“Lucy. It is a pleasure having you attend our school,” the principal of Asrop High School got up from behind her desk and extended her hand. I took it and received an overly energetic hug. “You will find that our school takes great care of our transfer students. If there is any problem, please come to me immediately.” I smiled a timid smile.

“I appreciate it. And it is an honor to be able to attend this school. Thank you,” I bowed. The principle laughed, flustered.

“Nothing to thank me. Enjoy your stay,” she hands me a sheet of paper. “This is your schedule and your new class will be Class10b.” I thanked her again and then made my way out of her office. She was so friendly. Sadly, I knew it wasn’t just because of me. She was glad a student with my grades was attending this school, yes. But her eyes were keen on my father’s bank account. I sighed and began walking down the hall. Class had already begun, so the hall was empty. If I had worn high heels my steps would have clicked and echoed throughout the hall, but I had my Nike shoes on. I let my hand run over the spotless lockers. My fingers bumped over all the locks and edges. Which one would be mine? I finally arrived in front of the classroom 10b. Taking a deep breath I entered.

“So you multiply by x to bring it over to this side, before adding four to isolate…” the teacher broke off and looked at his students. They weren’t paying attention to him, but staring at the entrance. He looked over and realized me. “Oh… Um, I-I suppose you are the new student?” I bowed towards him. “Oh, okay. Right, I was told you would come in the second half year,” he murmured to himself. Facing the class again he motioned me forward. “Class, please meet your new classmate. She is a transfer student from…?”

“Germany,” I answer his unspoken question. I face the class. So many new faces. How would I ever remember everyone’s name? “Hello, I am Lucy. I hope to get along with everyone,” I said. I didn’t know what to do after that. I guess a bow couldn’t hurt. After I bowed, everyone clapped.

“Next to the window is a free seat, please sit down,” the teacher said. “We are doing math right now. It is alright if you do not understand anything, I can help you catch up after class.” I nodded and steered towards my seat. I noticed the girl sitting in front of me was half asleep. I laughed to myself. In Germany you would be sent to the principle for not even looking at the teacher. “So let’s move on to the next problem. Um… Yuri! Could you please share your problem sheet with Lucy?” He looked over at the sleeping girl in front of me. She didn’t stir. Maybe she wasn’t just half asleep. I nudged her chair, hoping it would wake her. Her head flew up and she looked around startled.

“Yes, teacher?” her voice is rough from sleep. The teacher sighed, as if he had given up on her a long time ago.

“Please share your problem sheet with the new student,” he said again. She followed his gaze over to me.

“Yeah sure, come over,” she said. She scooted her chair and I came over and placed mine beside her. “Thanks for nudging me awake,” she whispered. I smiled over at her.

“Didn’t sleep much last night?” I asked.

“I never sleep enough,” she replied. I noticed the eye bags under her oval shaped eyes.

“Yuri, would you be so kind as to explain to the class how this next problem should be solved?” Yuri groaned, quietly enough for the teacher not to hear.

“Why does he ask me when he knows I slept through the explanation?” she grumbles.

“We are waiting, Yuri,” the teacher taps his impatient foot. I look at the problem.

2/3x-4.6a= 5x+2a-9

I laughed to myself. School was hard in Korea? Isn’t that what Tina said? I learned this in 7^th grade. I quickly jotted down the steps to get what x is, and shoved the paper towards Yuri. She is startled and looked over at me.

“Yuri,” the teacher said, annoyed.

“Um, yes, yes, I am coming,” she exclaimed and got up. She walked to the front of the class and began writing down the equation. She looked back down at the problem sheet she was clutching onto and copied the solution down. “First you multiply by two, so that the um.. fraction goes away,” she began. When she was done, the teacher was flabbergasted.

“So you were paying attention! Good job Yuri,” he said, and patted her on the back. She came back to her seat and sat down.

“Thank you,” she mouthed at me. I waved it off and kept doodling on my math paper. Shortly after the bell rung. I got up from my chair and began moving it back to my desk. I noticed everyone’s eyes on me. I squirmed, a little uncomfortable.

“They always stare if you are different,” Yuri said, turning around to face me. I gave her a smile. “They will talk to you son enough, once they got over the shock of how pretty you are.”

“Pretty? Me? No, I’m not,” I replied. “But thank you.” She looked at me in a weird way.

“You sure are different than everyone else here,” she murmured to herself. “I am Yuri, as you probably already know,” she said and stretched out her hand. I embraced it, shaking her hand lightly.

“So can you help me through my first day? I am rather shy and it would be nice if at least one person would talk to me,” I said. Yuri laughed.

“Sure, if you promise not to forget about me once you join the popular crowd,” she said, and leaned down, placing her elbows on my desk. “Don’t forget this potato right here.” I rolled my eyes and looked around the classroom. Everyone was sneaking looks over at us. I knew they were talking. Gossip, gossip, gossip. Yip, I was in High School alright. Guess this was something universal. The bell rung for second period and Yuri turned back around to her desk. A new teacher walked in and English began. I stared out the window, bored out of my mind. English was my mother tongue. I lived there for over five years. The teacher gave us a worksheet where we should fill in the blanks with the correct verb form. I finished it in under three minutes and began doodling around the edges. Tina was going to get an earful when I saw her again. Hard, my . I did notice that Yuri wasn’t sleeping, but actually paying attention to the teacher and working on the worksheet. She was the first done in the class, after me. I tapped her shoulder with my pen.

“You like English, huh?” I asked. She looked over, startled.

“Yeah, I do. It’s really fun,” she said. “And, I am good at it.” She smiled, full of self-confidence. The bell rung and the teacher left the classroom. “Come on,” Yuri said. “We have sport now.”

“Sport?” I asked, getting up. I followed her quietly.

“You should feel honored. Usually I skip sport, but for you I shall brave the sweat and torture,” Yuri said, nudging my side. I laughed.

“We could just ditch together,” I said.

“Oh no, bad idea. I won’t be the one to ruin your reputation before you even have one,” Yuri replied.

“So is your reputation already ruined?” I .

“Yeah, as a matter of fact it is,” she replied, smirking over at me. 

I linked our arms together and we left for sport.