Seattle Public High School

The first day of the new school year. A new start for some, and others were destined to keep the same social status as the years before. Students swarmed the school building, some lounging about outside as they sat atop picnic tables or just on the grass. No one really wanted school to start just yet, wanting to enjoy the summer sun for as long as they could before the chill of fall settled in.

Sungjae puffed out his cheeks as he stood on the sidewalk in front of the school, dreading what was going to happen to him inside those walls this year. He sighed and fixed his clothes to make sure that they were okay. He was dressed in black skin-tight skinny jeans, a light blue long-sleeved shirt that was only a little baggy on his skinny form under a light, black cardigan that was left unbuttoned, along with a pair of black ankle high boots and a pair of light blue glasses. He didn't have to wear glasses, but he preferred them over contacts and only wore his contacts when he couldn't find one of his many pairs of glasses that he owned.

Sungjae sighed and adjusted his dark brown messenger bag that was worn down from years of use as he started towards the building, figuring that if he could get into the building, get to his locker, and then manage to make it to his first class, he might not have to deal with Julio and his friends this early on the first day of school. He pulled out his phone and texted his best friend Arrow on his way towards the school building. -You! I can't find you :( I'm going to my first class so I don't have to deal with the populars. See you there?-

After sending the text, he placed his phone back into his pocket and focused on making sure that he didn't run into any of his bullies.

Sungjae was walking into the building when he felt someone's arms being thrown around his shoulders. He let out a slew of curses in Korean as he held his chest after jumping about five feet in the air. "Arrow! Don't scare me like that," he said with a pout. "I thought you were Julio or one of his friends," he added before he turned around and hugged his friend. "But, yes. I missed you so much," he said, smiling.

He turned and took her hand as he started into the school building. "Hurry up, I don't want to run into any of the resident assholes on my first day. I think that would put a damper on what I plan to have be a great first day," he said, tugging on her hand to make her move faster. He kept turning his head around to make sure that he wouldn't have to have a confrontation with his bullies. He was scared of what they would do to him this year, knowing he wouldn't be able to avoid them forever.

"What class do you have first? I can't remember what you said it was," he said, turning to look at Arrow, blinking.

That morning saw Winifred et Violaine awakening in high spirits.

It was not because today marked the first day of her last year of high school-- not entirely anyway. It was only partially, perhaps, because the summer vacation she'd spent largely by her lonesome was at last over. It was not even her usual enthusiasm for the renewed days of learning and study that lay ahead, though that almost certainly figured into it. It certainly wasn't because, as usual, she'd woken up to a faceful of yellowing, grainy paper. Nope-- it was simply 'cause Fred et Violaine was of that most rare, most alien and unusual breed of humans-- she was a morning person.

Truly, she mused to herself as she set aside the book laid open upon her face-- Musta fallen asleep readin' again-- was there any sensation more wonderful than that of awakening? To awaken to an affirmation of one's own life, of the world, and to have the world to oneself in those precious few moments in which much of the city yet slept and the inevitable hustle and bustle that would pollute the later hours was nowhere to be seen. To enjoy the morning, clinging yet to the chill of night, in those invaluable moments of peace and tranquility. Heck, it was a wonder to Fred why everybody wasn't a mornin' person.

"Whelp, can't be helped, I reck'n," she supposed as she bound on outta bed, a lively spring to her step and not a hint of sleep dragging at her body, stepped out onto a floor absolutely littered with clothes strewn carelessly about. She took the book with her-- Camus' L’Étranger. A classic, to be sure, one which she had read a number of times previously, but that was the thing about a good book, eh? You could come back to it again and again and you'd still take somethin' new away from it. Especially a book like this one-- it was like an onion. "Except it doesn't smell funky," she noted to herself, taking a quick sniff of the book to confirm this hypothesis. Yep-- naught but the ever-pleasant scent of an old book. "Also, it doesn't make ya cry so much as... I dunno, get all introspective. And I guess ya can't grow a book. Or put it in your food. Well, ya could. It'd probably taste kinda weird though. So really, it ain't nothin' like an onion. Why'd I say it was in the first place...? Oh yeah!" she exclaimed as she dove down to the ground, sweeping up a pair of jeans and tugging them onto her legs. "'cause it's got layers. Like an onion."

