Chapter 1 -- This Is It

This is it. I thought , looking at myself in the mirror. In two hours, I would be boarding a train that would take me to my new school. Since my mother and father were always travelling, they had decided to put me in a boarding school for my high school years. The school that I was going to was one of Japan's best, called Alice Academy. The fees cost a fortune, and most people could only dream of going.

But I was definitely not most people. I didn't want to go to Alice Academy, I and would be perfectly fine staying in my regular school with my regular friends. Its not like I would feel homesick or something, but it was because of the simple reason that I hated having to start all over in a new school. With a shudder, I remembered when I had been new in my old school.

I had loved playing soccer then, (and I still did) and when I had showed up in class with a soccer ball in my hands and wearing clothes that closely resembled those of a street gangster's, everyone, including the guys, thought that I was weird. The girls had avoided talking to me, thinking that I smoked, and got drunk, (and maybe even belonged to a gang) even though we were only 11 at the time. It had taken me a long time to convince them that I was only wearing those clothes because I had come from soccer practice that morning, and even then they still kept their distance.

Ever since then, I had always been careful about first impressions.

"Mikan!!" a voice called through the thick wood of my door. "Could you come down here?? We have to leave in 20 minutes if you want to make it to the train station on time." It was my mom, and she seemed a bit more calm than she usually was. Uh Oh. I thought. Not a good sign.

I took one last look at myself in the mirror. I was dressed simply, but not in a way that people might feel the need to offer me some money in sympathy. I fiddled with my hair tucking the loose strands back in to my ponytail. I smiled, satisfied, and picked up my bags and my soccer ball.

I opened the door, taking one last look at my watch. It was only 1:13, and the train arrived at 3:00. What in the world was my mom thinking?? The railway station wasn't far from our house, and at max, (even with traffic) it should only take us about 30 minutes to get there. That would leave us with an hour of waiting at the railway station.

With a sigh, I trudged down the stairs, trying in vain to drag my bags after me. It's not like they were heavy or anything, but there were just way too many. Since my parents always travelled for only one or two weeks at a time, they did not bother buying any big bags, so I was left with having to pack all of my things in about five or six (smaller) bags.

In the end, I gave up trying to carry my own bags and left them on the stairs. "So why do we have to go to the station so early mom?" I asked, passing the soccer ball in between my hands.

A woman with straight, brown hair looked up at me on my arrival. Her eyes were the same color as her hair, and even though she had on a strict-looking business suit, her eyes were twinkling, as if she were still filled with the same liveliness that she had possessed as a child.

The woman looked me over, and I could see her face fall a little. " Mikan, you have all those wonderful dresses in your closet, and you choose to wear this??" my mom had pronounced 'this' with such repulsion that I looked myself over again, a bit hurt. I had thought that it was perfectly all right. A bit on the Goth side with all the black and stuff, but still good enough for a train ride.

"Whada ya mean 'this'?? I think that it's perfectly fine!"

"I don't know what you mean by 'fine' Mikan, but that certainly isn't. Why don't you put on that green dress that I bought for you? Wearing that, you'll certainly be able to get the boys attention. Maybe you'll even be able to get yourself a date!" I looked at my mom's hopeful eyes, and then back at my comfortable levis and sweatshirt. I sighed. I might as well do what my mom asks. I mean, the moment I got on the school campus I'd be free to do whatever I wanted.

"Fine," I sighed again. I turned around so that I wouldn't have to see my mom's triumphant smile, and trudged back up the stairs. I was already halfway up when my mom called behind me, "Don't take too much time. We have to leave by 1:30. And by the way, your dad won't be able to make it to the station. He had to go to an important meeting. I hope you don't mind."

'I hope you don't mind' I recalled as I rolled my eyes. My parents had missed a lot of important events due to other, more important (as in 'more important than their only daughter') events. I had been very sad when they had missed my kindergarten graduation, and I remembered envying all my friend's parents who had come even if they had to go see a sick patient, or complete a project by the deadline the next day. But as the time passed, I learned to get over their absenteeism in most of my life. I knew they cared about me, and that was all that mattered.

I changed into the said dress, and couldn't help but noticing that my mom was right. I did look good in this. I stuffed my clothes into one of the less filled bags, and this time just took it, and dumped it over the balustrade of the staircase. Since there were only clothes in it, and I was already halfway down the stairs, the bag only made a dull thump as it landed on the wooden floor. I did the same with the rest of the bags that I was sure contained no valuables, and carried the rest of them along with my soccer ball, which I stuffed into another bag as I reached the bottom of the stairs. I was sure that people would think it was weird if a girl with a good-looking dress had a grimy soccer ball in her hands.

