First Hour

“Hey!”

The slamming of a door and a flood of bright light pinched her mind until she was completely awake. Groaning, she sat up and rubbed her eyes, “Anna-?”

A girl with a smudge of lipstick running from her lips to her cheeks grinned up at her, “Ella! Do I look pretty? Huh? Do I?”

Squinting, Ella glanced at the alarm clock beside her bed, “It’s five in the morning; go back to bed-”

“I wanna look pretty for my first day! Dae Hee said that if I wear my pink dress and wear your makeup then all the guys will like me-”

“Wait- my makeup-?” she shook her head, staring closely at the little girl twirling before her, “Anna, how many times do I have to tell you-”

“Don’t I look pretty?” Anna jumped up and down, watching the hem of her skirt flutter around her legs, “I look like a princess!”

Sighing, Ella took the girl’s face between her hands and slowly wiped away the smeared lipstick. “How did you even find- I swear I hid it up high-”

“I climbed up!” Anna wriggled out of her grasp, “I scraped my knee- see?” she lifted her skirt to show a gash running across her knee cap, “But don’t worry! I was careful!”

“Anna,” Ella pursed her lips, “Scraping your knee isn’t careful!”

“But I didn’t die-”

Pulling out a tiny first aid box out from under her bed, Ella fumbled through the pill bottles and bandages until she found the right size. Plastering the band aid to the girl’s knee, she straightened up, “There. Now don’t do that again, okay? I don’t want you getting hurt-”

Anna wasn’t listening, “I’m going to school! I’m going to Kindergarten! I get to go to school like you and Dae Hee!”

Smiling a little, she rose to her feet, “How about we go get some breakfast?”

“Can I have ice cream?”

“You can’t have ice cream for breakfast.”

“Why not?” Anna pouted, “Mommy isn’t here!”

“Ice cream is for dessert! Not breakfast!”

“Can I have a donut?”

“No.”

“Why? People have donuts for breakfast!”

“But we don’t have any donuts-”

“Yes, we do! Mommy bought them yesterday!”

“How about some… Kimbap! I know you love Kimbap-”

“I want something sweet!” Anna pouted, “Why can’t I have a donut?”

“You need to stay healthy and strong,” Ella continued, “Or you won’t be able to be a princess.”

“Princesses eat donuts!”

“But not for breakfast.”

Frowning, Anna sat down at the table as Ella made her way to the kitchen, but she said nothing more.

It was like this every morning- there was no mother to watch over the five year old, and there was no guidelines as to which the children could and could not do. Sighing, Ella stared at the contents in the fridge. Only, there wasn’t anything in the fridge to stare at. The donuts from yesterday sat at the back of the bottom shelf, a couple eggs left in a bowl, and a nearly empty carton of milk on the rack stared back at her. Shaking her head, she drew back and quietly shut the door of the fridge. “Okay…” letting out a slow breath, she plastered on a smile, “How about we go visit Grandmother for breakfast?”

“Yeah!” Anna jumped up and down excitedly.

Ella couldn’t remember the last time she woke up to food in the fridge, money in the bank account, parents at home. Sure, she did have a father and mother somewhere, but that didn’t mean they acted like parents at all. Her mother wasn’t her birth mother- a stepmother to be exact, but she known her since she had first learned to walk. It wasn’t alway like this… it felt as if only yesterday her parents were still walking hand in hand… and now they weren’t. Because he left. Ever since then, not only would he never come home, but she would never be home as well. It hurt too much, she said. Too much.

“Grandmother!” Anna squealed upon seeing the elderly woman’s face.

“Ah, Anna dear! You’ve grown!” Grandmother smiled warmly.

“Hello, Grandmother!” Ella bowed hastily, “I hope we aren’t too early for you-”

“Nonsense, nonsense,” Grandmother waved the comment off, “Come in! I’ve just finished a fresh batch of rice cakes.”

“Rice cakes!” Anna squealed again, “Rice cakes! Rice cakes! I get rice cakes!”

“She’s full of energy,” Grandmother chuckled under her breath.

Nodding slowly, Ella laughed, “It’s her first day of school.”

“Ah! That’s right!”

“I don’t think I’ve seen her this excited since Disneyland!”

“Rice cakes!” Anna shouted once more.

“Alright dear, I’m coming!” Grandmother sent her a wink before disappearing through the kitchen door.

7:15. Sighing, she stuffed her phone into the pocket of her blazer. If she ran, she could make it- nodding in determination, she set off down the street. Sending Anna off to school took longer than she had anticipated- due to the fact that once it came time to leave, she didn’t want to. Sometimes, she wondered what was going through that kid’s brain.

