Year seven, first day of  High school was my, what might one call it. Kind of like reality shoved all together. I was first introduced to sports, dramas, alcohol, drugs and and for obvious reasons that's why this story exists are the fights.

I was glad that the students from primary went to another high class high school where unless your rich or smart you wouldn't be able to set foot into those schools, i on the other hand am enrolling into a local high school down the street from my house.

First day of high school was today and I was excited and scared at the same time. Walking into Blue High School was like walking into my primary school, only bigger students and bigger grounds.

It was orientation day and students bought their parents with them, there were other parents lining up buying new uniforms for their kids from the office. Mummy came with me and we sat there in silence with students buzzing around in their new uniforms and their worried looking parents next to them while I sat in my old fading primary uniform.

Mummy was going to go to Salvation Army today for my uniform. Dark green skirt and tie and a white polo shirt with wasn’t really my color but they were my uniform, me and my brother Danny shares our school shoes and today I get to wear them because he has sports day today. Its kinda funny how the school name is different from the color of the uniform.

I was sitting in the hall when a bunch of girls already in their set of uniforms sat down next to me and one by one they all looked to the side at me. i waited silently for their insults to come but when no one said anything i looked to the side and they all smiled at me and i leaned back from them.

‘What school are you from’ the darkest of the girls asked me curiously looking at my uniform.

‘Blue primary’ I answered back trying to talk through the loudness of the crowd around me.

‘Oh don’t know anyone from there’ she said looking at the others if they knew anyone else

I just nodded and smiled politely edging away from them.

‘Well I'm CL, this is Minzy she pointed to a pale girl with long plaits. ‘And that’s Dara’. .

I didn’t see them after that till later on because different teachers were starting to split us up into our classes for the year. I was pretty disappointed when I got separated from the other three girls but they said that they’ll catch up later with me but i didn't think they'll actually want to come back and talk to me.

I said bye to mummy and followed my new class to our homeroom. It was kind of awkward in my new class. No one knew each other so it was a quiet start to the day. I only had one pen on me and felt like hitting my head against the wall when my pen decided to run out on first period.

I felt like crying watching all these kids with huge pencil cases packed with crayons and pens and rulers. All I had was a plastic bag to hold my lunch but I was hungry in the morning and ate it all.

One of the apanese exchanged girls that I was sitting next to me noticed my fidgeting and over at me.

‘Do you have a spare pen?’ I whispered at her going red

‘Sure’ she smiled. And turned around and went through her pencil case.

I was wondering if she even had her lunch in there from the size of the thing. A few seconds later she turned back around and handed me a light blue colored pen with animation figured on it.

I couldn’t help but admire it and the pictures were so pretty. It was just like the Japanese girl but I couldn’t tell who looked prettier, i was glad she gave me a pen, if i was in primary school ill be glad to even get a hello from other kids.

I wasn’t that glad when my teacher put us straight into work. English for me was hard enough but I understood it.

Well at least I thought I did.

First period went then second and I was dreading lunch where I was to leave the safety of the room. I didn’t like doing this "find a friend" thing. It wasn’t that hard, infact the Japanese girl came and sat with me on the silver chairs in front of a yellow brick wall at lunch.

It wasn’t awkward or anything just silent calm. It got me thinking, high school is my second chance to be happy and find a new friend.

Why not start now!

I turned my head to the side and studied Mimi. She was eating kimbab from a lunchbox her mum made for her. Just watching her eat made my stomach rumble. I didn’t have any more of my lunch left over so I was starving.

‘What’s your name?’ I asked her and she looked at me twice to make sure I was talking to her, looked around then looked at me again.

‘Mimi’ she smiled shyly. then she started blabbering on and on and on about how she came to South Korea two years ago and she loves it but missed Japan and how I should go to Japan and that if I had extensions in my hair and that she was jealous of my hair and that I want to study with her and that this school is huge. Blah blah blah, once you get her talking you cannot make her stop

Lunch went really quick and I was glad cause Mimi and I just found out we were in each others class for the year and even better I made a new friend. She even offered to share her lunch and i helped myself and tryed not to eat too fast.

