Slowly, ever so slowly, my eyebrow rose.

It was silent as my mom peered at me with her bright green eyes, "Well?"

"…You're kidding, right?"

Of course, she rolled her eyes, placing her perfectly manicured hands on the table, "Of course I'm not kidding, Sage. This is serious."

"Serious? This is a game, mom. You're practically sending me away." I glared at her as she sighed. "Another school? I mean, seriously?" There was no chance. She wanted to send me away from my school just so I could start anew in some shipwreck. A part of me couldn't even believe she was trying to even act like a mother to me. She was never home, working and all that, and now she thought sending me to a new, "better" school was going to help.

Get a grip.

"Vera," she spoke, her voice low and stern, "are you going against my word? This is my house. I'm your mother."

"You know, I'm starting to believe a stork really did drop me off at your doorstep." I stared stubbornly down at the registration form in front of me. Sweet Amoris High School? Who even names their school that? Crazy people, that's who.

Ring. Ring.

My mom jerked, and then reached into her pocket, glancing at the cell phone.

I rolled my eyes, rising from my seat. As she answered her business call, I left the papers there and headed towards my room. As soon as I was upstairs, I pried open my door and closed it quietly behind me. No reason to take my anger out on my favorite place in the house. I passed by the larger mirror over my dresser and stared at the person there.

I had my father's eyes. A honey brown, like amber Too large and gleaming with unshed, furious tears. I was pale, never could tan correctly, and I figured I got that from my father also. My features though, were all my mother. The delicate face—small nose, large eyes, shell-pink mouth, and the cheeks that always seemed to light up whenever I felt any emotion. The hair was my hers too, a mousy brown, that was naturally straight.

Carefully, I picked up the picture on top of my dresser and stared at my father. He had always loved fishing, loved to take me with him. He beamed at the camera, holding up a large trout he had caught when I was much, much younger. When I stared at that picture, I could see him clearly, hear him clearly, and listen to him say,

"Hey, V, did'cha catch anything yet?"

"Not yet, Daddy!"

Closing my eyes, I placed the picture back where it belonged. The lights were already off, so I chose that moment to land face-first in the comfort of my bed, pink and green blankets that my Aunt had picked out for me when I was just seven. I still refused to grow up.

"Dad…" I whispered, clutching my pillow to my chest, "Tell me what to do."

There was no reply, of course.

Okay.

I can do this, right?

With a sigh, I entered the school door. Obviously, I was late. The hallways were empty as far as I could tell. I glanced from the lockers to the classroom doors that were shut tight, and the discarded papers on the floor here and there. My brow furrowed, and when I turned, prepared to search for someone, there was suddenly an elderly woman in front of me.

"WAH!" I cried, my heart skipping a beat. What the…?

She smiled pleasantly at me, not at all deterred by my outburst, "Hello. You must be the new student. Vera Kelly, right?"

I blinked several times, attempting to calm down my thudding heart. "Um, yes, ma'am. But would you mind—"

"Excellent!" She sang, cutting me off. Shuffling through the papers in her tiny, wrinkled hands, she handed me a slip, "Here is the map of the school. Your records and transcript should be within your files, but I suppose you can ask Nathaniel about that. He's in the Student Council room. Just follow the map and you should find him in no time."

Okaay…Sighing, I glanced down at the map. It appeared simple enough, "And my schedule…?"

"Should be with Nathaniel." She replied.

"My ID—"

"Please speak about that with Nathaniel." She said, all the while, a smile on her face. I felt a chill run up my spine. She was creepy, I decided. When her smile widened, dark blue eyes twinkling almost ominously, I fidgeted, "Do you understand?" She asked, "I suggest you go see Nathaniel, Ms. Kelly."

"I-It's Vera—"

Instantly, her entire expression changed from ideal, gentle-natured—frightening—old woman, to a Tornado of Doom, "NATHANIEL!"

