Hi guys! So this fic is going to be dually written by bri-notthecheese (Bri) and kbunny10 (Kim). Generally, we will switch off and take every other chapter, but one week one of us may be busy or the other may just be more well-suited to write the material, so we will always announce at the beginning which writer has the chapter for the week (or however long it is between them. We're going to try to get one out every week: some may be quicker, some may take a bit longer).

So without further ado, my name is Bri and I am your writer this time around. I have had the honor of writing the first chapter, and I hope you all enjoy! :D

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Merlin stared out the car window, watching the climbing sun paint the sky. It should be a crime to be up this early. Grumbling, he readjusted himself and leaned his head against the window. Shutting his eyes, he hoped to give his brain at least the illusion of sleeping so that when they arrived, he'd feel more awake. In what felt like only a moment later, the car ceased its movement and was shifted into park.

"Come on, honey, we're here."

Merlin reluctantly opened his eyes and stared up at his mother. He envied her bright eyes and morning perkiness, and gave her his most miserable-looking face. She rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"Oh Merlin, come on. We've only come this early because it's the first day. Wouldn't you rather have some idea what you're doing before you end up getting lost among people who have been here for three years already?"

"I'm sure I could manage," he yawned sleepily, making no effort to stifle it.

"You probably could, but it doesn't matter because we're here anyways. Let's go, sleepyhead." With that, she collected her purse and exited the car. Yawning once more, he grabbed his orange backpack and followed her.

Albion Central. Merlin's school for his senior year. He imagined most people would complain about switching schools a year before graduation, but he honestly didn't mind. He basically had one friend at his previous school, but he and Will had only talked during school hours, and the occasional text about homework. Merlin vowed that this year would be different. He would at least try to make the best of it, if only for his mother. She was hesitant to accept this job as Albion Central's full-time art teacher, despite the better pay, because she didn't want to force Merlin away from the people he had grown up with and the school he had been attending his whole life. He could tell she had fallen in love with this school after taking a tour of it, and since he really had no roots in his old town, he told her she should take it. So here they were at its front doorstep in the brisk, early-September morning air, ringing the intercom.

"Hello, how may I help you?" the intercom crackled.

"Yes, hello, good morning. My name is Hunith Ambrosius and this is my son Merlin. I'm the new art teacher and Mr. Pendragon had instructed us to arrive early to get our bearings before everyone else shows up today."

"Of course. Come right in."

The door buzzed and Merlin reached out and pulled it open. They were received inside by the school's security, and then pointed down the hall to the principal's office. Mr. Pendragon met them outside and shook both of their hands.

"Very pleasant to see you again, Ms. Ambrosius. And how are you, lad? It's nice to finally meet the son of this fine woman."

"It's nice to meet you too, sir."

"Shall we get started then? Now, the A Wing is down this hallway to our left here, accompanied by the B Wing on the second flight. The hallway to our right leads to our two cafeterias, as well as the main gym, the choir and band rooms, and our stage. Our library is just through those doors there. If you'll follow me..."

They did, and he continued explaining that the science wing, or the F Wing, was straight through the Commons area, which was supposedly their study hall? Merlin had seen an area with tables and small couches up near the school's front that looked like students could work there, but he'll have to ask later. The foreign languages department, the C Wing, was past the science wing, leaving math, history, literature, and various other courses to the A and B Wings. Merlin hoped he would get a map of this place when he received his schedule.

"…and here are the art classrooms. Your office is linked between the two, and we generally use the one classroom for graphic arts and generic drawings while the second is for the messier activities, such as painting and sculpting. I think we'll head back now to get your schedule, Mervin, wasn't it-"

"Merlin."

"-Merlin, yes, but we can get you your schedule and then you can head to your locker while we get your mother her keys for the classrooms."

Thankfully, Merlin's schedule was presented to him with a map and after saying goodbye to his mother, he scurried off to find his locker. It was conveniently placed in the middle of the school near the intersection of the main hallways, and after two tries, he succeeded in opening it. By the time he finished putting all of his books and other supplies in it, a few students had arrived and were roaming the halls. Grabbing his books for the first half of the day, he headed off to peek at the cafeterias and the gym before class. Approving all three locations, he turned around and went to his first class.

The AP Chemistry room was on the smaller size, with a supply room hanging off to the side. The fluorescent lights chased away every shadow and the low hum of the AC explained the temperature. A few students were already sitting, and some had looked up when he entered. Now is the moment of truth. Do I sit in front and get labeled as the teacher's pet? Or sit in back and risk getting distracted or making the teacher think I don't want to be here? I could sit in the middle, but a lot of those desks already have at least one person sitting in them, and they could be saving them for som-

He started falling backwards as the classroom door opened. A pretty, dark-skinned girl with curly hair nearly bumped into him as she walked into the room.

