Hi! Hopefully this had not bored my readers to sleep yet. And I'm really happy Ivy (my Beta reader) helped me with this!

Please review! I needed some more inspiration, and wanted to make this story more interesting. Feel free to ask questions or just post random comments.

Oh and I don't own POJ since I can't even understand English when it's published.

4. Xinyue: The Day Everything Went Wrong

The Friday before the last day of school, we had our field trip to the National Hellenic Museum. Of course, we had to do worksheets in groups as we went from exhibit to exhibit. I hated worksheets, but of course, I couldn't say that.

For as long as I could remember, I always had to be the perfect model. In grades, sports, music and art, I had to be the best in everything. My mother had extremely high expectations, expectations that I was always terrified I could not live up to. What would she say if I failed my piano exam or did badly for math? I could not bear to even think about it. As far as I remembered, I was always the one constantly fighting to be on the top. I had to make my mother proud. I just had to! I needed to see her smile at me, tell me that I had done a good job. Just the thought of her disappointed look that might be directed at me if I failed in something made me want to claw my own eyes out. I chased for better grades.

Because of this, I did not have much space left for the company of friends. I remembered being overjoyed to have Willow as a friend, but I was also terrified that I might be the one to ruin the relationship. I loved good grades, I really did. Exams had never been one of my greatest concerns. I lived for the moment of glory as I set eyes on my satisfying marks smiling up at me from the lovely white paper. However, there was a terrible flip side to it, the hurricane after the sunshine.

"See, Xinyue, you're perfect."

"Seriously! Is there anything you aren't good at?"

"Huh, maybe you aren't even human."

Sometimes, I would hear whispers behind my back:

"Why does Xinyue always look down on us?"

"Does she even have a weakness?"

"I wished I was like her!"

Exams were always like a sort of line for me and my friendships. My heart would always turn over at the thought of the fact that my friends might not last past the end of year exams. It all made me disappointed and angry. Angry at them for being so competitive - did one of life's rules state that you must do badly in everything to get friends? Angry at myself for being like this. Angry that I had to do well to please my mother, yet had to do badly to please my friends.

But, well, one thing about me was that I was absolutely horrible with group projects.

Teachers always singles me out of a group to be a leader, or do the best in everything, or pay attention in class. I was hoping- just a little - that it would all change in America. It didn't happen.

Sure, even if my English speaking was terrible, my teacher had already appointed my to be the head of my group for the field trip. Geez, couldn't I have a break once in a while? But the natural respond I had trained for teachers kicked in. "Yes, of course Mrs. Johnson," I had answered smoothly. However, never did I realize that students in America were competitive as well.

Things were not any better when I was grouped with the worst possible people. Willow was not even going on the trip! I felt like pretending to be sick and backing out of it entirely, but I knew I could not. I know life hated me, but I never expected it would be like this. Wait, take that back, it was going to get much worse.

On the bus, our bus chaperone - Mrs. Johnson - had assigned me the job of handling my group mates and left, leaving me with these impossible people.

Mrs. Johnson was not a very kind English teacher, but at least no one dared misbehave in her class. Her glare is one of the most terrifying things I've ever seen, like the type that could turn you to stone. Not in the Medusa sort of way, but the she's-glaring-at-me-her-eyes-are-shooting-sparks-I -better-behave-now kind of way. Well, one of the most terrifying things I had seen except maybe for the time I saw some demon near my piano class - no one believed me of course - but she looked a lot like that thing... Ok, lets just say I never thought of that.

I looked helplessly at the six people behind me: the three rowdy boys were having a wrestling match, and the four girls were comparing makeup and reading fashion magazines. Nobody was even looking at my direction. There were a total of seven of us in total. A cold chill tingled up my spine. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. All of a sudden, I remembered something my grandma told me when I was little...

"Xinyue."

"What, Grandma?"

"Remember this: No matter what you do, do NOT be in groups of seven."

"Why?"

"I don't know, but it is important."

"Ok Grandma!"

Had my Grandma foreseen this day? But it did not seem right. I didn't know how, but a deep feeling at the back of my mind told me the day had not come.

I was jolted back from my trip to the past in my mind by one of the girls - Madison - sneering at me.

"If its not Miss Perfect leading us! Even if you scored the top scores on the English test, you know your accent is the worst."

I didn't respond, I had been prepared for something like this. Madison was the school's most talented student until I transferred. Instead, I ignored her.

"You know, if you actually put on make up, you would actually look pretty." She continued, while throwing a fashion magazine at me. It bounced off my shoulder.

"But, you are so helpless you would use makeup as paint!" She laughed glamorously, throwing her head back. Her friends snickered, batting their eyes annoyingly at me.

Letting her witness me painting in the art studio had been one of the worst mistakes in my life. I continued to ignore her. I had to keep calm, I told myself. I could not let someone like her get on my nerve. A scholar had once said something along the lines of "a smart person would wait for revenge". However, hopefully I would not come to taking revenge on her at all.

I should not have looked out the window of the bus so much. If my mind hadn't been remembering the past so much, I could have noticed the three boys having a fight. When I noticed, it was too late. One of the boys had a bleeding nose, one's face has a scratch across the left side, while the other one had a black eye. I stared, exasperated. Why did boys honestly have to fight so much?

Thankfully, there was a first aid kit on the bus, but how did they hurt themselves so quickly? They had just been wrestling, that was all. How did they end up like this? When I asked them what happened, all the reply I got was along the lines of "I don't know", which was not much of an answer at all.

Meanwhile, Madison and her friends were snickering at me. "looks like little Miss Perfect messed up!"

Someday, I was going to kill her! Wait, I told myself again. I had to calm down or else my grandmother was going yell at me again if she heard about me losing control in school. Even if she was half a world away, she could still yell at me through phones.

