Hey there, my cherished reader!

Welcome to the first chapter of my first fanfic!

YAY!
I certainly hope I can keep you entertained-

or at least slightly amused-

whether you picked my story totally randomly,

or out of actual interest.

Enjoy!

I wandered into the gates of Ouran High School. The place was huge. I'd heard about its excessiveness, about how everyone and everything involved with Ouran was overly extravagant, but the rumors did it no justice. I couldn't even see the main entrance from the gate, just the fountain, courtyards, some of the buildings, and the large hedges. Everything around me seemed to be ten times bigger than necessary.

Today was my first day at Ouran, and quite honestly, I was scared out of my wits. I knew only too well how much of a "rich-kid's school" Ouran was, and I knew I wouldn't fit in.

It's not that my family is poor, on the contrary actually. My dad owns a huge car dealership- a widely successful car dealership- that spans across eighteen countries; and my mom runs a famous beauty salon back in the states. No, we are not poor. The problem is, back in America, I went to a public school. Kids at that school weren't rich (actually, there were some "poor" ones too) and they weren't conceded either. I got used to the idea that being stuck up and flashing my money around was rude. Here, though, would be different. Everyone would be rich and spoiled. They would be the sort of kids who got what they wanted ever since they were young. They were used to the top of the line, super expensive stuff.

The reason I have to deal with that is my mom. When I asked to go to Japan to live with Dad during one of his big foreign campaigns, my mom had one condition.

Ouran High.

Her logic was that I would be in a strange new place and Ouran was the only school I could go to in order to set her heart at ease. Of course, when I agreed to the condition, I hadn't heard that much about Ouran. Now, standing on it's baroque grounds I regretted that deal.

Sighing, I wandered into the maze of a school. The pavement clicked against my shoes- the brown, heeled uniform shoes. It didn't take more than five minutes for me to get lost. I was positive that I would never find the right place to be.

The sky was taking on a purpley-silverish color and was filled with full clouds, just waiting to dump their guts on my head. Before they had the chance, I hurried into the nearest door.

I walked in a trance-like state for a while, taking in the beauty of the place. I'd never been anywhere so amazing, so breathtaking. The windows were large and decorative, letting in full streams of light onto the elaborate patterns of the floor. Thick, stylish curtains hung gracefully at the sides of the windows. Every few feet an exquisite, ornamental chandler was hung from the ceiling.

It was all so amazing to me, so new, that I didn't pay any attention at all to where I was heading. I strayed aimlessly down one hallway, then another, before reaching a door that supported a sign that red Music Room 3. I couldn't help myself, I touched the doorknob tenderly.

I wanted to go in, to see what sort of musical instruments a school of this eminence would have. Everyone else would be in class- school didn't get out for another half hour- nobody would be around to see me, and I wouldn't touch anything. I just wanted to look.

Slowly and as quietly as I could, I turned the golden doorknob and slid the door open. I was expecting an awe-inspiring grand piano, a magnificent golden harp, maybe some string instruments, or a whole band. Instead, there were couches.

Large beautiful couches. Not only that, there were tables everywhere. There were pictures, ornaments, tea sets, costumes, flowers, pillows, nearly everything one would expect somewhere BESIDES a music room.

I was certainly taken aback by the lack of instruments, but my shock subsided as I took in just what I was seeing. The place looked more like a drama department than a music room, but that wasn't quite it. I slid myself in between the many glass picnic tables to the other side of the room.

There were samurai outfits, dresses, swimsuits, formal suits, kimonos, pirates, ninjas, doctor coats, Hawaiian-style outfits, and more. Most of them were piled lazily onto one another, but some were hung on a rack. To add to that, there were tablecloths, ornaments, and other decorations of abnormal proportions that seemed to be in theme with most of the costumes. The entireties of the props were stored in the back of the room, mostly out of sight. I noticed that they were not meant to be the main attraction of the room, but simply kept in the back.

I turned to the room to examine it some more. For a music room (though I was beginning to doubt that was what it was) the place was huge. There were windows that reached all the way from floor to ceiling and revealed a great view of the gardens and fountains outside. The chandlers were larger than in the hallway and seemed to be brighter too.

To one side of the room, my attention was attracted to a column, the kind you see in old Greek portrayals- short and gray. There was nothing on top of the column, but around the base were shards of turquoise and light blue. Around the whole thing was popping yellow caution tape that read Haruhi's Crime Scene. It was only mildly interesting in comparison to the rest of the room.

I was lost in a state of confusion and amazement, so I didn't even hear the door open. Or the people walk in. What I did hear was someone clearing his throat. I jumped about a foot, knocking over several props, a whole rack of costumes, and lost my shoe.

Someone giggled, a little kid popped up in front of me (imagine being buried in a Halloween storage room, that's kind of where I was). "You're a KLU~TZ." The kid sang in an all-too-cheerful tone. He was short and blond, with an adorable round face and rosy cheeks. For some reason, he was wearing a high school uniform, though he had to be in forth or fifth grade.