"Oh! Wow, I'm sorry! I had no idea you were standing there! I didn't hurt you, right?"

"No, no, I'm fine. Probably shouldn't have been leaning on it in the first place."

"Probably. I don't think I've seen you around before. Are you a junior coming up a grade for this class?"

"No, uhm, actually I'm a transfer student. I've just moved here."

"Oh! Well, if you need any help finding things or just want a tour around, feel free to ask. My name's Gwen!"

"I'm Merlin."

She reached out to shake his hand, balancing her books on her one arm. Merlin smiled, glad he had met someone before the day even started.

"Are you new here?"

A voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked up and found an attractive, ebony-haired girl with pale skin staring at him quizzically. She wore glasses and the eyes behind them were a piercing blue.

"Uh, me? Yes, uh, yeah I'm a transfer."

"Where from?"

"Ealdor State. It's not a college or anything, just has state in the name."

"And do you have a name?"

"Merlin."

"Pleasure to meet you Merlin. I would comment on the oddness of your name, though I suppose mine's not any stranger. My name's Morgana."

"Did your parents have a thing for Old English folklore, too?"

"Something like that. Well, are you going to just stand there during class? Come sit down."

She patted the seat next to her and Merlin willingly obliged. Gwen bounced to the lab table behind them, and relieved herself of the heavy books. Sinking into a stool, she leaned forward to continue chatting with Morgana and Merlin.

"I think you'll like Professor Gaius. He insists on being addressed as that in the halls and on the first day, but after that, feel free to just call him Gaius. He tends to favor the students in the higher level science classes so we can get away with a lot." Both her and Morgana grinned.

"So you two have had him before?"

"Yes," Morgana continued. "Our sophomore year we had him for Honors Chem, and then junior year we took one of the lab electives he taught. Gwen and I are his favorites. So, stick with us and he'll love you too!"

As if on cue, the door opened and Professor Gaius walked in. White hair fell in wisps around his wrinkled face, framing the golden glasses he wore. He looked out at the class as he set his books down on the lab table that doubled as his desk.

"AP Chemistry is difficult. Do not take this lightly when I say that this class will be one of the hardest challenges you will have to face in high school. It will push your minds further than you had thought possible, but you must be willing to do the work to get you there. Mind you, there will be quite a lot of it. I see some familiar and some new faces in this room, and some are students I've had previously. Either way, I have confidence in all of your abilities to complete this course. All that is left is the confidence in yourselves." He nodded once, almost as if congratulating himself on a great welcoming speech. The man intrigued Merlin, and he was looking forward to learning from him this next year.

"Now, I'm going to hand out the syllabus because its required of me, though none of you fool me when you say you will read it at home. It's your basic classroom rules and grading scale, which you have all heard countless times since your freshmen year. Don't break any of those, and we won't have a problem. Now that that is taken care of, open your books to page seven, and we'll dive straight into a covalent and ionic bonds review."

The bell rang and Merlin's head buzzed with all of the information they had covered in the past fifty minutes. This was going to be fun. Merlin always loved a challenge for his mind. Grinning to himself, he set out for his Foods class. The room was spacious, but quaint, and held two refrigerators in the back. Four kitchen set-ups circled the room with tables and chairs for the students in the middle. Merlin took a seat at the table closest to the door and pulled out his notebook. A girl, maybe a year or two younger than him, took the seat next to him. Two more boys joined his table as the other tables reached capacity. Merlin nodded to them and went to do the same to the girl, but she was already looking at him. She instantly blushed and looked away. He moved his mouth to say something, but the teacher had begun talking.

"Welcome to Foods I. My name is Ms. Lamia and I'll be your instructor this semester. I know many of you are here because you hear it's an easy A and you get to eat food all the time, and what could be better than that, right?"

No one responded.

"Some of these assumptions may be true, but that doesn't mean that I don't expect the best from all of you. If you want to move on to Foods II, you need at least a C+, so make sure you work hard. Today we'll be going over the syllabus-"

The class quietly, but collectively, groaned.

"-and after that, we'll begin by reviewing the proper techniques of using a knife."

Merlin stared up at Ms. Lamia in disbelief. He hoped choosing this class wasn't a mistake. He had thought it would be a nice break in between his more difficult courses, but maybe this was too easy.

"I hope we do something more exciting tomorrow," the girl next to him whispered.

