Hanmi wished that she would have stayed home and avoided school today, but she knew that if she would have stayed home; hell would break loose if her parents found out. Yes, there are some downsides to the ''perfect'' little miss valedvictorian herself. Social anxiety was number one, and it often made the smart young high schooler depressed whenever she has the whole world forced onto her shoulders.

Today was no different nonetheless.

She has to present in her last period, and the thought of getting up in front of a large group of people made the back of Hanmi's neck turn pinkish in color.

"You'll do just fine, Hanmi. You always do."

Those were the words of her father before she went to class this morning.

She arrived to school this morning with a huge weight on her chest, and everyone could see that Hanmi had something on her mind that made her seem avoidable. If Hanmi wasn't in a good mood, her high school peers could see it, and everyone knew not to question her when she was in her little mood swings.

"What's wrong, Hanmi? Did something happen with your parents again?" Her friend Rui asked.

She seemed to have drifted off again, and she blinked her eyes in the direction of where her friend was seated. 

"Uh, no. I'm fine." She mumbled.

Rui shrugged her shoulders and untied the small bandana that kept her bento lunchbox together. She opened it, and the aroma of cooked rice and pork filled Hanmi's nose. The smell was tempting, but Hanmi's stomach said otherwise. It growled in nervousness, and a small sound of discomfort came out of her lips.

Rui took a bite of rice and pressed her lips together in a firm line.

"You're acting really weird, Hanmi. Are you sure everything's okay? I can take you to the nurses office if you want me to." She suggested worriedly.

Hanmi shook her head and forced herself a smile so her friend could see that she was alright. 

"Rui, I said I'm fine. I'm-I'm just nervous that's all." She confessed with a sigh.

Rui let out a small guttural laugh. She placed her lunchbox and chopsticks down on the cafeteria table and leaned against the table.

"It puzzles me on how you're like the smartest girl in this school, yet you're as shy as a turtle on a busy street. You've always been like this before a presentation." She stated matter-of-factly.

Hanmi felt her ears redden, and she played with the piece of meat in her tray.

"It's not like I meant to be so shy. I just get really nervous, and my voice trembles when I read something off a paper. It , yeah, but I eventually get through it in the end." She sighed and cut a piece of meat.

Rui smiled warmly at her shy friend and finished the rest of her meal.

"That's the spirit, Hanmi. Besides, it's not like you're trying to impress anyone in this school anyway. Just be yourself."

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Eighth period came earlier than usual to Hanmi, and she didn't like it one bit. In every period she had hoped that the day would drag on even longer, or for something drastic to happen like the teachers lounge catching on fire; which seemed quite possible since the teachers liked to leave things in the microwave for too long.

But, the opposite seemed to happen and eighth period came like a bullet.

Hanmi clutched onto her History book tightly as she walked down the hallway, her long black hair covering the left part of her face. As Hanmi walked past some of the lockers, she could feel the glares of two girls behind her back, but she said nothing about it.

One of the girls snickered under her breath, and tapped her fingers against the binder she was holding. "Eunbi, can you tell me why that thing is number one in our school? I thought girls as smart as that were supposed to be pretty." She said it like Hanmi wasn't around, but of course she knew that she was.

"I don't know, Clara. She isn't pretty at all. I mean, look at how boring she is. Valedvictorian, you say? At least we know thats not over her looks because she'd be last place in our school."

Hanmi felt her heart sting at the harsh words from the two girls. Her lip trembled slightly, but she in her bottom lip as she continued her way to her last class with her head held down. She wanted to become invisible. She wanted to just disappear.

She finally reached her history class after the dreadful long walk.

Most of the students were in the classroom already; half of them studying over their notes while the other half were laughing and horse playing around with their best friends. It was sad in Hanmi's case because she didn't have her friend Rui in this period, but she just learned to deal with it and get the day over with.

As she sat down in her assigned seat, she kept her hands in her lap and waited for the teacher to step in any moment since the bell started to ring.

Male students groaned loudly once they heard the sound of their teachers voice.

"Good afternoon, class! Please take a seat and get ready for your presentations. I expect to see a lot of great effort and thought into these projects." Mr. Park walked into the front door, and went over to his desk with a cheesy grin on his bearded face.

Hanmi mentally sighed and placed her chin into her palm as she glanced out the window. She had no interest in this class what so ever, and she knew that she'd be one of the first ones to be called out.

As Mr. Park was taking roll, Hanmi could see from the corner of her eyes that Clara took a seat right next to her. Clara's presence wasn't hard to miss. Every time the flashy female walked into the room, you could hear the sound of heels clicking against the floor. It was ridiculous, really, that Clara and her other of a friend could wear such drastic shoes while the other girls had to go by the school dress code.

