Blossomville is a small town and the Wisterias are well acquainted by this fact, having born and bred in the very same place, but for the first time in the entirety of her thirty year long life, Jill Wisteria was questioning it.
Was Blossomville really that small of a town or had the deities flipped her off the 'favoured list' when she lied to old Mrs. Mackenzie about the price of the curtains because she wanted them for herself?
Certainly, one of the two reasons were at fault for the Kang family to be moving in right beside their house. That too, in a freaking mansion! Which implied that Kang Hari was not only gorgeous, but also rich!!
The scratch marks on Jill's cheeks, the bandage on her forehead and the six p.m. appointment at chatty Carrow's saloon claimed no reconciliation in sight for the two families.
Though, probably, they would have lived on, ignoring eachother's presence for the most of their lives if Kang Hari hadn't arrived at Carrow's with a box of perfectly baked cookies in hand, claiming to having distributed them all around the neighborhood (yet not acknowledging the Wisterias, their nearest neighbour) and getting all chummy with chatty Mrs. Carrow.
They were both the grudge holding type.
"Oh I bake for fun and sharing is good, right? Yes yes, I'd love to come here as soon as we're done with unpacking and settling in. I love the catalogue you have on. You know what's in trend! Most saloons don't even do the bare minimum. I'd totally trust you with my hair!" The short redhead chatted her way into Mrs. Carrow's heart, bribing with flattery and ignoring the very existence of Jill.
Kang Hari was so fake, Jill concluded.
The duo proceeded to giggle about something and high-fived eachother as chatty Carrow worked her scissor through Jill's hair. All that wild pulling from Hari's hands yesterday had Jill balding. Almost. Though, Mrs. Carrow's attention was everywhere but at her customer.
"Ohh you flatter me! You're such a nice soul! The community would love you! We have kitties every Friday and Saturday, around five in the evening. Do join us! You're family now!"
Jill couldn't help but scoff at Chatty Carrow's impromptu invitation. The thing with Chatty Carrow was that she was too naive and trusted too easily. No wonder she was going through her fourth marriage now! Nothing lasted for chatty Carrow thanks to her unrestrained tongue. Surely, she would bring doom to Bloomsville by inviting Kang Hari to their personal kitty parties!
"Oh really? I'd love to join!" Hari clapped her hands. Through the reflection in the mirror in front of her, Jill noticed that Hari had pretty hands with henna tattoos and silver rings adorning the white of her skin. Her gaze then travelled to her own simple hands, plain nails, not even a manicure or a gloss in sight.
It soured Jill.
"As if. Our standards haven't hit the floor yet, Cathleen. We don't just let any fake bitch join our kitty," Jill retorted, the edges of her lips curving up into a petty smile.
And it was shocking.
For, one's to note that Jill was the wife of Blossomville's official Pastor and the posterwoman of simplicity, elegance and politeness.
Jill Wisteria rested Bloomsville on her dignified shoulders more than anyone ever could.
So, it is safe to say that her sudden uncharacteristic rudeness caught Chatty Carrow off-guard and her scissor welding hand slipped and hastily chopped off a good half of Jill's hair right above her nape.
Unintentionally and unbeknownst.
"Priestess!" Chatty Carrow exclaimed, her hands covering her mouth in straight up mortification. Jill eyed her overdramatic friend through the mirror, unknowing of the tragedy that struck behind her. Kang Hari snickered at Jill's oblivious expense.
"I don't know about a fake bitch, but I'm sure they'll let in a stylish bitch," Hari slid a finger through her pin straight, immaculately styled, bright red dyed hair. A smug grin graced her face as she laughed her way out of the saloon.
And all that followed Kang Hari was Jill's mortified scream a few moments later.
⩩
"Will you be okay, all by yourself, my angel?"
Rohry nodded diligently, the dimpled smile never leaving her face.
Her mother sported a mousy haircut, having most of her hair ruined by Mrs. Carrow for the nth time. Yet, she continued being a loyal customer for reasons Rohry was too young to understand.
Jill's hair stood up in all directions, like a halo of brown spikes over which Rohry could not stop giggling all morning. It seemed even more hilarious in the morning accompanied with Jill's puffy, oily face, groggy throat and baggy eyes.
"You know I'm always okay!"
Though, Rohry chose not to address her mother's state lest she'd be overcome by insecurities. Her mother seemed tough and proud but Rohry knew all that's behind the exterior, quite first hand.
"I know, I know, my fairy. You do so well by yourself," her mother crouches down and places a kiss on her forehead.
They were waiting at their doorstep for the bus to arrive and drive Rohry away for her first day at school. Like most things, Bloomsville did not offer choices even when it came to education. There was only one prep school which had witnessed all inhabitants and their ancestors scribbling, stuttering, weeping and vomiting as toddlers. Now, it was Rohry's turn to follow suit and be a part of its history.
"You're all caught up on studies," her mother declares, "You'll be the smartest person in the class!" She eyes Rohry with pride and gives her loving headpats.