"Yeah, maybe if we're good, she'll teach us how to boil water," Merlin sniggered. The girl giggled as well. "I'm Merlin, by the way."

"Freya."

"Nice to meet you."

The rest of the class passed by uneventfully, as did Merlin's study hall. His thoughts on the small area with the couches being a study area was confirmed as his schedule led him there, and he discovered it was for seniors only. His fourth period class was Calculus, and luckily Gwen waved him over before he had to begin contemplating on where to sit. Morgana was in this class as well, though she was currently across the room arguing with a blonde boy. Merlin slid into the desk next to Gwen.

"Who's Morgana fighting with?"

"Oh, that's just Arthur, her brother. Well, technically half-brother but no one really pays attention to that. They fight as much as any two siblings I know, maybe more."

"Hey, Gwen, anyone sitting here?" asked a curly-haired boy on the other side of Gwen. Merlin thought he may have seen him last period in study hall, but wasn't certain.

"You are now, Leon. Oh, Leon! This is Merlin. He's just transferred here from Ealdor State, though it's not a college, despite State being in the name."

Merlin and Leon both nodded to each other, and their teacher Ms. Ryan began speaking. The ringing bell emitted a sense of gratitude from Merlin because it meant he could finally eat lunch. He was definitely packing some snacks tomorrow to eat during study hall.

The upper-classmen cafeteria was packed as students tried to situate themselves and figure out what lunch table they would sit at for the next year. He found an arm being linked through his as he was dragged away from the doorway.

"Come on, I'm not leaving you to sit alone on your first day. You're sitting with us."

Merlin smiled as Morgana led him to a round table near the wall of the lunchroom. The set-up of the cafeteria allowed for a large number of rectangular tables to be placed in the center with smaller, round tables lining the outskirts. Gwen and a few other people were already at the table. Merlin was introduced to Elaine, Gillian, and Anna, who were seniors and a junior, respectively.

"Come on, Gwen, at least try out," Morgana pushed. "What's the worst that could happen? You don't get in? You don't seem to want it that badly now, so that wouldn't be too big of a bummer, would it? But the best thing that could happen is that you get a leading part, Gwen! You have the voice for it. Anyways, Lance said they need a lot of people this year with the big chorus numbers, so you have to! Even if it's a small part, you'll still have fun!"

"I'm still not sure. But, the auditions aren't until next week, so I still have time to think about it."

"Auditions for what?" Merlin had no idea what they were talking about, but he wanted to learn as much as he could about this school before he was left utterly clueless of this year's events.

"Our school's fall musical. We're putting on Beauty and the Beast. And Morgana here, is trying to force me to audition for Belle."

"Not force you, just aggressively persuade you."

"I'll think about it. Will that make you happy?"

"For now," Morgana smirked, and turned her gaze on Merlin. "So do you sing?"

"What, me? No, no, not really. I mean, I hum along and maybe sing a bit with songs on the radio, but I don't actually, y'know, sing."

"Have you ever acted?"

"No."

"Dance?"

"I'm really clumsy."

"Oh, Morgana stop bugging him. Sorry Merlin, you'll get used to it."

"It's ok," Merlin turned the tables. "And you, Morgana? Are you a performer?"

"Absolutely not. I love going to watch, especially when my friends are in it, but you really don't want to hear me sing."

"What about dancing then? You could be one of the chorus members that sing quietly?"

"No thanks. I love to dance, but not the kind that's choreographed."

"Like what then?"

"Oh you know, just the kind you would do at parties or school dances. Nothing special."

"I see. Even with that kind of dancing, I think I still lack some skills."

"Well then, I'll just have to help you."

She winked at him and left him slightly stunned. The conversation transitioned over to this year's football season and how they needed to defeat their rivals. Last year, Albion Central's Red Knights reached the championship and faced their school's rivals, the Saxons from Gaul High School. They were defeated in an embarrassing 28-6 and were looking to redeem themselves this season.

"All of them have been training really hard," Morgana commented. "The team came over at least twice a week for runs and work-out sessions this summer. Arthur really wants the them to go out on top."

Merlin ate his lunch and enjoyed hearing them tell stories, even if they were about people he's never met. It made him feel included. The bell signaled the end of lunch, and they all parted ways. His schedule instructed him to head to Literature taught by a Mr. Kilgharrah. It was a basic classroom, and Merlin took a seat in the third row. He heard laughing and turned his head to see the blonde named Arthur enter the room with two of his friends. His friends took two seats in the second row and Arthur took the remaining seat, right next to Merlin. Merlin slightly eavesdropped on their conversation and discovered the names of the other two were Percival and Elyan. They continued joking until the bell, which was followed immediately by Mr. Kilgharrah taking attendance.