We sat together in every class and I loved her cool and collected attitude and she soon taught me a few words in Japanese and I taught her some Korean words, it was weird how i never took to many people and I've known this girl for half a day and I never had the feeling of tediousness with her. She invited me over to her house one day which surprised me and I met her mum. I was so speechless when I saw her mum.

She looked over hundred years old and only came to my waist. She forced me to sit down in their dining room and put all sorts of china in front of me and placed five different kinds of Asian dishes on them all and gave me chopsticks. Mimi taught me how to use them but I got frustrated so I stabbed my food with the chopsticks to get it in my mouth.

Mimi’s mum told me off when I tried to help her with the dishes but loved that I finished everything she put on my plate. I had to give Mimi a look that made her tell her mum to stop giving me any more food before I exploded but her mum told her to shut up and complained why Mimi didn’t eat like me.

She took me up to her room and I loved it the moment I walked in. Her room was bright and colorful. There were giant teddy bears and pandas in a corner. And a thousand photos on her green wall with her Japanese friends making faces and posing.

‘I love your room’ I said spinning around

‘I know I decorated it myself’ she bent over under her bed and got out a plastic box and sat down and patted the spot next to her for me to sit on.

‘What is that?’ I asked looking over her shoulder

‘Here it’s a bracelet kit from Japan where you wear one and you make anther for your best friend or boyfriend. She looked embarrassed when she tied one on my wrist. It was made out of thick wool and was the color black but with anther gold string running through it. She gave me anther and said ‘that’s for your boyfriend’ and I snorted but thanked her and pocketed the bracelet and left.

When I got to school the next day Mimi was waiting at the gates for me. She hugged and gave me kiss on the cheeks like she hasn’t seen me in years. I didn’t know what to do so I just stood still. It was how she said hi to me and goodbye and I got used to it after a week or two and I started returning them.

Classes were getting more boring by the hour and Mimi was leaning on my shoulder almost falling asleep until the bell rang and we shot out of there into the school playground. We were eating more Kimbab when a fight broke out nearby and everyone started running towards it with excitement. I dragged Mimi up and ran to see what was going on. There was a guy in our senior year throwing punches with anther peer and I felt myself smile when the feeling of a sudden adrenaline rush came over me.

‘He needs more strength in his left arm’ I said suddenly and Mimi looked at me and raised her eyebrows.

‘I bet your loving this’ she said and I laughed wickedly for no particular reason.

We turned around and I found Dara and the other two girls standing there watching the fight. Dara saw me too and smiled and waved. ‘Hi’ she said and walked towards me. ‘I haven’t seen you around after the first day’ she said as teachers came and moved everyone away as people were booing them.

When we could move freely around I introduced Mimi to Dara and the girls and Mimi invited them straight away to sit with us.

‘Do you have an IPod Dara asked me one day. We were sitting on the grass with the sun burning my back.

‘I uh have what?’ I asked not getting it

‘You know an iPod she chucked me a flat white rectangle thing connected to earphones. I looked at it and realized I’ve seen most of the students have it here.

‘Nope’ i turned it around my hand

‘What planet have you been living on?’ CL gasped. The way she said it almost blew me away if she had an avalanche in her lungs.

‘I can’t afford it. ’ I put up my hands trying not to sound embarrassed.

‘Hey I work with my aunty at her clothing store. Do you want a job?’  CL asked

I'm not sure if I can work?’ I said

‘You can buy your own things with your own money. Think about it’ she asked shaking her head

‘Ok. I guess. ’ I shrugged

‘Good you start tomorrow. ’ eating the rest of our lunch

‘Why so early?’ i complained

‘Cause I'm quitting’ she laughed joined by the others.

We got comfortable at blue high school and we sometimes hung out for half an hour after school together. Mimi was the first to get a boyfriend. His name was Mir.

