[CONTENTID1] CHAPTER SEVEN - FIRST PRANK [/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]

“Where exactly are we going?” I asked Jaehwa as we walked through the more or less empty corridors of the school. Most people were at clubs, eating dinner or doing homework in their rooms. I checked my Michael Kors watch and saw that it was already 6pm. The cheerleading tryouts had lasted longer than what I’d expected.

“Away from these half-brained idiots,” she answered, pushing open double doors and walking through them. We continued to roam the corridors until we climbed up a long set of stairs, all the way up to the roof of the school. She pulled something out of one of her blazer pockets and unlocked the door to the rooftop. “And…here we are.”

“Why are we here?” I asked her, closing the door behind us. I followed her further out until she stopped and sat down on the edge of the roof. I sat down next to her and looked out to the seemingly endless stretch of land before us. I hated to admit it but the school was beyond perfect, architecturally and picturesquely. “Wah…not bad.”

“I know, right?” she sighed. I turned my head to look at her, studying her. She was pretty, with long orangey hair, big eyes and high cheek bones. She turned and met my eyes, tilting her head. “Now, what the hell are you staring at me for?”

I laughed and looked away. “I’m just wondering why everyone hates you so much.” She snorted and I looked at her again, raising a single eyebrow. “Come on, BFF. Let’s spill secrets and whatnot.” She laughed and shook her head.

“Seriously, what’s wrong with you?” she asked and I merely shrugged. “To answer your question…I think it might have to do with the fact that I’m a little bit of a .” She held out her index finger and her thumb, making a little pinching gesture. "Lil bit."

“A little bit?” I snorted and she shot me a glare. I winked at her and continued. “Well, don’t worry. Oh Serena to the rescue. Wanna know a secret?” She raised a brow and I leaned in slightly, lowering my voice as if it were indeed a secret I was about to reveal. “I’m also a bit of a .”

“Yeah, I’ve heard,” she chuckled. “But it doesn’t seem to stop you from making a few friends.”

“HA! Sure,” I scoffed. 

“No, really. I mean, Lee Hyeri looks a bit fond of you,” she said and I shrugged, neither denying nor confirming it. “And your roommates, bar Yoona, seem to like you. In the cheerleading squad group chat, they were telling the rest of us how they thought you’d be a good addition to the team. Hyoyeon and Yuri, too.”

“They’re a bit fake, aren’t they?” I asked rhetorically. “The only reason they’re kissing my is because I’m ‘exotic’, having lived in America and all. That, and I'm pretty as . Who doesn't want to be in the company of beauty?” She rolled her eyes.

“Probably,” she then admitted with a purse of her lips. She then shuffled back from the edge of the roof and folded her legs in, turning to me. I did the same, facing her. It was slightly windy outside, causing our hair to dance around us. I noticed in that moment that our hair were similar colours and our features, too. “So, about this plan of yours…what exactly is the plan?”

“I don’t really have one,” I admitted with a laugh. “My friend, Aron, gave me an idea but it's too...elaborate for a first prank. I just need to do whatever it takes to get kicked out but something tells me I’m gonna have a hard time.”

“Oh?”

“For one, I poured steaming coffee over a receptionist’s computer. It could’ve burned her, had I not been as careful as I was…” I mused, scratching my head. “Yet all I got was detention. I mean, something’s wrong there.”

“Welcome to my world,” she muttered. My brows shot up and she rolled her eyes. “I may or may not have tried to get kicked out, too. Actually, I only gave it all up last year, when I realised it was futile.”

“I never give up,” I told her. “I always win.”

“That’s what I thought, too,” she sighed, shaking her head. “But trust me, Serena, there’s no way out of this place. My father’s a powerful figure in South Korea and the school needs his money. If your father’s anything like mine, that’s probably why you got away with a measly detention.”

