"Good morning students!" The cheerful face of principal Nancy Wheeler called into the small microphone attached to the podium. The crackling of the brisk morning wind flowing through it. The student body sat in the bleachers attached to the football field, there was a little less than 1,000 students in the entire school, making it a very tight knit community of people knowing one another both in school and around town. It wouldn't be surprising if you grew up in Arrowsmith that your parents and maybe even their parents attended the school. Mrs. Wheeler continued on, "The faculty at Arrowsmith and I are excited to spend this year with you. We have constructed a fun day today; a carnival for the seniors- but we have invited every one to enjoy. Tomorrow real school will start where you will be getting your schedules as well as gaining the ability to sign up for sports and clubs. For now, enjoy the festivities of the day. Make some friends, meet your teachers, and most importantly GO BENGALS!" A few cheers and clapping exploded from the bleachers as teachers began dismissing groups of students by grade, seniors first, juniors, sophomores and then freshman. They soon would be walking down into the field where various silly games, competitions, food vendors, a pop-up ferris wheel, an obstacle course bounce house, and many places to just sit and chat with friends.

People dispersed as the day began.





Wynona had started her day off well, she had an actual good night's worth of sleep, woke up and got a breakfast of eggs and toast and even had enough time to do her hair and makeup for the first day of school. She had told her dad that she wouldn't need her backpack for this day of school, but he insisted that she bring it, so she did. With a pony tail high on her head she tipped her chin backwards slightly as she let out a sigh. It was her first year of school, and she wasn't as nervous as she thought she was going to be- but she couldn't help but have a little bit of butterflies fluttering in her tummy.

Adjusting her straps on her shoulders she walked up the stairs to the freshman area of the bleachers. Way in the back where no one could see or hear you. Plopping down on the cold seat she let out a little gasp of surprise. She adjusted her bottom on the seat, pulling her black legging covered legs up underneath her so she could somewhat shield her body from the cold metal. Tucking her hands in the inside of her grey sweater she watched carefully as the principal began her speech welcoming everyone and giving information.

Not paying too much attention to what Mrs. Wheeler had to say, Wynona's eyes began wandering around, looking at the people who are to be her classmates. She recognized a few but didn't have any close friends that had followed her from the junior high she had attended. Reaching into an outside pocket of her backpack she grabbed her pack of gum and took out a stick, jamming it into her mouth. Waiting for her group to be dismissed.

Thomas reached for his phone, blinking his eyes repeatedly to try and rid himself of the grogginess that staying still and reading for a couple of hours always gave him. Maybe not a couple of hours, according to his phone it was 5:40am so it had only been an hour and a half, but still, it was hard to keep track of the passage of time when invested in a book. He’d been reading The Awakening of Intelligence again. It was one of his favourite books and he liked to re-read it every year or so to see if he perceived the discussions within it any differently. Alas he had things to do today and no more time for such meditations.

He got up slowly from his bed feeling lazy and sluggish and flipped on his bedroom light. Damn space was so small he barely had to take two steps to reach the switch. Turning around he looked at himself in his full size mirror. He was naked, just how he liked to sleep. He was feeling uncharacteristically self conscious today though, probably because today was the day he’d meet, or at least see a bunch of the people he’d be attending school with. He looked at his own face, he wasn’t ugly, but he’d never be a model, not that he'd ever had any aspirations of being one. His eyes moved down to his arms and he tensed them some. At least those looked good, both muscular and toned, they fitted well on his stocky build. He looked at his stomach and chest. They were broad, so that was good, but his stomach was a little chubby, not to mention the ugly scar a few inches left of his belly button. Finally he just looked at himself fully. He was of about average height for his age, but his dad was only about 5’7 from what he could remember and his mum was under 5’. That combined with the fact that his muscles were already developed and he had hair where grown people do made him worried that he wouldn’t get much, if any taller than he was now.

He sighed, taking his boxers off of his computer chair, putting them on and grabbing a towel. Time to try and make himself presentable he figured.

Half an hour later he stood fully dressed in front of his bedroom mirror. He didn’t look bad. He’d opted to wear his dark gray jacket over a white t-shirt, along with loose fitted dark blue jeans and his black hiking boots. The boots were comfortable and added a couple of inches to his height, which he liked. Satisfied he looked as good as he could make himself look he left his room and headed downstairs. He found his mum and Kas both sat on the sofa watching TV, Kas took a long drag of his spliff before passing it to his aunt. She’d been up all night again. She’d spent most nights awake for the last… Well, she’d done it for all of his life. Guess she found it more peaceful. Surprisingly Kas was actually dressed, usually he'd be asleep for at least another five hours.

