[CONTENTID1] FIRST WIN[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]

Written by AlexWilson, edited and rewritten by AnnieWilson.

I was sleeping peacefully but that was disturbed when my alarm rang loudly in my ear. I groaned and turned the opposite way. The ringing carried on, stirring me from my much beloved sleep. I groaned and rolled over to slam my hand down on the snooze button. I was slowly drifting back to sleep when I felt someone grab my shoulders. They shook me violently and I opened one eye to see who it was. I glared at Sooyoung who had her hair tied back into a ponytail and her uniform fitted perfectly, much like the other two girls who stood behind her, their arms folded expectantly. 

I looked at the clock and saw that it was 5:45 in the morning. I huffed before I got up, swinging my legs 'round to the ladder before jumping off the top bunk. I dragged my feet to my cupboard and took out my uniform, the one which had been left atop my bed the previous night. I stood before the mirror and held the uniform over my body to assess how it looked on me without having to put it on first. The skirt reached my knees and the shirt sleeves passed my arm length. As expected, the uniform was far from being the right size. 

"Serena-ssi, if you want to have time for breakfast, you should hurry," Seohyun said and I waved a dismissive hand at her. Yoona scoffed and turned to leave, soon followed by Sooyoung and, eventually, Seohyun. I checked my phone, which was charging on the coffee table, for the time: 6am. 

With an idea of how I wanted it to look on me in mind, I layed the uniform out on the floor before running to Seohyun's cupboard. If anyone had what I needed, it would be her. I took out a marker and started marking different areas on the skirt, blazer and shirt. I took out dark thread and a needle from my own cupboard and started sewing my shirt tighter. I grabbed a pair of blue scissors from Seohyun's belongings and started cutting the skirt shorter, as well as the sleeves of my shirt. I sewed the edges neatly, ensuring it looked professionally done. Being friends with Krystal taught me a lot about fashion, including that a girl should never, ever go anywhere without a sewing kit and knowledge on how to deal with emergency fashion situations.

I then worked on the blazer, making sure it hugged my body in the right places and looked right on my physique. Once my job was done, I returned the tools to their respective homes and hung my newly fitted uniform on the ladder up to my bed. I grabbed my shower kit and left the room, begrundgingly going to the communal  shower room of the Hwaiteu house. I grabbed a clean towel from the towel bench and started removing my pyjamas, hanging them on one of the hooks of the stall I'd chosen. 

I stepped into the shower and turned the knob from cold, to medium then finally high. I could only shower in steaming hot water. I retrieved my favourite shampoo from my shower kit and squirted it into the palm of my free hand before putting the bottle back into the bag. I massaged the shampoo into my head before washing it out a minute or so later. After utilising my conditioner and washing my body, I went from hot to ice cold water. Only once my red skin had cooled down and returned to its normal colour, did I turn off the water. I wrapped the towel round my body and walked out of the shower stall.

"Yah...isn't that the new transfer student?" a girl asked her friend, both of them having just stepped out of their own shower stalls.

"I think so," her friend replied with a shrug. "Should we say hi?"

"Are you crazy? Didn't you hear what she did to that receptionist?"

"Wae? What did she do?"

I snorted and walked out of the communal shower room, returning to my room. I put on lace undergarments and moisterised my skin with the tropical scented cream my private dermatologist perscribed. I snatched my uniform from where it hung and put my shirt on, tucked it into my skirt and put on my blazer. Fishing white, thigh-high socks out of one of my drawers, I slipped my legs into them and tied the bows that were attached to the lace hems. I snorted at the flat shoes I'd been provided with and took out a pair of my Jimmy Choo mary jane shoes, slipping my small feet into them. I proceeded to blow dry my wet, wavy hair until it fell down my back in loose, golden brown ringlets. I put on jewellery, did my makeup before walking to the tall mirror in the room to give myself a once over.

Remembering the tie I left on my bed, I fetched it and added it to my outfit. Happy with the result — or as happy as I could be wearing a damn uniform — I flashed myself a grin. I walked to the coffee table and took the charger out of my phone, picking the device up. It was now 6:49am and I'd yet to have breakfast. I grabbed my salmon pink MCM bag and left my shared room. I ignored the looks I received from passing students and headed straight for the cafeteria. After filling a tray up with breakfast food, I looked around for Seohyun.

"Serena, is it?" I heard someone ask from behind me. I turned around and saw Minah standing with her flock of friends. I simply nodded, not bothering to waste my breath on confirming something I was certain she already knew. "If you're looking for Seohyun, you won't find her. She's not one to wait so late to have breakfast. She hates tardiness."

"Thanks for the info," I replied before turning around to leave. She tapped my shoulder and I sighed, turning back to face her. "What is it?"

"We've already eaten but...we'll easily stay and keep you company while you have your breakfast," she offered and I narrowed my eyes at her, incredibly suspicious of her nice act and eye smile. She continued to smile innocently and I mentally debated her offer. What was the worse that could happen? We got into a fight and I got expelled? Actually, that doesn't sound too bad...