“Huh,” I huffed, the inside of my mouth. “Never thought of that.” I really hadn’t and, now, I felt a little stupid. Of course my father would have something to do with this, what other reason could it be? “Well, . I guess I’m just gonna have to try a little harder.”

“Yep.”

“And you’re going to help me.”

She shrugged. “What’s in it for me?”

I rolled my eyes. “Uh, the possibility that you’ll be excluded with me on terms of association?” She tilted her head and hummed in thought. I flicked her forehead and she gasped, rubbing it furiously. “Stop being annoying. You don’t have a choice, you’re helping me. I don’t trust anyone else.”

“Why the hell do you trust me?” she questioned.

“Because you have, like, zero other friends so there’s not really anyone you could sell me out to,” I said whilst shrugging. She humphed and grumbled incoherently, still rubbing her forehead. I rolled my eyes at her. “It didn’t even hurt that much.”

“Sorry, I forgot you can feel my pain,” she snapped, her voice full of sarcasm. I smirked, already liking this girl. “What the hell are you smiling at?”

“You. You’re just my kind of girl, Im Jaehwa,” I said and she looked me up and down suspiciously.

“Are you gay or something?” she asked and I laughed, shaking my head.

“Nope, I’m just super weird,” I replied.

“Yeah, I can tell,” she muttered. “So, if I’m going to be helping you…I think we be a little more creative. The coffee thing was genius in its own right but it’s obviously not going to get you into much trouble.”

“Something simple first,” I said. “Skipping class sounds like a good way to go.” She clicked her fingers and pointed at me.

“That’s a good way to start,” she agreed, grinning. “Next…Minah.” I groaned and she raised her hand, silencing me. “I know, I feel the same way. But that’s good. See, the thing with Minah is despite everything, she’ll act super nice. She has an image to uphold so she’ll never openly bully or torment anyone. She has this self-righteous attitude and connections with both students and teachers.”

“So how do we take her down…or rather, how do we force her hand?” I asked.

“Easy. We beat her…at everything,” she replied in a serious tone. “If there’s one thing Bang Minah is good at, it’s winning. She always wins and everyone knows it. What you did today in history, that’s gonna come back to you. She doesn’t take losing very well.”

“So all I need to do is keep beating her at everything she’s good at, right?” I questioned and she nodded. We both broke into smirks, the same idea entering our heads at the same time. “The cheerleading team.”

“Yep,” she replied, popping the ‘p’. “But that’s the last string, that’s way ahead of the plan. To steal her place on the team, you need to get everyone on your side. To do that, you need to find ways to persuade them.”

“I think I have an idea on how to do that,” I smirked, tilting my head to one side. “We’re gonna do it the Malibu way. But first…let’s see how far I can push the Headmistress. Any ideas?”

“Have you seen the movie ‘Wild Child’?” she asked and I scoffed. “I’ll take that as an obvious yes. We’re gonna do what Emma Roberts did to the pool…but a little differently. We’re gonna need three things: a load of dye, white beanies and matching slippers.”

“White beanies and matching slippers?” I repeated, frowning.

“Okay, so maybe we don’t need those two things…” she mumbled, scratching her head. “Still, it would be pretty funny.” She explained her idea to me and by the end of it, I was laughing my head off. “So…you like?”

“Like?” I scoffed. “Honey, I love. I told you we’re soulmates.” She rolled her eyes but chuckled. I got to my feet and dusted my knees. I extended my hand and she grasped it, letting me haul her up. We left the rooftop and returned to the interior of the school. “Why do you have a key to the rooftop?" She shrugged, not answering. I dropped the subject. "So, where to next?”

“Err…where would we find blue dye?” she asked, chewing on her lip. I did the same, thinking hard. 

“Is there an art department?” I asked.

“Ung, let’s look there,” she said and I nodded. We went to said department and roamed through their supplies, against the teachers’ complaints. Once we found what we needed, we stole as much dye as we could carry and fled to the indoor pool.

I slowly pushed the door open to the large room and looked around. Thankfully,