"Morning ma... Aye Kas, you actually coming to the carnival?" Thomas asked casually, opening the kitchen door a little to try and let some of the weed smoke out of the living room.

"Yeah, I gotta sell some product. Half my damn customers right now are middle aged rich assholes who need to toke one after a stressful day trading stocks... flipping real estate and shit." He laughed, finding himself funny as usual. "Great for the paper, don’t get me wrong. These dudes buy in bulk, but they're no fun to deal with at all. Plus I want to see the gyal dem I’mma be tryna fuck for the next few years."

"Sonny." Maria warned.

"Sorry auntie."

"Anyway, cool." Thomas interrupted. "On the subject of money though, can you lend me $30? I need some money for the carnival, school lunches and whatever else."

"I gave your broke ass $20 last week!"

"I bought food with that, which you’ve been eating! Plus don’t even hit me with that broke bullshit. You been making nuff cash just for walking a mile or two every now and then."

"Don’t blame me cause I’m more entrepreneurial than you bitch."

"You two, I’m trying to watch this."

Kas rolled his eyes, but got up, they both stepped out of the room and shut the door behind them.

"Shit, it’s bright as hell in here." Thomas complained, shielding his eyes as they were trying to adjust from the relative darkness of the living room.

"True that." Kas agreed.

"Anyway, yeah, you the shit for breaking into a tiny ass towns underworld in record time, but for me to make that kind of money I’ll have to work ten hour shifts cleaning dishes or washing cars, and I still wouldn’t be able to get the hours to make in a year what your ass is making in a month."

"Whatever man, fine. Take this fifty… Be complimenting me and shit, that’s a low blow cuz, you know I can't resist flattery."

"Thank you." Thomas smiled, fist bumping his cousin.

"Welcome man, we leaving?"

"Yup, you got your stuff?"

"Yeah."

"You can't bring a blade to school on your first day man."

"Shit, yeah I can. These rich punks ain't searching no one. Besides, I'd be more worried about the cro if I were you. The blade don't stink." He chuckled, finding the pissed off look his cousin gave him amusing.

"Fine, just don't get me expelled or arrested. Let's go."

Kas and Thomas walked back through the living room, Thomas leaning down and giving his mum a kiss on the cheek.

"We’re off mum. Try and get some sleep, you were up all day yesterday too."

"I will. You two be safe. Love you."

"We love you too. Inabit." Thomas said softly, going out into the doorway.

"Peace auntie!" Kas grinned, following him.

"Alright, let’s go punk."

Half an hour later they were sat on the bleachers on the schools field listening to the enthusiastic speech coming from the head mistress. It was pretty surreal compared to what Thomas was used to back in England. His old school sure as shit never had this kind of pride holding it's faculty and students up. Even still he scowled at Kas who was sat next to him, giggling at the display.

"You hear this shit Thomas? They got a damn carnival. Can you imagine a carnival back at St Josephs? Fucking food vendors would be getting snatched and ran and shit." He continued giggling, his high obviously hadn't worn off yet.

"Hush man, this could be important." Thomas spoke, quiet and sternly, scowling at his cousin.

"What's important is how buff our head teacher is. Check her out! Shit, I hope I get sent to her."

"They're called principles here. Now hush for a minute, you're attracting attention. You can run your mouth when we're dismissed any time now."

With that Thomas started looking around, trying to see if he could spot any familiar faces and trying to ignore Kas' continuous remarks.

---

The three triplets were climbing up the bleachers, annoyed at the American idea that stairs were a good idea in assembly. They went up reasonably high, wanting to get a look at everyone, and sat down in the middle of one of the top bleachers.

"So, anyone know what subjects we'll be taking?" Maeve asked to her siblings.

"Not a clue, I just hope that there's a martial arts club, or a Japanese class," Tadhg responded.

Maeve chuckled, "It's all about Asia with you, isn't it?"

"It's taken you fourteen years to work that out?"

"What about you, Conan?" Maeve asked, turning to her other brother, "An you're interested in?"

"What?" Conan said, snapping out of his viewing of good looking guys. There was a particularly hot senior that he was focusing on. "Uh, no, nothing interesting," he replied.

"Looking at the girls here, are we?" Maeve replied, giving him a light hit on the stomach.

"Ach, shut up, I'm not as desperate as Tadhg,"

"Hey! I'm not some pervert," Tadhg replied, defending himself

Just then, the principal could be heard speaking into the microphone.

"Just shut up, both of you, and let's listen to the principal," Maeve warned the boys, looking sternly at both of them.

