Note: This is the first chapter of the edited and revised form of "Peach Girl: New Girl". I felt the need to change the story a bit after going through and re-reading the chapters I had previously written. I love this fic and I want it to be the best story it can be, so fixing it up is a natural step. "New Girl" is also slightly AU. I have read all 18 volumes of "Peach Girl", but when this story was first written, the highest volume out in the States was number 5. Thus Momo and Toji are still together. So in addition to being about a new girl at Momo's school, it's also a bit of a "what if..." story. Mainly it's, "What if Toji hadn't believe Sae when she said that he had only destroyed the copies of the photo she took of Goro and Momo in the hotel?" Ryo also shows up later in the story. That said, I still hope that you enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: "Peach Girl" belongs to Ueda Miwa and others. The only thing in this story that belongs to me is Anita and characters related to her.

"New Girl"

Chapter 1

It was a bright, sunny Monday in mid-April. School had once again started and Momo sat waiting for home room start. She really wanted to make this year a good year, without any of the drama that had dominated her life last school year. Her relationship with Toji had never been better, Kiley was still the spastic, flirtatious-but-good-hearted friend, and Sae was...well Sae. She didn't know what Toji had said or done to her, but Sae had stopped messing with their relationship...well, publicly at least. She still put Momo on edge, but she still decided to give her a third chance. The home room teacher burst in the doors of the class, looking a bit frazzled but none the worse for the wear. She had missed her train and had to bum a ride off her roommate, barely making it to school on time. Pushing her glasses back up on her nose, she stood in front of the blackboard .

"Class, we have a transfer student joining us," she said crisply, motioning for someone to come into the classroom. A tall girl walked in and stood next to the teacher. Her black hair was messily pulled into a bun, the traces of purple hair dye evident at the ends. She tucked a couple stray pieces of hair behind her ears, and looked nervously around the room. The dark circles under her eyes showed that she obviously hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.

"My name is Anita Sugiyama," she said, looking straight a head, absent mindedly pulling on her skirt. Looking down at a seating chart, the teacher told her to take a seat next to Sae.

"Miss Kashiwagi, would you please raise your hand so that Miss Sugiyama can find her seat?"

Sae reluctantly put her hand in the air and Anita made her wait to her seat. As she passed by, they could see the empty holes on ears where she used to wear more than her pair of modest silver hoops. The whispers started up and Momo felt slightly sorry for the girl. Like with her, the rumors about the girl would start soon based solely on her looks. There's nothing I can do about it she thought to herself as she got out her books and to get read y for the next period.

It was lunch and Anita rummaged through her bag for the money she had stuffed in there in her hurry to get up and out of her dorm. She'd arrived early Saturday evening and she hadn't quite gotten used to the seventeen hour time difference between Seattle and Tokyo. Sure she'd traveled here many times to visit family, but she never had to wake up at seven thirty in the morning to get to school before. Spying her small wallet hidden beneath a textbook, Anita reached down and yanked it out. As she pulled the stubborn accessory out from beneath it's hiding place, her hand hit something soft and warm.

"What the hell was that for!" Sae exclaimed loudly, rubbing her cheek.

Anita looked up and saw an enraged Sae staring down at her. A small crowed gathered around the two girls, looking at the two of them to see what the new girl's reaction would be. Immediately, Anita got to her feet and bowed, apologizing profusely for hitting her neighbor.

"I really didn't mean to hit you Kashiwagi. I was just trying to get my wallet, that's all! I'm sorry!"

"So what?" Sae sneered, getting closer to the girl, "People like you usually don't mean the things they say. How am I to know that you didn't mean to hit me?"

"People...like me?"

"Yeah. The ones who wear leather and chains and look like freaks. I bet you've got piercing all over too." Sae pointed at her ears to make a point. Anita just looked down at the ground, clutching the small purse for dear life. She wanted to go and just deck the girl looking at her with contempt. Doing that, however, would result in getting in some serious trouble. Then her parents would argue about her behavior and wether or not she needed professional help. Before she could say anything, someone came up to Sae and pulled her away.

"Come on, if we don't hurry we'll miss out on lunch!" Sae grumbled but let Momo pull her away from the other girl. Giving a parting glance to Anita, she reluctantly followed her friend. The small crowed that had gathered to see what was going on dispersed, leaving the new girl to her thoughts. With an exasperated sigh, she ran out of the class to see if the student store has any strawberry milk, maybe that would make her feel a little better.

Sae slammed her locker shut as she pulled on her street shoes, complaining loudly about having to sit next to some "punk". Momo just nodded her head in agreement; she didn't really feel like talking about what happened at lunch. Lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice Kiley Okayasu come up behind her.

"Hello my little Momo!" He exclaimed, putting his arms around her waist in an attempt to pull her into a hug. Mom turned around quickly and hit him on the head with her book bag. Yelling at him to be more considerate of other people, and warning him not to sneak up on her, she didn't notice that someone was watching them until she heard a stifled giggle.

"Who's that?" Kiley asked, facing the girl who stood at the end of the hallway, staring at them with a smile on her face. Momo blushed and explained.

"She's the new transfer student from America. Her name is Anita Sugiyama."

"Oh," Kiley looked at the new girl as she disappeared into the girls bathroom. "She seems okay to me."

"She a punk!" Sae exclaimed, interjecting in to the conversation. Kiley and Momo had forgotten that she was still there and looked surprised when she popped up. Stretching out, she pulled Momo out of the school building.

"C'mon! Let's go shopping!"

Anita walked into the bathroom and dropped her backpack on the floor. Quickly stripping out of her uniform, she put on a simple black t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Stuffing her discarded uniform into the backpack, she smiled as she thought about what she had seen in the hall. It reminded her of her friends back home. She sighed as she walked out of the bathroom into the empty hallway and headed to her locker. When a teacher stopped her in the hall.

"Miss Sugiyama, why are not wearing your uniform?" It was the home room teacher and she wasn't particularly happy. Her last class was horrible and her hangover headache was making her cranky.

"It's not school hours anymore, so why should I still be wearing it?"

"Did you read the student handbook at all? It's written that you must wear your school uniform while on campus."

Anita sighed and silently cursed herself for not having the energy to read the handbook. If she had, she wouldn't be in this mess.

" I'll give you warning for now, but if it happens again it's detention, understand?" The teacher walked down the hall and left Anita to her own devices. She made a mental note as she walked out the door to actually read the student handbook tonight.

If she didn't fall asleep as soon as she got to room.