CHAPTER 1

I am Donna Evelyn Paulsen. I'm a redhead. I'm originally from Vancouver, Canada but now I live in Cortland, New York. I grew up in a wealthy family. Well, I'm not trying to brag but it's the truth. I have three sisters. I was named after my grandmother, who was one of the most prominent actresses during her time. And as for my surname, Paulsen, well, are you familiar with the Paulsen clan who owns the Paulsen Industries? The one in Vancouver? Yeah, that one. Our family owns that. Basically, if you didn't take the time to know me well, I'm one of those kids that you will most probably hate because my life mostly consists of manicures and pedicures, gown fitting for charity events, dress rehearsals for fashion events where our family was invited to attend, business expos where my parents are guest speakers, and slumber parties with my "friends". I have a bodyguard everywhere I go, I have my own driver that comes with my luxury car. I also have my personal maid. I have these awesome stylists. I have these cool gadgets. I have my own room in our house that has everything I could ever expect in a paradise. Everything.

I have a life that every teenager dreams of.

We're also one of those families who lives in this fabulous, overly decorated, mansion, abundant in chandeliers. We have a gorgeous, massive fountain that will leave you breathless once you enter our compound. We have a giant, beautiful piano, and big antique portrait of my grandfather and my grandmother painted by the famous French artist in the 70s, Frank Auerbach, displayed in our living room. And we have a very long dining table with this elegant table setting, flowing with shiny silverware, where we eat on the opposite corners while our chefs prepare our food and the maids serve them.

We also like to spend our money on vacations in the most luxurious places (with a private jet, of course. They say it's for our protection, I didn't really care.) and have this big family reunions in fine dining restaurants, throwing parties in the most extravagant manner. At least that's all what the tabloid says, as if they have nothing better to talk about. But truth is, we have these things not because we want to just feel rich and flaunt our money to everyone, but because we're really just after the great service and great food and the quality living. You see, in living a very stressful life that my parents lead: paparazzi's, economic pressure, and competition, not to mention we have a high risk at being kidnapped, it's nice to feel pampered and protected every once in a while. As you know, my parents are one of the most prominent people in entrepreneurship. They just want to make the most out of what they have.

Yes, my parents are actually deep shit, rich and famous. But I'm really not. Surprising, isn't it? The world only knows about the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Paulsen of the Paulsen Industries have four daughters. That's it. Our faces never made it to the magazines or tabloids. It's amazing how my parents managed to avoid that. My parents always shielded us from the press and tried to give me and my sisters the most normal life they could ever afford to give. And for that, I am always grateful.

But no matter what they do I am still a Paulsen, and whether I like it or not, my life will never be normal.

Or at least that's what I thought.


It is my first day in school. I'm a little nervous- no. Scratch that. I AM FUCKING NERVOUS. It's not my first day in school generally, but it's my first day in THIS school. After that tragic accident my dad met nine months ago, my family had to make adjustments, financial ones, so I had to transfer school. At the time, I didn't care. I'm young. I never thought about leaving my friends and that I might never see them again. I never thought about leaving the school where I grew up. I never thought about leaving my paradise, our mansion. I never thought about saying goodbye to some of our most trusted house maids when they were let go. I never realized how this incident could change my life forever. I didn't even worry about my dad's life. I had no idea he was so close to death that time. I never understood how big this incident has impacted our lives. At the time, I was all focused on studying and having good grades and studying and studying and studying.

My life in my previous school was great. I was very active. I was the top of my class and I think I've done all kinds of things in school. School choir? Yep! Student council? Yes, I'm the president. Cheerleading? I'm in. Theatre? Oh dear, I always get the lead role. Sports? Taekwondo. I'm now a blue belter. Quiz contests? Yeah, that too. I win 'em all the time. I don't know how it feels to lose. I don't know how it feels to not get what I want. Everyone likes me, or at least they pretend to, because they have to. At this point, I don't know if they actually liked me, or if they're just afraid of me. As I have said, I belong in a wealthy family. So wealthy in fact, that we own majority of the stocks of the school. So yeah, my parents are fucking rich. They basically own the school. So, if you made Donna Evelyn Paulsen, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Paulsen of the Paulsen Industries, cry? Be prepared to face the wrath of Mr. and Mrs. Paulsen, the great benefactors of the school.

Looking back, I ask myself, have I achieved these things because I am just that great? Or because my teachers were just too afraid to lose my parents as school benefactors, that's why they gave me all kinds of awards and opportunities in school and they made sure that I'm the top in the class and that I'm friends with everyone? I think, even if I had committed the worst violation in school (which I didn't), I wouldn't get kicked out for it, because kicking me out would mean them losing the benefactor of the school. Well, it doesn't matter now anyway, does it? After my dad met that accident, we had to sell our shares in the school because we need the money for his hospitalization, we couldn't afford it anymore, which forced me to transfer to a cheaper school. Of course, I have to. How can I go to school everyday thinking that all my classmates and teachers pity me because our family, who used to be the richest among the richest, has gone bankrupt? Well, we really didn't go completely bankrupt, that was an exaggeration. But you get what I mean. Luck just decided to be a bitch on us that time.

We still have the Paulsen Industries though. Selling the shares in my school and some of our other properties had a huge impact on our financial status, of course. But thank heavens Paulsen Industries managed to stay alive on our family's hands, barely breathing. That corporation has been through generations of the Paulsen clan. It would hurt like a bitch if we had to let that go, too.


I don't know anyone in this school. I don't know how the system works here. I have no idea how my day was gonna go. I don't know who I should talk to when I need help. I am completely alone. For the first time in years, I feel like a nobody.

I'm scared.

