said quietly when they pulled into the driveway of the school. "You look great."

"Thanks," Amber muttered, throwing her backpack over her shoulder and slamming the car door behind her.

A new school was supposed to mean new opportunity, a fresh new slate. She was supposed to make all new friends, join clubs, and maybe even get a boyfriend. But then she reminded herself that her life was not a chick flick, sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time, and entered the school.

She pulled the hood if her sweatshirt up and over her head, trying to hide her face as much as possible. Sure, she probably looked weird, but it was better than people gaping at her face. She glanced down at the crumpled paper schedule she held in her hand, and made her way to homeroom.

"No hoods," snapped a teacher walking through the hallway.

"But sir, can I please-"

"No exceptions. Off."

She hesitantly pulled her hood down, and watched the teacher's eyes widen a bit as he turned and walked away. The minute he was out of sight, the hood was back up.

She sat down in her seat in homeroom just as the bell rang, watching the other students scurry to their seats.

"Good morning class," said their teacher. He was a tall man with mile long legs, and messy brown hair. "Welcome to your homeroom slash science class. I'm Mr. Jung, and -"

The whole class starred as a boy ran into the classroom, trying to be as silent as possible, but to no avail. "Stop right there, Mr. Lau," Mr. Jung said, folding his arms across his chest.

The boy stood straight up, bowed, and muttered an apology.

"Get to your seat, please," he said, eyes locked on the boy as he went to his seat, which was unfortunately, right next to Amber. Just her luck.

"Anyway," the teacher continued. "We have a new student! Amber Liu, can you stand up please?"

This was the part she was dreading since she had woken up that morning. "That's okay," she said quietly. "I'd like to sit, please."

Mr. Jung looked as if he was about to protest, but then he bit his tongue and smiled. "Alright. Just be sure you all say hello to Amber and show her around if she needs help, okay?" The class nodded. "Alright, I'm going to pass around the class syllabus, make sure you bring it back tomorrow signed by a parent or guardian."

"Hey," the boy next to her whispered. "Hey, I'm Henry, nice to meet you."

"Hi," she said meekly, looking the other way.

"Where are you from?"

"Myeongdong," she said quickly, hoping he'd realize she wasn't feeling this whole 'conversation' thing.

"Oh, my grandmother lives there," he said, pulling out his binder from his bag. "Why'd you move here, from such a big city to the middle of nowhere?"

Knowing there was no way out of the conversation, she turned to face the boy. He was actually kind of cute, big bright eyes, and even nice cheeks. She mentally slapped herself for noticing such a weird thing. "Job opportunities for my mom."

"Oh damn, are you okay?" Henry asked, looking at her face with a mixture of curiosity and worry. "Did you get hurt on the way to school or something?"

"No," she said. "No, this is old." She tried to pull the hood over more to cover her face. She really didn't want to have that conversation.

"Oh, okay," he said, a little confused but shrugging it off. "I have a scar too, but its on my arm and smaller. From when I was really little." He pushed his sleeve up to show her. "I was a klutz as a kid."

Silence.

"So, what do you have fourth period? Maybe we're in the same-"

"Get to work, chatterbox, get to work! You'll have time to socialize at lunch," Mr. Jung said to Henry, smacking a ruler on the desk making him jump.

"Yes sir," he said, saluting and getting down to work.

What a weird kid.

Ah, lunch time. The time all school outcasts dread. With the awkwardness of standing in the middle of the giant cafeteria looking for a seat, it was like being in the middle of a shark tank. To her happiness, there was an empty table right at the entrance that no one seemed to be saving, so she sat down and picked at her sandwich, trying to make it seem like she was doing something really important and not just sitting alone by herself.

"Amber!" she heard a voice call. "Amber, hey!" It was that Henry kid, and she cringed as he plopped himself down next to her.

"Hi again," Amber said, making no attempted to hide the annoyance in her voice.

"Sorry to bother you, but this is where I usually sit. Mind if I join you?" Henry took out his bagged lunch and pulled out a bottle of water.

"No problem," she said. "You usually sit here alone?"

"Yeah," he said, popping a potato chip in his mouth. "But its okay, I don't mind being alone that much." Amber was amazed at how laid back Henry was about things.

"Why do you sit alone?" she asked. "You seem like the type with loads of friends. You're friendly enough, at least."

"Aw, thanks!" he smiled. "Eh, I don't have many friends here at school. I have friends at church, and at the track club, but no one seems too interested in me."

"Don't you get lonely sometimes?"