Yessir, a good book was like a good person. Or a good onion. Had lots'a layers to peel away. And danged if L’Étranger didn't have plenty'a layers to peel away. You had Camus' personal beliefs of the absurdity and meaninglessness of everyday life, the arbitrariness of justice, the dangerous indifference that lay in anomie, the perils of existing purely via sensory experience. Every page was an insight into everyday existence. Every sentence a reflection on the inherent absurdity of being. Right from the very first sentence, the meaninglessness of it all set the tone for the rest of the experience. Aujourd'hui, maman est morte. Ou peut-être hier, je ne sais pas. J'ai reçu un télégramme de l'asile: Mère décédée. Enterrement demain. Sentiments distingués. Cela ne veut rien dire. C'était peut-être hier. "Mama died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know. I got a telegram from the home: Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours. That doesn't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday..."

Sometimes the passage of time felt that way to Fred. 'That doesn't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday.' She lost track of the days that had passed and those that hadn't. Yesterday could have happened years ago; it may not have happened at all. It was sometimes difficult to discern recollection from reality. All too often, the former turned out to be altogether divorced from the latter.

But not today. Today she knew exactly who she was, where she was, when she was. Today, Fred et Violaine was still here. Today, she was gonna go and see her friends again. Not that she had a whole lot of 'em. But what few she did have, she treasured. They kept her grounded. Kept her head on her shoulders. Kept her from bein' all miserable and alone. Mostly. Sometimes she managed to find herself bein' all miserable and alone anyway. But she was workin' on that. Y'know what they said. Tigers can't change their stripes. Unless they got all their fur shaved off. Or had their genetics tampered with. Then that'd kinda change their stripes. Then again, by that logic, the solution to Fred's... er, social anxieties was either shaving her entire body clean or genetically altering her body hair. She frowned. "When ya put it like that," she observed solemnly, pulling on some random band tee she'd picked up off the floor. "I don't think it'd work."

From there, it was doin' some three or four different things simultaneously-- shovin' her daily schoolin' materiels into her backpack, tuggin' sneakers onto her feet (and then tuggin' one off again once she realised she was only wearin' one sock), redoing the lazy ponytail her hair had been tied back into the day before (the end result looked just as if not messier than it had before), brushin' her teeth (it was that time'a the month again, the one time where she actually remembered), hummin' along to some Infester (Braded Into Palsy had been stuck in her head since she'd woken up, it seemed), and, of course, ardently discussing the content of L’Étranger with herself.

"I, for one," she announced grandiosely as she hopped around on one foot tryin' to tie her shoe. "I think Meursault represents not an epitome of human realisation with regards to the absurdity of everyday life, but exactly what not to do with such understanding. This phenomenon of 'anomie' we observe in Meursault represents the ultimate desSHIIIIIIIIIIIIII--" Her undoubtedly Shatnerian revelations concerning the text came to an unceremonious end as Fred lost her balance and hit the floor like a sack'a potatoes, managing to slam her head on at least four different, painfully tangible surfaces on the way down. "You mind?" she demanded of absolutely nobody. "I'm kinda busy bein' all philosophical 'n whatnot here."

No answer came. Which suited Fred just fine. She made a show of dustin' herself off as though she'd just sailed headfirst into a pile of dirt or somethin', and then went right on.

"Now, as I was sayin'..."






Beyond the threshold of her apartment, however, was a different world. An unfamiliar one. One in which it would not do for Fred to be quite as... loose with herself as she was in the comfortable confines of her own home. She encountered few others in her walk to school-- or maybe she had. She could not have been trusted to notice, as she spent most nearly the whole journey with her nose buried in her book, walkin' practically on rote memorisation. Proceed forward one hundred twenty eight metres, eastward fork, two hundred seven metres to the southward fork, hang a left, etc, etc. Same thing as every day. Pretty standard. Routine. Comfortingly routine.

It was the same thing at school, too. Keep to the routine. "Stick to the sides, don't stick out like a sore thumb, don't talk to yourself," she reminded herself under her breath. "Stick to the sides, don't stick out like a sore thumb, don't talk to yourself. Stick to the sides, don't stick out like a sore thumb, don't talk to yourse....wait. Shit."

