"Seo-yun, do you have your transfer papers?" My mom huffed, running around the room in a frenzy. "Yep, they're in my folder." "And your textbooks?" I patted my schoolbag that was resting on the floor. "Already in my backpack." "Well, what about your student ID card, your lunch money, your-" I cut her off before she could go on. "Mom, please stop worrying. I'm going to be fine. I don't want you to be stressed for your interview today." 

My mom stopped in her tracks and looked up at me. Her white blouse was un-tucked at one side, her fly-away hairs were sticking out from her otherwise perfectly groomed mane, and the purse she was holding in her arms had all sorts of important papers spilling out of it. Despite her disheveled appearance, her radiant smile lit up the room. "I can't believe how grown-up and responsible you turned out to be, Seo-yun." She cooed. "Thanks mom, but no time to be sappy, you're going to be late for your interview!" She stole a glance at her watch and her eyes widened. "You're right! And again, I'm so sorry I'm not able to take you to your new school today. But if I get this job, we could be out of this hotel room for good!" She did a little happy dance at the thought of leaving the hotel. 

It was a very glamorous place, but it was quite awkward staying here. We only were able to stay here because my mom's friend had pulled a few strings and we were able to only pay half price for one of the cheapest rooms here. We absolutely did not fit in with the glamorous, rich celebrities that frequented the hotel, and it showed. We really wanted to be somewhere where we felt comfortable in our own skin. "You're going to do great mom. Fighting!" I pumped my fists into the air as I walked towards the door. "Fighting, Seo-yun!" My mom returned the gesture and went back to her frenzied state as she continued to look for anything else she might need for her approaching interview. 

I opened and shut the door behind me and started walking down the stairs. I paused to look at the view from our balcony. Living in this hotel may not be exactly what we want, but the view from here beat out any other view in Seoul. From up here, you could see all the blooming cherry blossom trees lining the pavement, the city-scape in the background, and the small apartments and businesses tucked into corners of the streets. I smiled as I spotted fellow high school students in uniforms walking the streets, all heading to the same exact place - Jeguk High School. 

It was the most prestigious high school in all of Seoul where only the elitist, wealthiest, and highest society of Korea attended. Chaebols, children of famous people, and heirs of multi-million dollar conglomerates all congregated in this one building. 

I sighed and felt my palms become sweaty. What was I doing attending a school like this? I was the country girl from Jeonju that somehow managed to earn a scholarship to Korea's most expensive and elitist high school. I was promised by my former principal that this school would better prepare me for college and would look great on my resume. How I would afford college in the first place was beyond me. 

I made my way down the rest of the stairs of my apartment and started walking down the street. I looked at all my peers, in pairs of two or more. I could overhear them chatting about the latest idol debuts, talking to people on their expensive smartphones, and I even heard a pair of boys talking about the stock market. I felt for my flip phone tucked away into my pocket and touched my frayed jeans and sweatshirt, suddenly feeling self-conscious in this sea of wealthy teenagers. I dragged my heels and lingered behind the rest of my classmates, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. I could already tell that I wasn't going to fit in with this group. 

I tucked my hands into the pockets of my sweatshirt, keeping my gaze focused on the road in front of me. I stopped at the crosswalk and waited for all the cars to go by. One of these cars was a limousine with the tinted windows rolled down a crack. It was enough to see the girl with brown bags and a disgusted look on her face sitting in the backseat. She made eye contact with me for a split second. The icy stare she gave me sent chills down my spine. Her car quickly sped away before I could even begin to deduce what had happened. I shook off whatever uncomfortable feeling that moment bestowed upon me and crossed the sidewalk. 

I was about ready to turn around in the other direction, but then I saw it. Jeguk High in all its glory. It was a humongous, silver and teal modern building, over 10 stories tall. The buildings that made up the school and its facilities made a circle, and in the center of the circle was a fountain that looked like a replica of the Trevi Fountain in Italy. The grass in the courtyard somehow seemed greener than grass anywhere else in Seoul. 