"Everyone gets lonely sometimes," Henry said. "But I've learned to be happy with the friends I have already, because those are the people that really matter."

"I wish more people thought like you, Henry," she said.

"Yeah, me too. Then maybe we'd have less sad people."

--

Mr. Jung was making his rounds about the classroom, passing back their latest test. Amber wasn't particularly confident about it, but she thought she at least passed.

She was wrong.

"Amber, come to extra help after school today, okay?" Mr. Jung said quietly, putting the paper face down on her desk. Her stomach dropped as he walked away, and the paper read 'fifty nine' in menacing red ink. This was not a good way to start off the year.

When the final bell rang, Amber reluctantly made her way to Mr. Jung's room, science binder in hand. When she made her way to his room, she stopped. He must've been on the phone, and she didn't want to interrupt.

"Alright, babe. Yeah, i'll be home in like, an hour. Okay. See you then. Love you too. Bye." He hung up and noticed his student standing in the doorway. "Ah, Amber, come on in! Sorry about that."

"It's okay," she said, sitting down at a desk, Mr. Jung following.

"So, the topic was tectonic plates, right? Do you know what you're having trouble with?"

Once forty five minutes went by of the asthenosphere and plate boundaries, they were just about finished.

"So," Mr. Jung said as they were putting their things away. "How are you getting along at our fine school?"

"Okay I suppose."

"Made any new friends?"

"Only Henry Lau."

"He's a really nice kid. A little much to handle, but really nice," he laughed. "You know, if you ever need anything, or you're having any trouble, I'm always here."

"Thank you," Amber said flatly.

"Now I know what you're thinking," he said. "That Mr. Jung is just another stupid adult acting like he knows everything. But really, Amber, say the word and i'll help you out."

Actually, that was exactly what she was thinking.

"Thanks Mr. Jung, seriously," she said, smiling this time. "I may take you up on the offer."

As her science grade declined (to her complete dismay), she was spending more and more time after school with Mr. Jung, who she soon found out was a pretty cool guy. They spent half their time actually doing work, and the other half happily chatting about their lives, random friends, or random thoughts. Amber talked a lot about life back home, while Mr. Jung talked a lot about his childhood, and his early years of teaching. To her surprise, Mr. Jung was actually in his forties. He looked much younger, and he definitely had the energy of a younger man.

"Mr. Jung?" she randomly asked, pushing her pencil eraser against the desk, her hood slightly covering her eyes. "How come you haven't asked me yet?"

"Asked you about what?"

"About, you know, my face. Everyone else has."

"I didn't think you'd want to talk about it," he said simply. "Probably because you hide it so much."

"I don't, you're right," she said. "I was just wondering. You know, you're different than most people, Mr. Jung."

"I've had a lot of time to learn about life and all it's wonders," he chuckled. "But can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Why do you always wear a hood?"

Amber looked at him as if he were stupid, which probably wasn't the best way to look at your teacher, but she couldn't help it. "To hide my scar," she said slowly.

"But I can still see it. It's completely visible."

"I -- oh," was all she could think of saying. She honestly never thought of it that way.

"In hindsight, it just makes you stand out more. It's like a knight wearing armor made of cloth. Was the object of the game to fit in?"

"More or less," she said quietly.

"Perhaps you should stop trying so hard to fit in," Mr. Jung said, slowly pushing the hood off Amber's head. "And start thinking about what really matters."

--

"You wanna go get pizza with me after school today?" Henry asked at lunch. He was wearing a sweatshirt with a Canadian maple leaf on it. "There's an awesome place down by the port docks. No one ever goes there because it's tucked in the middle of nowhere, but the food is top notch."

On Fridays, Mr. Jung didn't stay after school for extra help. Even though she had nothing to do, she really just wanted to go home and take a nap. But, remembering what Mr. Jung said, she smiled and said, "Sure."

On the walk to the pizza place, she took her hood off.

"Can I ask you a question?" Henry asked.

"Okay."

"Why do you wear a hood all the time? You're so beautiful, it's a shame to hide it."

"I'm... Beautiful?" Amber asked.

"Totally! You'd think a girl like you would hear that more often."

Actually, it was quite the opposite. Amber never heard people say she was beautiful, and she thought she lost the ability to be beautiful when the accident happened. Was Henry just saying that because they were friends and it was the polite thing to do? Regardless, Amber found herself blushing all the way to the pizza place.

"You know, you should join the track team," Henry mentioned, grabbing another slice from the box in the middle of the table.