For the first time in a long time, Indiana woke up in her own bed. Her eyes took a ridiculously long time adjusting to the painful light streaming through her window, and she groaned as she rubbed her head. As if things could get any worse, a pounding on her door caused her to make a second, louder groan. Of course, it was Lydia. It always was.

"Wake up wake up wake up WAKE UP!" The monster of a human being, having given up on waiting to be let in, burst through the door - landing heavily on top of the bed, right where Indiana happened to be sleeping. Mumbling a few incoherent curses, the girl attempted feebly to shove her sister off; but it was to no avail. The squirming creature then continued to let out yet another series of squeals. "It's your first day of public school, Indie! GET UP." Before she could make any move to prevent the attack, the duvet she was clutching was whipped away from her to reveal a matching set of bunny-rabbit pyjamas. "Is that what you wear when William stays over?" At the mention of her boyfriend, Indiana abruptly stood up, sending Lydia toppling off of the bed.



The process involved in getting ready was no simple one, but Indie managed it in precisely twenty minutes. Certainly not a personal record, but today she wanted to at least make an effort. Upon exiting the bathroom after her shower, she had bumped into some guy she had never seen before as he was slipping out of her mother's bedroom. Hastily avoiding his hungry gaze, she had slammed her bedroom door shut and proceeded to get dressed. Her first attempt at an outfit was a little skirt alongside a matching top, floral and summery. But, after sending a photo of it to William, she decided that she didn't like it once he had suggested that it was too revealing. She felt a flutter of gratefulness for their little routine. She would send him a picture of what she was wanting to wear for the day, and he would tell her whether he liked it or not. A flicker of a smile softened her features as she recalled him murmuring in her ear that he wanted his girlfriend to look her best. She instead opted for all-black-biker-style attire and headed out, blowing Lydia a mocking kiss as she stepped out of the door.

The journey to the school itself wasn't too tricky, but the dirty looks Indiana received made her heart flutter. She kept the bored expression on her features however, taking a long drag of the burning cigarette in her hand before dropping it on the floor and stomping it out. It wasn't as if she needed to make good first impressions; it was a small town they lived in and almost everyone knew her already and the trouble she tended to cause. The school grounds were already teeming with life as she arrived, recognising most people but betraying nothing but cool contempt as she regarded the buzzing atmosphere. The only person she bothered to actually pay attention to was William, who was laughing along with his mates in the sophomores section of the bleachers. She smirked as he drank her in with his eyes and gave her a subtle nod as greeting.

Now in a resoundingly better mood, Indiana took a seat and decided that inspecting her nails was a good way to seem as if she couldn't care less about this carnival. Truth be told, she was pretty curious about it - despite the fact that she knew a lot of the students here, she was still new to the whole actual school thing and wanted to test the waters a little.

Allison was pissed. Mostly at herself, it was the first day and she was already late. Elizabeth had run to the diner for an early breakfast rush but left a plate of toast and eggs out for Allie which she appreciated by eating ridiculously fast, hardly savoring any of the meal. She jumped into the shower quickly, muttering to herself about how she was going to have a shitty year. Butterflies grew in her stomach as she left the shower, jumping out and getting ready to apply makeup and such.

Allie rushed her way down the apartment halls, trying to leave the building as fast as possible. She hopped onto the elevator and rode it all the way down to the first floor with an elderly woman who reeked of cats. As she got off the elevator, she smiled slightly at the elderly woman as she exited the building and started her jog towards the school.

As she entered the office she signed herself in, apologizing for being late and rushing, once more. She made her way to the bleachers, found the freshmen section, and took a seat, hiding herself in a hoodie she had brought along, hoping no one tried to talk to her.

Nathan stared at his alarm clock as it buzzed early in the morning, internally crying as he let out a sigh and threw off his blankets, revealing . He wasn't so much worried about school itself, but rather what today was... Some sort of carnival. He wasn't really sure as he didn't bother to get the details, only that he knew he wouldn't need his backpack today. That was a relief, he didn't really like lugging the thing around all day, especially for what was essentially a day of celebration for some. He had given himself plenty of time to get ready, even if it all wasn't needed. What more worried him was that he didn't know anyone in the small town, and felt that he'd be outcasted immediately because of this. Though, he had been mentally preparing for such an occasion... After all, if he could get it in his mind that no one would pay attention to him anyway, maybe the day would be better.