Cars whizzed down the street, and the stop lights flashed from red to green against the cloudy sky looming overhead. Advertisements blared across every billboard sending mixed messages like pros. One sign held the idea of body positivity, while another promoted weight loss. One flashed warnings of environmental disasters such as global warming, while the sign right beside it flashed pictures of cars and gas. It was laughable, really. A sudden rumble broke through the peace of the city streets, and in less than a second, a down pour of icy cold rain leaked from the sky.

“Aish…” covering her head as she ran, she wiped the water from her eyes. She could see the bus stop a few blocks ahead, and the longer she ran towards it, the farther it seemed to be than before. Her lungs burned and her eyes were hot enough to warm the rain falling from the sky, but she didn’t care. She could see the bus in the distance, and there was no way she was going to miss it. Heaving, she skid to halt just as the bus arrived before the stop. She fumbled for the bus pass in her pocket as she climbed the steps, and with a quick check, she was past. Letting out a slow breath, she stuffed the pass back into her pocket.

The entire bus was packed with people of every shape and size. Sighing, she shuffled down the aisle in search of a place to at least stand. Noticing an empty handle near the back, she pushed her way through the mass of bodies until her fingers wrapped around the metal and cloth hanging from the ceiling of the bus.

“-I heard the new president is very rich,” an older woman whispered to her friend.

“Ah, really? A pity he has such a rotten personality…” her friend nodded in agreement.

“Perhaps he’ll let my son have another c-”

“Mother, I’ll be safe, I promise!” a man not to far away from the women rolled his eyes, holding a cell phone up to his ear, “Yes, yes, I have food-”

“-did you hear about congressman and the elementary school teacher?” another woman spoke earnestly to friend beside her, “It was very scandalous, might I add. I happen to know his wife, and she is not happy about it at all-”

A sudden jerk of the bus sent Ella flying sideways into the lap of a stranger. Face burning in embarrassment, she bowed hastily, “Sorry!” Unable to help herself, she glanced at the face staring at her in amusement- at least she would have liked to think it was amusement. The boy staring at her held no expression on his face, and yet that was enough to send a wave of embarrassment down her spine once more. “Sorry!” she said again before turning away hastily. Cringing at her own awkward actions, she shook her head. ‘It’s fine…’ she reminded herself, ‘I probably won’t see him again, so you can just forget about this whole incident…’

The bus came to a stop outside of a gloomy looking building, and she pushed her way through the crowd once more. Bowing in gratitude to the bus driver, she hopped off the vehicle and hurried up the sidewalk.

“Good morning,” the class chimed as the teacher slid through the classroom door.

“You may be seated,” the teacher nodded curtly, and the class obeyed. “Welcome back, Seniors. I’m Mrs. Park, and I hope we get along nicely.” Setting a stack of books and folders on her desk, she pulled out a list from one of her folders, “Kang Youngbae?”

“Here.”

Ella sunk lower in her seat. She had been hoping that at least one of her friends would have been in her class, but she found herself alone. Again. Gazing out the window, she watched as the rain slid down the window glass.

“Kim Ella?” the teacher continued on.

“Here,” she answered quietly.

“Kim Bora?”

“Here,” another girl yawned.

Just as Ella was almost certain she was going to fall asleep, the door flew open. Not bothering to see who arrived late, she rested her head on her arms.

“My apologies,” a boy’s voice replied, “I got lost.”

“Ah, I was wondering where you were,” Mrs. Park nodded, “Class, this is Jun Jae Yeong. He moved from…”

“The United States,” he answered nonchalantly.

“Ah, right, right… Well… you may take a seat… um… over there,” the teacher waved him off.

Bowing hastily, he turned to find his seat.

“Wow…” a girl whispered harshly to her friend, “From the U.S?”

“He’s so good looking too-”

Ella stiffened as he slid into the seat beside her. Cautiously stealing a glance at his face, her eyes widened as she recognized his face only too well. “B-bus guy-”

He turned to stare at her in curiosity, “I believe we’ve met before.”

She could only nod in return, for her brain was reduced to a puddle of embarrassment once more. It was only the first hour of school, and she already wished she could disappear into the walls.  

Author's Note

This is taking place in South Korea, so there will be a lot of Korean customs. I will do my best to explain so you aren't confused!
Bowing is like shaking someone's hand- it shows respect and thanks
Kimbap is like a Korean version of sushi that's often used as a snack.

Reviews

[Mehameha]

I enjoyed this read. It is well written, "too" instead of "to" in the line that starts with "Mother I'll be safe..." "A man not 'too' far away". Still the story held my interest and deserves a second chapter. I have been very busy just staying alive on the street but reading this helped me escape reality and enter your character's world, so thank you for taking the time to write this. Send me read requests for your next chapter. It will be interesting to see what happens next.