"I'm not really into sports," Amber said. And by 'not really into sports', she meant she hated the idea.

"That's what I said before I joined," Henry said. "But its really fun. And besides, we can spend some more time together at the practices."

Amber giggled. "I think you just want to spend more time with me. You don't get enough of me during the day?"

"No, that's not what I meant," Henry protested, a little flustered. "I mean, physical activity is good for teenagers, and-"

Amber punched him in the arm from across the table. "I'll join."

The air was cold, the grass was wet, and being on the track team . The only thing that kept her motivated was Henry's encouragement.

It was amazing to see Henry run. When he ran, his silly, carefree demeanor was replaced with seriousness, concentration, and a will to succeed. Amber felt lucky, or in some way, trusted, because she was able to see such a side of him. She always tried to run as fast as him, but it was nearly impossible. She would run out of breath quickly, and Henry ran so fast he practically lapped her every practice.

Their first competition was on a damp, misty Saturday. Amber was annoyed that she had to wake up at seven am on a Saturday to begin with, but running in shorts and a tee shirt in that weather was far worse. She shook the water out of her short hair, but it was no use -- it just got damp the minute she began to run again.

After warm-ups, their coach told them to do their best, and gave them a speech that was probably supposed to be motivational, but just made everyone nervous. As they made their way to the starting line, she saw a girl staring at her face with a puzzled expression, and Henry. Henry, winking at her and giving a thumbs up. Amber readied herself at the line, and blasted off when the whistle blew.

That whole competition went in a blur. It was odd, really, because that had never happened any other time she ran. All she remembered was that girl that kept staring at her, so she just ran faster and faster until she was out of sight.

Apparently, running from your fears was a good thing. At least, when you’re on the track team.

Because before she could even realize there was no one in front of her, a whistle blew as she crossed the line, and her coach cheered. She’d won, and without even knowing it.

“Amber!” Henry practically squealed, running over to her and throwing an arm around her shoulders. “Amber, I can’t believe it! You won!”

“I won,” she repeated, with a slight smile creeping across her lips.

“I’m so proud of you, man!” he said, pulling her into a hug that was warm, and that perfectly contradicted the cold air.

At that moment, it began to rain, and Amber laughed as Henry dragged her by the wrist up to the school, under the awning where they would be safe from the rain.

The silence was deafening, and Amber saw it, saw it in Henry’s eyes as he cocked his head to the side, as if contemplating, and slowly moved closer until their noses were touching.

“Congrats,” he breathed, and closed the space between them with lips against lips.

Amber didn’t believe in feeling fireworks before, but that changed everything.

--


The sound of pencil scribbling against paper.

Mr. Jung tapping his fingers on his desk.

A branch hitting the window.

“Henry kissed me,” Amber blurted out, and for what reason, she had no idea.

Mr. Jung looked up from his desk. “Oh?”

Amber nodded.

“And are you okay with this?”

“Well... yeah. I don’t know, I think I really like him,” she said, looking down and blushing.

Mr. Jung got up and sat in a student’s desk next to her. “You know, when I first started teaching, I had a student that reminds me of you. Well, more of myself, but of you, too.”

“What was her name?” she asked, resting her chin in her hands.

“His name was Kim Heechul,” he said, getting a far off look in his eyes. “He was in the first class I ever taught, and I’ll never forget that kid.”

“Well why do I remind you of him?” Amber asked.

“It’s a long story, but-” Mr. Jung glanced at the clock. “We have some time.”

“I was young, and it was my first time teaching, ever. It was at this very school, actually. I was really nervous. Anyway I had this one class, and it was your typical group of teenagers. All the kids were grouped up, all had a friend to sit next to, except for one kid. That kid was Kim Heechul, as I would soon learn. He sat alone, in the very back of the room, with his head down on the desk, almost like he was making himself small, to not be seen.”

“Why didn’t they like him?” Amber asked.

“Patience, my dear pupil,” Mr. Jung laughed. “We’ll get to that soon. Anyway, back in the day they called the outcast type kids the wang-dda. Do they still use that term?”

Amber thought for a moment. “I may have heard it once or twice.”

