I looked around in horror at large front doors that stood before me. From this angle, Welton Academy looked like a detention centre and the horrible uniforms that had to be worn didn't ease my mind the slightest.
It was nothing compared to the previous boarding school I had been at. Welton had just currently completed new renovations to accommodate girls into the school. I was one of their newest female members.
'As if the guys coped without any girls around,' I thought as I scanned the crowded court yard in disgust.
"We're leaving now Melissa darling, I hope you have a great year here," my Mother yelled from behind me.
"I will Mother, don't you worry about that," I replied with a hint of sarcasm in my voice. She seemed to notice this and walked towards me with a look on her face which meant 'Don't you try to be smart with me'.
"Listen to your mother wont you, Melissa," my step-father said as he popped his head out of the driver's side window of his aqua-green Chevrolet Impala.
"Yes Brian," I said, without thinking,
My mother grabbed my arm tightly. "How many times have I told you Melissa? You mustn't call him Brian!" she said to me in a whisper but I could hear the seriousness in her tone.
'Well I'm not going to call him Father, I thought to myself.
I was looking forward to getting rid of my mother as soon as possible so I could check this place out.
Mother gave me a deathly stare before she kissed me on the cheek and walked back over to the car.
"Bye darling, see you soon," mother said as she hopped into Brian's car.
"Goodbye," I said as I waved my mother off while trying to force a genuine smile onto my face.
Once the car had finally pulled out of Welton's car park and down the road, I pulled up the courage to eventually walk through the large, wooden doors.
My name is Melissa Tennon and this is my first year at Welton Academy, the first year that girls were allowed to be admitted.
My mother, Ruth, had just recently divorced my father, John Richards. It was a quiet but messy separation. Mother knew as soon as she moved out of father's house, she would have to find a new man otherwise people would start asking questions. A few weeks after the divorce, Mother met and married Brian Tennon, a wealthy lawyer that had everything you could ask for. My mother eventually forced me to change my last name from Richards to Tennon, after many forceful arguments. Just after a few weeks, Brian thought I was getting in the way so he poured in some money and before I knew it, I was being sent to Welton.
I walked though the dark corridors that were bustling with new comers, girls and boys alike. Everything and everyone looked quite unorganised to me.
'Must be because we have a new principal,' I thought. Mr. Nolan, the previous principal, was fired from Welton by the Board of Education, because he went crazy and couldn't handle the kids, so they got in a new principal.
My head was spinning so much as I took in everything that was happening around me that I crashed straight into a dark-haired male wearing a creamy-coloured coat. I realised he must be a teacher.
"Oh.... sorry sir, I didn't see you there".
"Yes, I can see that. I understand, too much to take in all at once," he replied with a smirk.
He seemed nice enough, 'Wonder what he teaches?' I thought. When he spoke again, it was as if he read my mind.
"I should introduce myself. Mr Keating is the name, teaching English is the game," he said with proud smile on his face as he looked out over the crowd. "Are you studying English this year, dear?" he asked.
"Yes I am, sir," I said and gave him a smile that I hoped he thought was genuine. He didn't seem to notice.
"Well very good. What's your name young lady?" he questioned.
"Melissa sir, Melissa Tennon," I replied.
"What a pretty name!" he exclaimed, "Best be off, I should go check if the new principal needs some help settling in, see you in English tomorrow".
"Yes, see you then," I yelled back to him as he started to weave his way through the large mass of people.
I made my way up the stairs towards the newly-furbished rooms that the girls would be staying in. I found door '23' which said my name and another girl's name 'Annabel Wilson' in blue letters on a small name plate. I opened the door and stepped into my room.
It wasn't what I call spacious but I could definitely tell that it had potential. My roommate was sitting at her desk looking through pictures, which looked like they were of her family. She didn't realise I was there until I closed the door and she jumped about 4-foot in the air and the photos she held flew out of her hands.
"My God! I didn't realise you were there!" she exclaimed as she knelt down to pick up the photographs she dropped.
"That's okay," I replied "Are they photos of your family?" I asked as I placed my suitcase down by my bed. It looked like my mother had tried to pack the whole house into my bag because it was bulging out at the sides and it looked as though it was right ready to pop.
"Yeah, they are," she said with a sad tone in her voice, "I only just said goodbye to them and I already miss them, it's going to be so different without them". She stopped picking up her photos and looked up at me. I could feel her sadness as I looked into her blue eyes. 'I wonder what it is like to have a family that loves you', I thought. I shook myself out of the dream and back into reality.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine here with me," I said with a smile as I knelt down to help her collect the pictures from the floor. I introduced myself, "I'm Melissa Tennon".
"I'm Annabel Wilson, nice to meet you," she replied.
My next comment was interrupted by a knock at the door. We both jumped up and stared at the door.
"Wonder who that is?" I asked Annabel as I stood up from my position on the floor.
"Maybe it's the principal just checking up on us," she replied.
I walked casually over to the white door and opened it to see five boys staring at me. I almost died of shock. 'Why are there boys standing in the door way? I didn't think they were allowed up here' I thought.
Finally, I plucked up enough courage to speak. "Um... can I help you?" I asked as casually as I could.
One of the boys', who was tall and had dark hair, spoke up first.
"We are just here to welcome you to Welton and we wondered if you needed any help settling in?"
"We're good, thanks for asking though," I replied.
"Sorry," the dark-haired boy said "We should introduce our selves, my name is Neil Perry."
"Nice to meet you" I said, as I shook his hand. He smiled and kept talking.
"And this is Meeks, Knox Overstreet, Todd Anderson and Pitts".
Annabel and I introduced ourselves to the boys and shook their hands.
"So" Neil asked, "What do you think of the school so far?"
"Well, we haven't seen much of it yet," I said.
"But it seems nice," Annabel added.
Suddenly we got interrupted by another boy who ran up to Neil and his friends in our doorway.
"You guys have got to come see the girls that are swarming the corridors; I've never seen so many in my life and they are hot," he said with a smirk as a group of girls walked past.
Only after he finished talking, did he realise that Annabel and I were standing there.
"Well hello ladies," he said, trying to sweet talk us.
"Um hi... who are you?" I asked.
"Charlie Dalton's the name and don't wear it out," he said.
'Wow this guy was a real smart arse,' I thought, 'But kind of cute'. The type of guy my mother would hate.
"Nice to meet you," I said, pretending that I wasn't falling for his charm. He gave me a surprised look, like he really couldn't believe I wasn't falling for him.
"Well, we better go," Neil said "The assembly will be starting soon; we will save you a seat".
"Sounds good," I replied "See you then".
'Hey beautiful, I'll save you a seat next to me," Charlie said and winked at me, as he walked out the door.
I stuck my tongue out at him and pushed him out of the doorway.
"I like them feisty," he yelled out to me from down the corridor.
'This year was definitely going to be different, but I think I could get use to this' I thought, as I closed the door.