Disclaimer: I do not own High School Story. I have it on my iPad, but I don't think that counts.

It started at dinner.

Rebecca was innocently chatting with her uncle, and legal guardian, about the benefits of home-schooling vs. public schools, when he suddenly paused, and his eyes started gleaming in a way that said he had just gotten an idea.

Of course, she just ignored it and decided that her uncle probably wasn't in a very talkative mood, so the rest of the dinner continued in silence as the idea took hold in her uncle's mind. It wasn't until a few months later that she found out about his plans.

He was going to build a school. And construction had already started. And she was going to be enrolled there.

She had tried to talk him out of it, tried desperately to get him to reconsider. But every point was deflected with a simple counter. It was too expensive? Her uncle was fairly well-off, and would be using her parent's inheritance to fund the school. There were already more than enough schools in the area? They were all pretentious and/or overpriced for tuition. She really, really, didn't want him to? Apparently not a reason.

Eventually, she was forced to concede defeat and spent the next few days sulking immaturely in her room while her uncle worked to get everything ready with the new school. In retrospect, it was extremely childish, but at the time she was mostly just upset that she couldn't stay home-schooled.

Soon, the big day came when the new school was opened, and Rebecca was forced to attend her new school. That morning, it was a struggle just to get out of bed.

Grumbling, she quickly changed out of her pyjamas and into some faded old grey jeans, paired with her lucky blue sweater and some black loafers she found sitting under her bed for some reason, before going over to the mirror and trying to brush her chocolate brown hair into some semblance of order. However, the most she could manage was a wild ponytail. It would have to do.

Pulling her glasses over her blue eyes, she forced herself to grin at her reflection before swapping it out in favour of her usual close-mouthed smile at the sight of her pointy teeth. Her uncle always said there was nothing wrong with her teeth, but she thought otherwise. Grabbing her bag full of books and comics, she walked out to catch the bus to her new school, trying to think of how much fun it would be.

She was going to make lots of friends.

She was going to be the best in her classes.

She was going to have an amazing time.

Then the bus arrived, and all her hopes were dashed.

She was doomed.

Rebecca frowned, looking over at the empty school in bewilderment. Although, in all honesty, calling it a school was probably a bit on the lenient side. Sure, it had most of the building parts, but there was nobody else there. No teachers, no students, not even a goat.

Apparently her uncle had completely forgotten that a school requires people.

Hearing some footsteps nearby, she realised that she was probably just a bit off in her earlier assumption.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" she called out curiously, not expecting a response.

Instead, she was greeted by friendly-looking girl with a brown plait and a camera around her neck.

"Hey!" The girl greeted "I'm Autumn. I heard this school was opening today, so I stopped by to check it out!"

Rebecca simply blinked in surprise. This girl, Autumn, was definitely…enthusiastic, to say the least.

"This place isn't much to look at yet, but I bet you can make this the best school ever!" Autumn continued, smiling.

"You'll probably want a place to hang out" she told Rebecca, prompting a memory. Her uncle had told her that she could use the extra classrooms to hang out, so long as she paid for all the supplies.

Smiling, Rebecca entered the school with the girl following, ducking into an empty room that didn't look like it was going to be a classroom any time soon, and started pulling comics out of her bag and setting up a rudimentary nerd-cave while the other girl watched, bemused.

When she was done setting up, she looked it over and smiled proudly at her work before the two exited the building and Autumn started talking again.

"Anyway, it's nice to meet you! I go to Hearst High. It's right over there." She explained, pointing to a nearby school.

So, that was the famous Hearst High.

Remembering the manners her uncle had instilled in her, Rebecca forced a smile that hopefully didn't show too many teeth.

"Nice to meet you, Autumn" she greeted, hoping that the other girl didn't notice how forced her smile was.

"Thanks! It was really boring before you got here."

Smiling light-heartedly, Rebecca couldn't help asking "so, do you usually hang around in empty schools?"

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, judging by Autumn's crestfallen expression.

"Actually, I come here pretty often to get away. The people at Hearst can be…well, they can be jerks." Autumn explained.

"I've been wanting to transfer to this school ever since I heard it was opening! But Hearst High is the most prestigious school in the area…and my dad won't let me transfer"

"That's why I'm so excited you're here! Since this school is just opening, it's really up to the people here to improve it." That made sense.