She was still in the midst of beating herself up for this mistake (out loud and to herself) when she caught sight'a Sungjae, not far away, walkin' along with someone Fred presumed to be ol' Arrow James. Now Sungjae-- that there was a dude who had 'don't stick out like a sore thumb' down pat-- still, maybe Fred had some sorta 'weird people radar' that helped her locate her friends. Not that they were weird. Well-- okay, mostly they were. Weird. By the standards of the rest of the school, anyway. And heck, wasn't weird a good thing? Most of the time. Usually. More often than not. Sometimes. ....every now and then?

Lowering the book, Fred quickened her pace and approached Jae. She'd been fully intent on sneakin' up behind him and whatnot, except that, predictably, she tripped over some stray oxygen particles and most nearly headbutted Jae in the back of the cranium. She regained her composure quick enough to avoid makin' a big scene, but when she caught up to Sungjae's side, there was just a hint'a flustered crimson to her olive cheeks. "Right. Sorry 'bout that, Jae. Didn't mean t'nearly nail ya in the head there. Also--" She did a quick, one-handed salute at Arrow. "--howzit hangin' 'Row?"

“Pepe!”
The voice of a child echoed through the narrow hallway followed by the sound of wet feet that clattered against the wooden floor.
“Pepe! Where are you?” the girl called again, before bursting through the door leading to Julio’s bedroom.

A broad smile spread on Julio’s face when he turned around and saw that his younger sister, Graciela, stood in the doorway wearing a t-shirt 3, sizes too big and dripping wet hair.
“You’ll catch a cold if you don’t dry yourself properly after a shower. Now give me that and I’ll help you dry your hair” he said and pointed at the towel she held in her right hand.
He rose from the office chair and just barely managed to dodge the wet towel Graciela threw at him while she was giggling loudly.
“Only if you can catch me!” she said and ran off toward the kitchen.
……
The weather was nice, a chance to wear the blue shorts he bought a few days ago together with a newly purchased pastel yellow V-neck t-shirt.
The school was crowded and it seemed almost impossible to find anyone in this place, at least the persons he actually wanted too see right now.
At least he thought so until he noticed a girl had sneaked up behind him, resting her chin on his shoulder.
A waterfall of blond curls tickled his neck and a sweet aroma of the girl’s perfume filled the air around her.

“You’ve gotten a tan…Family holiday in Mexico?” the girl asked and started playing with his curls.
“You could tell?” The girl grimaced as Julio removed her hand from his hair. “How’ve you been, Alexis?” for a few seconds silence filled the air until Alexis growled lightly and squeezed Julio’s cheeks together
“Just fine without you, thank you very much! Why didn’t you call me whole last week you jerk?”
“I just didn’t feel like it! It’s not like I left you in a dark alley somewhere!”
“It’s the same! Ps. Yellow suits you, you should wear it more often” She said and pouted.
“Thanks. Oh, have you seen Nathaniel by any chance?”

Julio looked around to see if Nathaniel had arrived yet, but the only persons he noticed were the camera guy and his artsy friend.
Maybe the day wouldn’t be too boring afterall.

"Arrow, teachers like you if you actually participate in class and do the work they assign without a fight," he said with a light laugh. "I have History too, maybe we have the same one?" he said, his head tilting slightly. He let out a surprised yelp of pain as he felt someone run into him and headbutt his head. He turned and laughed lightly as he saw his other friend, Fred. "Its alright Fred. I forgive you. Still tripping over those pesky oxygen particles?" he asked teasing her lightly.

"I know that you say that you won't let them Arrow, but sometimes they find a way passed both of our defenses and they still manage to attack me," he said with a small frown. "I don't even want to know what kind of cruel tormenting they have planned for me this year," he said, sighing. He shook his head lightly and gave them both bright smiles. "How was your guys' vacations? Did you do anything fun while I was in Seoul?" he asked. He and his family had gone to visit his grandparents and other family over the summer holiday as they did every summer.

Throughout their conversation, he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was looking at him and he turned his head to see if anyone was looking in their direction and his eyes widened in fear when he saw Julio. He quickly looked away and pulled his two friends into the building faster, sighing in slight relief when they were down a few hallways from the entrance.