“Well, Heechul was the wang-dda of the class. Completely ignored by everyone, and the only interaction he would get from the other kids was when they would beat the out of him. I felt awful for the kid, because it seemed like they hated him for no reason. The kid barely spoke, so why would they have a reason to hate him, you know? So I sort of... took it upon myself to help him. I would let him stay in my classroom during free periods so he wouldn’t have to face the other kids, and I’d buy him lunch if the kids stole his. But you know, I got to talking to him, and once I got to know him... The bullying seemed to make even less sense. He was one of the nicest, coolest kids I’ve ever known. A little odd, but who isn’t? But you know what I noticed the most? When I stopped talking to him and watched him walk away, watched him gather his things to go home, he just... looked so sad. I had never seen a human being look as sad as Kim Heechul did. I wondered if he just didn’t want to go home, because he really only looked that way when the day was up... so I asked him.”

“And what’d he say?”

“Well, it wasn’t going home that made him sad. He told me that all day, he liked to put up a strong front for people. He didn’t like to show weakness, because in his words, the bullies ‘smell fear.’ I was completely amazed that all day, this kid would pretend to be fine, like everything was okay, but then the minute everyone left, it was like a switch was flipped. It made me realize, that maybe everyone has something to hide. Perhaps not everyone is as strong as they seem.”

Amber was physically speechless, but her mind was racing.

“He told me there was someone he wanted to be, someone really different, but he was afraid. Afraid of what people would think of him, but you know what? The minute he started living the way he wanted to live, dressed the way he wanted to dress, acted the way he wanted -- things changed, and for the better. Sure, the bullies didn’t let up, and perhaps they became more aggressive, but that didn’t matter, because the minute he became the person he wanted to be deep inside he became happier. I didn’t see the sad look in his eyes anymore. And when we got a new transfer student, they became a couple, and he became even happier.” He stopped, and looked Amber in the eye. “I think that’s why you remind me of him.”

--

“We were d-driving, just on the way to my grandmother’s house, a-and someone came in front of us so f-fast we couldn’t stop,” Amber sobbed, hugging Henry tighter, who was rubbing her back. “Everything went black, it was s-so scary, and we couldn’t find Dad no matter how hard we d-dug through the rubble, but it was too late and he was g-gone! I was bleeding all over, and when I woke up in the hospital and saw myself in the bathroom mirror-” She looked up at Henry with tear filled eyes, pointing to the long scar running down her cheek. “I saw it. T-that’s how I got this.”

“Amber, I --” Henry stopped, and simply stared at her. Stared right through her eyes and down to her soul, and for a minute it looked as though he understood everything, everything Amber was too afraid to say. Henry simply hugged her again, his touch whispering words of reassurance.

--

“So basically, when you find the order, you need to figure out which rock layer formed first.” He pointed at the diagram on Amber’s desk. “For example, first-”

A knock at the door disrupted their adventures in earth science. “Hi, sorry Yunho. I would have called, but you weren’t picking up your phone.”

Mr. Jung looked up and smiled, as if this person changed his whole mood. “Aw, no problem, babe! What’s up?”

“You forgot your notebook at home, I wasn’t sure if you needed it or not,” the person said, holding it out for him.

“You know, I was pulling my desk apart looking for that all day!” Mr. Jung said, taking the notebook and kissing the person on the cheek. “Thanks for stopping by, Jaejoong.” He turned to Amber. “Amber, this is my husband, Jaejoong.”

“Hello,” Amber said, bowing her head slightly. It took a minute for Mr. Jung’s words to sink in, however. “Your... husband?”

“Yunho never talks about me?” Jaejoong asked, a glint of mischief in his eye, turning to Mr. Jung. “Oh, that hurts real deep, babe.”

“To answer your question, yes, my husband,” Mr. Jung laughed. “My sarcastic husband.”

“But your husband that was nice enough to bring by your notebook, you forgetful thing.” Jaejoong leaned in to kiss Mr. Jung quickly. “I’ve got to go, i’m meeting Yoochun for dinner tonight. Call me, okay?”

“Will do,” Mr. Jung said, sitting back down. “Have fun, love you!”

“So... husband?” Amber asked when Jaejoong left, still sort of confused.
“Yes,” Mr. Jung chuckled.

“...okay,” Amber shrugged, getting back to her diagram.

--

“Honey, you’re going to be late! You can’t be late to prom!”

Amber giggled. “One minute, mom!” She took one last look in the mirror, added a little more hairspray, and made her way downstairs.

She descended down the staircase, one careful step at a time in her high heels and long dress, feeling like a princess for the first time in her life. Her mother was at the bottom of the stairs with her camera, and beside her, smiling like Amber had never seen, was her prince.

“You look beautiful,” Henry said, taking her hand and leading her out to the car.

“I feel beautiful,” she smiled, making sure not to get her dress caught in the car door.