"You can make this school even better than Hearst High…and then my dad will let me transfer for sure!"

Rebecca smiled at the thought of not being alone in the empty school.

"Awesome!" she exclaimed. Apparently Autumn's enthusiasm was infectious "This isn't going to be much of a school if I'm the only student."

Of course, if they were going to get new students in, then they would have to go to the Office first.

At the Office, there was a handful of Hearst High students lingering in front of the school and looking in curiously. Gritting her teeth and remembering her people skills, Rebecca left Autumn in the Office and stepped out in front of the school.

"Hi, what brings you here?" she asked a sporty looking girl who was playing with a basketball, frizzy hair in a wild ponytail.

The girl blushed "Well, I heard about this new school opening, and I was wondering if I could maybe join" she mumbled.

Rebecca blinked in surprise before grinning widely "great!" she exclaimed, leading the girl into the Office, much to her surprise.

Autumn was busy drawing in a sketchpad when Rebecca returned, digging through the forms until she found the right one, which she proudly presented to the sporty girl.

"Uh…what is this?" the girl asked, taking the form and reading over it.

"Just fill out the form, and we can have you joining the school today." Rebecca explained to the girl.

"You mean, just like that?" she asked, obviously surprised by the speed.

Rebecca simply nodded "I mean, technically you should probably think over whether or not you really want to leave your old school, and ask your parents for permission or something, but that's about it."

Of course, the girl was already filling out the forms with a frightening speed, quickly explaining that her mum had already given permission.

Once the form was filled out, Rebecca took it back and added it to the student register. At that point, a thought seemed to occur to the girl.

"Do you guys have any sport clubs or anything?" she asked, curious.

"Well, technically, no." Rebecca told her "but we can always start one!" she decided, leading the girl to the hallway where she had set up her rudimentary nerd-cave.

Picking a classroom right next to the nerd-cave, she led the girl inside and started clearing some space, setting mats down on the floor.

This seemed to satisfy the girl, who then introduced herself as Isabella and began enthusing about various forms of exercise that she hoped the school had.

"You're just full of energy, aren't you?" Autumn asked, causing Rebecca to jump in surprise. That girl was sneaky.

"Before we do any of that, though, shouldn't we probably go to class?" Rebecca asked, hoping that would derail Isabella's train of thought.

"Good point. You seem to be a little short on classes right now." Autumn commented

Rebecca smiled a bit awkwardly "yeah, well until they can get some teachers it's mostly just self-study." She explained "but we can probably set up a study room to help it along." She suggested.

So they did just that, setting up the desks in preparation for many students eventually coming to study

"The school's first classroom! So exciting! Let me get a picture of you two!" Autumn enthused, holding up her camera in preparation to take a picture.

"That way we can look back on this day and remember it was the start of something big." Autumn explained her rationale.

Rebecca smiled as the camera flashed, knowing that this school would definitely be the start of something very big.

With a study room set up, that meant it was time to, well, study!

Of course, since none of them had any textbooks, that meant Rebecca had to run to a nearby classroom to burrow some extra books. Hopefully they'd be able to buy books just for the study rooms once the school had more students.

By the time their impromptu study session was over, Rebecca was definitely feeling smarter than she had before.

"Look at you, hitting the books already!" Autumn remarked pleasantly.

Rebecca smiled, feeling slightly embarrassed "well, I am a bit of a nerd." She admitted

The school was off to a great start. When she said this aloud, Autumn smiled at the two other girls.

"What did I tell you? This school has so much potential!" Autumn looked quite proud of herself

"Now, let's see if anyone else here wants to improve themselves…" she added, eyeing Isabella, who had looked a little lost during all the studying.

Smiling, Rebecca turned to the somewhat frightened-looking Jock and began a second study session, making sure to carefully explain all the concepts.

From what she could tell, it seemed to have done some good, and Isabella definitely understood the subject a bit better.

"Thanks, Rebecca! I'm feeling smarter already!" the jock remarked, looking at the other girl in gratitude.

Rebecca was about to answer when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Frowning, she pulled it out and read the text.

'Meet me in the parking lot, now

-Kara'

That was definitely…weird.