And as he began to do his regular routine of getting ready, throwing on a dark purple Under Armour hoodie with gray sweatpants to match, he glanced outside at the driveway to make sure that his father had already left for work, relieved when his father's car was gone. He was never awake to see his father leave, but it was reassuring to Nathan that he'd be gone before Nate went to school. He shuffled down the stairs, hastily entering the kitchen to grab breakfast. They hadn't bough groceries in awhile, and as tempted as he was to write a list for such an occasion, he knew better than to try to state his mind here... Maybe he'd find solace in school today. At the very least there had to be some handsome people around... And now he just felt creepy. Eating a bowl of cereal in silence, he stared at the clock, waiting for when he had scheduled to leave. It came agonizingly slow, and at this point he wasn't sure if he wanted the day to go by fast or not...

So when the time came and he managed to arrive in the freshmen section, he found a seat further away from a majority of the other freshmen, along the edge of the section; the perfect place to sit and wait to be released. He plugged earbuds into his phone, letting the cord go through the inside of his hoodie to conceal it as he hastily put his hood up. He didn't want to be recognized, or rather, he didn't really want to start a conversation up with anyone. It's always been like that... Why stop now? Instead, he could gaze at the unsuspecting people around him, listening to music with a calming peace around him. He didn't really pay attention to what the principle said, although it did strike him odd that they'd be getting their schedules on the first day of school and not today. After all... how would they know where to report to... Questions for later, he supposed.

---

---

"Moooooom! Caleb's taking too long in the shower!" the youngest McKinnon twin shouted, punctuating the voicing of his grievances by banging on the bathroom door. "Jake, we have three showers in this house, find another one!" the muffled voice of the older twin floated from under the bathroom door, making himself heard over the sound of water on tile and skin.

The clack of high heels on tile signified the arrival of the twins' mother, Lucy McKinnon, and the look on her face was one of annoyance. Jake, go shower in the other bathroom. And both of you hurry. We're going to be late," she said, fastening a golden hoop into her ear. Jake groaned and made his way to the second bathroom, hopping in the shower to let the warm water wake him up. Nagging his brother was more exhausting than one might think.

Once his brother had padded away, Caleb exited the shower, quickly toweling himself off, and walking across the hall to his room, where he got dressed, promptly so as not to be late. His mom would skin him alive if they were late. She was the vice-principal after all, it would be unbecoming for her to show up late. Once he was dressed, he slung his camera over his neck, intent on getting some good shots today. It was probably the one day the entire school year where 95% of the student body didn't want to kill themselves.

Once he was certain he had everything, he slipped his phone into his pocket and slung his backpack across his back, before walking through his house and to the front door, where he waited for his brother and his mom, scrolling through his Twitter feed out of sheer boredom. There were only so many, "Ugh summer's over," tweets one could see before they got annoying.

Meanwhile, Jake was in his room, rushing around and dressing to impress. While Caleb may have been content to dress in just a graphic tee and a jacket, Jake was a different creature all together. He had a reputation, and he wasn't going to jeopardize that by showing up in some rags. Plus, Lily would never let him hear the end of it if he came to the first day dressed in something like Caleb. Once he was dressed and his hair was done, he walked out to meet his brother, who smiled smugly at him. "How was the second shower?" Caleb asked. At some point in the boys' childhood, they'd figured that the second shower was somehow inferior, and they'd been fighting over the first one ever since, seeing as how the third one was their parents. They had no desire to step foot in anything that their parents were naked in. "Shut up," Jake muttered, earning a smirk from Caleb.

Just before Jake could continue their exchange, their mom came bustling towards them, and they made their way out to their car. Lucy McKinnon pulled out of the driveway, driving a tad faster than she really should have been, but in the end it was worth it, because they made it to the school on time.

Once at the high school, the three McKinnons went their separate ways. Jake made his way to go find the rest of his friends from soccer, while Caleb went to find Indie, camera bouncing lightly on his chest as he walked, and their mom made her way to the stage.

Caleb's journey was halted as the principal began speaking, and he was forced to take a seat. This was his first day after all. He didn't want to be pegged as a trouble maker from the beginning. Once she'd finished speaking however, he got up again and spotted Indie looking really pretty, and also very disinterested. His mouth pulled into a small smile, one that he quickly pushed back down. You can't like Indie. She has a boyfriend. One who could probably beat you up. A beat down is no bueno, he thought as he made his way over to his friend, taking a seat and snapping a picture of her, all in one fluid motion. "Hiya," he said, smiling shyly from behind the camera. From here he could see Jake dicking around with a few of his friends down on the football field, though no sign of his girlfriend. Odd. Normally the two were attached at the hip. He mentally shrugged and turned back to Indie, still grinning.