"Sure," I agreed and she led me to what I assumed was her usual table. I sat down in between two girls, opposite Minah whom was also seated in between two of her friends. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. As the head girl, it's my duty to make all students feel welcome," she replied with a dismissive wave. I dug into my meal as she tightened her ponytail and fixed the light pink bow that was tying her hair up. I looked down at her tie and saw that it was the same colour, meaning she belonged to Guleum House. My tie was black with white stripes since I was in Hwaiteu House. Everyone had white blazers except for prefects, who wore black blazers.

"I heard you're from America, is that true?" one of the girls asked me. 

"Oh, my mistake. How rude of me, I forgot to introduce you," Minah gasped, dropping her hands from her hair. She motioned at the girl who'd just asked me a question. "This is Lee Soon Kyu but she goes by Sunny." She then motioned at the remaining three of her friends. "That's Kim Dasom, Han Sunhwa and Lee Hyeri."

"Lee Hyeri?" I repeated, looking at the short-haired girl. We were friends back in primary school, she'd often play with me, Jinyoung, Krystal and Song Jieun. The girl beamed at me and waved.

"Hi, Suj— Serena-ssi," she said and I smiled back, despite telling myself the night before that I'd only be nice to Seohyun...and maybe Hyoyeon and Yuri, since they looked like they could be fun to be around. But I couldn't help but show a little of my old self to Hyeri since she'd known me since I was younger. "How was Malibu?"

"Great," I answered truthfully. "I loved it there." She nodded and I saw a sad look flash in her eyes. I gave her a look that told her to keep shut and she nodded back. Minah glanced between us and her eyes narrowed slightly. I turned to Sunny and took a bite out of a slice of toast. "I'm not a born American but I got dual citizenship about...three years ago? I lived in Malibu for five years."

"Wah...daebak," she breathed, watching me dreamily. "Was it nice there? I heard it never rains." I chuckled because it was exactly what Jinyoung had told me the day I left.

"You heard right," I confirmed. "It was beautiful...always warm and sunny. The beaches were beautiful and you wanted to surf all day. Malibu is paradise on earth." The three girls stared at me, green with envy. Minah only looked slightly annoyed, probably because she hadn't expected me to steal her friends' attention. "The boys, too....wow. They were something else."

They squealed and clapped excitedly. "Have you kept in touch with any of them?" Sunhwa asked and I nodded. They squealed again. "You're so lucky. You know, Minah's lived abroad, too!"

"Oh, really?" I asked, redirecting my attention to the Head Girl. She nodded in confirmation of what Sunhwa said.

"Ne, I lived in Tokyo for two years," she informed me and added with a smirk, "I'm fluent in Japanese." The other girls nodded in confirmation, looking at their friend proudly. "You must be fluent in English...or did you go to Korean school in America?"

"No, I'm fluent in English," I replied. Amongst other languages. But I didn't say that out loud. Minah hummed in response, looking a little impressed. I decided to see if she had any buttons I could push. "I heard you're the captain of the cheerleading team." She grinned and nodded proudly. "I was thinking about trying out today."

"Omo, you totally should!" Hyeri beamed. Minah's grin faltered and her eye twitched. She quickly recovered, flashing me what I was starting to believe was her signature eye-smile. Hyeri nudged Minah and looked at the girl. "She totally should, right, eonnie?"

"N-ne...but...have you had any experience in dancing or cheering, Serena-ssi?" Minah asked.

"Yeah, I did gymnastics, ballet and kickboxing for years," I replied and her eyes widened. Hyeri grinned happily while Sunny and Sunhwa looked at me in awe. "No biggie." I revealed the smirk that was dying to surface, winking at Minah. "So, I'll easily get in your team. Don't you think?"

She cleared and blinked a few times. "I don't know, it depends if the other girls are as good or better than you." 

I snorted. "Don't worry, Minah. No one is as good as I am." So, I was being a little cocky but rightfully so. At least, in my own humble opinion. The bell rang, cutting my fun short. I looked up and sighed, getting up and stepping over the bench. "Thanks for keeping me company. See you later today." I winked at her and walked to the bin, dumping my trash inside and putting away my tray.

I went to the first class scheduled on my timetable which happened to be history. I opened the door and entered the room, all eyes falling on me. I walked to the back of the room, dropped my bag on the floor and sat down on an empty chair. I glanced around the class and found that I was still being stared at. With a simple glare on my part, the students looked away and returned to their own business.

A smirk found its way onto my face when Seohyun, Hyoyeon, Yoona, Hyeri and Minah entered the room. Following shortly afterwards was Jaehwa, who had earphones plugged into her ears and her hands in her blazer pockets. The six girls made their way through the full classroom and caught sight of me. Hyeri and Hyoyeon waved at me with big grins on their faces while Seohyun nodded in acknowledgement, Yoona made a face and Minah smiled. Jaehwa paid me no heed and went straight to her seat.

"Suj—Serena-ya! I'll sit next to you," Hyeri said and I nodded, not at all bothered with having her sit in the seat beside me. Minah frowned and grabbed her arm, pulling her back. 

"But you always sit next to me," she reminded her with a pout. "You're just gonna abandon me?" Her eyes seemed to enlargen and I realised what she was doing. She was using aegyo to try to get her way — and it was working. Hyeri looked conflicted and I rolled my eyes. An idea clicked and I cleared my throat. 

"Hyeri, I showed one of my male friends in Malibu a picture of you and he totally wants to see more," I lied and she gasped. She shrugged out of Minah's hold