[CONTENTID1]FRENEMY?[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]

Written by AnnieWilson

Six Months Later - Present Day

So here I was, standing before the boarding school that my father had decided to send me to. He hoped it would ‘straighten me out’. It’d taken a surprising amount of work to push him this far! As soon as I’d made my promise to ruin him, I’d started acting out in school.

Aron helped me, of course. He helped me get caught by teachers, he helped spread the rumours. He was my righthand man in all of this and I couldn't have done it without him. He was the only one who knew the truth behind the rumours — even Krystal had stopped talking to me because she, herself, had started believing them. She’d been far too quick to judge me and it was then that I realised that she’d never really been a true friend to me.

“Who the hell is she?” I heard one of the uniformed students ask. I inwardly groaned at the thought of having to wear one, too. I liked wearing what I wanted when I wanted to — uniforms didn’t exactly play into that mindset. 

“Is she new?” another student asked.

“She doesn’t look like a new student. Where is her uniform?”

“I don’t like her.”

“Oh, get over yourself. You don’t even know her.”

I smirked to myself as I locked my car over my shoulder and made my way up the driveway. Students parted like the red sea, making a path for me all the way into the school. I kept my Aviators on my face — after all, I had an image to uphold. Before even stepping foot onto this property, I’d configured a plan to get kicked off it. My record currently sat at six weeks — I planned on beating it.

“How quickly can I get out of this ?” I mumbled under my breath, looking at my surroundings through my glasses. I saw an older woman dressed crisply in a suit with her hair tightly bunned up. She smiled and stopped in front of me. 

“You…” her eyes searched for mine. She glanced down at my outfit and made a face, but quickly covered it with a plasticly bright expression. “You must be Oh Sujin. I’m —”

“Serena,” I corrected, cutting her off.

“Excuse me?”

“My name,” I clarified. “It’s not Oh Sujin. It’s Oh Serena.” Sujin was the sweet girl I was before I was sent off to America. It was even the girl I was in Malibu, whenever my other friends were not around. But that girl was gone, she died along with her mother. But to be less dramatic, I preferred Serena anyway. I’d grown used to it. 

“I…see,” the woman mumbled, then smiled again. “Nice to meet you, Miss Oh. My name is Yoon Jin Ah. I am the headmistress of this girls boarding school. I’d like to welcome you to Cheonsa Academy.” An all-girls boarding school…how medieval. Didn’t Cheonsa translate to ‘Angel’ in English? How cheesy. “I’m sure you’ll fit right in. Let me take you to your dorm.”

“Arasso,” I sighed and she winced a little. What, was I too informal? I shrugged and followed her through the school. The corridors were old fashioned, they looked like they were built in early 20th Century England. This was Korea, I didn’t understand why the school looked so British. I had to admit, it was a beautiful building. I believed most of it was old fashioned until the headmistress took me to a more modern wing.

“This is the Hwaiteu residential House,” she informed me as we walked down a long corridor with large windows that showcased the grand, green outdoors. This school was no joke, even I could admit that. “There are four residential houses in the school, Hwaiteu is the most updated but they’re all equally fantastic. The students live on the east and west wings of the building, the rest is made up of classrooms, common rooms, gymnasiums, et cetera. The school was founded by multiple chaebol families and they continue to fund it.”

I pushed my glasses up onto my head and took a proper look around.

“The girls here range from the ages of 16 to 19. Since you’re seventeen and a half, you’ve been placed in 11th grade. This, here, is your dorm room,” she said as she stopped in front of a wooden door. She knocked lightly then entered. The room was painted white, with black, silver and reddish-orange decorations. At the end were bunk beds, there was a coffee table in the centre and two desks against the opposite wall. One huge window gave the view of the field outside. Three girls sat on the beanbag chairs surrounding the coffee table, all of them chatting away to one another. They stopped and looked up as we entered the room.

They jumped to their feet and bowed. “Annyeonghaseyo, Headmistress!” She smiled and nodded her head at them.

“Hi, girls. This is our new transfer student, Oh Sujin,” she informed them.

“Serena,” I corrected again and she cleared .

“Yes, Oh Serena. She’ll be taking the bed Yang Sora had before her transfer to Wanjeon High,” she continued, spitting the last two words out bitterly. I raised an inquisitive brow but said nothing. I didn’t really care about the history of the school or their rivalries with any other school. I wasn’t going to be here for long anyway. “She's in 11th grade. You’ll be her guide and show her the ropes. Take good care of her.”

“Ne, Headmistress,” they replied, bowing again. The woman left the room, closing the door behind her. I tilted my head as I inspected the girls and they did the exact same to me. They were all dressed in their respective uniforms with their hair tied up in slick ponytails and their makeup kept bland (in my own humble opinion). I wondered if I had ever been as boring as they looked…

One of them stepped forward. “I am Seon Joo Hyun but I go by Seohyun. I’m a junior and the Depute Head Girl of the Hwaiteu House so I’ll be able to take good care of you.” She bowed and I sighed, returning the gesture only because she looked like a nice girl. I didn’t want to hurt her precious feelings…yet. She waved her hand in the direction of the two other girls. “This is Im Yoon Ah and Choi Soo Young. Call them simply Yoona and Sooyoung, they're in our year.”

“Oh Serena,” I replied curtly. I walked over to the bunks and wiggled my index finger at them. “Which one’s mine?”

“Top left, above mine,” Sooyoung answered and I nodded in thanks, throwing my bag onto the bed. “Where are your other bags? Your uniform?”

“Being delivered.” I checked the time on my phone. “Actually, they should be here right about…” The door opened and two older men entered, placing my luggage in the centre of the room before bowing and exiting just as silently. “Now.” I sat on the floor with my three suitcases and opened the first one up.

“Why…why do you have so much stuff?” Yoona asked. Sooyoung got to the floor with me and gasped, picking up a pair of my shoes. “Yah, Sooyoung-ah, you cant just touch someone’s stuff without asking!”

“But they’re so beautiful,” she gushed, hugging them. I snatched them from her and put them back in my suitcase. She pouted and her shoulders slumped. 

“I hope you have a uniform somewhere in there,” Seohyun said and I snorted, continuing to sort through my clothes. “Yah, did you hear me?” I turned to her and gave her an icy glare.

“I’m not your friend so don’t use informal speech with me,” I replied in a clipped tone. She gulped and looked away, turning around. I refocused my attention on my suitcases and started taking my things out, filling them into my designated closet and drawer spaces. “Aish, why do they give so little room?” I scratched my head as I thought about how or where else I would store my clothes. “Screw it.” I left the remaining items in one suitcase, shoving it under the left bunk. 

“Come on, I have to show you around the school and explain the rules,” Seohyun mumbled as she left the room without a response from me. I made a face and went after her, keeping my glasses on my head. As we walked down the corridor, she was greeted by multiple girls and complimented on her outfit. What the hell? She’s wearing a boring old uniform. I shook my head in disbelief. “So, as you know, this is Hwaiteu House. The three other houses are Nalgae, Cheongug and Guleum House. Each house has four housemistresses and four residential advisors. Oh, and a mascot.”

“Does any of this even matter?” I scoffed.

“Nope,” she replied honestly. “Not until we have inter-house competitions but those only happen once a month.” She took me through to the library, explaining when I could use it and for how long. She then continued touring the school. “We have a curfew. No one is allowed out of their rooms after ten o’clock at night, lights out at ten-thirty.” I grunted, rol