I walked into the building that was going to be the home and birthplace of the rest of my life. If I had known that I would've ended up the way I am now, then perhaps I wouldn't have been so self-conscious. Perhaps, but then again if I wasn't so nervous and fragile looking I wouldn't of needed help and they wouldn't of helped me. In the end this story is nothing more than a retelling and a thank you in a way to the group of people who helped discover my potential. This story does not get happy for some time. So I'm saying if you want some story where the girl instantly falls in love with the boy and they get married, then move on. You will not find that here. You will find though, a story about a young girl struggling with the pressers of society and how your own confidence can make you shine.

'I don't belong here,' was all I kept thinking as I entered the pink castle known as Ouran High school. 'Well sure' I thought, 'My family has the money and social standing needed to buy their child, me, into this school, but they cannot buy my acceptance.' Taking a shaky breath I think one final thought before opening the door to my first class, 'Maybe there will be others like me.'

Not a person looks up as I open the door, I liked it that way, so I quietly slink to my seat with back crouched and my shoulder slouch. Carefully, I look up from my desk and look around the classroom and not to my surprise not a one was like me. They all looked supermodel thin, as if they stepped out of an issue of the American Magazine Vogue.

As I fall even deeper into my self-pity I look over my own body, all 140 lbs. of it. I had a round stomach that didn't quite sit on my lap when I sat, but wasn't small enough to be considered chubby either. My face was circular, but had a defined chin, thank god, and when I smile it creates rings around my face, which is why I don't like to smile often. My dress was a size 12 which I could tell was not the norm from the conversation I had with the school's tailor-

"I would like three size 12s please," I had said timidly over the phone.

"Miss I'm sorry, but we only have up to sizes 1-6s in ready stock, if you need a size bigger it will be extra,"

Over the phone my face turned a bright shade of tomatoes red and I said, "Yes I understand,"

I dug my face further into the book right in front of me and looked over my schedule, I have Science Period 1, Algebra Period 2, , then Lunch, Language arts Period 4, Chorus Period 5, and lastly French period 6. I didn't want to be noticed, being noticed would mean getting attention. I began to create a trance for myself; I was going to someplace away from people, like a mountain or the forest. I loved the nature, I always felt at peace there. Like nothing was going to judge me of make me feel any smaller, or bigger. Ever since I was a child I had been larger, it didn't faze me as much then though, but now I can hardly leave the comfort of my home without feeling awkward an unwanted from society. That's why the nature calls to me there are no eyes to watch, so there are no eyes to judge.

"And Kyouya this is our first day in high school you have to be excited," an excited voice broke me out of my trance. I refused to look up; I suppose my thinking was, if I couldn't see it, I wouldn't be noticed by it. Oh how wrong I was.

"I suppose Tamaki," a bored voice returned then mumbled, "If you think four years of waiting is exciting."

'Oh please,' I thought, 'do no let these two sit next to me, do not, please,'

They didn't. They didn't even sit close to me. They sat across the class room from me. Looking back now I could see that my pleas for them to not sit with me were just a way for my mind to hide the fact that I did want them to sit close to me.

Sighing to myself I looked around to see a ring of empty seats around me, which was great the less people I meet the better. Then a girl with huge rimmed glasses and a curvy body took a seat next to me. Her Sapphire locks fell onto her face in short, but elegant curls. Under her glasses were giant bambi colored eyes. Overall she was pretty cute; I envied her, her body, her cute face, and her smallness. But why was such a pretty girl not going next to the boys. She could easily get any boy she wanted.

She then timidly said, "Hi," with a slight smile. Her accent sounded forced. Despite the smile she was pale and her face was covered in a sweat, "I'm Rei."

I carefully looked at her outstretched hand before replying, "Hello, I am Marina." I take her hand and give it a gentle shake, along with a small smile, just the way I was taught.

Rei's face lit up as if she was understanding something, "Oh so you weren't born in Japan?"

I nod, "No, I was born in the U.S," then I add, "The only reason my Japanese is so good is because of my Dad, he was half Japanese and decided to have a tutor teach part of my heritage."

She suddenly sighs in relief, "So then you speak English?" She asks in English.

I switch from Japanese to English, "Yeah?" Not quite sure what she meant.

"Thank goodness, I hardly know Japanese and my Parents just sent me here," She looks at me and smiles, "At least now I have someone to talk to." Now I understand why she was so nervous. She has trouble with Japanese. I didn't know whether to be flattered or ticked off that someone was relying and bringing attention on me. 'Well you don't know how many friends you'll get so just be nice to her.'

I didn't get the feeling that we would be best friends instantly, but I could tell anyone that it felt nice to have someone to talk to.

"So," I said, "When did you move to Japan?"

She looked up, "Last week," she responded with a sad tome in her voice.

I could've tried to comfort her, but decided to just leave her alone. Maybe I should've tried to be a little nicer.

Rei and I shared the classes leading up to lunch together, but after that, we had nothing together. 'Well,' I thought, 'at least I won't have to be her translator all day.'

