Piper woke up the next morning, her head scrambled and heavy from the night previous. All she could feel was the warmth of the blankets, the coolness of the air and the murky and tranquilizing layer of darkness, broken only by the red glare of the alarm clock, which read 6:32AM... her brain took a moment to process this, but her vision cleared and she pushed open the curtains beside her. The sun illuminated the room and she covered her eyes, still sensitive, even from the little amount of alcohol she consumed. Kicking off her sheets and stomping in to the kitchen, she began getting ready for another set of early morning classes.

 

Within fifteen minutes, she was speeding out the door, muesli bar in hand and her uniform fitted awkwardly on her figure. She was wide at the hips and had a small bust, and the dress seemed to emphasise these traits. Of course, it didn't really bother her that it made her look unattractive. The boys at her school were uninteresting and plain, not anyone you'd want to impress or date. Piper was content with having her romance limited to soap operas and books for now. She had tried dating once or twice, but it always failed or ended up with the other person ignoring her or getting bored. It wasn't something she'd try again.On the walk to school, she saw Ethel admiring a store window of globes and dusty books. They spoke briefly, but they could tell that they were both two tired to maintain a conversation so early, so they remained silent as they walked towards the school gates, a few blocks away.

 

The Fairedale Academy building itself contrasted against the grimy apartments that surrounded it. It was formed out of a swirling beige marble, and the gates were wrought-iron. A sturdy stone cloister engraved in latin lead up towards the mahogany doors that were being swamped with students, hurrying to get in before the late passes were going to be handed out.

“We have a bit of time to spare,” Ethel said, and she began walking towards the towering building in front of them. “Should we go see Joon?”

Piper followed close behind. “Yeah, if he's at school. I'm sure he has a killer headache from yesterday.”

As they stepped in to the gates, the smell of ammonia and timber polish was thick from the clean over the night. The hallways were difficult to manoeuvre through the melee of teenagers, but luckily Joon was not upstairs or in the crowded main hallway. The dance room was on the southern wing of the building, past the library and staff room, where slurs were etched in to the walls and doorways and it was barely inhabited during break times. Ethel was pulling her cello case by it's handle hurriedly, the axels of the wheels screeching and the case rumbling loudly.

“Can't you shut that thing up?” Piper said, and jogged slightly to catch up with Ethel.

“Oh, nobody goes in this wing, it doesn't matter. Classes haven't even started yet.” Ethel replied, and smiled. “Anyways, we're already here.”

The dance room door was dark green like the uniform of the school, and a frosted glass window that obscured the view of the dancers themselves nestled in the center of it. A quickly paced orchestral piece could be heard mutedly through the walls, and through the measly view, Piper could make out a tall and muscular figure, his movements efficient to the beat of the music. She knocked on the door.

“Joonie, it's me! And Tesh's here too!” she called.

The figure paused, and cursed. Footsteps over the wooden floor could be heard, and the door swung open.

“I'm busy.” Joon mumbled. His eyes had dark circles and he was running his hands through his hair.

“Sorry,” Ethel readjusted her gloves and beanie. “We just wanted to see if you were here.”

“Why wouldn't I be?”

“You were wasted yesterday night. And now you're prancing around all day.” she said, and her tone became concerned. “Don't you feel sick?”

“I have to practice.” he muttered and glanced behind to the radio that was still playing the upbeat instrumental. His voice was exasperated and quiet, and he seemed more despondent than usual.

“Joon, don't over exert yourself.” Piper spoke up. “Here.”

She put her hand in to her coat pocket and pulled out two crumpled dollar bills for him.

“Buy some water or aspirin. Take a break.”

Ethel reached over to his shoulder, and patted it gently, but he withdrew and stepped back.

“Y'know, you guys don't really understand. I have to practice. See you later.”

As the door slammed shut, Piper shared a look with Ethel, and they meandered silently to their first class.

 

Time passed at a snail's pace during lessons. Their class was small and quiet, which was expected of a private school, but it was difficult to get work done when the silence was so straining. Ethel spent her time looking down and smiling to herself, doodling stars on her notebook, connecting them with lines like constellations. All of her workbooks would end up covered in a veneer of latin, treble clefs and astral motifs, making her work barely legible. Piper had less productive hobbies- clawing at the shellac coating her desk, clicking her pen and chewing on her pencils. By the end of fourth period, as lunch break began, her gleaming new set of stationery was defaced.

 

They stepped out in to the courtyard and sighed.

“Ah, tough period, right?” Piper scratched at her head and stretched.