"Look at the mess you've made." My attention was drawn to the rest of the people who had come in. The one who'd spoken was tall with black hair. He had his finger carefully placed on the rim of his glasses, gracefully laid on his nose bridge.

I struggled to get up, but I was tangled pretty badly, and the stupid uniform dress was caught under something. "I-I'm sorry." My voice was weak, pathetic. "I was just looking around, and you startled me."

The boy's eyebrows raised in almost-surprise. Something told me he wouldn't be surprised by much. "You were just looking around? Who let you in?" His voice was even, but I could almost feel the threat behind the simple words.

"The door was unlocked…" I trailed off; he wasn't going to let me slide no matter what I had said.

"Now, now Kyoya, we must be nice to all ladies, remember?" A tall blond walked over to me and extended his hand. "Here you go." I accepted it gratefully as he pulled me to my feet. "See? No harm done." He flashed a gorgeous smile my way, the sort of smile that can knock a girl off her feet.

"Thanks." I knew my face was red and I glanced away from his face. "I'll get out of your way now."

I started to head towards the door, but the blond grabbed my arm. I gasped in surprise, but he wasn't holding hard. "You should stay! We always welcome new customers." He winked at me.

My knees felt weak. I had to take a moment and gather my head again. "I'm sorry, but I was supposed to check in with the office hours ago. I just got lost and ended up here."

His eyebrows rose. "Oh, a new student?" An excited smile spread across his face and he raised his hand dramatically, paused for a moment, and then snapped loudly. I was shocked, and even gasped, when two more boys suddenly appeared. "Hikaru, Kaoru!"

"Sir!" The twins were in impeccable sync.

"I want you to escort our new student to the main office!" They were all yelling, as if speaking for someone besides just us.

Simultaneously, the twins crossed their arms. "You just want to spend time with Haruhi without us!" The one on the right yelled at the blond.

"If you think we're going to allow that-"

"I had no such intention!" The blond looked annoyed and surprised, giving me the impression that the red heads were right.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

I watched this back-and-fourth argument. It almost seemed scripted. I would have laughed, except that they were so serious.

"No one needs to escort me…" My efforts were useless; they were paying less than no attention to me.

I felt a tug at my elbow and looked down to see the little blond boy again. "Don't worry about them. Do you want to eat cake with me and Usa?" He held up an adorable bunny doll.

"Aww, he's so cute!" I laughed. "I'd love some cake, but I really have to check in with the office." He looked like he was about to cry.

"But Usa wants to eat cake with you." His protests were adorable.

"How about I come back tomorrow and eat cake with Usa?" I suggested, bending my knees to be at eye level with the kid. I babysat a lot back home, so I knew how to handle this one. Being at eye level gives a sort of impression of closeness, instead of when you look down on them.

It worked, he looked at me and we were instantly on the same page- we could have fun together. The kid skipped over to another one of the older boys, this one taller than the rest by at least a foot. The short blond climbed up the other one like a tree and settled himself in the tall boy's arms. "Did you hear that, Takashi? I get to eat cake with the new girl!"

'Takashi' stayed silent and stared forward aimlessly.

"Sorry about all of this." I turned to face the only brunet of the group. He was only a little bit taller than I was. His face was pleasant and seemed to understand my confusion. "I was new last semester, and these guys are just plain weird."

I laughed; he was so serious it was kind of cute. "Don't worry about it. I'm from America, and this sort of noise is normal."

He chuckled quietly and watched them with a seemingly annoyed look, but I could tell he cared for the lot of them. "Do you want me to show you to the office?" He asked politely. He was easy to talk to.

"Nah, I really just need directions. I can probably find it on my own. Besides, there's something of a crowd over there." I indicated to the door. A group of girls in the obnoxious puffy uniform had gathered around the door. The difference was that they could pull it off while I looked like a toddler who just dressed herself for the first time.

The boy sighed and walked in between the twins and the blond (who I assumed to be the leader). "Tamaki! Aren't you forgetting something?" He shoved the blond boy to the door.

"Right!" Tamaki dramatically snapped again, and the seven of them were suddenly at the door, in an obviously rehearsed pose.

"Welcome." Their voices were dang near harmonious, like music. It wasn't two minutes before the tables were filled and the seven boys were sitting among them, chatting casually or flirting lavishly. I took my cue to leave.

I paused at the door for one moment and glanced back. I didn't really understand what had happened, and I wasn't sure I wanted to, but I did know one thing:

Ouran High was an interesting place.

Okay, so that's it for the first chapter!

Thanks for reading this far!

I sure hope you enjoyed it.

Keep your eyes peeled for chapter 2!

Comments and review are greatly appreciated-

That way I can improve next time!

~ReadWritersHood