Disclaimer: I do not own Wizards of Waverly Place or any of the characters in it. Stella is my own original character. All the characters are fictional. If there is any resemblance, emotional or physical, between one of the characters and any non-fictional person, living or dead, you have strange friends.

Once upon a time, in the fair land of New York City…..

"Stella!" A voice broke into Estella Hines' sleep. She groaned and rolled over. "Stella!" the voice rang out again. This time, Stella peeled off the covers and rolled onto the ground. "Coming," she called.

Ever since Stella's parents had died 8 years ago, when Stella was only 9, she had been living with foster parents. Now she was living with Sierra, a 30-something women who was only taking Stella in for the money. Just last week the two of them had moved to a small apartment in New York City.

Stella walked over to her dresser and tugged on some of her clothes. After slipping on her sneakers, she headed to the kitchen, where Sierra was waiting.

"Morning, Sierra," Stella said.

Sierra ignored her. "You overslept."

Stella sighed. "I didn't sleep well. I can't help it."

"Listen, Stella," Sierra said firmly. "I don't care how much sleep you get. I have to be at work by 7, and rush hour traffic in NYC means I have to leave at 6."

"Well then why don't you just leave and have me wake up by myself," Stella offered.

"Um I don't think so. Someone has to fix breakfast around here," Sierra shot back. She looked at her watch. "Now get going. I had better not hear any stories of you skipping school."

Stella turned away and rolled her eyes. "You won't. You know I've always been a straight-A student.

Sierra put her hands on her hips. "Trust me. I've been through a lot of foster kids, and they're all skippers."

"Ok whatever. I need to practice just a little bit."

Stella's one treasure was her mom's old baby grand piano. Sierra had wanted to get rid of it, but Stella was adamant about keeping it. She had always had a natural talent for piano, but had never been able to take lessons. So she taught herself, hoping one day to be a concert pianist.

"Whatever. Just don't play too loud."

Stella walked over to the beautiful piano and lifted the lid. The moment her fingers touched the keys, she forgot all about Sierra and school and everything else that bothered her. The piano had always held a special magic about it, one that helped her forget everything except her songs.

After she finished, she headed out the door, noticing that Sierra had already left. She pulled out her map.

"Alright, where am I headed? Tribecca Prep High School, that's right," she mused to herself. "Looks like I go this way.."

About a half and hour later, Stella found herself staring up at one of the largest high schools she had ever seen. She took a deep breath and opened the door, where she saw throngs of teens. Most people would be intimidated, especially since it was in the middle of the year, but Stella had been to so many schools that she didn't even care anymore.

"Let's see, which locker am I?" She busied herself, hoping nobody would notice the new girl. Stella had never been to one school for more than a year, and didn't have any friends except her books and her music. She had been on one date, back when she was a freshman, but had been dumped once her date learned that she was a foster child.

After carefully organizing her things in her locker, Stella headed to her first class, hoping not to make a fool of herself or talk to anyone.

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Max Russo took his lunch tray over to the table, where his friends sat, talking excitedly.

"Hey guys. What's up?" he asked.

Alfred turned to face Max. "That's what's up," he exclaimed, pointing to a beautiful girl with shoulder-length brown hair and ice blue eyes.

"Who?" Max asked. "Oh are you talking about that new girl?"

"Um yes. She's like so hot!" Fred, another one of Max's friends, exclaimed.

"Do you think she just moved here?" Will asked.

"Well either that," Alfred said, "Or she's been home schooled all her life." He turned to Max. "Have you seen her in the shop?"

Max shook his head. "Not yet," he replied, still looking at the girl, who was sitting alone at a table, reading a book. "I wonder if she has any friends," he mused.

"Dude. She just moved here. I doubt it," Will told him.

"She's in my history class," Fred exclaimed. "She just sits by herself and listens to the teacher. She did seem to know the answer to every question."

"Man I'd love to ask her out," Will said thoughtfully.

"But I thought you and Sara were together?" Alfred asked.

Will glared at him. "Whatever."

"Well I agree with Will," Fred exclaimed. He turned to Max. "Max, what about you?"

Max snapped out of his stare. "Huh. Whatever. So who do you guys wanna be partnered with for the science project?" He asked. The conversation changed to the upcoming science project, and for the rest of the lunch hour they talked about it.

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"Alright, gang. I'm sure you know what today is," Mr. Lariatate began. Most kids nodded their heads or groaned, but Stella just stared.

"For those of you who don't know," he said, "Everyone will be doing a science project on a subject of their choice. It will count for 30% of your final grade."

Stella was excited. She always loved doing projects.

"I will assign you all partners. Now these were all chosen randomly, and I have no knowledge whatsoever of who you all are being partnered with," Mr. Lariatate said, and immediately Stella's excitement faded.

Partners would mean she would have to work with someone else, which would eventually lead to them learning about her life, which would mean everyone in the school would know. It had happened many times at all of her other schools. She decided that whoever her partner was, she was not going to get attached in any way.

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"…Fredrick Peterson and William Sunten," Mr. Lariatate called out. Max smirked. He knew Fred and Will hated being called by their given names. He was also growing impatient. Last year he was paired with the school bully. He grimaced, thinking about it.

"Max Russo,"

Max perked up.

"You will be paired with Estella Hines," his teacher finished.

Estella Hines? Who was that? Max looked around. He jumped when he heard a bag slamming down on his table. He looked up. It was the girl his friends had been talking about!

The girl looked up shyly "Um I'm Stella, your partner."

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That's chapter 1! I know it's a little short, but had to get all the background info and stuff out of the way:)

Review!!! No flaming please. Comments and constructive criticism greatly appreciated:)