Meisha:

Random idea finally written down on paper. Hope you enjoy ;)

.::. Secret Stranger .::.

Chapter 1

Transfer

The clock read 8:40 when the classroom doors flew open revealing a relatively calm and collected young girl. Her pink hair fell just below her shoulders and her golden eyes scanned the room, confirming she had arrived at the right destination.

"Ah, you must be Ms. Hinamori, our new transfer student. The students call me Nikaidou-sensai. It's a pleasure to meet you. Why don't we welcome her, class?" The disheveled looking teacher turned to the students and motioned for them to greet their visitor.

Instead, silence filled the room. On so many occasions he had willed the students to remain quiet and listen to the lesson, but never had it actually happened. He wondered if this was a blessing in disguise.

At once, the students began whispering to each other.

"Whoa, look at her outfit. That's not the regular uniform. I wonder how she got it altered?"

"Look at her hair. She must have dyed it!"

"Why isn't she talking? Maybe she's a mime."

Snickering followed. If the newly arrived girl was ticked off, she hid it well. It seemed the comments had drifted right past her. The teacher cleared his throat.

"Well, Ms. Hinamori, why don't you share something about yourself with the class?"

"Like what?"

"Something interesting about yourself, perhaps?"

She shrugged her shoulders, indicating she had nothing.

"Well, why don't you tell us why you are so late this morning?" He pushed his glasses up from the bridge of his nose.

She shrugged her shoulders again before muttering a simple, "my bad."

Again, the class fell silent. Had she really just said that to a teacher? No one ever got away with saying something so…

"Dang, did you hear that?"

"That was so cool! She just talked back to him!"

"You know, she's actually kind of cute."

"Think she has a boyfriend?"

The teacher once again cleared his throat, attempting to quite the class.

"Well, Ms. Hinamori, why don't you have a seat so we can continue with today's lesson?"

Without a word she moved towards the back of the class where an empty seat awaited her. She ignored the stares and snide remarks made in her direction. Once she was seated she stared ahead at the teacher. When he had resumed the lesson once again she sighed silently and turned to look out the window. Unknowing to the students around her, her heart was racing.

She bit her bottom lip to calm herself down. This whole day had turned out to be a disaster. She recalled the events that resulted in her transferring from her last high school.

She was sitting at the dining table. Across from her were her mother and father. They were avoiding eye contact, meaning she wasn't going to like what was about to be shared.

"Amu-chan, you know how demanding your father's job is, don't you?" her mom had asked. Amu simply nodded in response. "Well, your father's office is going to be moving into the city."

Amu's eyes widened in surprise. "But mama, that's going to be a long commute for papa."

Her mother looked at her gently with a soft smile. She placed a hand on her husband's shoulder, urging him to explain.

"Amu, dear, I'm not going to be commuting from here to the city." A quizzical expression dawned on Amu's pretty face. He sighed before continuing. "We're all going to be going there."

Amu's perplexed expression turned to one of shock. She opened her mouth to protest, but her mother cut her off.

"I know this is going to be difficult. You've already finished your first year of high school here and made so many friends. But you're a very pleasant young woman. You'll make friends in no time."

"But mama, I don't…"

"Amu, we need to do what's best for the whole family. Would you like it if papa had to drive 3 hours to and from work every day?"

"No…" Amu cast her eyes down. She knew she couldn't be selfish, but she had worked so hard to make an impression on the friends she had made thus far. She never found it easy to share her thoughts and feelings with others, but she knew arguing with her parents was out of the question. With her eyes still facing the floor beneath her she asked when they would be leaving.

"Next week."

Since that conversation Amu had been avoiding her family as much as she could. She was angry at her parents for taking her away from her comfort zone. She was jealous of her sister who was overjoyed at the fact they were moving. Her younger sister, Ami, had no concerns whatsoever.

Still, she decided she had to make the best of her situation. She planned to be open and friendly on her first day at Seiyo Academy, the new school she would be attending. That itself would probably drain her. She wasn't one to be overly social.

But the Monday morning before her first day, this morning to be exact, chaos ensued.

"8:00?! Class starts at 8:15! I'm going to be late for my first day!" Amu shrieked as she struggled with the sheets and stumbled towards the bathroom to get ready.

When she had gotten herself together and practically fallen down the steps she saw her mom sitting by the table sipping a cup of coffee casually.

