Senior Year Isn’t the Only Thing That’s Hard

Stars in the sky, stars in their eyes—they’re truly something else. Shouldn’t they be up there themselves? They glimmer too bright to be left here on earth, with a guy like you who can’t hold a flame to them.

But maybe you’re one yourself. Stars only ever mingle with their own kind. So there’s the possibility that the three of you are stardust, simmered onto this world to shine in other places where they need it. It’s a laughable way to put it, almost cliche. But when you look at them, you realize you’re not far off.

See here: you’re young. It’s too early to worry about reputation—(oh, what a word, by the way, with its promise of faint or fail)—but a great, great place to start.

You didn’t know about that second part until you met Somi and Nancy.

First, picture this: your story is a movie, the rare one where the male character is the lead of the story although—let’s face it—it’s them everyone’s reading this for. Not you, not your style, not nada and zip. Everyone is and always will be here for them:

Jeon Somi and Nancy McDonie. They’re teen royalty. Only a few students ever get to say they held that title. Not that it’s of any importance later in life but what matters more than the present? The juniors look at them green with envy, and with the seniors, the ones who are all proud in their recent age of adulthood, either like them but hate to say it and “hate” them but like them too much to say it. It’s that simple. It’s that complicated, too, at the same time.

And, admittedly, it’s… a lot to take in.

Strangely, you’re not in either of those categories despite being a senior yourself. The difference is that you like them, and aren’t afraid to say it. After all, you owe them a lot for helping you get out of your shell.

-

Well, not at first. But that’s how it works, right? You, Somi, and Nancy don’t immediately become friends right from the get-go. There has to be some kind of story behind it, and you’re willing to tell yours.

-

It all started… well, like this:

You enrolled into a new school sometime after your eighteenth or nineteenth birthday. Yep, you really couldn’t remember. It’s all been in a flash with them, makes you feel a little dumb. All you know was it was the worst present to have: being required to join an institution that was as unfamiliar as it was unwanted. Like, fucking hell—this early? You were just a kid! Well, not anymore, but there had to be some kind of consideration for this, right? An exception that could be made?

Unfortunately, signing up for a new school was not a subject up for debate. It wasn’t something you could bargain yourself out of. No promises to be good, no extra chores, nothing. Your parents were firm on deciding that you were in need of a fresh new start.

And it just sort of happened that this clean slate you had? You ruined it completely.

Oh, it was classic teenage rebellion. You did almost everything you could to buy your way out of circumstances that didn’t go how you wanted them to. You wouldn’t say it was totally uncalled for. You had friends at your old school you thought you’d forever be with—the way you saw it, no one could just pull that away from you.

Alas, here you were. You’d been in this classroom more times than you could remember. Neither you nor the presidents spoke. No one was willing to break the ice.

Finally, sun melted the cold and replaced the winter with a fiery, hot summer. “You again?” Nancy McDonie leaned on the edge of the teacher’s desk. Her expression was that of someone who’s going through a cruel cycle of same-shit-different-day. You knew what that’s all about. “I swear, we see you here every Tuesday.”

And what a privilege that was. Sarcasm? A little.

“Oh?” you said. You did your own leaning on the backrest of the chair and put your arms behind your head. “Well, it’s not like I enjoy it here.”

Maybe you did. Maybe you didn’t. To be truthful, you didn’t know either at the time, so… well—you’re left involved in another banter with the two leaders of the student government. You didn’t see why you had to be sent to them every time you did something even just the littlest bit of wrong, but here you were. This was routine already. As everyday and usual as brushing your teeth and showering.

Nancy squinted her eyes at you, and you stared right back unnervingly. Neither of you were going to give up a silent fight like that.

“If you did,” Jeon Somi quipped, beside her best friend with her hands on her own hips, “we’d understand. I mean, look at us.”

She didn’t have to remind you. Both girls were prettier than they should be. ‘Cause look here for a minute: Nancy’s got this long caramel hair going on for her, and it extends long beyond her shoulder blades, framing her amazing curves and slim arms. She’s the push to Somi’s pull—Nancy is the calmer one, the girl who takes things more seriously.