Since we arrived at the museum late, the teachers agreed to let the school have a picnic near Buckingham Fountain before we spend the rest of the day in the museum. Unluckily for me, we had to sit with our groups.

The warmongering boys are still with us. Well, their injuries would heal quickly. I didn't care about them just yet. My worst problem right then was Madison. Seriously, I thought, studying her petite form. Could this girl at least save sometime to eat? She's skinny as a stick!

Were fashion and looks the only things American girls cared about?

I was trying to enjoy my time eating cookies and feeding bread to the seagulls - I know, eating cookies for lunch isn't the healthiest thing to do, but they tasted good, when Miss Annoying came up to me with her mob of sneering friends. "Ooh! Look at Miss Perfect! What is she eating?"

I rolled my eyes, she was going to attack my love of sweet stuff, as usual, talking about how too much of it would turn me into an overweight whale, whatever. Besides, she really needed to learn how to properly insult people.

"If you have eyes for something other than make up, you would know that what I'm eating is a cookie. And speaking of bad pronunciation, you can't even say my name."

The expression on her face was priceless. For a second, she seemed at a lost for words. Wait, did my sentence come out in a perfect American accent? I almost laughed out loud until I remembered the rule my Grandpa made me memorize when I was little.

"Xinyue!"

"What Grandpa?"

"Do you know what rules are?"

"Of course!"

"Then memorize these, they will protect you in the future."

"Why Grandpa?"

"Your Grandma had a feeling it would help you"

The third rule was "don't get into fights".

Well, guess I broke that rule.

But before Madison could start talking, I walked away. I needed to get a grip on myself. Madison and her gang might be annoying, but that was their problem. The rules my Grandpa had given me had protected me before, but was really irritating to walk away from a fight. It looked so cowardly and loserish, but I could not get involved in something like this. I leaned against the fence next to the fountain, blankly staring at the sparkling water.

Madison came over.

"What is it this time, Little Miss Perfect? Depressed now, are we?"

She annoyed me for a good five minutes. But just as she was about to say something else, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, she was suddenly sitting in the middle of the fountain, completely drenched.

Her face wore an expression of utter shock. Her flawless hair was plastered to the sides of her face, makeup streaming down her cheeks in little rivulets of sticky color. She stared at me, horrified.

"Xinyue pushed me into the fountain!" Madison screamed, pointing one of her talon-like glossed nails at me. "She pushed me!"

I didn't know what she was talking about! I hadn't even touch her! I had just been minding my own business, and she had been the one to come over and annoy me.

Whispers rippled through the crowd of students that ha gathered.

"How did she get in?" "Did you see the water?" "Like she flew..."

Then, Mrs. Johnson came at me, looking really scary. And I really meant, really.

"Xinyue, you should come with me during the museum tour, and your friend Madison would lead your group."

I braced myself, biting my lip. It was so unfair! I had never so much as touched Madison! I had no idea what had happened, but I was sure that it had nothing to do with me. What was Mrs Johnson going to do to me? Uh-oh, if this was a detention, I was dead.

Grandpa's rule number four: Do not get into detentions.

If this teacher don't kill me, I'm sure my Grandpa would if he heard about me breaking two major rules in one day.

As I followed Mrs. Johnson into the museum, she took a turn somewhere, and we were suddenly in a totally empty place inside a crowded tourist attraction. I blinked. How did that happen?

"Unforgivable, honey," She started, looking more and more like the demon I saw near my piano class. Her lips were curled in an almost inhuman sneer. Her voice was falsely sweet, like a pretty little jar of poisoned honey she was going to pour down my throat.

"Have we met before I came to America?"

Goosebumps rose on my skin as she leaned closer to me. Instinctively, I stepped backwards. She was definitely that old lady demon I had seen.

"You have quite a good memory Miss, to remember me from four years ago."

"So you were that creepy person no one saw except for me!"

This creepy teacher has been the one who had made my grandmother send me to therapy! Wait, I think I should worry about something other than this...

"Why - why were you stalking me in China?!"

"No need to explain my dear, because you are going to die either way."

"So you are a demon!" I didn't know if I was relieved or scared. For the last few years, everyone around me had thought I was cracking under the stress, and because of the things I saw, I almost believed so myself. But now, at least I had proof that it wasn't just me.

But demons weren't supposed to exist, were they?

Then the already creepy English teacher grew fangs and leather wings and I realized something else...

"WHEN DID YOU LEARN HOW TO SPEAK CHINESE?!"

Yup, this teacher was speaking Chinese to me without me noticing. No. Hold on. Wasn't I supposed to worry about more urgent things?

The monster in front of me was something I had drawn before for extra credit, and the same teacher that was now towering over me once praised me on the likeness of my drawing. The demon was a... A... Furor? No, not furor. Fury! Maybe Furies? I could not remember. English was certainly annoying! But right now I didn't care.

I had to find out how to survive this.

Then, like a lightning bolt, a flashback pierced through my mind.

"Mommy, your necklace is pretty!"

My mom smiled. "It has the power to protect."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll know eventually, I promise."

Wait. Where had the necklace gone to? I didn't remember seeing it since...

Snap out of it! I mentally screamed at myself. What was wrong with me today? There was a monster right in front of me, dripping fangs bared in a snarl, and I was worrying about what had become of my mother's necklace?

Then, something small and heavy fell onto my hand. I did not bother to check what it was. Whatever it was, I swung it as hard as I could at the monster in front of me.

Then I realized that the thing was shiny, sharp and long. A sword. No, but not just any sword. It was my Grandpa's sword back China. It hit my English teacher in the chest. With an ear-splitting screech, she exploded into dust.

All that remained of her were dirty sand that is slowly vaporizing, and the sword that changed into my mother's necklace.