A/N: A good howdy-do to you all. I'd like to thank you guys for checking this weird idea of mine out. First off, I kinda got the idea from a meme I saw. It's the one where DAO is 'freshman', DA2 are the Sophomores/Juniors, and DAI are the Seniors. I'm changing it up just the slightest bit. But, I hope ya'll will like it! Also, I'm calling the 'teachers' by names people are most familiar with.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, BioWare does. I'm only implementing my own ideas.

Mahairel Sabrae was a shy, Elven girl of sixteen, with brown eyes and long blonde hair that stuck up in odd places. She usually kept it in a ponytail to keep it out of the way. She walked down the tree lined street nervously. It was her first day of Sophomore year. Her first day of public school. Last year, her Aunt Ashalle had finally agreed to let her go. She was excited at first, but... now she wasn't so sure. She knew that two of her old friends went to the same school she was currently walking to. Garrett had talked her ear off about how cool it was and how she had to be careful because of certain teachers. Silas on the other hand was more reserved in his happiness. He'd said that he'd meet her at the front of the building and show her around before school started.

She'd just walked into the parking lot of the enormous school. It was built out of the standard bricks that seemed to be what made up every school. But, she almost lost her courage when she saw all the buses parked out front and the many cars of the students and teachers zooming by. Right when she thought about running home and telling Ashalle she changed her mind, she heard a familiar voice.

"Hey! There you are Mahariel! Trevelyan and I have been lookin' all over for ya," Hawke called to her through a throng of chattering people. She smiled at her dark haired friend. He was a good sight. He was a year older than she- though he didn't act like it- and was well versed in some of the more mischievous things at the school. She looked at the stubble just starting to grow around his chin and cheeks and then to his blue eyes that danced with excitement. She couldn't help but laugh at him. He dressed how he acted. He had on a loose jacket covering a plain black t-shirt, blue jeans, and some rugged old sneakers. She could tell he'd left home in a hurry because his hair was a complete shaggy mess. It wasn't super long, but always seemed to be in a permanent state of bedhead. He was always the same.

Right behind him, Silas Trevelyan strutted. He held his head high, like always. He had sandy brown shoulder length hair that was slicked back and the sweetest violet eyes. He had on similar clothes to Hawke, but he was more well kept and didn't have the jacket on and his shirt was a dark green. She frowned when she remembered that this was his last year. It wasn't like she'd never get to see him again, but she didn't like the thought of him leaving her alone. Especially if all she had to get her through was... Hawke.

"Hey, Mahariel. Glad you found your way alright," Silas teased. She made a face at him and stuck out her tongue. She had an impeccable sense of direction. She'd gotten lost once and he never let her forget it.

"Yeah, yeah. Are you going to show me around like you promised?" she asked her inner sass showing. The boys laughed and took each side. They were as protective as brothers to her.

She looked around in wonder as they showed her from room to room. Each was the same, but a little different. One might've been bigger, one might've had things arranged in a different manner, and some had different desks than the others.

"And, this is the auditorium," Trevelyan announced, "It is... probably my favorite."

"Only because you love theatre for some stupid reason," Hawke grumbled.

Mahariel giggled and spun around in the middle aisle. There were three sections of chairs which were all a royal blue. At the front was a huge stage with a big red curtain with intricate golden designs of what looked like vines and lions. It was drawn closed, much to Mahariel's disappointment. She loved theatre as much as Silas did. Hawke was never good at it, which was weird because he was a natural born liar. He claimed he was better at 'bullshitting' than saying something that was scripted. He wasn't wrong in that. His acting was atrocious. She'd seen him helping Silas practice a scene before.

"I'm nervous about going to class, but I'm excited," she said, "Do you think we'll have any classes together?"

Garrett and Silas shrugged and took out a paper from their bags. Mahariel looked at them curiously. "What's that?"

"It's our class schedule. You should've gotten one sent to your house when you got your student ID," Silas explained.

She panicked for a minute as she rummaged around in her backpack. At last she found it tucked away in her front pocket along with her ID. "Elgar'nan watch over Ashalle! If it weren't for her, I'd die," she said exasperated.

The boys snickered and joined her in looking at her schedule.

First Block - Art - Velanna

Second Block - History - Flemeth

Third Block - Theatre - Celene

Fourth Block - Science - Alexius

Fifth Block - Language - Vivienne (Lunch Block)

Sixth Block - Math - Howe

Seventh Block - Phys. Ed. - Meredith

Silas grinned at the papers they were holding, "Looks like we all have P.E. together. I have third block with Mahariel too."