Despite the beauty surrounding us, it seemed that people were focused on only one thing - me. I looked around and saw boys, girls, clusters of all sorts of students, and even teachers, all staring at me. They probably wondered how a common-looking girl with no school uniform and a worn-out backpack had even managed to step foot on this school's property. I looked to my left to see a boy around my age, also not wearing a uniform, staring at me. It was nothing like the icy stare of this morning. His perfectly coiffed hair stood straight up, and his diabolically arched eyebrows intensified his already unsettling stare. I met his eyes, only to rapidly turn my head away from him. It was all I could do to not keep staring into his shark eyes. I tightened the grip I had on my bag and trudged up the pavement towards the front doors of the school. To the right of the doors was the student drop-off center, where kids were helped out of their limousines by their chauffeurs. I kept moving out of fear that someone else would choose me to be their staring contest partner, and walked right into the building. 

If the outside wasn't impressive enough, the inside sure was. Everything about this school was elegant. The clean, soft white walls perfectly complemented the teal accents on the ceiling and on the signs above the classroom doors. It seemed like the building managed to grow even taller when I saw how many levels there were. There was even a glass elevator in the corner, in case the kids didn't feel like wearing out their Louis Vuitton shoes by walking up the marble stairs. 

I peeled my eyes away from the impressive architecture and reached into my backpack, fumbling around for my student schedule. I looked to see that I had about an hour of downtime until my first period. That was a lot of time to kill, especially since I didn't know anybody here. Worse, I didn't even know in which direction I should have been heading. I looked up from the piece of paper in my hands to see even more kids staring at me, with disgusted looks on their faces. They whispered to their friends, covering their mouths with their hands. I tried not to drive myself crazy thinking about what they could possibly be saying about me. I looked down at the floor, not wanting to meet any of their icy glares. "I might as well go find my locker," I said out loud. I turned left, walking down the hallway, until I collided with something. Or rather, someone. 

"Yah, watch where you're going!" A high voice chastised. The girl folded her arms, her Prada bag dangling from her right arm. Her lips curled into a frown and her eyebrows arched angrily at me. "I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there! Are you-" I stopped mid-sentence. It was the girl in the limousine! She narrowed her eyes at me and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "Ah, crosswalk girl." Crap, she did recognize me! I tried to steady my already increasing heart rate. "My instincts were right, you were coming to Jeguk High. Who are you? You don't look like you belong here." Ouch. "Oh, my name is Seo-yun, I just transferred here from Jeonju." She scoffed when I mentioned where I was from. "Jeonju? All the way out in the countryside? Tch, I could have known from looking at you." What was this girl's problem? And what did she have against the countryside? "Um, alright then?" She took a step closer to me. "How did you afford the tuition?" This felt like an interrogation! "I took a placement test and earned a scholorship from my old school." I blurted out. I was surprised at my own words. Why was I telling her all this? "Another scholarship student." She spoke with disdain. The girl narrowed her eyes at me and took another step forward so that we were side by side. She looked back at me and said, "Hopefully you fit in well around here." I knew it wasn't a wish of good luck. She trotted off, and I turned around to see her stiffly walking away, her high heels clicking behind her. 

"Okay, I'll be staying away from her." I murmured to myself. I tried to shake the whole event out of my head and went on my way towards the lockers. I looked down at my student ID to see that my assigned locker number was 13G. I scanned the locker numbers until I came across mine. It was the last locker out of the first row. I smiled, thanking my lucky stars that I wouldn't have to squeeze between anyone just to get my books. I fumbled around with the combination lock until I thought of an easy number to input. I made sure no one was around to see as I started the combination. My locker door swung open, a shelf and two empty spaces staring back at me.

I fished around in my backpack for my textbooks, folders, and everything else I would need for the school day. I arranged them neatly in my locker, finally putting my empty backpack in the space on the bottom shelf.  I went to close my locker door before it was closed for me. A large hand with long fingers was pressed against my locker door, and it wasn't budging. 

Oh mom, what did I get myself into!