"Huh…I just got a text from some girl named Kara. She's demanding I meet her out in the parking lot…" she explained, noticing Autumn's worried look. Of course, this only served to make them more worried.

"That must be Kara Sinclair. She's the head cheerleader at Hearst. She's not someone you want to mess with." Apparently Autumn had noticed her lack of understanding.

Of course, that didn't really matter to Rebecca. What was really important was…

"How does she even know my number?" It really didn't make any sense whatsoever.

"Oh, she's an expert in rumours and blackmail. I'm sure it was easy for her to find it." Right, that was worrying. "Rebecca, you shouldn't meet her alone…" Autumn advised

Rolling her eyes, Rebecca shot a meaningful look at Isabella "who said I'm going alone?" she asked

Isabella nodded and stood up, following Rebecca to the parking lot to meet whatever girl was delusional enough to think she could boss her around.

"Ready for this, Isabella?" she asked, noticing that the girl in question seemed to be a bit tense.

The jock balled her fists and seemed to be summoning all of her courage, looking a lot more confident when she was done.

"Oh yeah. Let's see if this Kara girl is as tough as she seems to be." She stated boldly, looking ready for war.

"She might have her boyfriend Max with her. His dad's the principal at Hearst High!" Autumn warned, once again startling Rebecca. That girl was a ninja!

The prospect of going up against the son of a principal was a bit worrying, but Rebecca would never admit it. Instead, she forced herself to appear the very essence of calm.

"Don't worry, Autumn." She assured her, "Isabella and I have this under control."

When they arrived at the parking lot, a girl and a guy were both waiting for them. Rebecca assumed that these two were Kara and Max.

"So, Loser High got its first loser." The boy taunted. Suddenly, the prospect of going up against the principal's son was a lot less daunting, and Rebecca found herself with a sudden desire to punch the arrogant boy in the face.

Thankfully, she resisted the urge to punch the boy. She was a scrawny little nerd, and he was a buff jock. Even in her enraged state, it was clear who the odds would favour.

At that point, the girl looked over at Autumn and sneered.

"And look, Little Miss Quirkface is already over here. I always knew Autumn was a dork, but I never thought she was a traitor…" This was said with such an air of arrogance that Rebecca already knew she disliked the girl.

Apparently, she wasn't the only one getting enraged by the two, since Isabella stepped forward.

"Hey, back off! What do you have against our school anyway?" she demanded, and Rebecca was a little touched by how quickly the girl had adopted the new school as her own.

"There's a plan for this land, and it doesn't involve your crappy school!" The boy proclaimed, and Rebecca decided to remember that comment to tell her uncle later.

But for now, she had reached her breaking point.

"I don't know who you two think you are, but you can't just go around bullying people" she said firmly.

Of course, the girl didn't seem the slightest bit worried by this comment, and immediately stepped into Rebecca's personal space.

"And what are you going to do about it?" she demanded in a haughty tone that showed how she expected Rebecca to simply give way.

Not going to happen.

"Well, I certainly can't hit you." Mostly because she was a scrawny little nerd "With all that caked-on makeup, it's like you're wearing face-armour."

"Excuse me?" Kara exclaimed, obviously outraged. This was kind of fun.

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you intentionally going for the 'trashy clown' look?" Rebecca asked before continuing without giving her a chance to cut in. "If so, you still kind of overdid it on the eye-liner."

By this point, Isabella and Autumn were both supressing giggles at Kara's furious expression.

"This is so not funny. I'm not going to forget this." The girl threatened in a manner that was not at all threatening.

"Enjoy your crappy school while you can, loser. Because it's NOT going to be around long." The boy claimed, glaring at them like one would glare at a particularly nasty slug.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rebecca questioned, still feeling a buzz from the way she had insulted the girl.

"All new schools need at least fifteen students to stay open. And with Hearst High right next door…well, you've got a lot to compete with." The boy boasted.

Well, that could be problematic.

Seeing the look of worry on her face, the boy and the girl laughed coldly as they walked off.

"Now you can see why I don't really like being at Hearst High…" Autumn muttered.

By this point, Rebecca still had a lot of left-over anger from the confrontation, and was determined to put it to good use.