"Now that looks much better!" exclaimed my mom. I looked down. The dress was springtime green, and since it only came down halfway down my thighs, I was wearing jeans under it. It wasn't anything fancy, and to tell you the truth, it was really simple, but if it was worn the right way, then you could definitely get heads turning.

"Yeah, well admire it while it lasts. And let me tell you, that won't be long." My mom just stared at me, and then sighed, as though she had given up on me. But this I knew, wouldn't last long. She'd be back at pestering me soon.

"Mikan, why don't you go ahead and ask the driver to get your bags into the car? We seem to be a bit late."

"Late?" I asked, checking my watch. It was 1:34. "Mom, why do we have to get to the station by 2?"

"Well, you can never be too sure, right? I mean what if we get stuck in traffic or something?? Like I always say, better be safe than sorry." I raised my eyebrows at her. The saying totally made sense and all, but I had never heard her say it before. I just nodded though, and opened the door, calling our driver.

In about 15 minutes, my mom and me were sitting in the back of our Ferrari, watching the suburban landscape pass by. Alice Academy was about two hours away, if you were going by train. It was located on the far outskirts of the city, and the easiest way to get there would be by train, rather than driving a car across the unpaved dirt roads. Why would such a prestigious school be out in the middle of nowhere you ask?? Well, the answer is pretty simple. It was the only place anywhere near the city that they would be able to build such a big school.

The school campus apparently had not only huge dorms, a town that provided the best of everything, and an awesome soccer field, (this was half the reason why I agreed to go to this school) but was so huge that it had a whole forest on the campus. Yeah, you heard me right. A whole forest.

I was interrupted from my thoughts by my driver, "Miss, get ready, we're almost at the station." I looked up at him and nodded. The car pulled up and stopped, while I shot out and grabbed my bags from the trunk. I slung one on my shoulder, (the one with all my valuables) and dumped the rest on a rolling cart. I looked to my side and saw my mom waving over from the car. If I took too much time stopping in front of the station, then we'd hold up the other cars. I nodded to my driver, who drove away with my mom, who probably had some other meeting to go to.

Surprisingly, there were a lot of teenagers and kids walking around. Since this was only my second time going on a train, I took no notice to this fact as I pushed the cart into the station. We had made it by 2:15, and there were even more youths on this side. It was like the Hogwarts express form Harry Potter, except that there were no people with frogs or owls with them (even though I did see a parrot).

I went over to one of the benches, and sat down next to a pink haired girl. She was talking with a dark blue haired girl, both of which looked like friends. Normally, I wouldn't talk to strangers and all that, but when I heard the pink haired girl mention something about Alice Academy, I just had to speak up.

"Hey," I asked, tapping her on the shoulder. "Did you mention Alice Academy?" She jumped and then looked at me with glowing eyes. "Oh! Are you going to Alice Academy too? 'Cause we are!!"

"Well, yeah, I'm going to the academy. I'm new, and I thought that you could explain things about . . . . ." I drifted off, suddenly aware that the girls weren't paying any attention to me at all. Instead, they were looking at my dress with stars in their eyes. "Oh that outfit is just sooo cute!!" they chorused. I backed off a little. That was weird. Its like they practice saying stuff together!

"Are you two twins or something?" I asked, baffled. They looked at me and then at each other and started laughing. "I thought you'd say that. Well, actually, we aren't. We've just really close friends. That's Ana, and I'm Nonoko," said the girl in the dark blue hair. "Hi Ana, hi Nonoko. I'm Mikan," I said a bit carefully. These girls were starting to freak me out.

"Sit down Mikan, and we'll tell you everything that you need to know about school," said Ana, leading me to one of the chairs. Over the next few minutes, Ana and Nonoko explained about how the school worked, and where everything was on the campus. I listened intently. No matter how weird these girls were, I needed their information about the school.

According to the girls, there were three buildings for classes, the elementary school dividion, the middle school division, and the high school division. There were six dormitories, two for each of the divisions (one for girls and one for boys). The town was called central town, and it had everything form clothing stores to fast-food restaurants to movie theaters. Money is given out each month according to your behavior and studies. When I asked them why the majority of the people in the station were teenagers or kids, Ana replied, "Well, since there are so many people who come to the school, the academy just books the whole train each year just for the students. They do the same thing on the way back."