Hanmi glanced up from her seat and caught Clara smirking down at her as she sat down; her legs crossing over one another.

"Nice too see you again, Hanmi. I bet you'll do great in todays presentation."

Hanmi knew that presentations was her weak point in school, but it made her frustrated when Clara was merely mocking her. She was tired of the girls games and tricks. She didn't know what the hell she did to deserve such treatment from a being that knew nothing about hard work. It disgusted Hanmi.

"Nice too see you too, Fakezilla." She mumbled lightly under her breath. Suprisingly, Clara didn't hear her words and Hanmi was glad to say the least.

Mr. Park rubbed his sweaty forehead with a loud sigh, and looked over the class with a piercing gaze.

"Where is Jackson? Has anyone seen Jackson here lately?" He called out in a frustrated tone.

The class shrugged their shoulders and continued to ramble about unimportant stuff while their teacher finished up taking role. 

Just then, the door busted open loudly as a boy with his school jacket hanging over his shoulder walked in; a serious expression plastered over his handsome face.

"No need to get your in a twist, Mr. P. I've arrived." The boy said with a deep voice.

The class went silent for a couple of seconds with the occasional whispers from a few girls here and there. It wasn't rocket science, everyone knew that Jackson was one of the most handsome boys in this school, but also one of the most dangerous ones that you did not want to mess with.

Hanmi glanced over from the window and stared at him with a bored expression. Jackson was always an interesting character to her. He was handsome, no doubt about it. But, he also intimidated Hanmi in many ways. He never seemed to talk that much in class. He always liked to sit in the back, and avoided attention as much as possible. But, when he was the center of attention, he turned into one of the most cocky and funniest boys on the planet, and it scared Hanmi in a way. If someone as quiet and brooding as that can turn outgoing and funny in seconds, how come Hanmi couldn't do that?

"Thank you for joining the class, Jackson. You may now go take your seat, because miss Hanmi is about to present." Mr. Park replied in an authorative voice.

Hanmi cursed mentally, and rubbed the back of her neck with a hiss. Clara eyed her with another smirk and laughed under her breath until she kept her eyes on Jackson as he made his way all the way to the back.

Hanmi slowly averted her eyes curiously in the direction of him and she caught his gaze. She stared at first, but once she felt the glare from Clara she coughed awkwardly and glanced back up to the front of the class with a slightly pink face.

"Now, miss Hanmi. Will you please come up to the front of the class and present your project?" Mr. Park looked in her direction.

Hanmi felt a million eyes go towards her, and she felt a nervous bead of sweat start to form on the back of her neck. She gulped and slowly got up from her seat and drug her feet towards the teachers front desk.

She looked up at the projector screen and noticed that her project was on full display on Mr. Parks computer. It embarrased her even more because she didn't know that he would have a copy of it on his computer, and that the whole world could see all the embarrasing pictures she chose with this particular subject.

She could hear a few giggles from the girls and her face reddened from the pressure that was now on her.

She avoided making eye contact with anyone, and nibbled down on her bottom lip.

"U-um, well, this is my project." She mumbled with a mere whisper and felt her cheeks burn with such intensity that it nearly bothered her too death.

"Dang, what's wrong chili pepper? I didn't know that your face could turn so red." She heard Clara say in the back, and the whole class erupted in fits of laughter, even the teacher seemed to chuckle lightly.

"Oh-Oh, I'm sorry..." She felt tears brim at the edge of her eyes, and she clenched her fist together with trembling fingers. She never had such anxiety attacks before, but this one seemed to be the most horrible one she's had.

The class continued to bust out in deep laughs, and she closed her eyes in pure embarrassment.

"I like chili peppers."

The class stopped laughing and turned their heads around to the back of the class. Hanmi slowly opened her wet eyes, and tilted her head up to see where the deep voice came from, her lips pressed together firmly.

"Yeah, I like chili peppers. Besides, I think that color of red on your cheeks looks cute. Not even that Clara could pull it off better than you can." The person with the deep voice revealed to be Jackson; a smirk appearing over his lips.

The whole class gasped at the diss towards the flashy female, and Clara felt her whole face turn a bright shade of maroon.

"See? Now that's an embarrassing color I must say. It makes her look ridiculous with all that pounds of makeup on her face, right?'' He looked towards Hanmi and his smirk widened.

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A(N): I'd like to thank my 30 subscribers. I didn't know that I'd get 3o subscribers right off the bat .o. But, it's a blessing, I must say. So, how did you guys like the first chapter? Eh, it wasn't that good, but the story will start to progress and interesting things will begin to happen ;D With that being said, please comment. I'd love to hear your feedback!