Were There

CHAPTER 1 - Always a Beginning

Time is the most precious gift one could give to another person. May be left ignored but unknowingly, it gives the changes. Jessica was never the type to step out of her comfort zone. She loved being typical and cliché. There was nothing new to be expected from her. What you see is what you get.

She had parents that didn’t seem to care about her; she knew perfectly well that they didn’t. Their world ran around business and that was it. They were too busy making money that she lived with a life of eating, sleeping, watching TV and all other things that she does, alone. She got used to it.

Her sister Krystal, on the other hand made things worse. She was way younger that her parents gave most of their attention to her. But oh well, she didn’t care anymore. She became numb over time and slowly turned out to be a heartless monster.

School to her was all the same. Assignments, projects, lectures, everything. They wanted to dictate the future of the student with grades. Why the hell would she care about her grades? She was the first honour of their batch ever since. Studying was not a requirement; it was something you had to have naturally. If you don’t have it, flunk out of school and scram. Her point of view.

“Jessica, have you seen the results of the entrance examination? You topped the charts!” Yet she simply glared at the classmate beside her. She took the books one by one from her locker, and shut it. “Seriously, your scores were just amazing! How could you-“

She faced her with that usual cold expression that made Chloe shut up. She held an index finger up and pointed towards the direction of the person in front of her and swiftly walked away. Interruptions despised her the most. If only it was possible to attend school without anyone talking to her, she would gladly accept it.

The room was filled with chats and laughter as Jessica went inside. If anyone would pass by, he could easily say that the students were having fun. But not for her. In her vocabulary, it was called chaos.

She laid her books on the desk she had at the near end of the room. Her classmates noticed her presence and silence next. As she took her seat, only did she give those careful stares to each and every one of them who were looking at her. Staring at Jessica would mean danger or worse… death. They knew so well and even coined her as the Evil Ice Queen.

“Good morning,” The students immediately greeted the professor and sat down. “Get your text books and read page 156.” She felt sick after hearing that. Prof. Kim always enjoyed the benefits of being a teacher and never really discussed a lesson in his entire career. If he did, they were all down to the last minute before his period ends.

She flipped every page on the book and took the highlighter hanging on with her ID. Carefully did she read about Microorganisms although she read it hundreds of times before they even touched that lesson. She was about to highlight some important details when, “Kindly pass this to Hyuna, it’s from Dong Hae.”

A piece of torn paper was in front of her. Hyuna was seated southwest to where she was. She could have immediately given it to the person behind her and say the same thing but there was something that pushed her to open and read it for a while.

The weather’s awfully cold. I need you tonight on my bed.

Disgusted. How she regretted reading that piece of paper. She folded it back to the way it was and approached the person at her back. “It’s for Hyu-“ Then a loud voice echoed throughout the room. Oh crap. He noticed. The professor did.

“What’s that piece of paper you’re holding, Miss Jung?” She stood up and held the paper just at the level of her face. “They told me to pass this to Hyuna and say that it came from Dong Hae.” All eyes were on Jessica. Hyuna seemed to be afraid of what was going to happen, and so was Dong Hae from the other corner of the room.

Prof. Kim went near her and took the paper. He read it with his eyes and gave a sigh. “Is this what you really want in your life? You really want to graduate in high school and enter a college university, huh? At this rate, you won’t and I tell you that honestly.” Jessica took a seat down and didn’t mind the issue anyways. She wasn’t involved and that was already good enough for her.

“Miss Kim and Mister Lee, I will report you to the guidance counsellor and make sure to go there as you are called. If you won’t, then both of your parents will be called for your misconduct. Understood?”

She smirked as she heard those words. Tsk, bed tonight. That’s what you get for your raging hormones. There she sat and went to the last word she stopped at and continued reading for she was getting more interested.

It was seen that the professor went back to his desk and took out a novel from his bag. And Dong Hae was tapping his pen on the book repeatedly. There was anger and fear in his mind that left him unstable. He knew he was mad at Jessica. And he was starting to plot revenge against her. But what?

Curse her. How could she ruin my life in just a snap? She could have just shut up and went on but why did she care to tell the professor everything and give the paper to him? She could have at least cared about her classmate’s sake. Sheesh, as expected from her. What a dense fool.

Behind three classmates lied Jessica. He looked at her and knew his blood was boiling inside. There must be some way to break a wall down. It’s risky but I must.

She wasn’t called a bitch for no reason. She was really one. Her ice cold personality made the explanation. Although she hated to be called like that, she admitted to herself later on that she was more or less just too realistic about everything going on. She was unbiased and her truthful judgments hurt other people. Fair enough for her.

There was something that itched in her head. Maybe it was dandruff, no way was it lice. It would be a living nightmare if she had. As she scratched her head with the highlighter, her peripheral vision cleared up. She knew there were eyes looking at her and she hated that. She wanted to locate where the eyes were from. Slowly raised her head and voila!

Killing me with your eyes, Dong Hae?

Oh yes, Jessica. I am so killing you right now.

Their eyes were talking to each other and both had the idea of what the other was thinking.

I’ll give you ten seconds and run as fast as you can. That is, if you’re still concerned about your life.

I am not afraid of you, Miss Jung.

Their deadly stares captured the attention of many of their classmates. They knew there was some tension going on. And that was surely a spectacle to watch. Who would win the battle? The evil ice queen or the bastard challenger? Who knows? It was so unpredictable.

“Miss Jung, Mister Lee. What is going on with you two?” The zapping lightning between their eyes disappeared. She silently apologized to the professor and carried on reading the book. They both waited for him to look away and when they did, their eyes did the stabbing.

So be it. You’ll regret this so much, Mister Dong Hae Lee.

I meant what I meant. Game on, Evil Queen.