"Yes, ma'am!" I practically squealed, hurrying down the hall. When I was ways away, I took in a deep breath. So my day was starting off pretty rough, not at all good. When I glanced down at the map, wary, I was surprised to realize I had stopped right in front of the Student Council room. Hesitating, I vaguely wondered if I should knock, but when the door opened by itself, I jumped back.

A large stack of white papers were in the arms of a brunette female. I couldn't see her face, thanks to the stack she held in her slim arms, which was way too big for normal. She stumbled past me, carefully accessing her steps. Just then, a tall blonde male was in front of me, calling behind the girl,

"Make sure you give every slip to the Principle, Melody. I put them in order." His voice was deep and smooth, and he practically leaked a clean, pristine—Good Guy—aura. When his bright eyes landed on me, he tilted his head to the side, "Can I help you?"

I realized I must've looked stupid in front of him—pink cheeks, flustered, and clutching the map like a lifeline. "I'm looking for Nathaniel." I answered simply, refusing to let this new start, new school get to me.

He smiled politely, "That's me. What can I do for you?"

He seemed friendly enough, but so was the Principle before she suddenly snapped. "I'm—"

He suddenly snapped his fingers, "Vera Kelly, right? Ah, you're the new student." He looked down at his clipboard, shuffling through the papers there. "You're right on time."

I blinked, but attempted a smile, "Yeah. That's me."

"Alright then," his smile grew as he took a few papers from his clipboard, "You're transcripts have already been faxed over, so I stored them in your files. You'll have to wait for your schedule since it was such short notice, though." He seemed apologetic for that fact.

"It's fine," I insisted, finally comfortable. This guy wasn't so bad. Thank God. "I'm pretty late, aren't I?"

"No, as I said, you're right on time," He said, another smile on his face, "For now, why don't you take a look around school?"

Honestly, I was kind of dreading that. If the Principle was like that, who knew what her students were like?

"Are you alright? You look upset." He said, arching a brow, "I can assign a student to accompany if you like."

"No," His expression fell at the bluntness in my voice, "Thanks." I quickly said, "I think I can handle it. I have the map, anyway."

He chuckled lightly, "Yes. I can see that. Be careful!" He waved as I left the room. He was nice, but enough to make me think he was a little too nice. As I walked down the hallway, I didn't even attempt trying to read the map. It wasn't long until I saw a couple of students that glanced at me more than once, surprised. Great, I was going to be established as the "New Girl".

When I took a bunch of twists and turns down the hall, I realized I had become lost and students were beginning to vanish into their classroom. For a second, I thought about backtracking my steps, but unfortunately, as soon as I turned around, there was someone blocking my way.

A tall, voluptuous blonde was in front of me, long golden hair swept back in perfect ringlets. Her aqua blue eyes looked down at me, one hand on her hip as she pushed back her platinum locks. When I took a closer look, I saw there was a beauty mark under her left eye, and her breasts were pushed up. I nearly rolled my eyes—I knew these types.

Two girls were behind her. One with fluid black hair and chocolate brown eyes, maybe Chinese. She was putting so much lipstick on, I thought she was going to eat it. The other girl seemed quieter, piercings in each perfect eyebrow, deep makeup, and her caramel-brown hair was tied up in a messy ponytail. They were all dressed impeccably, stylish and not very subtle with it.

"Well, if it isn't the 'New Girl' I've been hearing all about." The blonde girl said, nasally voice and all. I could instantly feel the irritation build into me.

New school. New start, Vera. Suck it up.

"Nice to meet you, too." Now, that sounded a little too sarcastic. A little too flat and deadpanned.

She smiled at me, venom leaking onto her voice, "Isn't that sweet, girls? She already knows her place."

And then they bumped right by me, the brunette throwing me a particular nasty look. I didn't bother going after them to say anything, it would useless with those kinds of girls. I had better luck beating up a three-hundred pound man. I continued on my way, quiet, hoping I could find my way back to the main hallway, only to bump into a small, green figure.

"Oh! Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was…"

The bowl-cut head tilted its head to the side, "Vera?"

Oh. My. God.

