In all her life, Jinkee had never gone through this much waiting and standing and napping and waiting and stopping and waiting- why was there so much waiting? Contrary to the popular stereotype of filipinos always being late, the curly haired teen made sure to be early, her mother and sister having driven up to New York a few days before. They took a few pictures in the city and Jinkee made well use of the free breakfasts the hotel offered every day- honestly she was really grateful at the extent to which they tried to make the transition easier. More laughing, less wallowing... perhaps it was that though, that truly made it hard. Jinkee didn't cry when she left the beige Odyssey her mom drove- she couldn't risk it, going out of control barely her first day in the school- but her sister cried for her and that was sweet.

It was then that the waiting began. There were only two other individuals on the bus stop she'd been sent to wait in, both of whom absorbed themselves in one another- siblings or friends, perhaps?- and though Jinkee tried her absolute best to be sweet and inclusive, found herself getting only a word or two in before the bus came and they chose to sit far, far, away from them. If there was one thing that Jinkee could appreciate about the school, it was that most of its facilities thus far were very nice to the eye. Looking over everything and touching the details on a pattern or observing how fucking lonely she was made her less lonely and allowed her time to practice her breathing and tried not to be nervous.

Honestly, though, she could've done without the stops- the longer the waiting had gone, the more nervous she got about getting in. Why were there so many stops anyways?

Eventually, she found herself seated at a near empty hall, littered here and there with students- some of which were seated together, a few on their own, and one who was asleep. Taking a spot near the end- sitting up close wouldn't have given her much of a view- Jinkee's waiting game continued as she played with the kinks in her hair and twiddled her thumbs. She must've fallen asleep or in a haze of some sort because by the time blinked her eyes there were much more people than before and she was steaming- oh wait no, that was the armrest. Oops. Let's just... get up and pretend that never happened, she reasoned as she tried to nonchalantly move with the incoming crowd, her new seat landing her even further back.

The good news was that the waiting was over. The bad news? A speech. She tried her best to not fall asleep, and she did rather well, her attention focusing in and out of the man on the stage, bright green eyes searching the hall for familiar faces (which would be tough given she barely remembered the kids from middle school). Just as she was scrunching up her nose and trying to wonder if one of the figures she was looking at had moving hair or if she had some sort of... animal maybe?... on her head, the speech was over and people were getting up and woah, she should probably get up too- [b]"Excuse me, sorry, sorry-"[/b]

Jinkee saw students gather at an area and deduced she should head there too, ducking under arms and dodging legs as she tried to weave past the crowd. If there was something she was good at, it was using her small size to sneak past crowds and be first in line. Well, not so good it seems, as she found herself accidentally knocking into a person, falling back at the rebound, her hand instantly getting stepped on the moment she tried to push herself up. Her [b]"Shit!"[/b] was censored by the crowd and a chipper woman's voice, addressing a student by name.