Monday mornings are the worst. 

By far. 

And the only thing that could make a Monday morning worse was if it was the first day of school. 

Which it was.

"I wonder if there's a way to get out of this."  Saya sighed, tying her uniform’s ribbon around her neck.  Maybe she could convince her dad that this was a bad idea...

“Sweetheart, are you almost ready?” Her dad called up from the kitchen.

...or not.  He sounded so excited.

“Almost!”  Saya called back, trying to make her tone sound as upbeat as his.

With a huff, she threw on her blazer and grabbed her bag, stopping in front of her mirror before heading downstairs.

“You can do this,” she told her reflection.  “No picking fights, just be a normal, sweet high schooler.”  Or at least be as close to one as possible.

She gave herself one last firm nod before leaving her room and jogging down the stairs.

Hearing her entering the room, Saya's dad looked up from the food he was fixing, giving his daughter an approving smile when she entered.

“I knew that uniform would look good on you.”  He cooed while placing a plate of food for her on the counter.  “Aww, look at my beautiful daughter, you’re going to have to fight boys off with a stick when they see you.”

Saya smiled, rolling her eyes at her dad.  “Please," she flicked her hair over her shoulder, using her best princess-like tone, "you flatter me too much.”

Her father laughed, a playful twinkle in his eye.  “You know, I’ve heard from some of my co-workers that Seoul International is known for having ‘eligible bachelors of the highest quality’.”

Saya snorted, nearly choking on her food when her dad tried to mimic the tone of his female collegues.  “Please.”  She laughed, which led to her coughing.  “Don’t ever do that again.”

“Fine, fine, wouldn’t want you kicking the bucket on your first day of high school.”  He chuckled.

Oh, if only, Saya thought bitterly.  Instead, though, she gave her dad a smile and finished eating, scarfing down the last few bites when she caught a glance of what time it was.  “All done.”

“Give me two seconds.”  Her father called, running around to grab his jacket and keys.  He came back to the kitchen slightly huffing. “Okay, ready.”

Saya chuckled and followed her dad out to the car, sliding in to the passenger seat.

“To school we go!”

Saya tried not to grimace, turning her head to look out the window and letting the steady hum of music coming from the radio drown out her thoughts.

Unforetunately, the length of the drive wasn't especially conducive to ignoring one's thoughts.  About half way through, Saya's mind had already gone into panic mode.  Not that her worries were particularly unfounded.  She hadn't had the best experience in middle school, afterall.

Saya had been reprimanded all throughout middle school for being “highly excitable and tempermental”.  It was just a fancy way of covering up the fact that she had a hot temper that led her, on more than one occasion, to beat up anyone that tried to pick on or bully her. 

In her opinion, she hadn’t done anything wrong.  She was simply putting a stop to something that the teachers all seemed incapable of doing themselves.  They would’ve just sat back and let those brats run the school because they were too afraid of their rich parents.  It was total bull.

Admittedly, she hadn’t ever really gotten in trouble herself.  But, that was only because the principal had very obviously found her father attractive, and because Saya was their star athlete.  Hell, she had brought in most of the trophies that the school could boast about.

She had to try harder this time, though.  She wasn’t wealthy, at least not like most of the other students that she was going to be going to school with.  That meant she couldn’t carelessly pick fights.  Her sports scholarship would only protect her from so much.

To be honest, just the thought of having to bite her tongue and hold back if someone insulted her was enough to make her skin crawl, but she would do it.  If taking a few insults here and there meant making things easier for her dad, then that’s what she would do.

An quiet sigh escaped her lips.

There was also the issue of what could happen if she bottled up her emotions too much, though.  The very last thing she needed was to get too riled up and accidentally burn someone, literally.

She bit her lip.  Pretty sure no one would react well if they found out that I can make fire from thin air.

The fact that her and her father weren’t normal humans, that they were basically freaks, was a secret she would go to the grave protecting.

“Saya?"  Her dad's voice broke her out of her thoughts.  "Saya, we’re here.”

Her eyes refocused, taking in the fact that they weren't moving anymore, and were parked in front of a massive building that definitely did not look like a high school.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

“Thanks, dad.”  Saya said, leaning over to give her father a quick peck on the cheek.

 Before she could open the door, though, he grabbed her arm.  “Saya.”  He was using his 'serious-talk' voice.

“Yes?”

Her father paused, then sighed.  “Just…just be careful. Okay?”

Saya gave him an understanding nod.  “Don’t worry. I know.”

Leaving her worried father in the car, Saya got out and made her way towards the main building. 

As she walked she couldn’t help but notice the stares being sent her way.  Although, it seemed like anyone who seemed “new” was being sized up, and even if she was transferring in as a sophomore she was still technically freshmeat.  Nevertheless, it made her extremely uncomfortable, and in some cases downright offended. 

I’m not a ing piece of meat, she mentally snarled at a group of boys – probably juniors or seniors – who were blatantly ogling her legs and chest.

Tugging on the hem of her skirt, she could feel someone staring at the back of her head.  Unable to resist the urge to look, she casually turned her head, trying to make the action seem as natural as possible.

The first pair of eyes she met were a beautiful warm chocolate color, and they were coupled with an equally beautiful face.  Holy , he's so pretty.

She couldn’t help but freeze up a bit, not seemingly able to break the connection that had been created.  Well, at least until the warmth disappeared and was replaced by a flirty, mischievous, and completely unfriendly glint.