The little girl grins, two dimples popping beside her lips. "I'll win the class cup for all years, I promise!" Little Rohry fist bumps the sky, unknowing of the competition she'll be facing in her future.
"My fine gem," Jill sniffled, before opening the door. They head into the lawn, bathed in the golden glow of the early morning sun.
Into their picturesque horizon, ran a figure, closer by the moment. Like destiny tormenting Jill for shits and giggles, a loud laugh erupted right beside the mother-daughter duo, resonating all throughout the silent block.
Beyond the grass fence, they spotted their beloved neighbour.
Kang Hari snorted for dear life, holding her stomach and laughing at the spectacle that Jill looked like.
Contrary to Jill, Kang Hari looked effortlessly beautiful even at the crack of dawn with her sleek long hair in a pony tail and shining forehead out on show. Her skin glistened in light and her sporty fit clung to her curves in all the right places. She had a towel hanging around her neck and a water sipper in hand.
She looked like she had just came back from a morning run. Rohry stared at her in awe.
"You look fucking homeless!! Bahahahaaha!" Kang Hari laughed without a censor. Jill was quick to press her hands against Rohry's ears as a scowl graces her face.
"I'm not homeless, you're fu-reaking shi-a- a bad person!"
"That's the best you can do?!"
"Well I'm not an irresponsible adult like you, frivolous shi- hag!"
The door behind Kang Hari clicked open and a small black head peeked out. Rohry was quick to catch its sight and wave brightly.
"Jaehyun! Good morning!" She chriped, shrugging out of her mother's clutches, feet unintentionally running closer to the grass fence.
"Rohry! Morning!" Jaehyun chirped back in an equally excited voice. He too ran out of the door, his black backpack thumping against his back with every step he took toward the fence.
Though, before he could quite make it, he was caught midway by his mother grabbing a hold of his backpack.
"Woah woah, aren't we getting too friendly with the uncivilized ones?" Kang Hari narrowed her eyes.
"Princess, stay away from the rude baffoons," Rohry's mother sneaked a hand around her waist and pulled her even further away from the fence.
"Never make friends with them," the two mother iterated in sync, on either sides of the fence, "You have to be the best of the best," and the two kids nodded with determination.
"Good girl," Rohry's mother kissed her forehead and waited for the bus with Rohry's bag and bottle in her hand.
"Good boy," Jaehyun's mother ruffled his hair and jogged inside their mansion.
The bus honked.
"Oh it's here! Come now," Rohry's mother held her small hand and led her to the bus. She gave Rohry's bag to the conductor and kissed her one last time. "You can do it!" Jill gave her a confident nod.
Rohry gave her a nervous laugh.
Jaehyun stood at the bus step, awkwardly, waiting for the fluff to end so that he could get in the bus. When Rohry's mother finally backed away, Jaehyun gave her a courteous bow in greeting, before bravely clutching the door handles and jumping over the bus steps.
There were a lot of empty seats inside as he looked around, beelining to the very back, where he saw Rohry sitting by the window with her bag in hand. As soon as Jaehyun took a seat beside her, the bus began moving.
Jaehyun took off his bag, placing it in his lap, he shifted back in the high seat. Through it all, Rohry kept her head down and lips pushed in a pout.
"Are you...are you really going to be a good girl?"
"Huh?" Rohry looked up with big, wide eyes, to see Jaehyun sitting so close and starting a conversation.
"Are you crying?!" Jaehyun exclaimed, looking Rohry in the eye. Her hazel eyes were watery and quivering from all the concentration she was putting in to not blink and let the tears fall off her face.
"I am not," Rohry sniffled, eyes unblinking, face red, and cheeks huffed, "Yet," she added. Her fingers clenched around the handle of her bag and teeth ground against eachother.
She looked cute.
"Okay, here," Jaehyun fished out a small carton of chocolate milk from his backpack and offered it to Rohry. "You are so red you look like Mr. Krabs," he joked as Rohry sniffled and took the carton from him.
"I like pink. I want to be Patrick," Rohry grumbled, finally letting herself blink. The tears fell off her eyes and traced a path all the way down her cheeks, waiting to be absorbed in the napkin that Jaehyun was holding under her chin.
"Okay, you can be anyone you want," Jaehyun smiled, leaning back into his seat as Rohry stabbed the straw in the carton and took a sip.
Her eyes widened with sparkles as the flavour invaded her mouth. It made her heart race as she sucked its contents without as much as a stray breath wasted. It was too creamy and too tasty to do anything else but not suck it empty!
In mere seconds, the carton was empty and so was Rohry's soul. She wanted more.
"What was that?!" Rohry flipped her head to look Jaehyun in the eye. "It was super tasty! I've never had anything like this before!!"
"You don't know what chocolate milk is?" Jaehyun wondered out loud, face morphed with disbelief. His brown eyes searched for hints of a prank in Rohry's face, but all he found was sincerity as she shook her head.
"No."
"And you drank it without knowing what I offered? Are you...dumb?" Jaehyun seemed visibly concerned for Rohry's adaptability. She's so kidnapable— for what?!
