Head bent down and books clutched safely inside my arms, I now walk again in a whole new hallway, filled with a whole new pack of people I would one way or another familiarize with for the rest of this year. Already there are quite a lot of students making a fuss about the new transfer, and I'm asking myself this question again: Does it have to be like this all the time? Can they not talk about me for just once? I really don't get why me, of all people, has hit it off at the start of the school year and become instantly newsworthy.

Does this happen to all transfers? Because, well, you're not alone.

The scenes playing around me are definitely the same ones in the video reel I've been watching and experiencing from my last school. The same picture of jocks proudly wearing their varsity jackets, the same amount of couples making out from 'unseen' corners, the same number of eyeglass-wearing, braces-filled-teeth nerds stereotypically isolating themselves from the world around them and heading for the godforsaken library. The only different thing is the people themselves.

I stick my hand to my pocket and start feeling for the small piece of paper. Upon contact, I snatch it up and glance at it before sticking it up inside my planner. I came in the school quite early today, and I really did not expect how many there already were inside the gates. I usually get over my problem with the students by going early everyday, but seeing as this school is clearly an exception, I just need to blend in once again and just shrug it off.

I have Philosophy first, having the same teacher who guided me when I had my entrance exams. She had this huge smile plastered on her face like, all the time and kept on treating me like a second-grader, even giving me the pathetic question as to if I can use a computer.

I mean, come on.

I sigh as I put my planner inside this small satchel my Mom bought me from a yard sale last spring. I embroidered some cute flowers and small bees on it to lessen the dullness the brown fabric just gives off. I stand outside the room, shaking off my hair and running a hand down the tangled strands. I'm really going for a good first impression right now. Without further ado I turn the doorknob and give a slight push, and thankfully, God, thankfully, only a few eyes turn to me and have actually made a stare-down. I breathe out a sigh of relief as I do my best in going to my seat as invisibly as one could possibly do. There is one in the second row in the middle. I'm not a fan of being in the centre of everything, but it's not like I could complain right now.

My eyebrows actually shot upward when an old man entered the room. He clearly wasn't the same teacher in the entrance exams before, but I take this sudden event as a good thing. He stops mid-opening the door, and I take a good look. He already has gray hairs, and the sight of it made me pity him. This class surely isn't something an old man would take interests into.

He finally has got in and stops behind the teacher's desk. Even the presence of him couldn't simmer down the noise inside. He literally looks like one of those people who look like they already do not know what any other thing they still could possibly give to the world, and who belong to those who wanted to have a Friday afternoon to themselves, sitting on a reclining chair while watching the morning news.

He looks desperate, to be short.

He sighs heavily, completely ignoring the noise and turning to his folder filled with perfectly-organised papers. He runs a finger through them, stops at a piece of paper with a label I couldn't quite decipher, and pulls it up. He looks at us, his gaze faltering at the noisy ones for a second too long before dropping his look back at the paper once again. He clears his throat, and by now some have silenced down. He takes his chance quickly as he says, "Let's start this wonderful day with a roll call. Please respond if your names has been called."

He starts calling out the names, my eyes skidding over to those who have responded, familiarizing with their names. It hasn't been long before my name slices down the quiet classroom air. "I'm here," I mutter.

And then cue the stage-whispers and snickers behind my back. I groan inwardly, swallowing my impatience before it completely engulfs me whole. I take the risk to look at them, see their reactions for a bit. My eyes stop at a blonde girl smirking at me a few seats away. "Hun, where did you buy that cute little bag?" A few jocks clap their hands and started parading, giving whoops and shouts to the girl and sneers and snickers at me.

"Bitch, you ain't going nowhere with that thing." A dark-skinned girl practically whispers, earning a blow of kiss from the blonde. Okay, what did I do now? This isn't exactly what I've been expecting. Please tell me this is normal, because I'm not used to this. I stare at the girl for a few seconds before turning to the blackboard. Okay. If this isn't going as planned then I have to use Plan B.

I set my face into a blank mask, that way they can't penetrate my thoughts and give nasty comments about it. This ability is quite useful, considering I get quite a lot of bullying before. I learned it through all the card games my family plays every Sundays and a game wherein you shouldn't laugh at a joke I play with my younger brother. Oh, the cute little thing.

I suppose you're thinking now how easy this all gets. But it's far, far from that. I breathe out a collective sigh and concentrate on the worksheets and answer them as quickly as I could. I am almost finished when someone whispers from my side.