Evie woke up to the sound of her alarm blaring, she stretched her arms and rolled out of bed. She was glad this was her last year in high school, meant she didn't have to deal with followers and annoying people, though she guessed she would have to deal with that in college also but hopefully not as bad.

Her coach said scouts will be coming during the season and that she probably will get tons of offers. She planned on doing soccer for college but she also planned on doing music also. She headed towards her walk-in closet and found a pair of white capris and a dark green top. She headed and took a fifteen minute shower then got dressed and did her hair and makeup. Once she was already, she grabbed her school bag and her duffel bag with her soccer stuff for practice tonight and headed out.

Once she was at school she got out of her jeep, making sure her ipod was on and earbuds in her ears, she headed for the doors of the school. Before she could even take ten steps there were people already starting to swarm her, asking how was her summer and asking how her father was. She answered them with short answers and quickly got away.

She saw Julio with a girl and decided to go say hello, he was a jock and sometimes bullied others but she has stood up to him a few times, she didnt think he was all that bad and that most of the bullying was an act. Once she got near Julio she smiled, taking one earbud out "Hey Julio, how are you? How was your summer?" she said to Julio then looked to the blonde "Hi girl I dont know" she gave the blonde a once over look then gave her a smile before looking back to Julio.

"Wake up," Called Kailen's father, his voice just as harsh as his icey glare. Kailen cussed under his breath and clambered out of bed, his eyes cloudy and his voice a tiny bit groggy. Despite his usually happy attitude, mornings weren't his thing. His father called up again and Kailen replied by shouting "I'm up!". He pulled open the doors to his wardroke and examined his clothing choice. After a while he chose the 'back to school' outfit he'd bought a few days back.

He wasted no time with goodbyes this morning, he just zoomed out the door, grabbing an apple from the fruit basket in the kitchen on the way. He raced towards his car and got in. "Off to school we go," He whispered, starting off his journey with a "Woo-hoo".

Kailen exited his car and breathed in the toxic air of his highschool car park. "Refreshing!" He said cheerily to himself. He scanned the area with his usually bright eyes, a smile tugging on the corners of his lips. He figured school must be starting some time soon, as a few people were heading inside. There were three that he recognised quite easily. Sungjae, Arrow and Fred. He picked up his pace so that he could walk beside them. "Greetings, friends" He said, soon followed by a small chuckle. "Miss me?".

A playful smirk appeared on his face as he saw the 3 of them hurry inside. He had the rest of the year to tease the poor fellow, and for some reason he was looking forward to it.

He turned around and saw Evie. "Hey Julio, how are you? How was your summer?"
The smile widened, it was always nice to talk to her. She shared some of the same interests as he did and she was out in the open about who she was.
Maybe she would be the first person he was going to tell, she liked girls herself so it shouldn’t be a problem if she knew.
Butterflies filled his stomach just thinking about it. He wasn’t going to come out of the closet anytime soon.

Alexis looked at her before hugging Julio “Hey...You know what? I’ll go see if i can find Victoria. Nice to meet you” she said and waved at them with her fingers, turned around and disappeared into the crowd. Apparently she wasn’t too fond of someone else interrupting her conversation.
“It was good, great actually, thanks for asking. Don’t mind her, how was your vacation?” he placed his black and green sports bag over one shoulder. “Did anything exiting happen?”

Moon Aei Yong blinked awake at the sound of her alarm. She rubbed sleep from her eyes and sat up. She stretched and yawned and looked around her room.
Her eyes fell on her half finished painting. She frowned slightly at the fantasy painting. It was missing something but she couldn't figure it out. She had a forest scene so far but she had no subject. She was a portrait artist, Not landscapes. Something had to be put there but what? She sighed. She had a week to submit this to the gallery for the junior artist competition but she couldn't enter if she didn't have a painting. She felt she could win this one so if she just finished.

She stood up and made her way to the shower. She needed to find some inspiration. It used to be her boyfriend but that was when they first started dating. Now he wasn't her muse anymore, not that he knew that he ever was. She never told anyone that she was an artist. Award Winning one too. Aei wasn't the award winning artist. Luna was. Her way of hiding her identity. If anyone found out she was an art nerd, She'd loose her status. That was the last thing she wanted. She needed that. She craved attention. Something she never got from her parents. So she made sure she got it in school. So if she had to date the Football star and Cheerlead then she'd do it.