"K-Ken?!" I exclaimed, hopping a quick, few steps away from him.

He beamed brightly at me, gums and all. I resisted the urge to run away and never look back. Ah, yes, my alleged stalker, Kentin, was standing in front of me. Suddenly, he stepped closer to me, his big green eyes behind his glasses reminding me of a puppy's.

"Vera~!" His grin got impossibly wider. I tried not to shrink away. "I was looking for you!"

When I finally got myself under control, I frowned deeply at him, "Ken, what're you doing here?"

"Huh?" He cocked his head to the side, as though he were confused.

I resisted the urge to shake him until his bones rattled, "It's the middle of the school year," I explained slowly, and he nodded his head, "So why are you here when you should be in school?"

"I transferred!" He proclaimed loudly, his squeaky voice echoing over the hallways. I was thankful they were empty.

Glaring at him, I said, "What do you mean?"

"You left," he replied, as though it we were discussing the weather, "And I didn't want us to be apart so I followed you here. It wasn't a problem at all! My dad completely agreed. I was kind of surprised, but I told him it was out of love, so I guess he thinks I'm becoming more of a man!"

"Ken," I grounded out slowly, trying to reign in my anger, "Go back to school. I don't need you here."

His blissful expression changed. Suddenly, waterfalls of blue tears were falling down his freckled cheeks, "Y-You don't?"

My frown returned, a bit of concern weaseling into my chest. Oh, geez. I could never be mad at him, "K-Ken…listen—"

"I-I-I was trying to keep you safe, Vera. I knew there might be dangers here, so I came to protect you~!" He wailed, appearing crestfallen.

Biting my bottom lip, I pushed back the harsh comment. I was going to say something I regretted, I knew. Quickly, I took a step towards him, "That's really sweet of you, Ken."

Ken perked up instantly, tears gone and a bright smile back on, "R-Really?"

"Yeah!" I attempted a smile right back, "Thanks. Really a lot. I appreciate you doing this. Actually, I could really use a friend here, I guess."

He grinned again, all sparkles and sunshine up his ass, "I knew it! Don't worry. I'm here for you until the end."

Oh, goody.

Somehow, I managed to get to the main hallway again, thanks to Ken. He had already received his schedule, and was stuck in class. He seemed reluctant to leave me, but I practically shoved him in the classroom. I needed a few moments to breathe. As I passed the History class, wishing to hurry to the Student Council room, I bumped into someone.

Fortunately, I caught myself. The other person wasn't so lucky.

"Oh, sorry! Are you okay?" I asked worriedly, stooping down to help the sprawled out student off the floor. I caught a flash of orange hair falling over her shoulder as I helped her stand.

With bright green eyes and a friendly grin, she replied, "It's fine." She dusted off her furry shorts and righted her loose, long-sleeved top. "I'm naturally clumsy, anyway."

"No, no," I shook my head, "It was my fault. I haven't been really paying attention since I got here."

"Eh?" She stared at me a bit closer, and then smiled again, "You must be the new student. Val?"

"Close," I almost smiled, "Vera."

She blushed a bit, but grinned again, nonetheless. "I'm Iris. You must be the girl Ken was gushing about in second period." I flushed, and she laughed, "Ken's really funny. He has a huge crush on you, I can tell."

"Yeah…well…" I shifted on my feet, hoping for this conversation to be over as soon as possible. "I should really get going—"

"Hey," I turned back to her, and she was grinning brightly again, "If you have any problems, feel free to come to me. Even if it's just showing you around. You and Ken seem like really nice people."

I opened my mouth to reply, grateful for the help, but was cut off once again.

"Oh! There you are, Vera." Nathaniel was just behind me, clipboard in hand, and a smile on his face, "I've been looking for you everywhere." Pulling out a few papers, he handed them to me, "Here is your schedule, information about the teachers and grades, and anything else you'll need."

"Thanks," I said, giving him a smile as I took the papers, grateful. "Like, really, thanks, Nathaniel. I know it had to be a lot of work with two new students and with all that paperwork."