"You could break your pen, you know." I glance up to see a smile. It was so radiant I'd almost thought of Sunako nosebleeding. I look to his table to see an extra pen. With a head of a bunny as the cap.

That pen takes ahold of my interests. I glance to the boy then back to the pen again. "Oh, you want this? It's good you know, in case you ever break your own." He picks up the pen, my eye following his long hand before he sets it on my table. He smiles at me once again, and I look left and right to see if someone or anyone is watching. I can't risk ruining myself now. Thankfully there aren't. I suppose talking to the cute guy is safe.

Did I mention that he was cute?

I shake my head and his smile falters. He frowns as he say, "Why, what's wrong?"

"What? Nothing, nothing. Thank you so much," I whisper the last part, tucking the pen inside my satchel. I look up to give him a genuine smile of my own. Although he seems surprised by the sudden action, he quickly recollects himself and makes a dramatic bow to me, in which I reply a light giggle. He turns back to his paper, his rather long, messy blonde hair sashaying and his glasses turning his eyes invisible as it catches light from the window. Oh, what I would do to see a creature like him everyday. Oh wait, I could!

I start mentally doing my happy dance when someone breaks inside, the door alarmingly thrown to the wall with a loud bang. Everyone's eyes are on the intruder now. It was a boy, and he is breathing heavily, as though he had just ran for an hour. Sweat was covering his forehead, and oddly, his nose. I find it extremely fascinating how anyone could produce sweat on the nose - my nose can't do that, and that explains it. Anyway, our teacher doesn't look like one who does scandalous remarks for tardiness. The late guy is starting to open his mouth for an explanation, but our teacher simply waves him off and tells him that he doesn't really need it on the first day of school.

He nods almost immediately, his face not denying any relief from what just happened. He starts looking out for a seat and probably has found one already as he starts trudging off, his head hung low. My eye trails behind, curiously watching him go through the maze of students. Some are whispering but putting that aside, the classroom had been deathly quiet when the guy entered. Shrugging, I review my sheets.

But there's this nagging feeling I really couldn't push away. I start squirming in my seat, a habit my body constantly does whenever I get excited or anxious. Biting my lip hard, I turn to the blonde boy and ask, "Um, I hope you don't mind but, who is he?" And then it hit me. I didn't even ask for the blonde boy's own name! "I'm so sorry for being rude. I'm Megumi."

He turns to me, a picture of surprise evident on his face. A few seconds after that, a wide smile appears, crinkling his eyes and making a dimple appear on his left cheek. "I'm Gray."

"What! Gay?" I gasp. I hold his hand tightly between both of my smaller ones. I whisper, "You can trust me, you know. I have a friend before -"

He laughs. Loudly. Effortlessly earning a few weird stares and glares from the students. He starts clutching his stomach and pounds on the table simultaneously. I blink. "What? What's funny?"

"I said," he says, wiping away a dramatic tear from his gleaming eyes. "I'm Gray. Definitely not gay, although I do support them. You probably had that thought because of the bunny pen, didn't you?"

"N-no. Not really. I just misheard . . . is all . . ." I falter. Looking away in embarrassment, I already feel the blood in my body having a meeting on my cheeks. I breathe in slowly, trying to calm down everything. I turn once again, this time with a determined look on my face. "Okay. Gray, do you still remember my first question? Because I definitely do not want to repeat it -"

"That was Luke. Don't mind him. He was in Georgia's party last night." He sounds like he's brushing the topic off, what with the submissive waves his hands interpret. I nod slowly, giving a glance at Luke before setting my head on my desk.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

I gulp. This school's cafeteria is way more horrible than mine. Taking a dangerous peek inside this week's Mystery Meat, I almost feel like vomiting. I walk in cautious steps, afraid someone might trip me or something. You'll never know, right?

Tray in hand, I take a look at the tables set haphazardly around the room. The noise is very overwhelming, it almost makes my ears pound. There isn't any empty table, unfortunately, and so I now search for someone I could talk to just fine. Of course, being a transfer means you constantly feel like everyone's weird but I have to take risks if I want to eat now.

I settle on a girl with headphones on, nodding her head every once in a while, probably to the beat of the music. She's eating a sandwich that looks heavenly homemade I almost envy her. I breathe in heavily, and I start walking. But then someone grips my arm. I yank my arm away on instinct, almost spilling my water in the process, before I turn around and see the culprit.

