FLOWER | Winrina

Chapter 1

High school had always seemed like a dream to Jimin. A place where things would become life-changing - completely different from the way they'd always been.

She'd have more friends than just her best friend Jeno, she'd have more to do than homework and drawing, and she'd have a social life to hop into when she left school... That dream hadn't come true for her by any means.

As she got ready for her first day of junior year, she couldn't help but question how she had been so happy to start high school two years ago.

Sighing, she glanced at the time on her phone. Six thirty. She would have to leave in the next ten minutes to make it to school on time. Luckily, just a few days prior, her mom had finally decided to buy her a car. It wasn't anything special, but it was better transportation than sitting on an awful school bus full of delinquents.

That's how Jimin viewed most of her peers. Sure, at one point in her childhood, she had imagined that she would be like most of them, but now that felt not like a dream - but more like a nightmare.

At least, that's what she told herself as she finished her thin eyeliner, gave herself a dull look into the mirror, and then left her bathroom. She couldn't do anything about her life - it was what it was. She only had two more years of high school to go through anyway.

Skipping breakfast, Jimin grabbed her backpack, left her house before her mother could pester her about having everything with her, and got into her new car.

Exhaling slowly, she buckled her seat belt and made her way to school.

Patchwork High School was just as plain as any other high school. There were the standard social divisions, although considering some places, Jimin supposed that the divisions were slightly more fluid than normal.

There wasn't a clear "top of the social pyramid" group though, which was nice. Jimin wasn't really in a specific group.

She had her best friend - Jeno - and then she had a couple of people that she could call friends - though it was a bit of a stretch. She sat with them at lunch and had a few classes with them - Seulgi and Joy.

The new, fancy Bluetooth function in her new car came into effect as she received a call from her best friend. She answered it with a button on her steering wheel.

"Hey, Jeno! I'm on my way!"

"Cool! See you in a few, then!" came his voice over the sound system, followed by a brief beeping to indicate that he'd hung up the phone. Jimin exhaled some of her bitterness about high school as she drove onto the campus, allowing herself to feel slightly refreshed.

School wasn't awful - if she just considered the learning part. She loved to learn. Art was her favorite class, though, and there was actually a decent art teacher at her school, which she loved.

Pulling her car into her new parking lot, Jimin allowed herself to feel a little bit happier. She saw Jeno approaching her and her new car, smiling.

"Wow, I'm jealous," he stated, looking at the car as Jimin climbed out of it.

"No, you're not. Your car is your life. Every other car is inferior in your mind, Jeno," Jimin said, rolling her eyes.

Jeno laughed and gave her his signature nice guy smile. Jeno was a good friend. He was cool about most things and easy to talk to.

"Yeah, you're right," Jeno teased, smiling a toothy smile. "Shall we enter the school for the first time as upperclassmen?"

"I won't feel like an upperclassman until I'm a senior, Jeno," Jimin stated, laughing lightly. "But let's do it."