Dear fellow Delenalovers! Even though I am currently writing ›When Love Meets Pride‹ I couldn't shake off the thoughts about this story. As this is a story placed solely in high school, the main character's thoughts and actions aren't all mature. So look forward to silly conversations, girlish giggles, first heartbreaking infatuations, needless problems and a lot of overwhelming emotions. And please tell me what you think. I really hope you will enjoy ›Love Begins With A Smile‹. For all those who don't know me yet: the English language is not my mother tongue. So please forgive me for any spelling mistakes or grammar errors. See you at the end. Love ~Ria

CHAPTER ONE

– accepting an inheritance –

High school. It's my first day today and I'm really nervous. High school is a big step in everybody's lives and I just hope that it will be a great experience. At least I can share this experience with two of my best friends and that makes me happy. I know those two girls since we played together in the sandbox at toddler age. We grew up together because our mothers are also best friends and somehow they projected this friendship onto us girls. And I wouldn't change anything about it. Beside my little brother and the rest of my family, Caroline and Bonnie are the people in my life whom I love dearly. We share everything and even when Caroline has another opinion than Bonnie and I, we support each other.

During the summer we imagined what our first day of high school would be like. After all, it wasn't just any school we were enrolled in. I really don't like to brag, but our families are among the more privileged families in and around Richmond and naturally we are supposed to attend a private high school. The high school our parents, uncles and aunts and even our grandparents attended and always have been supportive towards, not exclusively financial. It is called the ›Richmond Academy‹ by us or solely and shortly ›The Rich‹. And I always loved the idea of belonging to a community like this. As we have to wear a school uniform consisting of a pearly-white fitted blouse, a pleated knee-length skirt and a kerchief around the neck in our school colors, which are forest green and indigo, we didn't imagine our outfits for the first day but our accessories according to those colors. And those included the right shoes, fitting jewelry and—of course—hair accessories.

I loved to dress up since I was a little girl and choosing the right supplementary parts wasn't hard for me. My goal was to look perfect; to look like I belonged to ›The Rich‹ and to make my parents proud by doing so. With attending this school I accepted an inheritance and I would do everything in my power to prove that I am worth this legacy. The opinion of my parents were always a big part regarding my decisions and doings. I always liked the thought of making them smile; making them proud.

My gaze fell down to the surface of the vanity table and I had a close look at the jewelry pieces laying there. Even though I knew since a few months which pieces I would wear, I liked the thought of browsing trough them. The time passed and when I heard my mother's voice calling my name from downstairs, I swiftly put the beady silver stud earrings on and reached for the bracelet watch my grandfather gave me last Christmas. A guarded smile formed itself on my lips and I got up, following my mother's call. A last glance into the mirror followed and I adjusted the knot of kerchief and my hairband—as well in the school colors—before I left my room, grabbing my sling bag in passing.

»Oh baby girl,« my mother sighed happily and was all smiles as I walked down the stairs. »Gray, look how beautiful our little girl is,« she said gushingly to my father and I really thought I saw her eyes get watery. But when she turned around to face me again, all I could notice was her big, happy smile which I reproduced. My father approached us and his expression was also slightly admiring. He encircled my mother's waist and pulled her tenderly up to him.

»Indeed, Miranda,« he answered her, but continued looking at me. »How does it feel to look forward to your first day at ›the Rich‹?« My father's voice was always warmhearted and a mixture of deep and raspy. For me, it symbolized comfort and safety. When I hear him speaking, I always had the feeling that I am home. Yes, I was the personification of daddy's girl.

A chuckle escaped me and I shrugged. »I guess it's nervousness mixed with exitement?« My voice rose a bit when I spoke the last words. It wasn't really a question, more a rhethorical one.

»You will see that everything is just fine and ›the Rich‹ is the greatest school you are able to attend,« my mother spoke reassuringly and I flashed her a smile. A car horn interrupted our little conversation and suddenly I felt really nervous. Now the time was here.