"O-oh, Gray," I say, my mouth producing something in between a sigh and a nervous laugh. I relax my tensed body before flashing him a small smile. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," he replies, running a hand through his tousled blonde hair and showing me a smile of his own. He fixes the position of his eyeglasses before continuing, "Want to share a table with me - Oh, I mean us?"

"W-what?" I breathe out, surprised.

"C'mon." He grips my arm once again, tugging me behind him as he heads for a table . . . consisting of guys all looking dangerously hot. I look at Gray uncertainly but he's smiling, his eyes almost closed with the crinkling. He pushes me slightly towards them and I stand there, frozen in place.

"Oh, who's this?" Twins. Twins. Two cute guys ask in unison, showing that stereotypical thing where twins have the same actions and gestures. I could really melt, right here and now . . .

"A girlfriend, Gray? Congratulations." A pale guy holding a book says, his overlong raven-coloured hair hiding his eyes. He lifts his head, probably to have a better look at me, before giving a small smirk and looking back at his book. He's scary, alright, but his lips, though . . .

Fuck.

"I-I'm not . . . He's not -" I stutter. I look at Gray for help and in frustration.

"She's a classmate in Philosophy. Guys, meet Megumi." And then someone wraps his arms around me and pulls me close, therefore leading me to make a little yelp.

"Hi, Megs!" a guy exclaims. His smile is brighter than that of Gray. He has my head stuffed against his sweater, and the slight smell of soap and sweat clouds my senses. He keeps on cuddling me until the twins say something.

"Megumi?" The both of them snicker. They turn their head towards me in the weirdest way possible that it slightly creeps me out. "Annyeonghaseyo."

"I'm actually half-Japanese," I say when I was finally let go from the guy's grip. I could almost feel my eye twitching. Before, people keep on nagging me about my name. Seriously? Megumi isn't that uncommon, right? I don't mind being mistaken for a half-Korean, but I'm just tired correcting them. I sigh.

"Oh?" The twins say at the same time. A few seconds later, the other twin stretches the sides of his eyes with his forefingers - showing that stereotype about Asians having narrow eyes - and the other starts bowing. "Ohayo!"

"Shut it, please," I say quietly, awkwardly straightening up in my seat. "I'm serious." I turn away in embarrassment. The table turns silent for a moment, but after my short order they slowly continue eating their lunch. I'd totally forgotten mine . . . but it's not like I really like to eat it. I stare at it for a long time, before my stomach takes this time to grumble. I hang my head low, my cheeks turning red.

"You hungry? Grab a Snickers." I almost laugh at the joke . . . only it wasn't a joke. The guy who cuddled me earlier shoves three Snickers at my side of the table, stopping in front of me with a flourish. I look at him, grateful for the real food. I open one and start eating.

"Megumi. Sorry if it's late but, let me introduce the boys." I turn to Gray, my curiosity already getting a better grip on me. "The twins here are Blake and Drake. The Snickers guy would be Chris, and the one with the book's Vincent." I smile at them all in acknowledgement.

Having an actual ten minutes, we all talk a bit and they let me know short briefs of their backstories. Having a habit of noting people's actions and such, I noticed a few things with the boys: the way Blake and Drake's smiles crook sidewards, creating an uneven angle on their faces; I still couldn't see Vincent's eyes, but I'm sure they look great - a feature compatible with his vampire-ish look; Chris always lingers beside me, telling me how cute I look and how my chestnut hair greatly emphasizes my protuberant eyes; (His words, not mine.) Gray, on the other hand, keeps on plastering up that smile of his, lightening up the group's mood as always.

I was smiling the whole lunch time, the bell ringing not destroying my happy mood at all. I have Biology with Blake and Drake after this. Saying my goodbyes to the others, I walk together with the twins, not minding the way they still tease my name.

I smile to myself again. I really hope tomorrow would be as good as today.

Author's Notes: Another story! Oh my god, my mind keeps on flashing new ideas, neglecting its original goal to add updates to my older stories. Anywhoreee . . . I hope this story go beyond greatness.

I have high hopes with this one, guys! I really hope you like it!

(Please point out if there are mistakes, haha.)

Also. I know this thing had been on rant books all over Wattpad — and trust me, I'm tired of reading them too — but you really would not know unless you're the one making it... Anyway, I'm talking about my summary, and that I do suck at those. I'm bad with getting the whole book in mere paragraphs and whatnot, so I'm open for tips and everything. xD

♥ ♪The Mofo-Potato; Isabel ♪ ♥