"Of course you guys would have theatre together. Hmm... I have science with her fourth block!" Hawke said proudly.

Mahariel's heart beat fast in her chest. She'd hoped for more than three classes with her friends. She wasn't sure that she could make more... Just then, a bell rang throughout the school.

"Time for class. I'll see you later!" Hawke called as he ran towards the main entrance of the auditorium.

Trevelyan rolled his eyes, "I'm gonna walk you to class. Your first block and mine are close by each other. And, don't get too worried. I'm sure you'll be talking to more than myself and Hawke in no time."

She smiled gratefully and trailed after him in the hall. He waved to a few people and said hello to others. Mahariel was surprised at just how many people he knew. She'd known he was a very outgoing person, but she'd never expected what she saw. AS they neared what she thought was her class- she'd seen the room number on her schedule- he stopped two doors down and lightly punched a huge guy on the arm. Mahariel jumped when she realised he was a Qunari. They were scary. She didn't know much about them, but she instinctively wanted to run away.

"Who's your friend?" his deep voice bellowed.

Silas looked at Mahariel with a grin on his face, "This is my old friend, Mahariel. We kind of grew up together. Her aunt is weird and never let her go to public school." Mahariel glared at him and stood up straighter. Only Ashalle, Hawke, and Silas knew about her temper, and he'd sparked it.

"My aunt is not weird-! Ok, maybe she is, but not for homeschooling me," she snapped.

The Qunari laughed and patted her on the shoulder lightly, "You've got fire, Goldilocks. Anyone gives you trouble, tell them that Bull will pull their heads out of their asses if they don't watch out. A friend of Trevelyan's is a friend of mine. Especially redheads..."

Mahariel raised an eyebrow at the strange horned lummox of a boy in front of her. Silas walked her over to her class and whispered, "He's got an annoying fetish for redheads. Don't pay it any mind."

"Thanks Silas. See you later," she said before disappearing into the art room.

She sat down towards the back of the room, scared to sit by anyone. People made her nervous. She looked around, seeing tons of cabinets and posters of famous paintings. There was 'The Birth of Venus' with her standing in her seashell, there was 'Starry Night Over the Rhone' by Van Gogh, one of her favorites. She turned to her left to see if there were any other paintings she recognized, but instead of a painting, she saw a cute blonde boy with bright hazel eyes. She jumped at his closeness.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, uh... You just looked lost, so I came to say hi, and... I'll shut up now," he rambled, a blush creeping to his cheeks. Mahariel couldn't help but laugh. He was definitely adorable, and it wouldn't be so bad to have someone to talk to.

"No, it's fine. I do feel a little lost," she replied, "I'm Mahariel."

The boy smiled, "I'm Alistair. Not to be rude, but are you Dalish? Ms. Velanna is, and she has similar markings on her face."

Mahariel was surprised at his forwardness. That or he just didn't know how to stop talking when he was nervous. Still, she obliged his curiosity.

"Yes, I am Dalish, though there are many different clans. It's complicated on how to explain it. My clan is Sabre. Each clan has a different God that they revere most. My clan's is Ghilan'nain, the Mother of the Halla," she explained to his delight. He seemed to be dripping with curiosity. It didn't bother her as much as she thought it would. He didn't comment about them having more than one god or say that it was stupid and made up like most humans did. She was happy that he'd noticed her vallaslin. She'd only just gotten them for her sixteenth birthday, two weeks earlier.

They were interrupted by a slender, tan Elven woman, who was clearly Dalish calling the attention of all the students. Mahariel could tell by the scowl on her face that she was going to be tough.

"Welcome to Art. Let me tell you now that if you goof around, you will not be welcome in my classroom. I am here to teach you, not babysit you. I am Velanna. You will not call me V, or Vel, or Velanna. You may address me as Miss Velanna or Keeper Velanna." Her voice was terse and serious. Mahariel swallowed hard and shrank down in her seat. Alistair seemed to do the same. High School was going to be scary after all.

They immediately started by getting 'art notebooks' and learning different exercises to get them started. Velanna told them that she expected them to complete 30 repetitions of the three exercises each morning until she taught them three new ones. Mahariel was used to these types of things. They were check marks, straight lines as close together and straight as possible, and making small circles as perfect as they could.

She peeked over at Alistair's paper and almost laughed. He'd done the exercises, but he'd drawn a cartoon version of Velanna and made her cranky and yelling 'Kids r dumb! Listen 2 what I say!' He looked up at her as she covered her mouth to hide her smile. He smiled back at her sheepishly. She knew right then that they'd get along just fine. She'd made her first new friend! Ashalle would be proud of her.