Long story short, I fell in love with HOA(: This will be a multi- chapter fic with AlfieXAmber, NinaXFabian, MickXOC, and JeromeXOC. Maybe more couples, I have yet to decide! Please enjoy, my dearies(:

"Good luck, Sweetheart!" My cab driver, a kind older woman, calls as she pulls away from the huge stone building in front of me. It's Victorian for sure, and in good condition. Better than good. More like perfect. Even the ivy that slithers around the sides seems like it's been placed to make the building look more antique.

Somehow, my jelly legs manage to carry me to the ridiculously ornate door without falling flat on my face. I reach up a shaky hand to knock quietly, surprised by the booming noise. Geez. Note to self: old wood makes things echo like heck. This waiting is killing me. That combined with the impatient butterflies ramming against my stomach was almost enough to make me sprint away from the house in fear. Or pee my pants…

"Hello!"

A tall blond boy wearing a tailored vest opens to door with a grin, looking mischievous. He has soft gray eyes that sparkle with curiosity and playfulness. He turns around and shouts:

"Guys? GUYS! THE NEW GIRL'S HERE!"

Instinctively, I cover my ears with my hands and shoot the blond a death glare. He only smirks in response and leans against the door jam, sneaker tracing invisible patterns onto the old floor. Curious orbs flicker across my face carefully and I can't help but to wonder why he's staring at me. In fact, it's starting to make me uncomfortable…

"I hope this new girl isn't as excitable as the other. Did you see her? She was hopping all over the place. She did have nice shoes, though, didn't she?" A high, airy voice floats to my ears as long nails type on a keyboard. At least, that's what it sounds like to me.

Another blond appears behind Jerome. A girl this time, and an extremely pink one at that. Her flirty chiffon dress is a beautiful shade of magenta with stilettos in a slightly lighter hue to match. The girl has a light shade of icy rose to adorn her lips and the iPhone she clutches is sheathed in a neon pink case.

The stilettos. That's what made the noise….A few blond ringlets fall into the girls pretty heart shaped face when she turns to face me.

"Well?" She asks "Don't you talk?"

I swallow hard, intimidated by her. She reminds me of the prissy girls at my last school. The one's that made fun of everything about me. I mean everything. My shoes, my hair, my voice. All of which, may I add, seemed perfectly fine to me. I guess not….

"Yes I talk your highness."

She quirks a barely-visible blond brow, tipping her head to think about me for a moment. Blue eyes rake over my clothes for just a moment before a grin spreads across her delicate face. A warm arm links through my own and I'm tugged through the doorway.

"Amber Millington. Come on in and I'll show you around. Oh and Jerome, dear?"

Amber turns to face the blond boy who opened the door. She smiles sweetly at him, plucks the duffel bag from my hand, and drops it on the floor. A thin finger points to my pile of luggage that could give Mt. Everest a run for its money.

"Be a gentleman and grab her bags."

I giggle at the offended look on the boy's face and Amber drags me past a ornate staircase into what appears to be the living room. Yup, it is the living room. I remember it from the pictures on the school website. A boy with hair roughly the color of a chestnut glances up at me from one of the couches.

"You must be our other new girl. My name's Fabian Rutter, by the way. You are?"

I'm Ellie"

A nervous smile carves through my face as Fabian chuckles quietly. There's a moment of awkward silence before the other boy on the couch looks up, brown eyes sparkling.

"Jerome just texted me that I'm not supposed to talk to you"

The boy snickers quietly, gesturing towards the iPhone on his lap. The screen is still pulled up and I can see the conversation bubbles. Hmm. He wasn't lying.

"Jerome's an arse though. My name's Alfie Lewis!"

Alfie hops up and shakes my hand vigorously. After that, everything's just kind of a whirl of people's faces and names. I meet a Patricia, a Mara, a Mick, a Nina, and another new girl names Maggie. She's an absolute dream, porcelain skin and bouncy red curls. On top of being from Ireland, Maggie's also a beautiful singer. I wonder if she got a scholarship for a talent, too….

"The new boy's should be here tomorrow!" Amber squeals as she leads me upstairs.

She drops me off at the dorm I'll be sharing with Maggie, who promptly starts lecturing excitedly about how we can paint this room some other color than this weird blue. I try my best to smile and nod at all the right times but I can't help but to feel the first pangs of homesickness in my stomach.

I guess I'm just one of 4 newbies this year. Trudy, ourhouse mom, managed to fill me in over the chatter at dinner. We've got two boys- an Australian and a South African- coming sometime before breakfast. For the life of me, I can't remember their names.

Oh well.

All that comes to mind right now is how much Maggie's gentle snores sound just like my little brother's at home.