"Mama, I'm going to be late for school!" she exclaimed, angry that no one had waken her up.

"Is that so? Well, go ahead and eat breakfast and then you can get going."

"I don't have time to eat. I'll see you after school," Amu called as she grabbed her backpack and made her way towards the front door.

"You certainly will not," her mother scolded, stopping Amu in her tracks. "It's your first day of school. You need all the energy you can get."

"But mama…"

"No 'buts'."

To say the least, the events of that morning had upset her. Her plans to be kind and friendly had flown out the door. She was beyond irritated as she made her way to the school. It was already 8:30 when she entered the building. Without a second thought she rushed towards classroom 220, where her English class would have already started.

Between walking briskly and checking her class schedule she hadn't looked up when she turned the corner. Immediately she felt herself run into something and found herself taking a step backwards.

"Whoa, where's the fire, Speedy?" the voice teased.

"I don't have time for this," Amu spat, before walking past the individual. She hadn't even looked up to see who she had run into. She knew the collision was her own fault, but she didn't have time to stand around and apologize or give an explanation.

And that was when she found herself in the classroom of Nikaido-sensei. This day was turning out to be anything but lovely.

---....---....---

It seemed the day would drag on for eternity. No matter how many times she looked at the clock, it always stayed at the same spot. It was probably just frozen. Miraculously, the bell for lunch had finally rung. She stopped by her locker before silently following the other students down to the cafeteria.

Amu's shy and timid nature had returned when she saw the huge room. She chose to sit in a spot near the corner and watched as the other students sat in groups and cliques they had probably formed the previous year. Amu pretended to ignore the others around her as she pulled out her lunch, but it hurt to know she didn't belong here. Her ears perked up when she heard someone say her name. She looked around and noticed that someone was talking about her, not to her.

"Should we ask that Hinamori girl if she wants to sit with us?" a girl Amu recognized from their English class asked.

"But she doesn't seem like the kind of person who would want to hang out with us," another girl admitted with a disappointed expression.

"I'm actually kind of scared of her. Didn't you see what she was wearing? I think she's part of a gang. It's better not to mess with people like that," a third girl said, turning to look at Amu.

Amu had resumed her position of eating her lunch, pretending she heard nothing. When the girls left, she could no longer hide her crestfallen expression. This whole day was a mess. A first impression was called a first impression for a reason. She would never be able to open up to these people and she hated herself for it.

She tried to finish her lunch up quickly so she could leave the cafeteria as soon as possible. Just as she stood up to throw her trash away, the cafeteria fell silent. She looked around, wondering why the chattering had stopped. She followed their gazes to see what was so fascinating and found herself looking at the entrance to the cafeteria.

There was nothing fascinating about a girl coming to eat lunch so Amu ignored her and went to throw her trash away. Before heading back through the hallway she found herself face to face with the girl who had recently entered.

At first glance, Amu hadn't seen anything special about her. But up close, she noticed that the girl was absolutely beautiful. Her long blonde hair gently swayed with her every movement and her eyes were calm yet deep and mysterious. She figured the rest of the students had come to the same conclusion since the cafeteria was still relatively silent.

"What are you looking at?" the girl snapped, instantly bringing Amu back to reality.

Rather than saying anything, Amu just turned and walked out the doors. When Amu was out of her vision, the girl silently scoffed and moved towards a group of guys sitting at a table.

At once they turned their attention to her and asked if she wanted to join them for lunch. She smirked in amusement before rolling her eyes.

"Just tell me who that girl was."

"The one with the pink hair?" When he received a nod he looked to the others before answering her. "Her name's Amo Himamori, or something like that. She just transferred here as a sophomore."

"I see." And without another word she turned on her heels and left the cafeteria.

---....---....---

Amu wasn't really sure where she was heading, but she hadn't gotten scolded yet so she decided to continue in this direction. Finally she came to a door that looked different than the others. Though her judgment told her she should probably turn around, she opened it and found stairs leading up. After making her way up the stairs she found another door and swung it open. What stood before her came as a complete surprise.

She had arrived at the roof of the school. Leaning on the railing, she was impressed at how beautiful the school yard looked. Amu was so absorbed by the scenery that she hadn't heard someone come up behind her.

"Beautiful isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is…" she agreed, before turning and realizing that she wasn't alone up here. "W-where did you come from?"