She dressedin a super cute top that was small enough to show off her midriff but nothing else. She loved her body and worked hard to keep it nice but she wasn't a whore.

She brushed out her hair, grabbed her gucci sunglasses, slipped them on. She grabbed her Juicy Couture bag and pulled out her IPhone 5. She texted Nathan.

To Nate:
Hey Sleepyhead, woke yet?

She grinned as she dropped her phone in her bag and made her way downstairs. There were maids and servants hard at work cleaning. Her parents were coming home today. Like she cared. They left her so often she practically lived alone, save for the servants and what not.

The idea of that put her in a mood. She made her way the large staircase and into the abnormally large foyer. "Mornin' Miss Aei." said one of the maids. She gave a quick grin, but that was it. She never snapped at them no matter how pissed she was at her parents. They took care of her. She owed them.

She made her way to her silver Camaro and drove toward Nate's place. She knew he didn't need a ride but still. Her driving him gave the other students the impression that she was in charge of the relationship. She liked that. It gave her respect. Another thing she never got from her parents.

Evie watched as the blonde walked off, she shook her head and lookee back to Julio "You could do sobmuch better then her ya know that?" she chuckled to herself. “It was good, great actually, thanks for asking. Don’t mind her, how was your vacation?” she heard Julio ask, she shrugged her shoulders. "Well I worked at a soccer camp for kids as the head camp councelor, its the camp ive been going to since I was a kid. Got a new jeep. Read a few books and escaped reality nothing much other than that".

She looked around "Wheres Nate and Moon? Usually there here with you" she asked, she wasn't really close friends with Nate and Moon but she got along with them for the most part when she was in the mood of socializing. She got along with most of the populars even though she has told a few of them off for bullying others, someone had to stand up at them and she was not scared of them at all. The couldn't do anything tk her that would upset her, she mostly would just shrug it off if they tried anything.

She took a seat on the table nearby and looked up to the sky "I am so glad this is my last year, wont have to deal with stupid freshman asking for my dads autograph or following me like a lost puppy dog" she said as she shifted her bag on her back. "What class do you have first?"

Sungjae turned and waved to Kailen, the only sort of kind of popular that he could stand - since he was technically a nerd too. "How are you? I missed everyone, Seoul was boring without having friends there. I mean I have some friends there, but they all focus on looks and the like," he mumbled.

His eyes widened as he remembered his discovery that he had made over the summer. "Guys, you will never believe this. There's a whole website dedicated to me. My friends showed it to me while I was over there," he said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and went to the internet, pulling up the page that he was talking about. He held it up so they could all see.

The website was filled with pictures upon pictures of him while he was wandering around Seoul in the summer. There were comments in every language asking who he was and why there were only pictures of him in the summer and not year round like there were for most people. Sungjae's friends had left a comment explaining that he lived in America and only visited Seoul in the summer - hence only summer pictures.

"Is this just weird or what? I mean its kind of cool, but I don't know why they would take pictures of me and put them on the internet," he said.

Nate paced around his bedroom, gripping onto his dark coloured hair. First day back, with no idea what to wear. Naturally it was his duty to make an appearance, and if he didn't it might've been the end of him as a whole. He looked over his wardrobe once more, shoving his way through piles of clothes. "Come on," He grumbled. His expression changed to one of joy when he came across a pale blue/grey, button-down shirt, dark blue jeans. After putting that on, he quickly brushed a comb through his hair and entered the bathroom to wash.

It took Nate around 20 minutes to get everything done. He skidded out of the bathroom, singing into the comb like a weirdo, but dropped it as he saw his father sitting on the bed. "Uh, hi?" He said, slightly wary as to what the hell his father was doing in his room. His father looked up at him, his eyes cold with hatred. "You plan on making this year better than the last?" He asked. Nate shrugged. "Depends on whether I can be arsed or not" He replied bluntly, before exiting the room. He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. His relationship with his father had never been that great, and he hated his guts, but Nate still wished his father was just a little bit more loving.