When lunch rolled around I looked at all the kids get up to go to the cafeteria. I just sat there and waited for the kids to file out. Rei, with a puzzled look on her face said, "Aren't we going to go to lunch?"

Personally I was somewhat ticked off that now we are a 'we'. But, I hid my irritation and put on a feigned smile, "Rei, you can go on ahead, I have some things to do and cannot make lunch," I saw her worried look, "Don't worry," I said, "I bet there will be someone who speaks English."

She nodded and left the room, leaving me to an empty room, but that wasn't the only empty thing. I got up from my desk and left the classroom. My 'things to do' as I put it was just me finding a quiet place to eat. I didn't want anyone judging me on how I eat; I could just picture it-

"Eww look at that fat girl eating," one would say.

"She could lay off the pocky," another would chime in.

And soon everyone would be judging me and giving me attention and not the good kind, if there is even something known as good attention. Sighing I wonder around, wishing I had a map that was located in the front desk. I guess the reason I didn't was so I wouldn't be noticed.

I ended up in the bathroom, oh it was still nice with red leather couches and burgundy side tables, but it was still a bathroom, despite the marble floors. I slumped onto the couch and opened my lunch box. It was a basic bento box, with some rice, a rolled up omelet and, and some teriyaki chicken.

I could have easily afforded a school lunch, but I had always enjoyed a home cooked meal. Even though my parents couldn't cook, I had learned the art of cooking from Nana, my houses chef. She had been a surrogate mother to me from childhood, Even when we had lived in America. She filled my head with recipes and stories of her childhood. If someone asked, and I doubt anyone ever will, who I loved more, my mom or Nana, I would say Nana.

While eating an omelet, I thought over my first class, it was pretty normal. We didn't even start learning anything yet. The teacher, Mr. Fukuda (or Fukuda-Sensei), Introduced his class to us and the topics we would go over during the year. I had to translate half of what he was saying to Rei, 'She really doesn't know much Japanese,' I thought as I nibbled, 'I hope I don't have to babysit her all year.'

'I wish my parents hadn't sent me here,' I thought as I fell deeper into self-pity, 'why couldn't I have stayed being homeschool,'

I could practically hear my mother's voice combat that argument, "Because Marina," she would say in that sickly sweet voice of hers, "your father and I have talked this over and we believe that a real school will be good for you."

Being the child of two company heirs I know the basic rules of society, always smile in public, do not be rude in public, and ever, under any circumstances, do anything to ruin your family name.

My father is Ren Jones, the owner of a huge contact and glasses company, and my mother is Lelia Dela, the owner of Dela Enterprise, which despite the name, is just an orthodontic company, specializing in braces, and dental surgery. Since both my parents work in the cosmetic field, I have had contacts since I was 9 and I had just gotten braces off a few months ago. But I didn't have the metal braces, like most kids, I had the film type that went over your mouth to make it look like they were not there.

Since I think I am breaking the third rule, with my size, I have always tried my hardest to follow the first two, which mostly meant I hid in my house when I could and only went out when necessary.

After I finished the last bits of my meal, I stood up, wiped the crumbs off the yellow marshmallow, and looked in the mirror. I looked at my plain face, with no makeup on it, grey eyes, and small lips formed into a pout. My pale blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and my bangs parted in the middle partly covered each eye. I was looking at myself and I still felt invisible.

I let my eyes dart to the ground as I walked to the exit, I had Language arts next, perhaps if I got there early no one would pay attention to me.

The only good thing about getting there first is the fact that I could pick any seat I wanted. I took a seat in the middle row right next to the window. I got a wonderful view of the courtyard, there was a hedge maze. I found myself imagining walking through it, getting lost in the flowers.

The bell rang and the class began to file in. "Can we sit here?" A group of girls said. All three of them were gorgeous. The girl in front had beautiful, she had golden curls, and skin like a doll, and blue crystal eyes. She was tall and had the right amount of curves.

The girl behind was shorter and had full lips covered in red lipstick, she clearly straightened her caramel hair, but it still looked nice. Her eyelashes were long, and I couldn't tell if they were natural or not. The only thing bad about her eyelashes was that you could hardly see the tan orbs under them.

The last girl was the tallest of the three and was flat-chested. She looked sporty and had a short bob cut, which was red. She had midnight purple eyes.

I snapped out of my analysis and said, "Y-yes of course, did you think I needed them?"

As soon as I said that I regretted it, they could make up some fat girl joke and say that I did need all of them.

But they just laughed and the girl in front said, "Of course not, we just wanted to know if you were saving the seats?"

I should have said yes and let them walk away and find another victim, it would've saved me a bunch of trouble, but all I said was, "Yeah go ahead."

They flooded the area around me, the pretty girl sitting next to me and the other two in front of and behind me.

"I'm Sakura," the tall pretty one said sticking out her hand, "and this is Rin," she pointed to the shorter girl, "and Suki," she pointed to the tall girl.