"Oh, I usually come up here to clear my head. It's always so nice and peaceful."

Amu looked at the boy standing beside her and nodded. He turned to look at her and smiled sweetly. Amu swore her heart was beating twice as fast now. She quickly turned back to the scenery.

"I don't think I've seen you before," he started.

"Well, that makes sense since I just transferred here," Amu said in a matter of fact tone which came of snippier than she had intended.

For a moment he looked taken aback before attempting to smile once again. Amu mentally smacked herself. This was probably the first nice individual she had run into and she was ruining it.

"Well, I hope you find this school to your liking. If you ever have any concerns you can come to-"

"Where are youuuuuuuu?!" A shrilling voice rudely interrupted him as the door swung open revealing a student Amu hadn't met before. She was certainly wearing the uniform, yet it wasn't performing its rightful duty. Her shirt was twice as small as it should have been and her skirt must have been rolled, hiking it up and revealing too much skin. Amu couldn't help but scrunch her nose in disgust.

"Ah, Saaya Yamabuki-san, I just happened to meet a new student. This is…" he trailed off, realizing he hadn't learned her name yet.

"Hinamori. Amu Hinamori," Amu filled in.

"Yeah, yeah, that's swell," Saaya muttered as she pushed past Amu to latch on to the boy's arm. "But did you forget, president? We have a meeting with the student body after lunch!"

"That's right, but it won't be beginning for a couple more—"

"Nonsense, it's better to be early!" she exclaimed, dragging him towards the doors.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Hinamori-san," he called as he allowed himself to be dragged. Amu simply nodded, still a little surprised at what had just happened.

Before Saaya had exited, she turned to Amu and gave her a smile. A fake smile.

"If you don't want to get detention on your first day here you had better show up at the meeting, Amu." Saaya had said her name with such abomination that it had almost made Amu flinch. Before turning back around to follow the boy, Saaya mouthed the words: 'stay away from him' and gave Amu the deadliest glare she could manage.

It was certainly obvious that Saaya had a crush on the boy, but acting like that? Amu could only sigh. She wasn't sure she'd be able to keep up with the number of enemies she was making at Seiyo Academy. Never-the-less, she made her way towards the auditorium where the so called student body meeting would be held.

---....---....---

After scanning the auditorium, Amu found an empty seat near some girls in her class. Just as she was about to sit down, girls all throughout the stadium began squealing. She turned her attention to the stage. Three people had made their way there. A young energetic girl was jumping around and waving to the audience. She calmed down when a boy placed his hand on her head. Amu figured she was going to be scolded, but instead, he playfully knocked her on the head. The girl smiled sheepishly, but continued waving a little more discreetly.

Finally Amu's eyes rested on the boy she had met earlier. He took a stand by the microphone and began speaking.

"Welcome back to Seiyo Academy. And for those of us who are new, we would all like to welcome you." He seemed to scan the audience and Amu shrunk in her seat. Was he looking for her? "As some of you know, my name is Tadase Hotori and I am currently the student body president. With me-"

"We love you Tadase!!!"

Amu turned to where the outburst had come from with a look of surprise mixed with uncertainty plastered on her face. Whoever had yelled that had disappeared within the crowd. She turned her attention back to Tadase, who apparently wasn't significantly affected by the comment.

"Ahem, with me are the treasurer and freshman representative. Kukai Soma and Yaya Yuiki respectively. We are all honored that you have chosen us to represent you, the student body…"

The lecture continued and Amu listened patiently. Lectures weren't her favorite, but it was certainly better than being in class.

"Finally, I would like to share a new online program hosted by Seiyo Academy; a way to meet other students. We realize that it is often difficult for students to interact with each other during high school hours due to the excess amount of homework, extracurricular activities and work schedules. We hope that his program, which will allow you to talk to other students at this academy, will be a way to forge bonds. More information about this program is provided on the school website…"

Though he continued talking, Amu had tuned him out. At once it seemed this horribly wrong day could be flipped 180 degrees. Maybe she would be able to fit it. She would just have to be herself online. It couldn't be that hard. For the first time that day, she was excited. This was her chance at a new beginning.

Meisha:

Please let me know if this chapter was understandable or if it was all over the place.
Also, the person she ran into in the hallway and the person she met in the cafeteria will end up having big roles in the story.
Can you figure out who they were? ;)

Thanks for reading~