Lucy

The first day of school always sucks. New people, new teachers, heck, if you were me right now, also new school.

"Lucky Hamilton! You come back here right now!" my mom shouted out the window of the house I was just beginning to walk away from.

"What is it?" I groaned. If anything, my mom should be the most understanding of what I want to be called, but noooo. She's the only one who calls me Lucky constantly, aside from my teachers.

"Don't forget to keep your temper in check and don't mess up your chi! Or do you want to do another round of sun salutations, honey?"

"I'm fine, Mom, thanks!" I ground out, and slipped my backpack over my shoulders and ran for the bus. The sun blinded me momentarily as I glanced up at the sky. Well, at least the weather was looking up today. It was normally terribly dreary in Violet Hill. The ancient bus rumbled to a screeching stop at the curb, and I hopped on. Strolling down the aisle, I took a seat by a girl I hadn't seen before. Then again, I don't recognize anyone here on this bus except the crabby bus lady.

"Hello," I greeted the new girl. She turned around, and I stared. The new girl was striking, what with her black hair falling in curls past her shoulders and her dark blue eyes.

"Hello," she responded. "I'm Solange. What's your name?"

I pondered her question for a split second, wondering whether I should tell her my real name or the name I prefer. "Lucy. My real name is Lucky, but if you call me that, I'll rearrange your face," I informed her. Surprisingly, she smiled lightly.

"That's cool. I take it you're also going to Helios-Ra? I'll see you at lunch?" Solange offered when the bus began to slow.

"Yeah. Sure." I grinned like a maniac, and got off the bus. Solange was nice. Maybe I won't be completely alone this school year.

The hallways were bustling with students of every grade in the school, from freshmen to seniors. Girls grouped themselves together and giggled nonsensically, hiding behind walls of blond and brown hair, gossiping about the latest fashions and who will make the cheerleading tryouts, and boys laughed raucously by their lockers with their friends about baseball teams and other people. Typical high school. Heading toward the main office, I ran to get my locker combo, schedule, and locker number as quickly as humanly possible.

"Hi. I'm here to get my schedule," I told the secretary at the front desk. She looked up through layers of mascara and eyeliner and eyeshadow, and glared at me.

"So is everyone else. Go wait in line like a good little girl." Her voice was falsely sweet and dripping with sarcasm. I clenched my fists. I was about to lean forward and punch the lady, but a strong hand held back my arm. Whirling around, I saw a girl standing right beside me. She was tall, with dark brown hair falling in soft curls down her back and luminous green eyes that gazed at me with amusement. Her skin was pale and flawless, save for the scars that peppered her arms. She was almost doll-like, but beneath the delicate features was a strong core of steel.

"Miss St. Croix," the receptionist acknowledged with respect. "What a wonderful surprise. What can I do for you today?" I squirmed in the girl's grip, but she wouldn't let go. And on top of everything else, she just had to be teacher's favorite.

"Miss St. Croix? Who—"

"Be quiet!" the secretary ordered.

"I trust there is no trouble here, Ms. Scott?" the girl behind me—Miss St. Croix—asserted in a soft voice that indicated the answer had better be a no or something violent would happen to the receptionist.

"No, no trouble at all, mademoiselle," Ms. Scott hurried to agree. I snorted. The length some people would go to to please others. Humph. It was as though the woman was speaking to the president of the country, that was how much reverence was in her tone.

"This girl was simply asking for her schedule, but—"

"Yes?" Miss St. Croix said, and it was only now that I heard her heavy French accent, like she'd been living in France for a long time before she came here. "Give the poor girl her schedule."

The woman scrambled to get my schedule and locker number and combination, and I couldn't help but be amazed. Turning in the girl's grip, I thanked her silently. Ms. Scott handed me my things, and Miss St. Croix led me out of the office.

"I am truly sorry we had to meet like that," the girl apologized when we were out in the hall. "Ms. Scott is a fine woman, really, but she can be a stickler for rules. Please, call me Isabeau. Only the teachers call me Miss St. Croix."

"I'm Lucy. Thanks for helping me out back there," I said grudgingly.