---

---

---

---

Lily awoke promptly at 5:45, all smiles and messy blonde hair. She slipped out of bed and quickly got in the shower, excitement for the first day coming off of her in waves. She was about to return to her turf, and she couldn't help but feel giddy. This was to be a year full of dances, spirit days, and rallies. Not to mention her absolutely smoking hot boyfriend. She couldn't help but grin as she thought of everything that was waiting for her.

Hopping out of the shower, she briskly walked to her closet, her bathroom being connected to her bedroom, and slipped into the clothes that she'd already picked out the night before. The just right amount of cute and formal. She loved it. She did her make up, blow dried and brushed her makeup, ate breakfast and was at the door at 6:45. The school wasn't far from her house, but her mom insisted on driving her. She insisted the mayor's daughter be driven to school.

And so, at 6:50, she arrived at school, gave her mom a kiss on the cheek as a farewell, and skipped into school, grinning. When she reached the football field, she didn't immediately notice any of her friends, and so she took a seat next to a girl in a hoodie. Grinning she lightly nudged the girl with her shoulder. "Isn't this all so exciting?" she asked. "I'm Lily by the way! Lily Westburg! You?" Her voice oozed with pep, enough to most likely make most kids run away in fear, unbeknownst to her.

Allison looked up and smiled at Lily, she mustered out a "H-Hello.. I'm Allie, Harlan. Allie Harlan". Her grin grew as she answered, "Yeah! I'm excited. I have never been out of my hometown before and I just moved recently. I don't necessarily want to be here but I'm trying to make the best of it." She bit at her nails as she looked the girl up and down. She was very pretty, and that was her first real observation on the girl other than her niceness. She took her fingers out of her mouth and cringed as the boy started speaking to her behind her. Goosebumps grew all over her skin.

The girl sitting next to her attempted to speak with her, and while she wanted to speak with her, she decided to deal with the creepy boy speaking into her ear.

Allison got chills as the boy called her bitch, she rolled her eyes, instead of freaking out like a girl of her stature normally were she hit him with sass. She clenched her fists and muttered, "... Creep, could you do me a favor, and back up?" her voice shook a little bit but she spoke once more, "If you're trying to get with her and manage, I'll laugh twice as hard. She's a 40 year old widow who probably has low standards, so if she's all you can get with..." she giggled, "Seriously. Go away. I may be anxious but you don't scare me."

Maz was awake when his alarm went off at 5:30. The teenager was sitting at his desk working a his picks in a lock when his cell phone let out a shill cry to let him know it was time for him to get ready for school. He reached over and tapped the large red button on the screen and let out a groan. Summer had past all too quickly and he was finally going to high school. “Yay, mandatory education.” It's not so much that he really minded school as he just didn't want to give up all of the free time he had. Still, there wasn't anything he could do about it so he took a quick shower and after that dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a bright red t-shirt along with green sneakers.

Breakfast was french toast that he had made himself and uncomfortable silence when Nasrin joined him at the table to drink her coffee before she left to wherever it was she worked. He knew she was a lawyer of some kind, but that was as much as he cared to learn. Once he was fed, in addition to being showered and dressed, he filled one of the pockets of his jeans with pumpkin seeds before grabbing his messenger bag and helmet. The helmet was for his moped, no where near as convenient as his father's car, but something about riding the moped amused him immensely. This was likely his habit of yelling 'meep meep, motherfucker' when ever he rode it around town.

He enjoyed that pseudo war cry of his twice on the way to school and once in the school parking lot when an older student took too long lining up their car while parking. Maz took a space right beside the older student and the two of them exchanged a few more words. This ended with Maz insinuating that the guy fellated a goat to get his license which led to the guy chasing him across the parking lot hurling insults all the way. Luckily for Maz he had managed to lose the guy in the crowed of students on his way to the bleachers so rather than a black eye all he had to contend with was being out of breath when he joined the rest of the freshman on the bleachers.

“What a wonderful way to start the year.”

Conversations started up again as the principal concluded her pitiful speech, and Indiana could only raise a brow. The woman was acting as if this carnival was the most exciting thing in the world. It held a bitter sense of irony when compared to the somber expressions of the vast majority of students. An oddly lively movement for the earliness of the morning caught her eye, and she tilted her head slightly to regard a beaming girl with gorgeous blonde hair. The enthusiasm was a rare sight, but as she recognised the girl, it was not surprising. She was Jacob McKinnon's girlfriend, and Jacob McKinnon was the twin of Caleb McKinnon, and Caleb Mckinnon was her best friend.