He was at the top of the stairs when he heard the phone beeping from inside his room. He turned on his heel and re-entered the room, his eyes narrowing as he saw his father staring down at the phone in his hand. Nate launched forward and ripped it from his hands. "Who's Moon?" His father asked. Nate snorted, "None of your damn business, that's who". He looked at the text and smiled, texting one back; 'Of course I am. See you in five, yeah?'.

Nate walked down the stairs and grabbed his boots from the bottom of the stairway, then put them on his feet and stepped into the kitchen, where he was greeted by two large smiles. His sisters. "What're you smiling about?" He asked, arching a brow. Cassie, aged 14 years old, merely giggled and pushed a bowl of cereal towards him. "A strong boy like you needs breakfast," Commented his other sister, Jenna, aged 16. Nate smirked and immediatly got stuck into his cereal, devouring it within minutes.

He was on the last piece of cereal when he heard the faint noise of a car pulling up outside. "That'll be Moon now. I'll see you guys at school. Be safe.. Remember; road safety, don't talk to strangers, and no shortcuts". Both sisters rolled their eyes and waved him goodbye as he left the house. Nate grinned as he saw Moon. He got into the passenger seat of the car and leaned over to give her a small kiss. "Morning".

"You could do so much better than her ya know that?" He grinned when he heard her comment “I’m not interested in her, so it’s all fine, although she seems to feel otherwise” Julio placed his arm around her shoulders.
“Soccer, escaping reality, sounds nice”
Where’s Nate and Moon? Usually they’re here with you". Julio shrugged and looked around, none of them were to be seen anywhere at the moment. “They’re probably on their way over here, right as we speak”.
It’d be nice to see them again; he hadn’t really been in touch with anybody while he was in Mexico. He had some catching up to do.

Julio yawned and stretched his body before he followed Evie to the table, dumping his bag on the ground.
"I am so glad this is my last year, won’t have to deal with stupid freshman asking for my dad’s autograph or follow me like a lost puppy dog" He smiled at the thought. Every single time school started after summer break, a bunch of freshmen, or the like, would start following Evie around the school because of her dad.
“Let me tell you, i would have ended up at the funny farm a looooong time ago, if i had been stalked like you do, if you can call it stalking” he sat on the table enjoying the good weather.

He sighed heavily and a wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows when he remembered the subject for first period.
“That’s right! That’s why i didn’t want to come to school this morning... the most boring class on earth, History...Evie help me!” he looked at her with puppy dog eyes “The teacher hates me!” he said and chuckled.

Aei smiled after he kissed her. "Morning." She said. Typically farm boy looks made her cringe but it worked for him. It showed off his physique. She began driving toward the school. "You know. My Parents are flying in today. They're flying in from my mom's big tour around the world. They're throwing a huge record release party and my place." She said. It was an invitation but it didn't come off that way. It was more of a 'You're coming, be prepared' sort of thing. Despite how much she liked him, she still was a control freak. He hadn't told her anything about it so she just continued. "It's gonna be a swanly event. Black Tie too. So dress nice." She instructed as she turned down the street. The School was coming in view now as she began to think about what he'd think if he found out about her upcoming art exibit. She'd completely missed his response to her party invitation.
She wondered solemly if he would throw her from the perverbal social ladder? Would he completely reject her? Drop her like a hot potato. She wasn't even he liked her but on the other hand, he didn't even know her. Not the real her anyway. She was pretty and a gorgeous body, the best clothings a nice car. Her parents were celebrities so they were loaded. What did he see in her? Did he even look any deeper then that?
She kept her thoughts from her face as she pulled into the parking lot. She smiled at him briefly before checking her make up in the rear view. She flicked up her eyelashes. Dotted a few daps of watermelon lipgloss to her thin lips. Parted her hair just right and grinned at her reflection. She turned to Nate. "Ready?"

"It's alright Fred, I forgive you," Jae absolved her as she scrambled to catch up, before he added on, in a jesting tone, "Still over those pesky oxygen particles?"

"I swear they're out t'get me," she retorted, as she fell in step with the two, walking side by side with Sungjae and Arrow. The conversation, however, had turned to a topic which, for better or for worse, was all too familiar to the trio-- the topic of bullying. Heck, it was a topic pretty familiar to most everybody 'round here. Bullying was just about a fixture, as much an ingrained tradition of this or any other high school as the classes themselves, and you had people divided into two categories. The bullies, and the bullied. The popular types who had the numbers to back themselves up, and the sparse few outcasts, the nerds, the geeks, the loners, the people who were just never gonna be 'normal' enough to be popular. The predators, the prey. So on, so forth.