»It seems like the Forbes are here,« my father stated the obvious and kissed my mother on the temple before he approached me and took my hands into his big ones.

»We wish you a great first day, babygirl.« Proudness lay in his eyes. He reached into his pocket and drew a few notes out of it. »Take this and spend your lunch break at Antonio's with your girlfriends.«

»Thank you, daddy!« I rewarded him with a big hug and had to stand on my tiptoes to snuggle my head into his crook of neck. »Thank you so much.« Without my family I wouldn't been able to live a life like this. I wasn't really spoiled because all of them had this belief that money or materialistic things aren't everything in life, but I knew that especially my parents wished for me to be happy and have everything I need. And to be gifted with extra money wasn't really usual in our household.

I too got a kiss on my temple and before I left my parent's house, I also embraced my mother tightly. Still, I was nervous, but when I put on my indigo blue flats and grabbed the forest green jacket, which too belonged to the school uniform, the excitement took over.

Eagerly I jumped down the porch and made my way towards the car. One of the car windows was lowered and Caroline's head extended through the gap. She wore a gleefully grin and shouted at me: »Chop-chop. We still have to pick up Bonnie!« I giggled and nodded, quickened my steps and climbed into the car.

»Good morning, Mr. Forbes,« I greeted Caroline's dad, who gave me a quiet smile.

»Same to you, Elena.« Then he addressed his daughter with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. »Caroline, fasten your seat belt. Otherwise I won't start the car again.«

She obeyed but rolled her eyes at him. Nevertheless, her smile was still bright. I also fastened the seat belt and turned my upper body then to Caroline. Of course, she wore the same uniform I did, but her accessories were eye catching, not like the simple and minimalist ones I wore to complete my outfit. I suppressed a chuckle and one of my eyebrows rose questioningly.

»You look a bit like a christmas tree, Care.«

She just shrugged and opined: »At least everyone will flash me a second glance.« That would be true. Where I chose small ear-studs, she chose big silvery loops with white feathers attached and despite we had to wear the kerchief, she wore additionally a necklace—also with white feathers. Her wrists were decorated with at least three different bracelets in various colors. Other than that I realized that her skirt was a bit shorter than mine and as I gestured her about it—I didn't want to attract the attention of her dad—she shrugged again but smirked amused. Now was the time when I rolled my eyes at her but I admired her self-confidence.

A few minutes later, Bonnie joined us on the backseat and the three of us were engaged in chattering as Mr. Forbes cleared his throat.

»Ladies, we reached the destination. I wish you three a wonderful first day at ›the Rich‹ and I think Abby will pick you up in the evening.«

Bonnie's head bobbed up and down, and she answered quickly: »Yeah, thank you for driving us, Mr. Forbes.« Abby was her mom and our parents had this arrangement that they would split the driving. The ›Richmond Acadamy‹ was a little bit outside the city and no regular bus drove there. As we were all still too young to have our driving license, this was the best option to handle the way.

We all said our goodbyes to Caroline's dad, and then we stood right in front of the school estate. ›The Rich‹ was located south of the James River and the campus included not only the classrooms, science labs, a dining hall and a library, but also a big athletic center with gyms, a fitness center and a stadium as well as a band room, a music lab, a lot of additional space for every art form you might imagine and its own theater. It was like a dream came true when we looked at the wrought iron gate and were clearly too shy to went actually through.

So this was the first part, yay. I currently don't know how to fit this story into my updating schedule, but I think I will try to update at least once per month like I'm doing with WLMP. Maybe even more often, as this narrative is flowing right out of my heart. It's a story based on one I witnessed myself and transformed and altered a bit to fit our precious Delena in it. So please tell me what you think about it. Reviews = Love.

Dear Guest-Reviewer: I always used »« as quotation marks in all my stories and not only here on this site because »« are indeed quotation marks called ›Guillemets‹ and originally french. In the German language—my mother tongue—they are mostly used as the more elegant version by comparison to the simple "". So I'm sorry to disappoint you, but this is my style of writing and I won't change it (: