𝑆𝐿𝐼𝐺𝐻𝑇𝐿𝑌 𝐵𝐸𝑇𝑇𝐸𝑅 𝑇𝐻𝐴𝑁 𝐶𝑂𝑂𝐾𝐼𝐸𝑆 | 𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐑

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄

𝐊𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐂𝟔

—♞—

"𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐃?" 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐍 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐃 as she washed the dishes, the lavender scent of the bubbly dish soap filling the kitchen as the running water slapped against the sink.

"I think nervous is the better word," Kara mumbled, tucking her dark strands of hair behind her ears. She grabbed the grey backpack that had been leaning against the table and slipped it on. "I just wish my friends were going to this school."

"You'll make plenty of new friends, I'm sure." Helen gave her a reassuring smile as she took off the yellow rubber gloves she had on, resting them over the edge of the now-empty sink. She walked over to Kara and planted a kiss on her head. "When I came here, I didn't know anyone! But now, I have friends, don't I?"

"Yeah, but . . . it was for work! You had to make friends! Plus, you work for Uncle Tony, anyone would want to be your friend," Kara protested with a sigh. "And not to mention," she continued with raised eyebrows, "you're a world-renowned geneticist and the leader of U-GIN! You're the Helen Cho."

"And you're the Kara Cho," Helen laughed lightly, smoothing down the back of Kara's straight hair. "You don't need to stress over it so much, honey. Making friends will come naturally. Plus, school itself is much more important."

Kara sighed. "Yeah."

She then noticed the clock that was hung on the grey wall opposite her, realizing that her bus would be arriving in five minutes. She gave a quick kiss goodbye to her mother, who gave a wish of good luck in return, before swiftly tying her shoelaces and dashing out the door.

Kara got off her school bus and headed toward the tall, elegant building that was her school. She had visited it a few times before—for the tour, orientation, and such—but she still couldn't believe that such a fancy building could be a school.

Having received her schedule in the summer, Kara already knew her way to her first class, which was ninth-grade chemistry. She wasn't too upset with that either, chemistry was a subject she enjoyed quite thoroughly (although she had almost blown up her mom's lab when she was younger—by accident, of course).

As she walked toward the classroom, she was unsure of whether the feeling in her stomach was one of excitement, anxiety, or dread. Perhaps a combination of all three?

Kara walked into the classroom, and judging by the lack of life inside, was one of the first to enter. She looked around the room as she walked, her eyes slightly narrowed as she analyzed it.

There were four rows of long, wooden lab benches that acted as desks, most of the seats still empty. There were wooden shelves that lined the walls, occupied by bottles that Kara assumed were filled with different sorts of chemicals.

The teacher seemed to have put some extra effort into decorating the class, having plastered brightly coloured posters on the wall, both with encouraging words and scientific jokes that were quite terrible.

She took a seat at the lab bench in the front, hoping that whoever sat on either side of her wouldn't be too bad.

As ten past eight grew nearer, more and more students began to file into the class, taking their seats and preparing for the beginning of class. Eventually, two boys approached the side of the lab bench that Kara was sitting at, chatting casually about something as they walked.

One of them had parted dark hair, had tanned skin and seemed to be Asian. He had a red golf shirt on, the top buttons undone to reveal a navy blue shirt underneath. His lips were parted into a goofy smile as he told his friend a joke, nudging his side.