A private high school had it's perks, for once. Many extra-curriculum activities, top notch cafeteria and most importantly; good quality dormitories for those who didn't live near or who just wanted to live next to the school.

The school itself was a big, old looking pompous building with dark red stone walls and white marble decors. It was U-shaped and the yard had a lot of garden like feel to it, all the way to the steel gates shining under the sun. Nuurdgard's high school had a good reputation for it's sports and athlete curriculums and clubs and thus the building seemed like a withering flower compared to the sports field, swimming pool and other luxurious needs behind it. Literally, all those things were placed behind the big piece of stone and marble.

Nuurdgard sometimes seemed like from a book of obscure tales. Some said the premises were haunted by many different paranormal entities. Some said the headmistress had sold her soul to the devil to get funds for the school. Science club had secret tech that could freeze people in seconds. Particle cannons. Bombs. Mind control. A hacker who could hack anything, sneaking around the school like a shadow. A peaceful robot for anger management classes. A student who owns an entire mansion. Weird stuff. Of course, rumors were rumors and nobody could prove anything. Nuurdgard was a mystery but so were the students attending it.

Chapter 1: My name is Mei

The summers were just like winters. Cold, hot, sweaty and freezing. Sometimes all of those four states happened between 6am and 1pm. It didn't snow very often but on that Monday small flakes fell from the sky, making track runners groan and swimmers glare at the runners as if they had it bad.

The clock was ticking towards the start of the 8.15am classes. Students were mesmerized by the snow and stayed outside for a while before mandatory studying. And one particular teenager was standing at the gates, impressed by the "extraness" of the whole school area. In her hands were the timetable of her upcoming classes and the map of the premises. On both papers were notes done with a blue marker pen. Big circles with smilies decorated the science and anime club's names.

Mei took a deep breath and took a quick glance to affirm that she was indeed at the right Nuurdgard high school. She hastily checked that her hairpin was in it's rightful place, keeping her brown bed hair in bay. She had had three alarms set up but in the end she had stayed up the whole night and fell asleep couple hours before she needed to get up. Mei needed her morning routine, no matter how late she would be.

Mei smiled eagerly and prepped herself. She could do it. New school, new start. Maybe even new friends. Even though the thought made her sad as the memories of the past year burrowed their way into her mind, she still managed to take actual steps towards the school. "At least this school has a decent science club. And a whole club for anime," she mumbled to herself as she tried to figure out which entrance was the right one.

Most of the students knew each others and when ever a new face showed up, it became the topic of the day. Mei wasn't an exception. She could feel the stares, most of them friendly, and she tried to make eye contact with some of her fellow school mates to remember faces.

It was a good day to get lost like no tomorrow. Mei soon noticed that when the map said B entrance to get to the counselors office, it actually meant B entrance inside the building when you entered it from the main doors. B entrance that was as hard to find as the other realm of Bermuda. Mei stared at the map like it had offended her. The map was so badly drawn it kinda did make her mad. It was as if the school had changed completely in the past year or so.

Most of the students had already made their way to the wonders of learning. Mei knew it wasn't a good first impression for a transfer student to be late on their first day but she actually liked the feeling. It was a challenge and at least she had couple of minutes more to prepare herself.

Mei looked at the map and then at the marble wall that had a big B bolted on it. A big B that looked like it had survived a bomb and then brutally hammered to the wall. The word 'suspicious' rose to Mei's mind but she wasn't in the position to accuse someone of hammering B's to wrong walls. So she sighed and turned to the assumed B corridor.

"I can't be this bad," Mei huffed to herself as she found the home economics class. "I am good at navigating. This must be a big joke." Nuurdgard was huge. And on top of that, Mei was sure someone was messing with her. Or she had the wrong map. Anyway, it was almost the end of first classes and she still was lost. And since she had been excited to find the counselors office, the thought of asking for directions didn't even pass her mind. Mei groaned quietly but couldn't help uttering a small laugh. "Unbelievable," she mumbled amusedly. She actually liked the school already.

Suddenly Mei could hear movement behind her. She turned around to see a taller girl looking at her with a cold stare. Of course, almost everyone was taller than her, she thought to herself. Mei smiled friendly and noticed that the girl had an off blue tone to her skin. She didn't want to be rude by staring so she quickly postured herself. "Uh, hi! My name is Mei and I'm new, just transferred. I was wondering if you could tell me where the counselors office is?"

Amélie glanced at Mei and seemed to get annoyed by the minute. She had been trying to get hold of one quick student but had lost sight of her as soon as she had seen the new kid. Her gaze didn't turn any gentler by the minute but she wasn't rude when she talked. "I guess I can. Not that I have anything other to do now that I lost sight of that Tracer..." Amélie had a thick french accent that resonated her motions quite well; even though at the same time she seemed quite cold and emotionless. She sighed and gestured Mei to follow her. Mei wasn't as fast as the slender and quick paced girl but she kept up with her well enough. "I'm sorry to be a nuisance," she told with an apologizing smile. Amélie didn't answer, just nodded and sped up. She really needed to get back on hunting.

"Here," Amélie pointed at a long velvet red door that had a neat plate that had 'counselors office' carved on it. Mei tried to catch her breath as she smiled very gratefully. "Thank you! You really saved me... uh..." They hadn't really talked during the fast walking championships, so the short girl had no idea of the other girl's name. Amélie had crossed her hands across her chest and gave a short answer before turning to leave. "Amélie." Mei blinked and decided to wave to the mysterious girl cheerily. "Well, thanks Amélie! Hope to see you soon again!" The French didn't answer but she lifted her hand calmly before disappearing to the other corridor.

Mei took a deep, deep breath tried to keep her excitement in bay as she knocked on the door. It was the start of a new year and new hopes.