To be fair, Somi does her own taking, too. Just not in the same way. She’s blonder, bustier, more extroverted. She walks life with an unrestrained laugh unfit for such a gorgeous girl and feet clad with platform school shoes that always carry her in paces around the classroom. She’s kind enough to cast a blind eye on some of your offenses, but too princess-y to keep her words about herself humble.

You say these in present tense because later on, when the circumstances change and so do the seasons, you’d find out that’s truly who they are. Your relationship would change but they wouldn’t. They’re still the same Somi and Nancy who are always glued to each other, always giggling, always the it girls, always the most popular girls in school.

One day, the punishment for your routine offenses would be death caused by them, and even that you’d welcome. Oh, just imagine…

“Let me guess.” The brunette girl tapped her finger on the desk surface. Lucky piece of wood. “You didn’t pay the treasurer again?”

You sighed and fiddled with your pencil. Scratches from the pointed led were imprinted on the olden table attached to the seat. You bit back a remark about how the class treasurer was as corrupt as a politician withering away with the hope the graft charges would, too. “Wrong,” you said, steadily. “I accidentally spray-painted miss Seo during arts.”

Your truth was met with silence.

“She looked like she came out of a unicorn’s asshole,” you helpfully added.

You remembered it like it was yesterday. Ah, well, of course you did—it was impossible to forget when it happened fifty fucking minutes ago. Yes, you counted down, because the surprise that took over you when you squeezed the nozzle of the can on a teacher you didn’t even know was behind you was everything to remember. Every color of the rainbow was soaking her dress pants and blouse, making her become the personification of a lively Pride parade.

(You didn’t leave that detail out for your poor victim not to hear, when you said: “Gay rights, anybody?”

Looking back, that was prooobably what got you into another meeting with the girls. The teachers had some real strange beliefs.)

Somi snorted, then started to laugh boisterously, so much that her body rocked downwards. To be fair, it started out as a small chuckle. Things went from this to that and suddenly it worked itself into a full cackle.

She slapped Nancy on the shoulder and shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’msorry,” she apologized; (it was useless), “but that shit’s so… fffucking —”

“It’s not funny, Somi,” Nancy said with a more solid voice than that of her friend’s. “Hey. Hey, it’s not funny!”

“Just think about it, babe.” Somi, still snickering, tried to put some sense in her, tried to make her see what made it so funny. “Think of the gay flag. Now—listen—imagine it as mean old miss Seo. You see where I’m going?”

“Still not funny.”

“C'mon, prez,” you told the unconvinced girl. You flung your hands in the air nonchalantly. “Live a little.”

“Yeah, Nance,” echoed Somi cheerfully, poking her best friend’s cheek. She was the only one who could ever do that to her. Any other person and they’d be found dead in a ditch alongside their reputation. And god, did it matter a lot to young’uns like you. “Live a little.”

“Don’t call me that.”

Somi shut her mouth. From what you noticed, she was the lesser contained of the two of them. She spoke with a sailor’s mouth that had the accent and vocabulary of a valley girl. Kind of true—she was filthy rich. You saw her parents during the senior acquaintance party and it wasn’t that hard to figure out she was wealthy when you saw her father slip her her allowance. Also, her mother was dressed in the best and latest trends, looking younger than she really was with how she held herself. Only rich people and really exemplary actresses could pull that off.

"And what was your offense the previous week?” Nancy went on. She was leaning forward now, unintentionally offering you the best view a horny senior could wish for: her bust struggling to be held inside her uniform blouse.

A distraction, that’s what it was. Oh, fuck, now Somi was doing it, too. Both girls are busty, full breasts begging to be freed from fabric. You should have really requested undressing them as your punishment, but it was clear that it was probably what they wanted and this was simply to coerce answers from you, unintentional or not.

They still held their dynamics, even when they’re forcing words out of you. They went hand in hand, pairing up together like they were born to be friends: the angel that was Nancy, and the little devil Somi was; good cop (in a way) Somi, and bad cop Nancy.

You weren’t gonna say their methods didn’t work. You gulped. Since when did you sound like a shitty literotica author with two sales? “I started a food fight in the cafeteria.”

“And the previous week?”

“I tripped mister Brown in the hallway because he failed me.”

“And the week before that?”