Flora is a child prodigy. She is talented in every art field, especially dance and music. Being the new girl in town after emigrating from Netherlands, where everything is mountainous and snowy, Flora is known as the shy, meek girl in Canderson High, California, with a huge brain and hidden talents. She was always a wallflower, and never really belonged anywhere. Until she met friends who let her in. Flora's life takes on a whole new turn when she meets Bloom, Stella, Layla, Musa and Tecna, who introduces her to the mysterious and handsome Helia Vanquez, the most popular and richest guy in Canderson High. After an accidental meeting, they can't seem to forget one another. Will she be the one to capture his heart? And will he be the one to open hers?

Chapter One: Daily doings

A euphoric shout of joy echoed through the Giant Forest of California. Rabbits, squirrels, birds and deer scurried into hiding as a thundering herd of horses galloped through wilderness. Among one, sat a beautiful girl, her long hair flowing behind her with the wind, as she rode the horse she sat upon towards the large meadows, where the herd belonged.

"Woah girl, woah! Steady…" Flora Estelle chuckled as her mare, Peace, rose on her hind legs to whinny in exhilaration from the run she had just completed with her rider. Flora patted Peace as she admired the vast plains of the meadows, watching with content as the herd fed on the luscious grass it provided. "How I wish I could be just like all of you," Flora sighed as she dismounted from Peace back. An experienced rider, she didn't need any equipment like saddles or whips to control the horses. She believed that to be too controlling over the animals, which should be free. She handed an apple to Peace, smiling as she nudged her in thanks. Flora had lived in the Great Woods ever since the incident of her parents' death in Netherlands. It was a whole lot different from here, where it was warm and sunny. Back there, it would be filled with snow around this time. Flora leaned against a tree, smiling slightly as Peace trotted of to join her herd. She had found them when she first moved here, with Uncle Johnny and Aunty Marion, her foster parents who took her in. They were old friends of her late parents, and the farm they lived on in the Great Woods was partly owned by her parents since it was an anniversary present to them. They had raised her ever since 5, and although the farm was nothing compared to the mansion Flora used to live in in Netherlands, it was their love that was enough. She was never a petty or demanding girl after all.

Flora lay on the grass, looking up to the sky. She remembered doing this a lot with her parents back in Netherlands, cloud watching was a tradition they did every weekend. She remembered the routine very clearly. They would first go to the ice rink, where Flora learnt to skate under her parents' guidance. Then they would cycle along the forest trails in the woods until they reached the top of the hill, where they would admire the city and have a picnic, all the while watching the clouds move lazily across the sky. She missed the times she spent in Netherlands, especially her parents. She never knew what caused her mansion to catch fire that fateful night. All she knew was that she was rescued by one of the servants, who never came back after going off to help more people in the burning house after leaving her in the care of the firefighters. No one besides her survived the fire, and she became sole heir to the Estelle Company, her father's. But she didn't want to handle the stress of managing the company, especially at the young age of 5. So it was left to the government to manage, until she decided she was ready to take over. Ever since then, Flora was afraid of fire, and never opened herself up to anyone she wasn't close to.

The distant cry of an eagle echoed through the forest, breaking Flora's out of her thoughts. Sitting up quickly, she looked up to see her other animal friend, Flame, a handsome Imperial Eagle. It was rare for such eagles to live in forests, but Flora had helped raised him when he fell out of his nest by accident. Ever since, Flame was one of Flora's closest companions, whom she could tell anything, and he was the one who warned her of important things. In this case, she was about to be late for school.

"Damn it! Thanks Flame! See you later Peace!" Flora yelled over her shoulder as she took off into the woods, taking a glance back when Peace whinnied to her in reply. You would think running without a guide of anything would get you lost, but having lived here for 13 years, Flora knew the forest at the back of her hand. Running through the wilderness, Flora ran as fast as she could back to the farm, where she saw Aunty Marion at the porch tending to the early visitors who wanted to pop in on the farm. It was the best farm in the country after all, and was quite famous.

"Dear lord! Flora, where have you been! You're going to be late for school if you don't hurry up! Alaric's in the kitchen, he has been waiting for you since twenty minutes ago!" Marion berated as she watched Flora rush up the stairs. "I'm sorry! I got a little side-tracked! Tell him I'll be down in 5!" Flora yelled as she quickly got into the shower with her uniform.

"I'll say… must've been daydreaming in the meadows again," Johnny mumbled as he looked up in the direction where Flora had gone. "Hasn't she always?" Marion replied, making her way past her husband to give her (foster) daughter's best friend the message.