But of course, not every prey is helpless-- sure as hell not every prey's gonna just let themselves be devoured. Anybody with the remotest grasp of ethology will tell you as much. And in that respect, as with many others, humans and animals were more alike than many realised. There were some who couldn't fight back, some who could and wouldn't-- some who could and would. The two women walkin' on either side of the skinny Korean kid had made it clear they fell firmly into the latter category. But as for the aforementioned skinny Korean kid who walked along huddled between his two taller friends...

Well, did it make Fred a terrible friend to feel like fightin' the bullies off'a Sungjae was a responsibility better left to Arrow? After all, she wasn't like Fred. She was fierce. Fervent. Passionate. Strong in a way that Fred would never catch onto no matter how many pull ups she did or how much weight she put on her barbell. If somebody was bein' bullied, she was the person to go to. If that person wasn't herself, Fred was more likely to be rushin' away from the scene like a spineless mouse with its tail between its legs and its nose in a book. Well, if mice could read. Or survive without a functional spine. So, rushin' away from the scene like an anatomically extraordinary, highly educated mouse with its tail between its legs and its nose in a book.

Yeah, she was pretty sure that made her a terrible friend. Terrible person in general. And it only made her hate the bullies even more every time they reminded her how spineless she was.

But hey, at least Sungjae didn't seem as down about it all as Fred was. She'd takin' in her brief moment of introspection to starin' off all solemn-like into the distance (she'd found that it enhanced the effect when you stared off somberly to the horizon like you were ponderin' the nature of mankind and the universe and other such profound things). But when she looked back, he'd donned a perfectly peppy 'lil grin, like there wasn't a thing wrong with the world, and changed the topic of discussion just as quick as it'd come up. "How was your guys' vacation? You do anything fun while I was in Seoul?"

Now, generally, such a question merited a long list of books, equations, and other assorted nerdery, but for once, Fred had a genuine answered lined up for that one. "I went to my first show!" she declared proudly, an eager smile crawlin' onto her face at the recollection. "Went to see Devourment. It was lots'a fun. Lots'a drunk guys with beards, though. That was kinda weird. Then I nearly met the guitarist and tried talkin' to him but I was nervous so I started calculatin' pi to put myself at ease and I guess I went too far 'cause when I stopped and looked around everybody was gone." She sheepishly scratched at the back of her neck. "I'm tryin' to forget that ever happened."

After that, a fourth addition to their little cadre appeared in the form of Kailen Matthews, tossing in a light-hearted greeting of his own. Next thing anybody knew, Arrow was on him like a squirrel on a nut, throwin' her arms 'round Kailen and sayin' that she 'n he would totally protect Sungjae, which kinda made Fred feel awkward again 'cause she knew she was supposed to say somethin' 'bout how she would too except she knew that with her luck soon's she said that some bunch'a jocks would come 'round and mess with Jae and then 'fore she knew what she was doin' she'd be outta there faster'n you could say 'well dang that there is one shitty friend' and then she'd feel like a selfish piece'a crap for doin' it even though she hadn't meant to and then Jae would probably hate her and Kailen would probably hate her and Arrow James probably already did hate her but if she didn't already then she probably would then and that'd suck and she'd figured she probably shoulda stopped thinkin' about it right about now and started listenin' to the flow'a the conversation again...

"There's a whole website dedicated to me."

"I-- huh?" Fred tuned into the conversation just in time to find that, to her fortune, the talk had moved once more away from the whole 'protectin' Sungjae' gig. And, apparently, into the whole 'Sungjae is evidently a celebrity' gig.

"My friends showed it to me while I was there," Jae elabourated, pullin' out his phone-- one'a them fancy new-fangled types that could get on the internet and play music and do instant messaging and texting and all that stuff-- and jiggerin' around with it for a bit. When he held it back up, lo and behold, there it was. Fred craned over a bit to get a look-see, only to find that, yep, Sungjae was apparently a celebrity. There was even a bunch'a people writin' comments and whatnot in languages Fred could understand and plenty others she only recognised.