"Oh, um, I- yes, I'm sorry, it was tasty! Do you have more?" said Rohry and clapped with the carton in between her palms.
Jaehyun shook his head, "No, eomma only lets me have one in a day," the ravenette sighed, before adding, "Twice on Sundays!"
"Woah! Sundays the best days!" Rohry clapped again, keeping the carton in her bag. "I'll tell mum all about it. She'll buy me some if I'm a good girl!" She whispered to no one in particular.
Jaehyun nodded, happy that Rohry was grinning ear to ear now with her dimple on show. She looked the prettiest when she was smiling.
⩩
Their teacher had them all sit alphabetically. Rohry was an entire row away from Jaehyun, yet, they were side by side in seats.
Jaehyun's partner was Ian Rosario, a pure blodded royal from some small country. He was sent to live along with his grandparents after his kingdom went democratic. His parents wanted Ian to live in a democracy so that he'd know how to rule one, one day, which seemed shady and redundant but it wasn't Jaehyun's place to question.
Ian was a royal indeed and it showed in the way he'd sit with his back straight and blonde curls covering half of his peripherals, whining on volume three about how much he hated a democracy.
Jaehyun hoped the teacher would switch desks every month.
Rohry's partner was Sidra Malik. The Maliks owned a Clothing and Hijab store in Blossomville and everyone knew them for their honesty and righteousness. They seemed like cold hearted and unapproachable people because of their beauty and wealth, but were the sweetest most gentlest people on the inside — or so Rohry had explained to everyone.
Rohry was happy that she was seated beside someone as beautiful with Sidra. Her hair were covered with a scarf but her chubby face and sparkling blue eyes were enchanting enough for Rohry to put her hand forth and begin a relationship.
"Hihi! I'm Rohry! Will you be friends with me?"
Sidra looked at her, up and down, confused blue eyes trying to avert meeting Rohry's confident hazel ones. Rohry was smiling a charming smile and Sidra could only meet her eyes with the ground and nod subtly in agreement.
"Yeah, hi," she mumbled, as mutely as one publically could.
"Yo, Ror, don't be friends with her. She's weird," informed Paine, the boy who sat in front, knocking a knuckle against Rohry's desk, quite out of context, "Be friends with me instead. We'll be cool together," he grinned as Rohry met his eye.
Sidra clasped her hands together and fumbled with her fingers, hunching her shoulders to make herself smaller in her seat.
"I don't wanna," Rohry grumbled, swatting his hand away from her desk. "Mum said no making friends with boys. They're bad, shoo shoo," Rohry whisked his presence away, much to Paine's annoyance.
"Tsk, Christian families. You're all dumb," Pain grunted and faced Jaehyun instead. "Yo, you're the new person right? Wanna be friends?"
Rohry grabbed a hold of Sidra's hand and shifted her chair closer to Sidra's. "Friends forever," she gushed in her ear as Jaehyun rolled his eyes at Paine's invitation.
"This is what happens when subjects are not ruled with an iron fist. Tsk," Ian grumbled under his breath, side eyeing Paine and his shenanigans.
Jaehyun's pitiable arse was seated between Royal and Paine— what a combination.
"No, thanks, I'm allergic to—um," Jaehyun's eyes travelled over Paine, "All of you."
Paine's face contoured in a grimance, though, as soon as he opened his mouth to retort, the bell rang and the teacher began talking.
"Good morning dear flowers, how are you all today?"
Some kid energetically stood up and recited, "I'm fine, thank you!"
Rohry, Jaehyun and Ian cringed in their seats. Sidra could only gasp in awe with the person's confidence.
"Oh, we've got a smart one on our hands. It's good of you to take initiative, Lander. Very good," the teacher clapped for him and eventually, everyone joined. Lander took it as an opportunity to bow and accept the applause.
"Now, it is your first day today and I hope everyone will get along well. Won't you, my flowers? Now, let us start with introductions, shall we?" The teacher earnestly looked over a crowd of fidgeting children.
"Does anyone know what an introduction is?"
"Yes! Ma'am, yes me!!" Lander exhaled on top of his lungs, catching quite a lot of children off guard. Two of them started crying on spot.
"Introduction is a formal presentation of one person to another, in which each is told the other's name," Sidra whispered almost inaudible to anyone but Rohry.
"Woah, you know it word by word?" Rohry gasped, patting Sidra's back proudly. The latter only shrugged, feigning nonchalance, yet the edges of her lips pushed up into a subtle smile.
The class teacher ran up to the crying students and started consoling them, lest they start a domino effect of waterworks.
"Ah, I'm sorry, I," Lander fidgeted in his seat before patting his seatmate's crying head, "there there, look the sky is so pretty. But you're prettier than the sky, hi," he mumbled nothingness into his ear.
"This is such a mess. Democracy does no good for these crying folks. One threat from my royal status would have shut them up for good. Tsk tsk," Ian grumbled again, much to Jaehyun's annoyance.
"Kids. I am surrounded by kids, don't you think so?" Paine announced to no one in particular.
Jaehyun thought Paine and Ian would be great friends one day.
⩩