They also took time explaining that the number-one most wanted guy was the Natsume Hyuuga, followed by his best friend Ruka Nogi. Of course, they were both surrounded by crazy fan-girls, so making a move on them would be fatal. I had never been interested in guys, and wished that I hadn't put my ball back in the bag. Anything would be better than listening to two love-crazed girls talk about some guy's favorite food. I was just about to get my ball out when I heard a scream.

Me, Ana, and Nonoko stood up, trying to see what had happened. Ana and Nonoko's eyes lit up when they saw a crowd of girls near the entrance of the station. "OH MY GOD. . . . . IT'S HIM!!" they started screaming while I tried to cover my ears, due to all the unmistakably feminine shrieks that were erupting across the station (due, most probably to Natsume's arrival).

I looked at my watch, and realized that it was already 2:57. Sure enough, the train was approaching the station, slowing down as people said good bye to their parents. I looked back at the crowd of girls that looked as though they weren't going to move even if the train did. I found two pink and blue heads, bobbing along with the mass that was approaching me, and approaching me fast. Without another backward glance, I grabbed the handrail and pulled myself into the train. Hey, at least I'll get a good seat. I took a quick glance over the compartment, and found a seat near the window that looked like I could sit undisturbed for the three hour ride. I stowed my bags away, but kept the one with my valuables and soccer ball close by. I zipped it open, grabbed the ball, and pushed it back under the seat. I don't know why, but just having the ball in my hands made me feel better.

I looked out the window, and saw that the crowd of girls was where I had been about 5 minutes ago. Talk about stampede!

"Get out of my seat, little girl." I turned around to see who was talking. It was a guy, one who actually looked good. He had raven hair and crimson eyes. And those eyes didn't look too happy at that moment.

"No. First of all, you didn't ask politely, and second of all, I got here first, and since it doesn't have your name on it, I don't see how it's your seat. I could hear gasps erupt all around him, and it was then that I notice that he had tons, literally, tons of girls surrounding him. Not to mention the good-looking guy beside him (He had really cute looking blond hair, with blue eyes. Just as I had imagined an angel. . . . just kidding, though he did look good).

At that moment, the blond guy beside him spoke. "Hey, what Natsume means, is that we sit there almost every year, so we would really appreciate it if you'd move. Right Natsume?"

"Yeah whatever, Ruka."

My mind totally stopped. Natsume and Ruka?? I mean, yeah Ruka's looks good and all, but how can girls be all over that arrogant jerk?? He didn't even give me a proper apology!! I was, of course, referring to Natsume.

"I'm sorry, but I still can't move. I already have all my bags here, and I can't and won't move. If you want so much, you can have the seat across from me," I replied in a calm tone, quite the contrary to what was going on in my mind. My mom had always taught me that politeness was the way to dealing with situations. I had never listened to her, but looking at all the fan girl behind the two guys, I decided to give it a try. And if it didn't work,………well, I'll just get to deal with it my way. (To those of you who are wondering, I really didn't want them to sit across from me, and I only said it to be polite)

"NO DON"T NATSUME AND RUKA!! SHE JUST WANTS YOU TO SIT IN FRONT OF HER!!" came a an ear shattering scream. "Oh, just SHUT UP! My ears are going to bleed!" I shouted to the crowd, since I didn't know exactly where the scream came from.

Avoiding the glares of the fan girls, the guys, and the other spectators, I looked back at the soccer ball in my hands. I could feel the fan girls burning holes into me (more importantly, I could see their reflection on the window) but Natsume's eyes only looked amused. I could tell that not a lot of people stand up to Natsume and his gang (more like unwanted followers, considering the fact that it looked like he didn't like the fan girls one bit) from the few admiring glances that were thrown at me from some of the spectators.

I heard some shuffling and then gasps, so I looked up to fing myself face to face with Natsume. Ok, maybe not exactly face to face, but he was definitely in the seat in front of me, looking at me with those stupid mesmerizing eyes of his. (Not mesmerizing as in romantic, but mesmerizing as in hypnotic)

"Hey come on Ruka," he said, nodding to the seat beside him. Then he looked at me and said with a voice that could tame a wild horse, (note the sarcasm. The way he was speaking, it sounded like he wanted to kill me…oh joy. Murder on the first day of school) "I'll make sure that this will be your worst train ride ever." I could hear some of the girls swooning and gasping. (How low do they have to go?? Don't they have anything better to do than swoon at everything that he says?)

Despite myself, I gulped. Not because of his open threat, but because of the venom in his voice. This was going to be one long train ride.

i hope u like it. please feel free to send me reviews, advice, questions, ...anything.

(but it might take me a while to reply, because i'm still new at this... so pl be patient)

--A manga freak