"Oh, I see, all right. And I don't think anyone else should have to put up with people like them." Frankly, she was surprised that the two were actually allowed to wander without supervision.

"I'm going to make this the best high school this town has ever seen, and I'm going to open it up to anyone who wants to come here." Rebecca announced to the other two.

"For everyone who feels bullied…ignored…or just plain lost…this will be the place for them." She was sure her uncle would be glad to help, especially if it improved the school's reputation.

"Oh, Rebecca…I wish I could transfer here…" Autumn sighed wistfully, reminding Rebecca that the artist was still forced to go to the same school as those crimes against humanity.

"Just give it time, Autumn. I know we'll be able to convince your dad." She reassured, smiling comfortingly at the girl.

It seemed to work.

"Yeah, well, right now, I need to get back to Hearst. I'll see you later, Rebecca." Autumn told them, readjusting her bag strap before walking off to Hearst High with a wave.

Turning to Isabella, who had stayed silent for most of the conversation, Rebecca decided she still needed to gather ideas for how to improve the school.

"So, Isabella, what do you think? What else do we need?"

"Well, we've got brains," she said, gesturing to Rebecca, "and we've got sports…" at this, she flexed her bicep to display her muscles, "but we really don't have much in the way of the style…"

Looking at the bland grey buildings of the skill, she had to admit that they were definitely lacking a certain…flair.

"I bet if we could get a prep to join, they could make the school look a whole lot cooler, and that would mean more people interested in joining. The only problem is that we'd need to make the place attractive to start with." Isabella explained

"It's a dilemma" Rebecca agreed, before noticing Isabella's confusion.

"A problem" she clarified.

Walking back into the hallway where they had already set up two hangouts, they started discussing possible ways to make the school attractive to a prep. Eventually, they decided to just put in some flowers until they could get some feedback.

Pulling some flowers out from the field was easy, as was finding some vases to put the flowers in. When they were done, the room was noticeably nicer looking. Rebecca made a mental note to save up some money for a coffee machine to put in the room.

"Awesome! Now we just need a prep to hang out here!" Isabella commented once they were finished making the room as prep-worthy as they knew how to.

The two then parted ways, with Isabella going to work out in the jock hangout, and Rebecca going to see if she could find any preps interested in joining the school.

When she arrived at the Office, almost all of the students from before had left, leaving only one red-headed girl who was checking her phone compulsively.

"Hello?" Rebecca greeted, careful not to startle the girl.

The girl's head immediately snapped up to look at Rebecca, and there was an awkward silence before she spoke.

"…Hi"

"So…where'd everyone go?" Rebecca asked, remembering there having been more people lingering out front.

The girl shrugged "Kara got mad about something and everyone scattered."

"Oh…why didn't you?" Rebecca asked, struggling to suppress a snicker.

"I...don't think I can handle going back." The girl explained, looking defeated.

"Would you like to join our school?" Rebecca asked hopefully, reminded of her impromptu speech and wanting to give this girl a place to belong.

The girl shot her a surprised look and nodded in agreement upon seeing that it was not a prank of some sort. So the two went into the Office and quickly filled out the paperwork, admitting a new student to the school.

"I'm Karen" the girl introduced, smiling with unadulterated joy as Rebecca lead her down the hallway to the hangout they had set up for any prep students, which Karen was delighted by.

"These flowers are so beautiful!" she commented, going over to get a closer look at the potted plants.

Rebecca smiled "Welcome to our school, Karen." She told the girl, a smile on her face.

"Good to be here! Does anyone want to party? Because I would love to party…" Karen responded, smiling.

The rest of the day was spent talking and mostly just hanging out, after explaining the school's current self-study policy to a delighted Karen, and Rebecca had to admit she was a little saddened when it was time to leave the school.

Her new school hadn't been everything she had been expecting, but her first day had certainly been memorable, in more than one way. She had even made some new friends.

A/N: So, this is my first shot at writing a High School Story fanfiction. I'm actually playing through the game as I write these chapters, so a lot of the dialogue is lifted from the game (and then tweaked slightly). Also, I'm toying with the idea of giving Rebecca an in-universe blog, with her writing about her new school in the blog. Let me know your thoughts on that idea.

Remember, reviews are always welcome! (Even flames. I'm weird)