"Speakin'a languages," Fred suddenly piped up, even though, on second thought, nobody was speakin' of languages at all. "Check it out Jae." She paused a fraction of a second to get the sentence together in her head, and then she said, as smoothly as she could, "Naneun chinguui doum-eulo , hangug-eo hagseub iss-eoss-eoyo.." She finished it off with a grin. "Howzat?"

((I do not, alas, speak Korean, so I had to default to the dreaded Google Translate to make it look like Fred does (if only a little). It's meant to say 'I've been learning Korean with the help of a friend', but, Google Translate being what it is, for all I know Fred just called Jae an alpaca or something. Either way, assume she said the above :v))

Sungjae rolled his eyes at Arrow's comment about work not being fun without a fight. "Of course I'll help you with math. What kind of Asian nerd friend would I be if I didn't?" he teased, laughing lightly. He smiled at her comment about her and Kailen protecting him and that she wouldn't let them get him this year. "Arrow, you know you probably won't be around me all day, neither will Kailen. There will be times when I'm by myself and I will be bullied. Its a nice thought though. But I only have two more years to deal with the stupid populars and then I can go to college and start anew and become super rich and famous that they will regret ever having bullied me. I'll probably own some enormous company and they will end up working for me and then I will be able to make their lives hell for a change," he said with a weak laugh and a small, weak smile. "At least that's what I hope will happen anyways, probably won't," he added.

He laughed at Arrow's comment about him being world-famous and shook his head. "I swear that I'm not. If I was, you'd think that the populars wouldn't bully me then," he said before turning to Fred with a bright smile as she spoke in Korean. "아주 잘 했어. 당신은 좋은 발음을 갖추고 있습니다. 거기에 임의의 단어를 가지고 있지만. 왜 알파카 얘기를하던가요?" he responded with a light laugh and smile.

(Google translate version as well *laughs* Translation of the wonderful Korean characters: That was very good. You have great pronunciation. Although you had a random word in there. Why were you saying alpaca?)

Nate was staring out of the window, his eyes trailing each object that they passed. His lips parted to release a small exhale of breath. "You know, my parents are flying in today. They're flying in from my mom's big tour around the world. They're throwing a huge record release party at my place," Aei's voice broke through the silence, "It's gonna be a swanly event. Black Tie too. So dress nice". Nate turned his head to her flashed her a crooked grin, "Alright, I'll be there".

He noticed they were nearing the school, and it had been silent for quite some time now. He examined her face, then came to the conclusion that she was deep in thought. But what was she thinking about? Nate never could tell, she was such a mysterious girl. Probably with as much to hide as him. Just the thought made him shudder. Aei pulled into the car park and Nate's eyes darted around the school. It was just the same as every first day of a new year of school. The older year had left to live their lives, the new kids were all prancing around like retards without a care in the world, and the others were attempting to climb up the social ladder like they had done for previous years.

Whilst Aei was fixing her make-up, Nate sighed in frustration. "Ready?" Aei asked. Nate nodded, "As ready as I'll ever be" He replied, exiting the car. He walked up to Julio and Evie, greeting them with a nod. "So, Julio, how was Mexico?" He asked. In all honesty, he didn't care, but it would do no harm to ask.

Julio raised a hand to return the greeting.
"So, Julio, how was Mexico?” He knew that Nate only asked out of courtesy, he’d asked him the same question a hundred times, or more during the time they had known each other.
“The usual. Nothing much really. And you?”
He ran a hand through his hair and looked around. The other students had begun to move inside the school, guess class was about to start then. He still had to get some books from his locker, but that could wait 5 more minutes.

He smiled at moon. “And how was your vacation?”
Julio was sure that her vacation had been just fine, if not perfect; he hadn’t ever heard her complain about anything, except for the in-flight food maybe.

Remembering that they had been assigned homework for the 3rd lesson, and he hadn’t done any of it, maybe he should go visit the school's photography club, one of the senior geeks went to the same classes as Julio. He knew that, at least, on one of them had taken enough notes, so that he could answer any possible questions that the teacher might ask him.
Not that they would ever hand the notes over willingly, but if they didn’t then he just had to use force. It wasn’t as if the camera techies had anything better to do either.