He blushed, averting his gaze awkwardly. Iris tilted her head to the side, befuddled as Nathaniel stuttered out, "I-It was nothing."

"Thanks anyway." I insisted. He nodded vigorously, still red in the face. As I passed by him and Iris, I went through my schedule. I was in mostly Honor classes, which I found oddly annoying. Just extra work for me to do and impressing teachers. Before I knew it, I was walking past the main hallway, and through the back doors that led to the courtyard. It was pretty spacious, with a couple of benches, trees, and from where I was standing, I could see the small greenhouse and garden ways away.

As I took a step further into the courtyard, continuing to shuffle through the papers, glancing over it to make sure everything was correct, I bumped right into something hard.

"Ow," I mumbled to myself, pressing a small hand to my forehead. It felt like a wall. Well, a breathing wall. That smelt like wood, musk, man, and a light hint of cigarettes. Carefully, I looked up, and was fully surprised to see red.

"Watch where you're going!"

And lips. Firm, nice-looking lips.

"Hey, you listening?"

And eyes. Serious, stormy eyes.

I blinked. And blinked again. One more time.

And then said, "…Hi?"

He scowled, arms folded over his chest. "The hell? You nearly run me over and all you can say is 'Hi'?" he demanded, his voice deep and rough and angry.

I arched a brow. Forget his looks. Let's think about the tone he was using. "Run you over? If you haven't noticed, I'm 5'2, and you're way over average. I think it was you who was going to run over me."

"Oh, look, you actually have brain cells, Pintsize," He said snidely.

Pintsize? I felt something inside of me rise. It amazed me I could get angry that fast, "Are you always this nice?" I bit out, glaring up at him. I was sure I was as red as a tomato.

He shrugged, some kind of sadistic amusement in his eyes, "Especially with new students." And then he smirked. A smirk that made him look as much as a cocky-jerk that I was sure he was. A smirk that made me soften a bit. "I'm Castiel."

For a moment, I wondered if I should just tell him to "screw off" and say "I don't care what your name is" but I knew that was just the weaker part of my brain stressing from the hectic day. "Vera."

"I like Shrimp better," he said instead, shrugging again.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, "Wow. Is everyone here so welcoming?" The sarcasm in my voice was like liquid acid.

Castiel's smirk widened, "Ah. So you've met the housewarming team."

"If you're talking about the Mad-Hatter Principle and the I'm-Nowhere-To-Be-Found-When-You-Need-Me Nathaniel, then yes."

"He's still the Principle's lapdog, huh? Didn't know she needed two." He snorted, looking amused by whatever just popped into his head.

Just then, the bell rang, cutting our drawn out insulted conversation short. I looked back towards the school where the students were beginning to go to their lockers and prepare for their next class. Stifling a groan, I said, "My first day and I missed second period too."

"You're doing better than me," Castiel retorted, his expression neutral, "I don't even bother showing up half the time."

"Well, unlike you, I would rather not be on the Mad-Hatter's bad side." I shifted backwards on my feet, my mind telling me it was time to drop the conversation, but my body wishing to have just one more word from him.

He rolled his eyes, "Whatever. Have fun with the idiot president, little girl." He turned away without so much of a backward glance.

I felt my face heat up for the hundredth time that day, "It's Vera!"

Yeah. I had a feeling I wasn't going to like this school.

Finally finished the chapter. Hehe~ I hope you liked it. I've created like thirteen accounts on My Candy Love, and each time, I always end up aiming for Castiel. Luckily, Lysander much more nicer, and easier to win, even though it's nice to see Castiel jealous whenever I latch onto another guy. And I edited this chapter. I don't really like my character being the pretty blonde, instead kind of like me! Thanks to Star Slightly To The Right looking this over.

WHY CAN'T HE UNDERSTAND MY FEELS~!

Ehem, sorry. Too much tumblr.

Please review. It would mean the world to me! Sorry if there's different names, I kind of changed A LOT!

-Abby