Lily quietly stepped into Maika's room to wake her up for school, she approached her sleeping daughter and she gently shook her shoulder,
"Maika dear time to get up," She whispered.
Maika groaned, "Okay."
She sluggishly pulled herself off her pillow and dragged her legs out of her teal blanket; she sat up and stretched, her pajamas were a black t-shirt and blue flannel shorts while her mom sported a pink bath robe with white fuzzy slippers.
Lily smiled, "Today you and your sister start school."
Maika weekly smiled back, "Yay."
She was not a morning person, but at least her new school will be better. She never liked going to school back home; she's always the odd one out for thinking differently than everyone else.
She got out of bed and got ready to be the new girl; she put her clothes and makeup on, she's relieved to not wear an ugly uniform. Her school uniform was a long-sleeved white blouse and a navy-blue skirt with suspenders that went with black clunky shoes. It's nice to wear the clothes she wants to wear and not get in trouble for it.
She headed downstairs and walked into the kitchen to find Soo happily eating her breakfast which was scrambled eggs with peanut butter toast. This breakfast felt completely alien, back home their breakfast was usually, boiled rice, kimchi, cracker's and barley tea. Maika only saw peanut butter in movie's, and it's supposed to be the North American icon for sandwich spread's, and it goes great with jelly or jam.
Soo grinned with a mouth full of peanut butter, "You got to try this sissy; it's awesome!"
She chuckled, "I'll take you up on that."
She grabbed a piece of toast and took a butter knife and smeared it with peanut butter. One bite and she was in love, who knew North American food was so tasty; she grabbed some scrambled eggs and sat down at the table.
"Are you excited for school?" Soo asked.
"I guess so, at least I won't have to wear a uniform," Maika said.
Soo giggled, "Those uniforms were ugly."
Maika agreed, "No doubt about it."
Lily came down-stairs wearing a navy-blue pant suit with a grey blouse and brown ballet flats, "You girls hurry up and eat,"
She's starting her new job at an insurance company; in Pyongyang she'd work in a fabric factory. Sometimes she wouldn't be back until midnight, Maika hated seeing her mom being worked ragged, but she won't have to do that anymore, at least for the time being.
"Excited for school?" Lily asked.
Soo nodded, "I'm so glad we won't have to wear ugly school uniforms."
"Or bow to our dictator when we come in," Maika said.
"You won't have to worry about doing that, your new schools will be different, and they'll be wonderful," Lily said.
After they finished breakfast they loaded up into the car and headed out. On the way Maika kept picturing what her new high school would look like. In the movies and shows she's watched, American high schools would always have long lockers, drinking fountains everywhere and lots of stuck up popular kids with too much attitude to care.
"Maika do you have your schedule?" Lily asked.
She nodded, "It's in my bag."
"Good, Soo, do you want me to walk in with you?" Lily asked.
Soo nodded, "I'd like that, but don't embarrass me."
They laughed, looks like Maika's little sis has already adjusted to their new life well. After fifteen minutes they arrived at her high school.
"Have a good day sweetie, make new friends," Lily said.
Maika grabbed her black backpack, "Bye Mom, bye Soo."
Walking into the school felt strange, well for one everyone was dressed casually and not in uniform, and the other thing that really stood out to her was not a large portrait of Kim Jong-Il taunting her. Whenever she'd walk into school, she'd have to bow to it, there were no words to describe how much it made her blood boil. There was no portrait only a large trophy case with a green and blue banner that says, 'Go East-Brooke Wild Cats!" Maika's snapped back to reality once the bell rang, she quickly pulled out her schedule and rushed off to her first class. She managed to get in just before the door closed.
The teacher greeted her with a smile, "Hello there you must be Maika, welcome I'm Ms. Baker."
The teacher was around Maika's height; 5'6, she looked to be about middle aged, with short auburn hair with green eyes and pale skin. She sported a black pencil dress with a grey blazer and brown penny loafers.
"Class this is Maika Lee, she's a foreign exchange student from North Korea; what part are you from dear?" Ms. Baker asked.
"Pyongyang," Maika answered.
"Would you mind telling us what its like?" She asked.
She cringed, what can you say about the place where you grew up and not be brutally honest but not lie either?
"Well, it's not much to look at; it's quiet, boring, strict, and it's not a very tourist friendly place to visit," Maika explained.
"Thank you dear, you can take a seat anywhere," Ms. Baker said.
She took her seat in the back row and hoped no one noticed her. She's already been an outcast at her old school for having quote, 'radical ideas', the last thing she needs is to be signaled out for being the new girl from an isolated country. Luckily no one gave her a second glance and she could enjoy class in peace.
Aside from home room, the rest of her classes were uneventful, however she did get the occasional stupid questions such as, 'If your from Korea why are you speaking English? Are you related to 'Mulan'? Do you know karate? Do you eat dogs?
