Over the weekend, one of my classmates’ fathers was arrested for embezzling funds from a charity organization – Sunyoung called to tell me all the gossip – so when I got to school on Monday, my father’s arrest seemed to be old news. All anybody could talk about was Mr. Lee and how he was going to use his immense wealth, prestige, and power to keep himself out of prison.

Well, everybody except Jessica and the rest of the Bimbo Brigade. They, at least, seemed determined to keep the negative spotlight on me and my petty criminal of a father.

I was walking to my first class with Jonghyun when we passed Jessica and a group of other students. “You know, it’s not like Mr. Lee is the first criminal dad at this school,” she said loudly with an airy little laugh. “At least he’s going to be able to keep himself out of jail. Not like somebody’s father.” The group laughed.

“Just ignore her,” Jonghyun muttered, his arm around my shoulder comfortingly. “She’s pathetic.”

“Easy for you to say,” I muttered.

As I had known she would, Jessica decided to bring up my father’s incarceration again while we were changing back into our uniforms after gym class that day.

“So do you go down to the prison and visit the felon?” she tittered, tossing her sheet of hair over her shoulder.

Joohyun frowned and blushed, looking down at her shoes.

I turned my back on the group, shrugging into my blouse. It was easier to ignore someone like Jessica than to rise to the bait.

“Hey you piece of trash,” Jessica snarled, reaching out and grabbing my arm. “I’m talking to you. Don’t you have any idea of how to treat your betters?”

“S-stop it…”

We all stopped and looked at Joohyun, who looked terrified at the words that had come out of . Even Amber, who had half-turned to tell Jessica off, was speechless.

Jessica opened and closed several times, as if she couldn’t quite find the words to express her shock and bewilderment. “Excuse me?” she finally said, her eyebrows arching so much they practically disappeared into her hairline.

Joohyun swallowed audibly, obviously terrified, but said, “You don’t need to pick on her so much,” she muttered, her voice barely more than a whisper. “She’s got it hard enough as it is without you being so mean.”

It was clearly the first time any of the bimbos had ever stood up to Jessica, because she very obviously had no idea how to handle this sort of insubordination. “Excuse me?” she repeated, her voice raising into dangerous octaves. “Why are you standing up for this-this nobody?”

Joohyun’s hands balled into fists. “She’s not a nobody,” she said, her voice a little bit louder now. “She’s my sister.”

There were audible gasps all around the locker room – everyone, not just my friends and the bimbos, had stopped to watch the altercation.

Jessica was flabbergasted. “What?” she said.

“Narae is my half-sister,” Joohyun said, her voice steady even though her hands were trembling. “If she’s a nobody, then I am too.”

Silence followed this admission. Nobody seemed to know quite what to say.

Finally Jessica drew herself up to her full height, looking down her nose at Joohyun. “If you want to associate with trash, then go right ahead. I guess that’s where you really belong.” Then she turned and flounced from the locker room, her little clones following after her.

I put my hand on Joohyun’s shoulder. “That was really nice of you,” I said gently.

But she didn’t seem to hear me. She seemed to be in shock. “Oh my god,” she muttered to herself, her voice shaking. “What have I done? They’re never going to talk to me again!”

“You don’t need them,” Krystal assured her with a smile, putting an arm around her shoulder. “They’ve all got nasty personalities anyway.”

“But they’re my friends!” Joohyun protested.

Amber snorted. “What great friends that will ditch you anytime the going gets tough,” she said sarcastically, closing her locker door. “You’ve really picked winners there, Joohyun.”

I shot her a look that silenced her – at least momentarily. “It’s okay, Joohyun,” I said. “Why don’t you hang out with us? I know Jonghyun and Minho and everyone will be thrilled for you to join us.”

She gave me a look that hardly dared to be hopeful. “R-really?” 

So if you're still reading this story, thank you 

I'm thinking of putting this one on hiatus - perhaps indefinitely. My daughter is due in 11 weeks and things have been - and will continue to be - so hectic that I can't promise any sort of reasonable update schedule.