Dark and always dyed his hair colors that didn't suit his appearance. I wasn’t too keen on him when I first saw him. Always smoking like a chimney and already trying to grow a beard. like calm down we're only in year seven.

I was always fascinated by the way couples acted around each other. It was like they were already married like they knew what the other was going to do before they even made a move.

I was walking to English when I overheard Mimi and Mir arguing behind the classroom and I stopped and listened.

‘I saw you staring at her in PE’ Mimi’s voice was loud and hurt

‘I swear I wasn’t’ I could tell Mir was trying to keep everything calm

‘You were spinning her around. Why? You don’t spin me round around’ her voice got louder

‘Babe, why are you like this for I wasn’t doing anything serious I swear I wasn’t’ I could tell they were coming near and I quickly walked in to class and I looked up when they entered.

Mimi walked in looking like she was going to cry followed by a few seconds then Mir entered looking a little guilty.

So Mimi was the first to get a boyfriend and the first to have breakup. We all turned up at her place and kept her company. I swear I never seen so many tissues used and chocolates and ice-cream been eaten in an hour. The next hour it was laughter and more laughter. We watched a movie with her and when a sad scene came on she started bawling her eyes out again cursing Mir's name while I sat there not knowing what to do.

Now this is what I don’t want to feel like. I could feel her pain but I don’t know how to show it. I don’t want anything to do with guys if that’s the outcome, I've already being through that even though you wouldn't call any of the guys my boyfriend, i liked them from afar.

I lie back on the bed and look around her room again and saw there were posters of Japanese guys on her the back of her door, i asked who they were pointing with my head.

‘These guys are awesome and y’ she sighed happily and we all all looked at each other weirdly, one minute she was crying her eyes out, next minute she's kissing one of the posters ‘they’re famous in Japan’ she opened up her laptop and asked for my iPod i finally bought with the money i saved from working at my new job. She connected it to the laptop and I watched as she downloaded Japanese songs onto my iPod.

I didn’t have that much to do with music. I didn’t know who Bigbang was until they tied me to chair and forced me to listen to all their albums, watch all their music videos and forced me to remember all the members names by heart.

By the time i was walking  home that day I put my earphones on and listened to the songs she put on. I liked it, the beat made me move my head my head to the sides and I had to stop myself from dancing in the middle of the streets.  I got home to find mummy sitting casually outside the stairs waiting or me in her pajamas while smoking a cigarette.

‘Where were you huh?’ she shouted out to me

‘I stayed back at school to do my homework’ I lied without thinking. She accepted the excuse and walked back into the house and i was relieved she bought my excuse but i already knew that she knows i was lying.

I almost had a boyfriend, well not even close. Mimi set me up with this guy who said he liked me from a grade higher and she gave me money to go out during school hours and have fun with him. I promised her ill go but instead went home to find Mimi in front of my gate with arms folded in front of her.

'You promised me' she said looking like she was going to kill me

'Uh, how do you know where i live?' i said looking around.

Instead of answering, she took me by the arm and dragged me to the bus stop and waited with me for the bus, planning to get off the next stop and walk back home, my plan straight away diminished when Mimi hopped on the bus with me and waved goodbye to me when i got off at the cinemas.

I waited at the movies for him and while trying to remember his name, he turned up an hour later and to add to that he showed up with anther girl who looked  prettier and thinner then me, he forgotten about me and walked past me like he didn’t recognize me. I took the next bus home feeling humiliated and once my head hit the pillow my tears flowed out but i didn't make a sound. I cried silently to sleep that night trying not to wake up my sister next to me.

Mimi found out the next day and hunted me down and almost dragged me to her place and forced me to eat a block of chocolate while repeating the words sorry to me. I didn’t cry again that day , I felt too numb like I didn’t have any more feelings that I wanted to feel cause every time I think I'm going to be happy, I end up been as depressed and lonely then I’ve ever felt.