Her responses were, 'English is a universal language,' 'Mulan' is Chinese, I'm Korean,' 'No, Karate is from Japan,' 'No I've never had dog meat nor do I know anyone who has.' By the time lunch rolled around Maika felt relieved; she sat in the back of the cafeteria where she got a nice view of the school football field. She took out her lunch which was in a blue rectangle shaped bento box. Her lunch consisted of steamed rice with stir fried noodles topped with cooked veggies and shredded bulgogi. She could feel her mouth watering with excitement.
She took her chop sticks off the top and began to dig in; she was embarrassed to admit, she felt and looked like an animal at the zoo when it's feeding time. She snapped out of her feeding frenzy haze when she heard a voice address her.
"Hi, is anyone sitting here?" The voice asked.
Maika glanced up and saw a Caucasian girl about her age; she's about two inches shorter than her (5'4), had a petite figure and messy medium length brown hair and blue eyes. Her outfit was all black with a long sleeve shirt, mini jean skirt, fishnet stockings and short ankle boots. Her blue eyes were lined heavily with black eyeliner and mascara with her lips being painted with black lipstick or gloss.
She shook her head, "No, not at all."
The goth girl sat across from her with her tray, usually Maika would sit by herself, no one dared sit with the girl with radicalized ideas, she was used to it, but someone wanting to sit with her was new.
"You're the new girl, right?" She asked taking a bite of her ham and cheese sandwich.
Maika nodded, "That's me."
"How do you like Toronto?" She asked.
"It's nice, a lot better than Pyongyang," Maika said.
"If you don't mind me asking, what's it like there?" She asked.
This time she didn't hold back, the girl seemed nice enough; so why not?
"Imagine being in a large shoe box with a giant watching your every move and almost everyone you meet is like a robot forced to obey the giant," She explained.
The girl chuckled, "That's an interesting description."
She grinned, "Well that's North Korea in a nutshell."
"Are you happy to be here?" The goth girl asked.
Maika nodded, "Oh yeah."
"My names Hayley," She said.
"I'm Maika, it's pretty nice having someone to sit with and talk to," She said.
"I know the feeling," Hayley said.
"Do you have friends?" Maika asked.
"Yeah but they have different lunch periods," Hayley said.
"Do you ever get lonely?" Maika asked.
"It's not so bad, it's kind of nice having some time to myself; what about you, do you have any friends?" Hayley asked.
Maika shook her head, "No, back at my old school no one would go near me."
"Why?" Hayley asked.
"Let's just say, I'm a parasite who wants to speak for herself, or rather who might infect those with my quote on quote, radicalized agenda," Maika stated.
Hayley chuckled, "Radicalized agenda?"
She grinned, "The thought of me speaking for myself and not obeying the big, or little man is considered a disgrace."
Hayley was speechless, "Wow."
"Sorry just venting, anyway I'm happy to be here," Maika said.
"Don't worry your free to vent, I don't mind," Hayley said.
"No, I shouldn't, let's change the subject; how long have you lived in Canada?" Maika asked.
"My whole life, I was born here, and I work at 'The Ravens Nest' at the 'Galleria Mall,' Hayley said.
"What's 'The Ravens Nest?' Maika asked.
"It's a store that caters towards the punk-rock, goth, and emo subculture," Hayley explained.
"Sounds like a cool place," Maika said.
Through-out lunch they had a lovely conversation; Maika's happy to have someone to talk to, Hayley seemed cool and kind. Maika was bummed however when the bell rang, she did not want this conversation to end. They were ready to head off to their last class but before they did Hayley had something to offer.
"Hey, Maika I was wondering this Saturday would you like to hang out at the mall and maybe you can meet my friends," Hayley said.
"I would love that," Maika said.
Hayley pulled a slip of paper and pen from her skirt pocket and wrote down her phone number to give to her.
"Here you go, you can call me anytime and I'll be happy to listen," Hayley said.
"Thank you," Maika said.
"Your welcome, nice meeting you," Hayley said as she walked off.
Maika stared down at the little slip of paper, a smile made it's way on her face; then she realized something, she forgot to give her phone number, she'll do it the next time she sees her. Once school was done, she waited outside in the front with the other kids waiting for their parents, when she spotted the blue Nissan she slid into the front seat.
"Hi sweetie how was your first day?" Lily asked.
Maika placed her bag between her feet, "Okay, boring but okay,"
"Did you make any friends?" She asked.
"I did meet a girl who seemed nice, and she invited me to hang out at the mall this weekend," Maika said.
"That's wonderful! Your making friends already!" Lily smiled.
Maika chuckled, "Yeah, who knows maybe I'll actually get to have real friends for once."
"You will sweetie, you just have to be yourself," Lily said.
Maika smiled to herself, "I'll keep that in mind,"
Today may have been boring but on the plus side, she made a new friend and maybe one day she'll have a group of people to connect with. Little does she know that wasn't to far from the truth and it will happen sooner then later.
End of chapter 5; I'm so sorry for the wait; I didn't realize how long it was since the last update, but its here now and I hope your enjoying it so far. Stay safe and wash your hands.