"Hello," I responded, "I am Marina." I then turned away from them so they would stop giving me attention.

They didn't. They kept trying to start conversations and finally I gave in.

"So Marina, where are you from?" Sakura asked me.

"The United States."

"Oh so that must mean you speak English?"

"Yes," I responded unsure of what she was getting at.

"Oh, nothing," she quickly said, "I just like knowing things about my new friends."

"Friends?" I asked, slightly confused.

She smiled broadly, "Yeah we're friends."

I returned the smile and for once felt like I was part of something, "Yeah we're friends."

I should have noticed the knife that they were aiming right for my back.

"This is the room for Chorus," I double checked the room and it matched up, this was music room 5.

The chorus room was small. Well it was small for an Ouran classroom, but for a public school it would've been normal. The room was unlit and when I walked in I thought I had the wrong room. Turning around to leave, I was stopped by a voice, "Wait, are you here for Chorus?"

I face the voice to see a male student in front of me. He looked a little older than me. His purple hair was array and he had pale blue eyes.

Blushing slightly I replied, "Yes I am Marina Jones. In class 1-A."

He smiled, "Nice to meet you, I'm Ryo."

"Umm," I said slightly unsure of what to do after we greet each other, "where is everyone else?"

"They should be coming." He responded.

We waited there in silence until the door creaked open and a girl with two maroon pigtails walked in, her hands were on her hips and she was breathing heavily, "What the Hell!" she walked up to Ryo, "Why are we in A SMALL ROOM!"

He just sighed, "Our old classroom was taken Yui. Nothing I could do about it."

She pounced at him, "Who took it!?" she demanded while hitting him.

I just stood there, 'Is this how enemies act, or friends? It's kinda like some manga.'

"I don't know," he said while deflecting the punches.

She then looked at me and suddenly stopped, "Ryo you didn't tell me we had a new member," she rushed up to me, "I'm Yui." Before I could introduce myself she kept taking, "the chorus doesn't get new members often, so this is exciting!"

"Wait," I said, "you two are the only members?"

"Yup," she responded, "and you make the third. Ryo and I are 2nd years. Hmm do you like manga?"

I was taken off guard and said, "Yes!" I then covered my mouth.

She just started laughing , "Cool then we can keep doing covers of anime openings!"

"If its only the three of us," I asked, "then why do you need a bigger room?"

"Cause," she said smirking, "the bigger the room the more fun you can have," she looked around, "does this room even have lights?"

"And where is the teacher?" I questioned, wondering if I wanted to know the answer.

"Well, because there are so few of us, we don't need one." Ryo answered.

"Alright," Yui said, "we have to pick a theme," she said sounding excitied.

"Theme?" I asked confused.

"Yeah," she said, "like last year our theme was J-pop! You see Marina, we are a typical chourus, we enjoy cosplaying, and we tend to for out performances."

I suddenly felt out of place. "I cannot cosplay," I said quickly.

"Huh why not," Yui said her face dropping.

"Cause, I would look bad," I was 200 feet underground right about then.

Yui's face hardened, "Yeah you would," she said simply. I felt hot tears from in my eyes. "If you have that outlook on life you will," she continued, "You are pretty Marina don't let anyone talk you out of that."

The bell rang and I bolted out of there, I hated fake flattery more than anything. I hated people who said I was pretty, even though I know I am not. I bumped into someone, while hot tears streamed down my face.

"Are you okay Princess?" The voice asked. He put a hand on my facing down face, "why are you crying?"

I recognized the voice it was the same one as this morning. I didn't look up. I wanted to stay invisible. I slapped his hand away and bolted from the boy. I'm pretty sure I heard him say something like, "Wait Princess."

I found the nearest bathroom and locked myself in a stall. And let all the tears run down my face until they dried up and nothing was left.

I left the stall and looked in the mirror, my eyes were red and puffy. I looked at the clock and saw that I was late for my French class. Ignoring my inner thoughts telling me to get up and keep going, I slumped to the ground and laid there listless. 'If this is just one day how will I survive four years?' I brought my head to my knees and just waited.

The door creaked open and a pair of legs appeared in front of me, "Are you okay?" the voice asked, I looked to see Sakura, "The teacher sent me looking for you."

"Oh" I said feeling guilty, "sorry."

"Well you should be," she said with a rude tone, but to quickly cover it up she said, "Just kidding, you can tell me about it. Marina, we're friends."

She stretched out her hand, and I took it in a trustful action. On the way to class I explained what had happened. She just laughed and said, "Yeah it was wrong for them to lie to you. But don't worry I'll never lie."

I just smiled, "Really?"

"Of course, that's what friends are for."

Hope you all like the first chapter of my story. Tell me what you think!

Oh and if you couldn't tell this takes place a year (I think) before the original story. Tamaki and Kyouya are first years.

I don't think Marina will meet the host club for a little longer yet… but I'll try to make cameos of them in almost every chapter.

Review please-nya !

-Sassycatz