First day of school

It's not every day that Zoan finds herself surprised and stunned. Golden High was beyond her expectations; the halls were white and pristine. Everything looked impressive—and, of course, there were a lot of girls, as it is an all-girls school.

Zoan was embarrassed to admit that she had come to school earlier than necessary to check the place out. The campus was expansive, featuring small shops for food and trinkets.

They even had their own road with a guard overseeing the pedestrian lanes. No wonder so many students wanted to attend this school—it truly was beautiful and pretty cool, at least in Zoan's eyes.

"A point to you," Zoan muttered under her breath—it was for her father, Elias. He really did a good job choosing a school that suited her.

It took her a moment to realize it was already homeroom time. She only noticed when she pulled out the digital schedule that Thead had made for her on her phone. 

That's when she started running toward the High School building, nearly stumbling and making a fool of herself in front of a few pretty girls.

She had tried talking to them—well flirting, but they left her in the dust because she looked "too weird."

"Too weird? I'm too weird?!" Zoan fumed to herself as she walked down the empty hallway. It was already 7:30, and homeroom was about to end in thirty minutes. Her feet ached from running in heels.

It wasn't long before she slid open the door, staring at the students sitting at their desks and the teacher at the front, writing something on the board.

"Ah, it seems Ms. Porifera did come after all," the teacher said, giving Zoan a kind smile. Zoan responded with an awkward, nervous laugh.

"I—I got lost," Zoan replied as the teacher approached her, grabbing her arm and gently pulling her to the front.

Oh god—Zoan was by no means a shy person, but there were times when she clammed up, especially in sudden situations like this. She should have taken her time before sliding the door open. After all, she had expected fewer students in one classroom.

"This is our new transferee from Dawn International; her name is Zoan Porifera," the teacher announced as Zoan stammered a hello, giving curt nods to everyone.

"Nice to—uh, meet you all," she mumbled, feeling unaccustomed to addressing so many people at once.

A few girls waved, some smiled and nodded, while most just stared at her. Zoan couldn't help but break into a nervous sweat, clasping her hands together as she turned to her teacher.

"And you can just call me Ms. Atiro. You can take your seat at the back since most of the seats have been taken," Atiro said. Zoan nodded and walked toward the empty seat, nearly tripping over a stray bag along the way.

"Oh, oops," the girl said, popping a piece of gum from her mouth as Zoan stared at her. After a moment, Zoan made her way to her seat, sitting down heavily and hooking her bag onto the hook on the table.

"Ah, since everyone here already knows each other, we only have Zoan as our new student. We should reintroduce ourselves so she can feel at home!" Atiro clapped her hands.

Everyone groaned as Zoan looked around; it wasn't really necessary since they all had name tags clipped to their chests. "Come on, guys! We had a great first year together—three years to go! I want everyone here to feel like a family, got it? How about next week? What do you say, guys?" Atiro grinned, almost bouncing on her feet.

Her energy was overwhelming, and Zoan could barely stand it. It was early in the morning, and her soles still ached from running across the campus to the high school building.

—

Second class was math, and Zoan mostly spent her time trying to catch up with her notes because her teacher spoke so quickly and was always eager to erase what she had just written on the board.

Zoan was almost tempted to shout and ask her to slow down, but looking around, everyone else seemed used to it; most of the students appeared laid-back, particularly the girls at the back.

The girls at the front, however, were busy writing and solving equations on the board.

Zoan drew a few scribbles, resisting the urge to groan. She wanted to scratch her head, but that would mean messing up the wig Sol had fixed for her.

God, why wigs? And why was it even required to have long hair? What did it have to do with their studies? What if someone got heatstroke? Zoan busied herself with her notebook, gripping her pen tightly; one wrong move could easily rip through the pages.

"Excuse me," a soft voice murmured beside her, causing Zoan to pause. She turned to the girl next to her, realizing she hadn't even noticed her since homeroom.

Well, oops—Zoan thought, hiding a wince.

The girl had long, curly brown hair and a small, bright smile on her face. "Hi," Zoan said lamely, tapping her pen on her notebook.

"Hello… Nice to meet you, Zoan—I'm uh, Choi Jiho," she said, offering her hand. Zoan shook it, only to realize her own hands were clammy compared to Jiho's dry one.

"Ah, sorry," Zoan said, wiping her hand on her skirt as Jiho giggled. "It's okay! When I get nervous, my hands also get really cold and clammy."

Zoan nodded, wincing as she turned back to her notebook, continuing to jot down her notes before the teacher erased what she had written on the board for the umpteenth time.

Jiho seemed eager to talk more, but honestly, Zoan was doing her best to follow the lesson. They could chat during the break; it wasn't as if they were losing time.

And talk they did during the break. Almost everyone had left the classroom to dally in the hallways or head to the canteen, while Zoan tried to focus on the words dancing in front of her tired eyes as she struggled to read her English.

Beside her, she listened to Jiho discuss their schedules and the names of their teachers, responding with small "hm" and "okay" here and there.

"Do you want some?" Jiho asked, pushing her bento box toward Zoan, who was beginning to nod off. Zoan flinched when Jiho gently nudged her arm to regain her focus.

"Huh? Yeah, uh—thanks, I mean, no thanks. I'm not hungry; I'll eat around lunch," Zoan mumbled, turning to Jiho and blinking at her blearily. Jiho pouted for a moment, then nodded in understanding, pulling her bento back to herself and eating in peace.

"I'm sorry for bothering you too much; you look really busy. You're already studying on the first day of school," Jiho remarked, sneaking a glance at Zoan, who was back to writing in her notebook.

"Are you, uh, perhaps the daughter of Elias Porifera?" Jiho asked, her voice meek and uncertain. Zoan paused, glancing at her. "Yeah—why?"

Jiho perked up, "You—your father was my dad's lawyer!" she exclaimed excitedly, like a puppy spotting a treat. Zoan raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's great—small world."

"It is! Now I've met his daughter; it really is a small world," Jiho giggled, but then paused, staring at Zoan thoughtfully. "Do you have a brother… perhaps?" she asked, and Zoan turned back to her, raising a confused eyebrow.

"No, as far as I know, I'm an only child," Zoan replied, and Jiho let out an "ahh" as she nodded.

"I guess you're not what I expected…" Jiho trailed off, touching the bottom of her lip thoughtfully, eyeing Zoan's hair, her thick glasses, and the strangely long skirt that made her look like some nun living in a church—minus the cross.

"Me too," Zoan cleared her throat as Jiho looked away, laughing awkwardly. Both fell silent again, with Jiho stuffing her face to force herself to quiet down and Zoan continuing her notes.

They could hear the noise from their classmates—some girls moving to different seats to talk to friends, while others lingered in the hallways, as if there were no other places to hang out.

Zoan closed her notebook with a sigh, tapping the end of her pen against her temple.

Now that she was in school, Zoan wondered if it was always this tiring to be around other people. And the day had just started!

Her eyes opened when she heard footsteps to her right. She turned her head and saw the woman who had her bag on the way earlier.

Zoan narrowed her eyes, forcing a smile. "Hi," she said, waving at the raven-haired girl, who scrutinized her in return. "I can't believe you're the one who switched with her. What's going through their minds?" She clicked her tongue, scoffing as the girl gave her a weird look before walking away.

Confused, Zoan blinked and turned to Jiho, who was watching the whole ordeal with her cheeks stuffed full. "What was that?" Zoan asked. Jiho let out a squeak and shrugged, focusing back on her food.

Well, if that wasn't weird—Zoan thought, giving Jiho an odd look.