"Merlin Ambrosius?"

"Here."

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Arthur turned to look at him.

"Psst!"

Merlin rotated his head slightly towards Arthur and whispered back. "Yes?"

"I saw you talking with my sister earlier."

"Ok?"

Arthur clearly expected a different reaction, perhaps a show of fear on Merlin's part, because he seemed taken aback and leaned away to contemplate something to say next. Merlin focused his attention back to the teacher, not wanting to get into trouble on the first day, that is, until he felt a poke in his side. He jerked from the action and moved to see Arthur pulling back a pencil.

"What?"

"Who are you?"

"Merlin, though my saying 'here' in response to the name Merlin during attendance should have tipped you off."

"Well, Merlin, my name is Arthur Pendragon and my father is the principal here."

"Is that supposed to scare me?" He could tell Arthur was getting more frustrated, but Merlin was having too much fun with this.

"It should."

"Why?"

"Because it jus-listen. I take it you're new so you don't understand how things work around here. Basically, I'm like the king of this school, so I do what I want. If you understand that, we won't have any problems."

"Is that your attempt at trying to bully me?" Merlin almost laughed out loud at the face Arthur made. His mouth gaped open, eyes wide, as he stared at Merlin with both surprise and disgust.

"Arthur Pendragon?"

"Wha-? Oh! Here." Arthur was trying to erase the shocked expression on his face. Merlin chuckled to himself, and ignored him for the rest of the class. Despite the fact of Arthur sitting next to him, he was looking forward to this class. Their first unit was focusing on Shakespeare, followed by a poetry unit. He left class fairly quickly, not wanting to get into trouble with Arthur's friends. The gym locker room smelled decently, though he predicted that wouldn't last too long. He got changed and waited with the others to leave. The teacher crept Merlin out slightly as he came to gather up the class. He introduced himself as Coach Agravaine and was about to usher them out when a small freshman burst into the room.

"Sorry I'm late sir! I won't take long to change! Be right there!" He raced around the corner and began switching to his gym clothes.

"What's your name, son?"

"Mordred, sir!"

"I'll excuse your tardiness for today, but don't let it happen again."

"Yes, sir!"

The boy soon joined them, and they trudged out to the track. They ran two laps before heading to the baseball fields. Merlin's team won, though no one really cared because it was gym class. He eagerly anticipated his next and final class of the day. Opening the door to the art classroom, he was greeted with the smell of paint and clay. His mother appeared to be comfortably situated in her new desk, and he shot her a smile. The younger boy from gym had followed him in. Mordred, wasn't it? Merlin noticed Morgana at a table near the center, though there was another guy talking to her. It seemed to Merlin that the man was trying to impress her, but she was not falling for any of it. He slowly approached the table. Morgana looked up, a look of relief crossed her face.

"Merlin! I didn't know you were going to be in this class. Come sit. This is Gwaine, by the way. Gwaine, Merlin. Merlin, Gwaine."

They shook hands, and Merlin thought he spotted a hint of jealousy on Gwaine's face as they took seats on either side of Morgana. Ms. Ambrosius stood and walked in front of the students. She took attendance, though she didn't call Merlin's name. Morgana noticed, and leaned over.

"Why she didn't call your name?"

"Well, that's my mother actually, so I'm hoping it's because she can see I'm here."

"Aww and you're taking her class? That's really sweet! So now I'm assuming she got this new job and that's why you two moved?"

"Yeah, but I didn't mind because I wasn't a huge fan of my old school anyways."

"How come?"

"There isn't really a big reason why, I was just never a fan of the people. I wasn't bullied or anything, I just didn't feel like I fit in. But I'm thinking it's going to be much better this year."

"Of course it will! You're friends with me now."

They grinned at one another, and Morgana turned back to the board. Merlin watched her and realized she was right. He had already made two good friends in her and Gwen, and met many other potential friends today. If he played his cards right, this year could make up for the other three mediocre years he had had at Ealdor State. Yes. I will definitely make this year better. Maybe not all those movies lied when they told us that senior year can be great.

With that, Merlin looked back up at his mother and beamed at her, silently thanking her for taking this position at Albion Central.

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A/N: And there you have it! The whole story will not be written in Merlin's POV, but will switch off between the main four. We'll be covering the whole of their senior year, so it won't be ending too quickly. We have lots planned for this, so hopefully you enjoyed it and will stay tuned for more! Please review, and let me know what you thought of this first chapter! Thanks! :D