The girl was snapped out of her brief fascination as she felt someone sit next to her, only to turn around and be greeted with a camera lens in her face. Speaking of the devil. Indiana's lips twitched into a small, rare smile as she regarded the boy sitting next to her. Her eyes focused on his T-shirt and she tilted her head to read it. "Hogwarts, huh?" She cast a quick glance over to where William had been sitting, only her gaze landed on empty space. She stood up, gesturing for Caleb to come with her as she began to descend the steps. Her heels weren't too high, but a small part of her mind managed to conjure up scenarios involving her falling down the stairs in front of the whole school. She had an odd urge to take Caleb's arm, but dared not to - she knew that somehow Will would find out if that happened. Worth the risk. Indie found herself thinking, but she quickly pushed away the thought and scolded herself internally, shoving her hands into her pockets. Boyfriend.

"I took one of those online quiz things, and it told me I was a Hufflepuff." She announced over her shoulder, flipping her hair haughtily. "And that's utter bullshit because I'm clearly a Slytherin girl." In truth, the Harry Potter series was not amongst her favourite books - but she knew the ins and outs of the story, as she did with most other fictional universes. She preferred more of the classics; especially the tragic ones that ended with death and despair and lots of crying. Of course, she wouldn't cry at them. At least, not all of them.

---

Ronin stretched in bed, reaching for the alarm on his phone and dismissing it. He instantly plugged in some headphones like he always did and started listening to some music, meanwhile throwing off the covers and sliding into his sweats and a grey shirt that had "NAVY" written in Navy blue across the front, thats where he plans on going to college. He slid the phone in his pocket and walked out of his room and into the bathroom, having already taken a shower last night he only fixed his hair and brushed his perfectly strait teeth. He smiled in the mirror when he was done and with a nod of approval he put his brush away and walked out hitting the switch on the way.

He hesitated at the stairs then turned and went back to his room grabbing his sweatshirt and spraying a dash of cologne on underneath. He slid down the granite staircase railing and landed with a slide on his socks at the bottom. He ran and slid around the corner headed to the modernistic kitchen half dancing half jumping as the music changed to another favorite. He waved to Hailee, one of the house maids, as she slid him some french toast across the white granite island counter top. He scarfed it down and let out a moan of appreciation as Hailee smiled at him and he dashed off and slid on the hardwood floor again and again until he got to the "mudroom", it was kinda like his personal locker room where he kept all his sports gear and shoes. He dug through all his random stuff and found his favorite shoes, slipped'em on and naturally grabbed his soccer bag (school stuff inside along with a ball in the ball pocket) and his 60" lacrosse long pole that was almost as tall as he was along with his lax gloves and headed out. He left through the garage passing by his dads favorite jaguar that he couldent take on his current business trip. Once outside he put his hood up and turned up the volume on his music as he ran to school, faster than most would find comfortable, while he "shadow practiced" cradling his lacrosse ball and doing dodges on invisible players as he bounced around to his music.

Once he got to the school he slowed his breathing and put his hood down, scanning the scene, he located where he was supposed to sit and headed that way. When he got to the bleacher he bounded up multiple steps at a time all the way to the top and walked over to the middle and took a seat. He watched as kids filled the bleachers and observed the mixing patterns of students watching all the freshman separate from most of the other grades, in them he saw Indie, to his disappointment, smoking. Then his eyes fell on Lily... Ronin always dreamed of lily, but she was a loyal girlfriend so he averted his eyes and got lost in his music, ignoring his feelings towards the gorgeous female. He watched his friend Jake and the rest of his soccer buddies show up, debating on weather to go associate with them or not he decided against it as everyone was released from the bleachers, instead he wandered over to the school and started playing wall-ball with his lacrosse gear, wasting the first day of school away.

Sadie woke up earlier today than she usually would have. At five in the morning her phones alarm went off and she rose out of bed with a massive smile on her face. Today was finally the day. Her first day as a high school student was finally here. She was overjoyed at the prospect of all that could happen these next four years. One thing she knew she was finally going to do and that was tell Ro that she liked him. She was also going to kick her dancing up another notch by joining the schools dance club.

The excitement was boiling and spilling out of the little pot that the girl was. She rushed to the bathroom and took her time getting ready. She showered and when she hopped out she started trying to figure out how she'd do her hair then finally decided to just stick with her signature look of pigtails. When she got back to her room she grabbed her clothes that she had laid out the day before and threw it on. Her outfit consisted of a long-sleeved cyan under armor shirt, leather jacket with hoodie, black skirt, and leggings.

When she was done she headed to the kitchen noticing that neither parents were there, but in their place was Alex. "Alex, where's Mom and Dad?" The older brother groggily looked up at his sister and replied, "You know Mom had to be in really early today, and Dad got called in just a few minutes ago. They needed him for something. I'm taking you and Micky to school today."

