Irianda suddenly got off the bus on an impulse without thinking of the aftermath; all she wanted to do at that moment was to find out who the stranger was and if he had something to do with the accident.
Moreover, he looked like he was tailing her– not to even talk of the look in those cat-like eyes; they looked threatening and fierce. She had heard lots of stories from her mother these past few years about her father's clan but had rarely seen any of them. Are they out on the hunt for her once again? This and many strange feelings seized her mind subconsciously; blocking out any other voices around her as well as other thoughts.
Her foreboding intensifies as she dazzled through the few crowd~ finding her way to the other side of the street where she saw the strange figure. Her eyes deftly glanced around through the few passerbys but found no one similar. Just then, a figure in the same outfit as she had seen earlier on; caught her attention as she saw him round the corner of a shop nearby. She quickly scampered off without thinking.
She clumsily follows him from a distance but then; suddenly lost him amidst the crowd. She instinctively came to a halt– her eyes darted through the crowd but couldn't see him anywhere around. At that moment, a sigh of disappointment spontaneously escaped her lips. It was then that realization dawned on her. She deftly checked her wrist watch and it was about 15mins to 8am.
"Aish.." She sneered; suddenly regretting her actions as she was extremely late on her first day of High School while retreating her steps back to the bus stop. She didn't even know she had walked that far.
Fortunately for her, a bus was already available when she got to the stop. She hastily rushed in after few passengers and the bus sped off. Within the next 13mins, she was at the school. She took a glance at the huge beautiful building before her eyes and scampered in. Stepping into the hallways, she found it empty with the entire school in silence with just the voices of the teachers intruding.
Somewhere somehow, she managed to find class 3/4 which was her class. She sauntered in to find lessons ongoing with a familiar figure whom she hardly remember or perhaps had chose not to remember –standing in front of the board working on some questions. He scoffed on seeing her; grumbling something she could hardly hear but Irianda paid no attention to him.
After a brief introduction, the teacher allowed her take a seat beside an Ivory skin tone girl. A welcoming smile shimmering in her almond shape eyes as Irianda settled in her desk. At that moment, the bell rang for change lesson and the teacher shuffled out of the class– announcing her expectation of their assignments.
"Hi, I'm Ji–Soo." She affirmed, stretching out a hand to which Irianda took.
"I'm Irianda. " She replied, reciprocating her warm and welcoming smile.
At that moment, few girls swarm their way~ trying to be nice to the delicate skin new girl and also introduce themselves.
Elsie and her gang on the other hand, found this absurd.
"What's so unique about her ?" Jun Elsie questioned, diverting her gaze from Irianda to her friends Ae– Cha and Na– Ri who seemed provocated too.
"I don't even get it why everyone is swarming over her like bees." Ae - Cha commented. "This is annoying." She added, rolling her eyes.
Jun Elsie, Ae - Cha and Na- Ri have been friends since 5th grade due to the relationship between their families. They were known through the entire school as the beauty and brain gang of SAMBERK.
Irianda on the other hand didn't like the attention she had drawn to herself due to her previous experience in 5th grade. She had wanted to stay as quietly as possible on her own. In that order, she wouldn't need to be so stressed out when they find about her true identity and starts treating her like an outcast but that seemed to have hit rock bottoms now.
Neo sat in his desk with his arms folded across his chest while he watched from a distant as few students giggled around her– trying to get friendly enough whiles Irianda masked her discomfort with a fake smile; and scoffed. Just then, their English Language teacher staggered into the class and all the students hurried off to their seats.
The next hour found them listening attentively to the teacher as he went about the lessons with few students asking and answering questions.
After what seemed like an endless class section, the bell finally rang through the entire hallways ~ announcing lunch break.
The class spontaneously broke into a rumpus, making scraping noises with their chairs while they shrugged from their seats; finding their way to the door as they shuffled into the hallway which was by now flooded with students.
Ji-Soo was a bit surprised when she found Irianda not in anyway bothered to move from her chair. "Aren't you going for lunch?" She asked, jerking to her full length.
"You should go first." She answered.
Ji-Soo bobbed her head in response and scampered off. Shin- Woo, Park Ki-young and Dae- Hyung who were already at the door called out to Neo who seemed a bit destructed and gestured for him.
He nodded, shoving his book into his bag and shrugged to his feet– shuffling over to his friends and they glided into the hallway.
After few seconds, Irianda trod out through the busy hallway to the cafeteria. She headed straight to the counter for a box of milk which was handed to her after a few seconds. Her eyes instinctively lurked through the hall which was packed with the chitty chatters of students eating and stranded off– feeling a bit uncomfortable.
******
Neo and his friends had themselves enjoying their meals whiles chatting when Neo's phone rang. He spontaneously reached into his pocket for his phone; checked the caller ID and excused himself.
"Eomma (Mother)" He answered, shuffling out of the cafeteria with the phone against his ear.
He was still on the phone with his mother– his expression showing his disinterest in whatever she was saying as he huddled into the terrace adjacent the football field.
Staring into the distance, he caught sight of Irianda sitting alone on one of the benches on the field. His brows instinctively furrowed as a quizzical look swept across his face–subconsciously blurring out whatever his mother was saying.
"Neo, are you there?" His mother's voice rasped his ear, drawing his attention back herself.
"I'll call you back mum.." He muttered on an impulse.
His mother hastily muttered for him to hold on but then hanged up even before she could finish her words.
Just when he was about to head towards the field, a voice called him from behind. He deftly turned to the call and it was Dae- Hyung.
"Are you done?" He asked while Neo allowed his gaze to travel back to the field but to his surprise, Irianda was no longer there.
"We're leaving to the library." He heard Dae- Hyung uttered over his shoulders.
"Where did she go?" He grumbled quizzically, a bit puzzled.
"Who?" Dae- Hyung inquired, sounding sceptical as he didn't understand what Neo was talking about.
"Hm.., no one." He replied, turning his gaze back to his friend. "Let's go." He added and Dae- Hyung bobbed his head as he turned on his feet. Neo glanced at the field for the last time before darting after Dae.