The boy she had made eye contact with raised an eyebrow, a teasing smirk playing at his lips.

Flustered from being caught staring - even though he had been staring at her first - Saya tried to look somewhere else but only ended up meeting the eyes of two other equally attractive boys who, unfortunately, looked just as amused as Pretty Boy did.

A strangled squeak escaped her lips as she tried to turn around and walk away as fast as she could, hoping to avoid anymore unwanted attention.

Of course, life just couldn't be that simple.

When Saya turned, someone harshly rammed into her with their shoulder, forcing a small grunt from her and causing her to drop her bag.

“Watch where you’re going, newbie,”  a voice, which had to be female, growled.

Indignation burned in Saya’s chest as she whirled around to face the person who had run into her.

The first thing she noticed was that the girl was a bit shorter than her.  The second thing was that – if the brand name perfume and bag was any indicator – the girl was definitely rich.  And the third, was that she was definitely an upperclassman.

Shame none of those things really mattered to Saya, though.

“You bumped into me,” she spat back, matching the girl's tone.

The older girl seemed taken back by the fact that Saya didn’t back down.  Her surprise quickly melted into contempt, though.  An expression that Saya responded to with a small smirk.

Just as the girl was about to get in her face to say something more, she got called by the group of guys that Saya had noticed earlier.

“Taeyeon, come on, the boys are waiting for us.”  One of the girl's friends said, shooting Saya a glare while pulling on her friend’s arm.

“Whatever,” Taeyeon sneered. 

Saya watched as Taeyeon and her friends turned and walked off, flipping their hair in an almost comical manner.

“Be careful?” Saya let out a bitter sigh as she reminded herself of her father's words.  Easier said than done.

Saya grabbed her bag off of the floor, ignoring the stares from curious students who had watched the brief exchange.

At least I won't be bored here.

The power of a high school rumor mill was a scary thing.  It seemed like everyone had already heard about how one of the new students had faced off against the 'queen of the school', and first period hadn't even started yet. 

The only good thing was that most people didn’t seem to know who said new student was.

Sitting by the window in her homeroom, Saya slumped down a little further in her seat, catching bits and pieces of her classmates gossiping about this morning’s incident.

Way to go Lee Saya, way to blend in and not attract attention.

She was too busy sulking in her thoughts to realize that two boys had walked into her homeroom, effectively drawing the attention of almost all the girls.

If she had been paying more attention she would’ve noticed that they looked at her with a flash of recognition, exchanging cheeky smiles before walking over and taking the seats in front of and behind Saya.

“Hey.”

Saya snapped her head up, locking eyes with a very handsome boy with bleached,  definitely against regulation, blonde hair and skin that looked warm to the touch.  He had full lips that would’ve looked nicer, in Saya’s opinion, if they weren’t curled into a 'I’m-hotter-than-thou' smirk.

“Can I help you?”

His smirk widened but he didn’t answer.  Instead the response came from the boy sitting behind her.

“You’re the girl from this morning, right?”  The second boy's voice was deep, sending a small shudder down Saya's back.

She spun around startled, leaning away from the boy, because if she could feel his breath ghosting across her neck, then he had been way too close.

Personal space! Saya shouted in her head, trying not to gawk at the second boy's face.  And she had thought Boy Number One was good looking.

“Well? You are right?” Boy Number One asked.

Saya let out an exasperated sigh, trying not to let it show how flustered she was right now, corralling her thoughts back to their question.

“If I said I was?”

Both boys smiled.  “Then let us be the first to tell you good job.  It’s about time that happened.”

Whatever Saya had been expecting them to say, this was definitely not it.  Clearly she wasn’t the only one, as a few of the classmates who had been eavesdropping let out audible gasps.

“Um…thank you?”

The boys both laughed a bit too loud for her liking, attracting even more curious, and some threatening, glances.

Saya frowned.  “What?”  She wasn't a fan of being laughed at, especially by people she didn't know.

“No, no, it’s nothing.  It’s just that we expected you to be a bit more…”

“y,” Boy Number Two supplied for his friend.

Saya rolled her eyes.  “Lovely. Is that why you decided to talk to me?”

Boy Number Two smiled.  “Not entirely.  We were curious what type of person wouldn’t put up with her .  It would’ve if you were a royal pain in the also."  He winked at her. "Although, you being cute was a pretty good motivator."

“Gee, thanks,” she replied with a dry tone.  She had no interest in compliments coming from flirts.

Boy Number One chuckled again and held out his hand.  “Kim Jongin.”

Saya looked at it for a second before reaching out her own to shake his.  “A pleasure.”

“And I’m Oh Sehun.  You know, it’d be great if you could tell us your name too.”  Boy Number Two, Sehun, smirked, also extending his hand.

Saya couldn’t help her lips quirking up into a small playful smile at the blatant cheekiness of the two.  It reminded her of some of her dad's friends.  “Saya, Lee Saya.”

“Well, Saya,” Jongin smiled – a real smile this time – before continuing, “It’s nice to meet you.  Please do take care of us.”

Saya laughed, deciding not to think about the potential mess she had just gotten herself in to, instead focusing on the fact that she  had just manged to make two new friends in record time.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Going through and editing.  Sorry for not having updated in so long, college is kicking my .

Hopefully will have a new chapter up for this story soon.