"Are you forgetting something? Today is the carnival. I can ride my bike there.

"That's a no can do. Mom and Dad said I had to take you otherwise you probably wouldn't eat breakfast. Now, I made you some eggs. Eat up. I'll go wake up Micky." The teenage girl looked at the plate full of eggs that was shoved towards her. In all honesty she hadn't even thought about eating breakfast. She had just planned to go straight to school. However, she sat at the table and ate the eggs as quickly as possible. By the time she was done Micky had finally woken up and changed. Sadie grabbed his plate for him and urged her brothers to quickly head out the door to the family van.

After dropping Micky off first and finally getting to the school Sadie noticed she had about five minutes before the principal was suppose to give their speech. She turned to her brother and asked, "May I have $50 dollars for the carnival?" Alex looked at his sister like she was crazy, "What, you think money grows on trees now? I work on campus and that money goes to tuition. Anyway you should be using your money to get me a birthday present."

"Oh, come on please. I'll use whatever I have leftover to get you something."

"So, basically you want me to pay for my own present." Sadie looked at her brother and started to make her pouting face. "You know that stopped working when you turned 10. Anyway why not. I remember those carnivals and they were fun but no money sucked." The brother produced the cash and handed it over to Sadie, "Thank you."

She quickly turned and ran to the location of the carnival. She tried looking for one of her friends, but with just under 1,000 people it was kinda difficult. When the principal started speaking she quickly sat down and listened to every word the woman said. Once the freshmen were dismissed she got up and started her search again.

Lilah tilting her head this way and that, inspecting herself in the bathroom mirror. She dabbed on a bit more lip gloss and blended her eyes make up a little better before there was a banging on the door, followed by her brother's voice. "Let's go J!". She paused and glanced towards the door through the mirror before rolling her eyes, running her fingers through her hair again. Matt's voice again "I'm not waiting" came his warning. She knew it was an empty threat, Matt was far too protective to let his sister walk to school by herself. Still, she could feel his annoyance radiating through the door, watching his shadow pace back and forth. "Alright, I'm ready, jeez. It's an optional day Mattie, who cares if we're a little late?"

Matt cared if they were late, he had always been the responsible one, even more so than his mother at times. His eyes roamed his sister's body before heaving a sigh "really, that's what you're wearing?"

Lilah's jaw dropped slightly as she glanced down at her own outfit "what's wrong with it?" She was wearing a pair of ripped jean shorts that flattered her long tan legs. They were long enough to cover her ass and a good portion of her thighs and within the school dress code. The top was black and hugged her frame tightly, but again, it wasn't revealing and it was also within dress code. "You know what's wrong with it, why can't you wear something longer?" he asked, looking at the shorts in disgust. Lilah looked back in disbelief "because it's still summer and I'm allowed to. I hate when you get this way. I notice you aren't complaining when other girls dress like this" she stepped past him, knowing that she's just won her argument. Grabbing her book bag, which she wasn't actually using to carry any books just yet. Instead she slipped a small sweater inside, just in case while she waited for her brother to grab his things.

He grabbed his own bag before slipping a baseball cap onto his head, pausing at the look on his sister's face "what?"

"And you gave me crap for what I'm wearing?" she throws in a teasing grin before she heads out the door. Stopping and waiting for him to follow out, closing and locking the door to the apartment. Lilah wasn't big into school, but any excuse to stay out of the apartment was a good one to her, she hated it in the cramped living spaces, despite her brother constantly trying to talk it up.

School was about a 15 minute walk, one that the two had taken a few times during the summer. Lilah couldn't help the grin plastered across her face from the excitement, she wasn't really one to care what other people thought of her. She watched as the majority of the crowd shuffled towards the stands out by the football field, before following in that direction "oh, J... wait" came her brother's voice as he took off after her, determined to keep a close eye on his sister. She tried to not let his over protective personality get in the way of what was about to happen. They were finally in high school, this was so cool! She watched as the classes broke up in age groups, the older seniors going off in one direction, and so on, until you saw the much less talkative and slightly terrified looks of the group nearest them, clearly the freshmen. She wandered a bit, glancing at faces, occassionally waving at someone that she recognized, this was a small town after all. A squeal of excitement escaped her lips as she spotted the face she had been looking for "Caleb!" she called out, slipping between a few people before catching up with him. The two had been friends since elementary school, she flung her arms over his shoulders in a hug before she pulled back, her eyes landing on the other, Indiana. "Hi, you look familiar" she said with no hints of beating around the bush at all.

