Mean Girls

iii. social pariah

Rejecting Lee Chaeryeong's ridiculous offer at the cafeteria had been no big deal in Ryujin's mind — it wasn't the first time she'd dealt with girls like her, girls that expected the world to bow at their feet, and it wouldn't be the last time.

Yeji and the rest of the school however, were horrified, and after Chaeryeong had left in a huff, Yeji had literally begged her to go, genuinely fearing for Ryujin. When Ryujin had taken her hand and looked her square in the eye saying "I'd rather be with you'', she'd gotten tears in her eyes, squeezing Ryujin painfully hard.

The rest of that day, everyone looks at Ryujin as if she has lost her mind and whereas Yeji gets jittery with anxiety, Ryujin brushes it off, ignoring the stares and whispers and pointing fingers. She assures herself — and Yeji — that it'll blow over in a couple of days when the drama-hungry students find some fresh gossip to throw themselves over.

Ryujin certainly doesn't expect what happens the following day. She feels the shift in the atmosphere the second she steps foot in the school and she looks around and everyone is staring at her, though there's something unnervingly different in the way they look at her.

She attempts to shrug it off as she makes her way to her locker. The boy who occupies the locker next to her scurries off in a hurry when he sees her coming. Ryujin frowns as she puts away the books she won't need. According to her schedule, her Algebra class is in room B203. She hasn't been in that room before and her human compass Yeji doesn't have class until third period (Damn, lucky her).

She closes her locker and approaches the girl closest to her. "Hey, excuse me, can you tell me where I can find—" She doesn't even finish the sentence before the girl bolts. Ryujin stares incredulously after her fleeing form.

"What the fuck," she mutters under her breath. She reaches out and grabs a passing girl's arm.

"Hey," she says and is surprised by the almost fearful look in the girl's wide eyes.

"Let go!" she exclaims and struggles against Ryujin's grip, but she's a small thing, no doubt a freshman, and Ryujin easily keeps her in place.

She frowns. "Calm down. Jesus, I'm not suffering from leprosy, I just need directions for my first period class."

To her shock, the girl bursts out into tears. "Please, don't talk to me. I have four years left in this school. I can't finish them alone."

Ryujin is so shocked that she releases the girl, watching her run for her life. She slowly turns and looks at the kids who are staring at her. She approaches a group of boys, but they scoff and shake their heads.

"Stay away, loser," one of them says and they all snicker.

Ryujin is at a loss. She has no idea what's happening. All that she knows is that everyone is avoiding her like the plague. It only gets worse once she finally finds her Algebra class last second and the girl she takes a seat next to promptly rises and finds another seat far away from her.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Ryujin blurts out in sheer frustration, and of course, that's the moment Mrs. James decides to arrive. She sends Ryujin a sharp, disappointed look.

"Language, Miss Shin." The class laughs and Ryujin's cheeks burn as she sinks back in her chair. She tries to concentrate on the numbers on the whiteboard but she can't quite concentrate with the knowledge that the whole school has turned against her overnight.

Towards the last portion of the class, Mrs. James puts them in groups to solve a sheet of equations. Ryujin is prepared when her group freezes her out but it still hits a nerve, because one thing is messing with her in the halls, but another is jeopardizing her academic future. So, of course, she goes off, a bunch of colorful words pouring from her mouth that has Mrs. James gaping and gasping in disapproval.