“Yeah, Mr Harland is super boring! We learnt this all last semester.” Ethel replied.

Piper was about to refute by telling her how much she didn't understand, but she was stopped by two hands shucking her forwards, towards the edge of the concrete path. She stumbled, and turned around to see Mir's face beaming and laughing.

“Mir!” Ethel screeched and kicked him in the shin, which didn't seem to take much affect on him. He had the mind of a child, but legs as sturdy as a horse.

“Ha, I'm only joking, Pip!” Mir chuckled and pulled Piper up from the ground and brushed off her jersey. “And Tesh, I'll teach you how to really hurt someone when we meet again tonight.”

“Hey, it's Joon.” Piper muttered, thinking out loud. He was standing on the other side courtyard, a few metres away, in a clump of prefects. All with clean combed hair, tidy uniforms, shiny shoes and the most-desired accessory in the school- a prefect blazer coated in badges. Those with blazers got first choice from teachers, access to places others would be blocked from. Technically, they were supposed to be role models, but most of the student body could tell they were the biggest rule breakers in the school, blessed with the staff's cold shoulders and mutual silence.

Mir turned and waved enthusiastically. Perhaps he didn't see, perhaps he was busy, but Joon simply blinked, bit his lip and turned his face back in to the mumbling crowd of students. Piper and Ethel could tell Mir was left despondent by his best friend's ignorance, so they shuffled over to the cafeteria to eat.

 

The bell had gone for 3:15, and school was dismissed for another day. Mir, Ethel and Piper met in the southern wing, waiting for Joon to emerge from the dance room. In the mean time, Piper and Ethel quickly texted their parents, explaining a “study sleepover” for their night out. Before they could receive replies, the door swung open and Joon strolled out, with a school bag slung over his shoulder, and his blazer thrown on in haste.

“Ah, Joonie!” Mir exclaimed, and patted him a little too forcefully on the back. “How was your day?”

Joon seemed a bit alarmed and un-focused, but he laughed lightly and nodded. “Good, thank you. Training went well.”

“Are you feeling better?” Ethel queried, and stepped towards him, speaking quietly.

“Yes, thank you. I was just a bit nauseous this morning.” he dismissed, and began walking down the hall. “Let's hurry, we're almost late.”

The walk down towards the music shop, though it was the route they took often to meet, felt different in the mid-afternoon. The way the sun angled in to their eyes, and the colours were more vibrant than under the moon and streetlights. After a few minutes, they found themselves outside a tall and thin door, with a sign that hung from the roof. It read:

“MUSIC: CD's, VINYL, CASETTES AND INSTRUMENTS”

 

Piper had been here countless times to visit G.O and Seungho, who both spent their times working here. They had found themselves in the right place at the right time, and they got a job that they loved. It provided an unstable wage, but the highs and lows had a habit of balancing themselves out eventually. Thunder spent most of his time here too, sometimes able to earn a couple dollars through busking outside or having Seungho pay him to clean the shelves and instruments when he was idle. Piper reached over and pushed the door open, revealing the rickety and steep staircase that led towards the shop.

The walls of the small entrance flight of stairs were covered in music signs and symbols Ethel drew over the summer, at G.O's proposition. As she walked down the stairs, she smiled and gently pushed passed Piper, eager to reach the store itself. Once Piper, Joon and Mir were in the main room, they could see why. Ethel was being shrouded by G.O's arms, and they were mumbling to each other, Ethel looking up at him, and nuzzling back into his shoulder.

 

Piper sighed, and smiled. She was glad they were happy, but their PDA's could get a little awkward. Mir and Joon were deep in conversation, and Joon was pulling Mir over to the piano on the other side of the room to show off his skills.

“Seungho,” Piper greeted, and rushed over to him. “How are you?”

“I'm fine.” he smiled at her and stifled a laugh at her school uniform. “Do you have a change of clothes? We can't look menacing with the four of you in Fairdale dresses and ties.”

“Of course!” she replied, and her eyes darted around the room. “Where's Thunder?'

“He was looking through the vinyl's a few minutes before you arrived.”

Thunder's face popped out from behind a shelf of woodwind instruments at the mention of his name.
“Good morning!” he said cheerily, and walked over to the pair. “How've you been?”

Piper was about to say something about his sense of time, but it was Thunder, after all. This was a good day for him.

“I'm great. Are you feeling up to tonight?”

“Definitely. What about you, Seungho?”

“Probably. I just need to close up shop, then we can head out. Pip, tell Tesh to stop making out with G.O and get changed.”

“Will do!”