But I don't really have a choice so here I am. In our class room, sitting in the front row in the rightmost corner, waiting for the class to start. My very discreet bodyguard and my driver waiting for me outside the campus. We had to let go of my personal maid because we couldn't afford having her anymore. But the bodyguard and driver are necessary, so we couldn't fire them. And you know what, I think this could be good. A fresh start. No one knows my dirty little secret – that I'm THE Donna Evelyn Paulsen of the Paulsen Industries. I could just be myself here. I could achieve things on my own in this school, without having the shadow of my glorious name. I'm no longer Donna Evelyn Paulsen, the heiress of one of the most powerful business groups in Vancouver. (Well, I still am of course, people here just don't know that.) I'm now Donna. Just Donna. Donna version 2.0. You shall never see Donna version 1.0 ever again.

The class is supposed to start at 7. I looked at my gold vintage Rolex wrist watch (the one my grandfather gave me as a gift before he passed) and it says it's 6:45. I still have 15 minutes to get my shit together. Should I talk to my seatmate? Well no, she's busy talking to her other seatmate. And no one's sitting behind me. Maybe I should just prepare my notebook and pen, then.

I searched my bag for my notebook and pen, I dribbled stuff on my notebook to kill time. But holy shit, did my pen just ran out of ink? I took my pencil case to check if I brought an extra. I didn't. It's my first day in a new school and my pen ran out of ink and I didn't bring an extra. Genius, Donna Paulsen. Greaaat start.

Holy fuck, it's 6:55, I need to find a new pen in 5 minutes. I know it's so petty to freak out about a pen, but cut me some slack, I'm new here. I'm a little tense. I have to be prepared for a battle.

I looked at my seatmate. I really should talk to her, right? She's done talking to that girl on her other side and she looks pretty nice. She probably won't bite. I hope to God she's nice enough to let me borrow an extra pen, if she has one.

"Uhm, hi." I said, very awkwardly.

She looked at me. She looks slightly confused, as if she's not sure if I really am talking to her.

"Hello." She smiled. Oh thank god she's nice.

"Hi. I'm really sorry, but do you have an extra pen? Mine just ran out of ink and I forgot to bring an extra."

"Oh." She looked quite disappointed. She was probably hoping I was gonna introduce myself and start a small talk.

"Wait, I'll check." She rummaged through her bag while I stared at her like a creepy dog. Donna, you're the daughter of one of the richest people in the world and you're borrowing a pen from a stranger. You're pathetic.

"Here. I'm not sure if it still has enough ink, can you just check it?" she said as she handed me her pen.

"Oh, yeah. Of course, thank you." I said as I scribbled on my notebook again to check if the pen has ink. It has. Thank goodness.

"It's good. Thank you so much. Uhm-" I swallowed my saliva. "Do you mind if I borrow it the whole day?" I know I could just buy a pen at the school's bookstore, but I didn't want to get lost later searching for that place.

"Yeah, no problem."

"Thanks."

The school system here is different. I was used to the system where we go to different classrooms in different buildings one class after another. Here, we just stay put in one classroom for the whole day, and the teachers are the ones who transfer from one room to another every hour. So basically, this girl that I'm talking with, I'm gonna be sitting next to her the whole day. Great.

"Hey, what's your name?" I asked. I felt like I needed to start a small talk as a thank you for letting me borrow her pen. Very brave, Donna. High five!

"I'm Rachel. You?" Judging by her name and her looks, she's like one of those demure, but tough, pretty girls who can easily break a guy's heart mercilessly. She could be a bitch, if she wanted to. You wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of her. But I don't know, that's just my first impression.

"I'm Donna."

"Great. It's nice to meet you, Donna." She smiled at me.

"It's nice to meet you too." I smiled.

Rachel and I continued our small talk. It's nice, already having someone I could talk to. I told her I was quite nervous about today and she assured me that I'll be fine. And then, our teacher finally arrived. Well, he's okay. He introduced himself to us. Mr. Darby. He oriented us with the school's policies and stuff, class requirements, expectations on the subject. I religiously took notes while my classmates looked so bored.

"Oh and of course, it looks like we have a new student here." Mr. Darby looked at me.

Holy shit. This is it.

"Would you like to introduce yourself in front of the whole class?" he asked.

Uhm- no, thank you. I'm completely fine over here.

"Sure, sir." I said. I stood up, went in front of the class and I looked at Rachel, who was smiling at me, encouraging me. Oh thank God for this woman.

Okay, Donna. Focus. You knew your teacher will ask you to introduce yourself in class today, you've prepared for this.

Inhale... Then go!

"Good morning everyone, I'm Donna Evelyn Paulsen. You can call me Donna."

Exhale...

Shit, yeah. That felt good.

"Hiii, Donnaaa." The entire class replied in chorus. Nice.

"Can you tell us more about yourself?" Mr. Darby asked.

"Well, I'm uhm- I'm 16. I'm from Vancouver, Canada. I just moved to Cortland very recently. I'm really looking forwa-"

And then, there he is. Standing. At the back, staring at me. His eyes. Wow.

Who is this guy?


A/N: I'm pretty sure you know who the guy is. ;) We'll meet him next chapter. Also, a big shout out to the Darvey fandom on twitter! You know who you are. I was thinking of you guys every time I typed "Donna Evelyn Paulsen" in this chapter. Haha.

Also, there actually is a Paulsen Industries in Vancouver. I googled it. ;)

So yeah, there it is. My first Darvey fic. I've never written a fic before. And English is also not my first language. I hope I did it right! And I hope I piqued your interest. What do you think of Donna here? Is she out of character? Does she sound too braggy? Tell me what you think! I might just update really really soon depending on your reviews. :)