Isabeau brightened. "Nice to meet you. May I sit with you at lunch today?" I stared at her uncomprehendingly. Isabeau was clearly very well-known and popular here, and on the first day of school, she would rather sit with me than with her friends.

"Don't you have your own friends to sit with?"

Her face darkened. "I do, but I do not enjoy their company. In fact, they are not so much my friends as they are people who want to be friends with me just to be popular. I do not have many friends, for that reason in itself."

"Oh." My face was growing warm, and I felt really bad about giving her a hard time. "Oh. I'm sorry for snapping at you. Sure, you can sit with me. We can be the Duo of Misfits," I joked.

Isabeau laughed. "Great. I'll see you at lunch, then?"

"Of course." For once, I was actually happy on the first day of school. And the first day of high school, no less. Two new friends in less than an hour, and my first class was my favorite: chem.

"Watch where you're going, slut," someone hissed at me. I glanced up, and saw a girl standing far too close to me for comfort. She had bright, garish makeup on, super high heels, long blonde hair, a short miniskirt that provided an unnecessary view of her butt, and a tube top that just barely covered her breasts. Apparently she hadn't looked in the mirror before she'd come to school this morning. Then she would've seen how she dressed compared to me. Humph. Now who's the slut?

Isabeau had stiffened in her place beside me, and was glaring at the newcomer. "Jody. You should really put some more clothes on."

"Isabeau. I didn't think you would be hanging out with this…garbage…already. I thought you were better than that," Jody pouted. "Come on, let's go hang out."

Isabeau stiffened even more, and said tersely, "She's better than you'll ever be."

Jody bared her teeth, but smiled a fakely sweet smile and said to me, "Lucky, honey, you're invited to my party tonight. It's a back-to-school party."

Isabeau's posture didn't relax, only tensed up even more. "Lucy, don't go."

Jody just kept on smiling. "There's a reason people love my parties, sweetie." Then she flounced away, her cronies following her. Isabeau relaxed slightly, but when she turned to me I saw that her eyes were still stormy.

"Lucy, don't go," she repeated. "I've been to her parties before. You…don't want to know what they're like."

Huh. When I looked in Jody's direction, I froze and stared. She was kissing some random boy passionately in a corner. Okay, now I have a pretty good idea of what her parties are like.

"Ewww…" I trailed off, and turned away abruptly from the sight.

"Exactly. And that's what she does at school," Isabeau said, disgusted. "But don't worry, this school isn't made up of sluts and bimbos. Here, I'll introduce you to my friends who are actually my friends."

I followed her down the hallway, and was amazed at how people made way for her as she passed, and at how many people gave me the finger and glared at me with jealousy and hatred. It was a wonder I made it through the crowds without being murdered.

"Hunter! Christabel!" she called out. Two girls emerged from the library, one holding a stack of books and the other examining a bottle. The one with strawberry blonde hair was reading a book intently, and the one with golden blonde hair was testing something with the bottle.

"Wow. You look exactly like Buffy," I muttered. The girl examining the bottle looked up and smiled carefully at me.

"Hi, I'm Hunter Wild. I see you've already met Isabeau." She gestured toward Isabeau, then toward the other girl. "That's Christabel. She's really into books, so don't mind her if she's reading constantly."

"Christa! Meet the latest addition to our group!" Isabeau said. The other girl didn't respond. "Christa! Say hi to Lucy at least, please?"

"Huh?" Christabel looked up from her book. "Sorry. Hi, I'm Christabel Llewellyn. Nice to meet you."

I grinned. "You too. Do you guys know Solange? She's really awesome."

"Solange Drake?" Isabeau asked. I nodded. "The Drakes just moved here last week."

Riiiiing! The ringing of the bell startled me out of my reverie and I jumped to attention. "Crap. That's the attendance bell, isn't it? We'll be late to first period!" I said, but Isabeau didn't panic.

"Lucy, what first period class do you have?" she asked calmly.

"Chem. With Mrs. Doner."

"We all have her first period," Hunter said, stepping up beside Isabeau. "We'll walk you there. After all, we're all going to the same class, aren't we?"