Samantha stood in the bathroom, her breaths panicked. The bathroom door was locked, but that didn't make her feel any better. She sighed, her stomach churning with discomfort.

The girl wrapped her arms around her middle as she stared at her reflection. Her dark hair was neatly combed, being wavier as usual due to her braiding it and leaving it overnight.

"I look terrible..." she muttered. "Maybe I should skip school. Just for today."

It was "Vintage Day" today, and Samantha's class had to pick a year to dress up as. Apparently, they were assigned the '30s, so they all had to wear dresses and suits. All the other classes had picked other time periods, like the '80s or the '60s.

So guess what she had to wear. A dress. And she highly disliked dresses, and felt quite uncomfortable in one. Her outfit was simple: a thick-strapped turquoise (her favorite color) dress with flower patterns on it. But at least she wore shorts under the knee-length dress, right? That made her feel slightly better.

She didn't have to wear makeup, which was a good thing. She didn't want to waste her time dealing with all that crap. Dresses made her feel...uncomfortable. She wasn't a tomboy, nor was she a girly girl. She was kind of...in the middle.

The only reason why she wore the dress was because of "class spirit" and if she didn't, her classmates would scold her of not contributing. Hopefully she'll feel better when she got there. All the girls will be wearing dresses too.

Right when Samantha gathered enough courage to let herself out of the bathroom, a voice rang out.

"Wai! Sammi, you're going to be late for school if you don't come out now, aru!" China called.

The girl let out a startled squeak and backed away from the door.

"Okay. I'm coming," she said as calmly as she could.

"I'll be waiting at the living room for you."

As soon as she heard the sound of his footsteps disappear, she breathed out a sigh of relief. She didn't want to let Yao or Loung see her in this outfit because that would be too embarrassing. Stupid insecurities.

I'll wear my hoodie on top. Samantha decided, but realized that she had left it in her room. She placed her hand on the handle of the door. It's now or never. 3, 2, 1...

At once, she flung the door open and bolted to her room. She started looking for her hoodie frantically, but failed to find it.

"Shoot," she muttered. "Hey China, do you know where my hoodie is?"

"It's right here, aru! I got it right here," he answered.

Samantha buried her face into her palm, knowing that there was no way she could escape without having to face China. She grabbed a pack of chocolates, which she always used to calm herself down when she was nervous. She then let herself out of her room heading to the living room where China waited.

As soon as she stepped into the living room, China's facial expression changed to shock.

"Ehh?! Why are you wearing that, aru! I thought you were supposed to wear school uniform!" he exclaimed.

"Well it's Vintage Day today and apparently I have to wear this," she replied.

"Oh. Well, you look nice. That dress is pretty," a new voice said.

"Sh-Shut up!" the girl stammered and whipped around to face Hong Kong, her face turning as red as a tomato.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"You know just as well as I do that I hate dresses, much less being showered with compliments about me wearing one?" she snapped. "I mean, I don't look that good or anything. There are other girls that look much better," she muttered as she slipped on her hoodie and slung her bag over her shoulder.

"Okay, like geez, I'm sorry," Loung said, putting his hands up.

Samantha didn't reply as she picked up her laptop and tucked it under one arm. "I'll be leaving now. Goodbye."

"Have a nice day at school, aru!" China called as she ran out the door.

She waved to them both as she sprinted off.

******

Samantha walked back to China's place after school, the wind brushing the skirt of her dress. She opened the door calmly, letting herself in. The place was calm and quiet as usual. She set down her laptop on the table and her bag by it, smiling as the sun shone through the window.

"Huh. Maybe wearing a dress isn't so bad after all," she muttered and shrugged, heading off.

~~~~~~

This actually happened today, and I decided to write this. The Gakuen one-shot isn't done yet, but it'll be coming up next.

So bear with me please :3