Matt had only just managed to catch up with Lilah, a look of annoyance on his face, he opened his mouth to tell his sister off before his eyes fell on Indiana. He paused and smiled slightly, he had seen her around, the two had even spoken once or twice before, but he hadn't realized that she was going to be going to the same school as him "hey..." was all he said. Only just noticing Caleb as well and nodding in his direction politely "hey Caleb" Matt had never been a huge fan of Caleb hanging around his sister, but as long as the guy didn't make a move on her, then he stayed out of their friendship.

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The morning had been as calm as any morning could have been for Taylor. She had taken the time to pick through her outfits the night before, meticulously planning each moment to it's precise second so that she would give herself plenty of time to adjust herself to the chaos of the first day of school. The first day hadn't been mandatory because of the carnival, but Tay had no intentions of missing any time if she could help it. She was ready to make a good first impression to her fellow classmates. She was up the second the alarm went off, and into her routine she slipped with perfect timing. She was showered, dressed and fed within half an hour, giving her the remaining half an hour to do what she needed with her hair and makeup. Hardly enough time, but she had put pre thought into this step as well, playing with different styles and formulas the previous night. She walked out of her front door, exactly thirty minutes later with her hair in loose curls falling down her back and around her shoulders. Her make up near perfection.

She slipped into the back of the town car that was waiting for her, before the driver started in the direction of the school. She took a few calming breaths before allowing a soft smile to slip onto her features "would you like some music Miss Reid?" asked the driver, glancing back at her through the rear view mirror. She shakes her head "not this morning, thank you..." she had other things to contemplate on her way to school. Things that she wanted to accomplish, she wasn't on the cheer squad yet, but it was on her list of things to accomplish. Freshman tryouts were in three days and she was quite positive that she was going to make the cut, she had the training and the drive. It didn't take long before the car pulled along the curb where other parents were dropping off their kids. The parking lot was full of cars from the older students. The driver made to unbuckle his seat belt but Tay motioned for him not to "no, it's okay... thank you for driving me" she said before opening the car and stepping onto the campus.

She joined the crowd wandering towards the football field, catching a few glances from the people surrounding her but otherwise keeping to herself. She looked a little uncertain of where to go at first, watching as everybody else around them found their friends and went to join them. Tay didn't really have a lot of friends, but she had every intention of changing that. Her posture changed, a look of determination on her face, she was going to find somebody to sit with and talk to. She began climbing the bleachers, glancing around, trying to find someone that might look familiar, or interesting. She found a few who looked excited and a few more who looked bored before spotting a group of familiar faces. The triplets had been to her house a few times over the summer along with their parents. The father having just started working in one of her father's main store branches... at least she recognized somebody a little more than passing glances. Stopping at the same row that they sat, she moved a little towards them before smiling brightly "hey guys... hi Conan..." she said, having particularly bonded with him over the summer "mind if I sit with you?" she asked him, and by extension, the rest of them.

Francisco yawned as the principal spoke. Fantastic...my phone is about to die.. he thought as he responded to a text from his sister. yeah... She loves getting up at six in the morning... he thought as he put away his phone and thought back to this morning.
Francisco had been sleeping peacefully with the family cat snuggled up against his side wit her head paws on his out stretched arm. At six o'clock sharp Samantha had banged on his door yelling "Frankie Wake up!". After about five minutes of digging the cats claws out of his arm and a lot of swearing he got out of bed. While the claws hadn't gone in deep, it still hurt a lot After getting dressed in dark blue jeans and grey T-shirt with his black fleece lined jacket. After breakfast of toast and an argument about pounding on his door with his sister Francisco left to go to the School event. "Don't forget to pick up Sam After the Carnival, She is going to be with her friends at the mall." she had told him as he got out of her car. Francisco was happy his Adopted sister was making friend, only three weeks and she already has a bunch of friends. He on the other hand, had only made one with the help of his sister. A girl named Sadie that attended the same dance studio as Sam.

Once Sam had heard Sadie was adopted, she knew Francisco and Sadie should be friends. She had Dragged Francisco over to her and introduce him to her. Sadie was cool, from time to time they text or talk When Francisco would pick up his sister. Anytime Sam see's Sadie round town she tries to drags Francisco over. Thankfully it is rare that they do, since Francisco hates running into her. Not that he hates her, but Francisco felt like Sam was forcing Sadie to interact with him. He always hated making people do things against their will.
Suddenly the voice of the principal caught Francisco's attention as other freshmen stood and dispersed Guess it's time to explore. he thought as he stood and went to walk around.