Alaric was probably Flora's best friend. Well, the first. He was one of the regulars who helped out at the farm, and over the years, Flora had gotten closer to him. It helped they went to the same school, so Alaric always offered her a ride since it was on the way. Of course, they hung out with different people at school, Alaric with his rugby gang and Flora with herself. "Sorry, Al! Do you mind stepping on it?" Flora puffed as she climbed into his Silver Toyota Camry. "Bout time Flo! You know how long I waited for you?" Alaric said as he quickly pulled out of the farm and stepped on the gas, heading in the direction of the main road. "I'm sorry! I got sidetracked with the horses! I didn't know it was this late!" Flora mumbled as she combed through her still-wet tresses with her hands, munching on a sandwich at the same time. After pinning her hair up with a butterfly hairpin, she sighed heavily as she sat through her best friend's lecture on punctuality. Sinking into the cushioned seat, she looked out of the window to see a group of guys and girls who also went to her school. They were all in various cars, some with Mercedes', BMWs, Hondas and Toyotas. Among them was a sleek black Aston Martin. Apparently, they seemed to be racing, and were wrecking havoc on the road. But what was there to expect from the most popular and richest kids in school? Flora recognized them well, and even knew they're names. They were the group that had made her feel the most welcome when she first started at Canderson High. They even tried talking to her on more than one occasion, and joined her at lunch sometimes. But Flora felt like she was out of place among their various personalities, and rarely ate lunch since she didn't want to attract attention from the entire school population. It was bad enough that the bullies in her school, the Trix, who consisted of Icy Frost, Darcy Hammilson and Stormy Dellark, had spread rumours about her being a suck-up. They had beat her up for the fun of it earlier this year, and another time just to vent their anger on her because they were jealous that she was getting too much attention. They also left her bruised with a few grazes here and there, but Flora never told anyone, not even Alaric. She didn't want to cause trouble. She was not that important anyway.

Turning her attention back to the racing cars outside the window, she spotted Bloom Sparks, the school president, together with Sky Lyle, the Soccer captain, in the front. Stella Kelsey, Head Cheerleader was with Basketball captain, Brandon Jenson, and they were neck to neck in their "race". Behind them were Layla Greene, Head of the Swimming team with Nabu O'dair, a champion surfer in California. Following behind were Musa Ryans, a well-known singer in the school and leader their band the WinX, was in a surprising a relationship with the broody Riven Haley, the volleyball captain, and Tecna Hambrick, vice-head president with Timmy Dorme, the secretary and junior technician of the school.

Last but not least, there was Helia Vanquez, not only the sports prodigy, but also professional artist and designer in Canderson High. He was heir to the Vanquez Company, a prestigious establishment which Flora was sure was almost as well known as hers was. She never ever talked to him before since she never saw him in lunch, but she knew he was Canderson's top scholar after her, their average results always neck to neck, something which irritated Flora sometimes. She never really knew why half the girl population in the school fell head over heels for him. Sure, he was extremely handsome, rich and talented, but that didn't say anything about his personality.

"Alaric, what do you know of Helia Vanquez?" Flora blurted out suddenly, stopping Alaric midway of his ranting. "Vanquez? From what I know he's some smart-ass talented prodigy who tops the board every single time, most of the time tying with you. He's also a heartbreaker with girls. Why? Don't tell me you're interested in hi-". "What?!" Flora whipped her head to face him. "No! I just saw the whole gang wrecking havoc on the streets and was wondering bout him since he's the only one I don't really know about! You of all people should know I'm not looking for a relationship right now," Flora said as she turned her attention back to the window. She realized the Aston Martin had somehow taken over the rest of the cars, and wondered if that was Helia's car. "Well, just don't go checking him out or anything, believe me, he is a heartbreaker, and I don't want you getting yours broken too. Wait a sec, does this mean all this time I've been telling you about the importance of being punctual, you've been stoning out of the window checking them-him- out?" Alaric cried as he frantically gestured his hands mid air to try to emphasize on the fact that she had zoned out on him. Flora could only laugh. Sometimes, Alaric reminded her of a brother she never had, and she chuckled as Alaric continued berating her as they turned into the school driveway.

She never knew that for a fraction of a second, a pair of teal eyes had been fixated upon her as they sped by her in their black Aston Martin.

Please review! I would like to know if this chapter is good enough before I upload the next chapter. Thank you!

P.s. I changed this story quite a bit to make it more interesting, so I'm really sorry to all of you who preferred the previous version of the story! Now, the story takes place mainly in school, and will focus more on Flora's interaction with Helia for a while. This is also not the last day of school, but rather the last week.

I'm really sorry for the wait, and I want to thank all those who reviewed / followed / favourited this story! It was really encouraging for me! I'm really really sorry for keeping you all waiting, I've been having a writer's block about this story for quite some time.

Special thanks to

Winxfan1

Winxclubfan1

Selena194536

Panther Black

Princess Flora66

Mori'sfallenangel

Daisy54154

LunarEclipse22428

TheGirlWithTheGoldenShadow

LeaMIsMyLove

And

lilangelb412

For all the reviews you gave me! Really appreciated, and I hope you guys like the new version of this story! Don't worry too much, the storyline is still vaguely the same as before but it'll just take longer to build up to the climax. Thank you all so much, and I hope you continue reviewing!

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