A/N: Hello, people! Welcome to this new story, which will be based around the friendships and relationships of Merlin, Gwen, Arthur and Morgana. This is not a slash fic and it focuses more on the friendship of Morgana and Gwen than on that of Arthur and Merlin. The feminist side of me thinks that it's a crime that a lot of us do not stop to appreciate the fact that the BBC gave us two strong female leads (quite rare for them). The story alternates between Gwen and Morgana's point of view.

Gwen:

"Why am I doing this?"

The question circulated my mind with a relentless intensity, growing hungrier for an answer with every step I took. I tried to remember all the reasons Merlin, my adopted brother, had given Mum to convince her to allow me to do this, in an attempt to calm myself. The irony of the fact that I was now trying to use these same arguments to convince myself that I wasn't about to step into the worst thing to hit the planet since global warming was not lost on me.

Why am I doing this?

The confusion and nerves I had been feeling all throughout my sleepless night escalated into full blown-out panic as we reached the looming, formidable gate and I grabbed onto my brother's arm to prevent him from taking me further. Like always, he knew what was on my mind.

"Come on, Gwen," he peered down at me pleadingly. "This will be good for you, I know it will. You've always wanted to do this remember?" At my insistent shake of the head, he smiled wryly. "Trust me-this is so much better than staying at home all day, doing nothing." When I still did not appear convinced, he sighed and put his arm comfortingly around my shoulder. "Just try today. If, when we go home, you decide you'd rather eat horse dung than step foot in this school again, then you can quit. But I went through hell and back to convince Mum and Dad to let you do this and you sure as heck are not backing out on me now." He nudged me playfully, imploring me with his bright eyes to be brave, just this once.

"See now, this is why I've been saying that I feel like it's time for us to limit your exposure to Teen Wolf," I muttered.

"Gwen, I love you, and I get that you're feeling stressed right now, but you know you should never ever, ever take that tone with Teen Wolf. Teen Wolf is not just any old program, thank you very much, it's dark and gripping and relatable and heart-wrenching and-" here he paused in his vigour, realising that I had succeeded in distracting him from the matter at hand.

Let me explain-long story short, two months ago I decided (please note that I was half asleep at the time and therefore should not be held accountable for this horrendous decision) that I wanted some semblance of a normal life and- after a particularly long Disney film marathon- I concluded that going to school would play an essential part in this plan. Then, at two in the morning, drunk on countless new-girl-gets-fittest-boy-in-school repetitive love stories, I decided to announce my ambition to my favourite person in the entire world: Merlin. He in turn, despite my best attempts at sabotage when I'd finally returned to my senses, proceeded to convince my parents to make me attend an entire year in my worst nightmare- a place filled with normal teenagers.

This fascinating turn of events in my life led me to this moment, shaking like a leaf on steroids, while Merlin dragged me through the gates of hell and into the front office. The artist in me immediately grimaced at the orange door that was being paired with garishly pink walls. I mean, seriously, how on Earth did they expect students here to learn with such a poor colour scheme around to torture them? Priorities needed to be straightened out here, I determined. However, one look at the man behind the desk told me that I would be dancing naked in Trafalgar Square before I would be voicing my opinion to him, so I kept my mouth shut- not a difficult task since I tended to do that most of the time anyway.

The man glanced over me critically and I grimaced when the long-familiar look of pity washed over his face. I prided myself on being able to read expressions well, and the look of pity was coupled with another old friend: discomfort. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. It was all the same. People rarely ventured out of their own self-immersed bubbles, and so not many knew how to act around people who made them realise that there were others out there who had received a worse lot in life. I was now used to the unease wafted at me when people were around me, and the fact that from the moment of our meeting, people no longer regarded me as one of us, and so treated me accordingly.

While I was staring at a particularly enthusiastic wart on the secretary's nose- Mr Patty, was it?- and pondering with a small amount of sick satisfaction how close a resemblance I could achieve with my sketchbook and best green pencil, Merlin, as always, was handling all the actual interaction. I hadn't even realised that the conversation was over- gloriously without me uttering a single world- and that my timetable was now clutched in his grasp. My eyes zeroed in on the words "Monday, period 1: Biology," and a groan escaped my lips. Staying at home all day and doing nothing, was starting to sound better and better.

Merlin smiled, noting my annoyance. "Welcome to Stanford Hill, sunshine. Be glad, I have double Physics."

"But you love Science," I replied, irritated. "Double Physics won't exactly be a hardship for you."

"You haven't met Mrs Devils yet. Let's just say that the lady is aptly named."

I shook my head with a smile, my first real one of the day. My brother had always had the ability to make me smile, and annoying as it was sometimes, I was immensely grateful for it now. We came to a stop outside another door- again with that God-awful orange- and he span around to face me, placing his hands on my shoulders. "Gwenny," he began. "I know you're worried, and yeah, I'm not going to lie, everyone's probably going to be weird around you at first. In fact, most people might not talk to you at all, and others will probably stare way too much-"

"Sorry, is this supposed to make me feel better?" I interrupted. Because if so, I wanted to retract my earlier statement about his ability to make me smile. "Let me finish," he grumbled and I suppressed a smirk at his impatience. "What I was going to say was that, after a while, the hype will calm down and everyone will realise what a cool kid you are. Don't be ashamed, Gwen, and don't try to hide who you are. If they're rude, ignore them, they're twats. Plus, I'll beat them up," he finished, winking goofily. I rolled my eyes. One Summer at the gym and suddenly he was under the ludicrous impression that he was The Hulk's doppelganger. Growing serious he added, "you may even make some real friends here, you know."

I nodded, unsure of how to reply. A small window in the door subjected me to my- peers? Schoolmates? Future tormentors?- and fear returned and increased tenfold. How on earth was I supposed to do this? There had to be a fire alarm or something around here that I could use to my advantage. Or perhaps I could (accidentally, of course) overflow one of the ladies' toilets. Health and safety would most definitely require everyone to go home- and preferably never come back. That would be good...
A slight shove from Merlin brought me back to reality and I stumbled through the door he had just opened. I rubbed my shoulder out of habit, wondering if I would still find the familiar blue marks of bruises there.

"Sorry to disrupt, Sir, I'm just here to drop my sister, Gwen, off. She's new and she has your class first period." Merlin's voice floated in behind me. The middle aged, short teacher in front of me turned around and sized me up with shrewd eyes. He gave Merlin an affectionate nod of dismissal and so, with a comforting touch to my back, the only person I trusted in this room walked out, leaving me feeling like an animal in a cage. I bit down on my lip to keep from crying out in protest- even I knew that was socially unacceptable- and instead kept my eyes trained on the curiously scuffed loafers of my new Biology teacher.

"Welcome to Stanford Hill, Gwen. My name is Mr Gaius. We've just started so you haven't missed much, although I am afraid we now have an odd number so you will have to sit by yourself." His eyes twinkled as he said this, as though he knew that this would not exactly be a burden for me. I sighed, inwardly bemoaning my social awkwardness, and made my way to the seat he had pointed out. On the way there- the distance between myself and the seemingly harmless wooden chair felt endless- I noted how quickly all the students averted their eyes as I passed and I repressed another sigh. It was starting to look like fighting cancer would be a piece of cake compared to state school.

A/N: Well there you have it! Do not be put off by the smatterings of angst and lack of dialogue in this chapter, as it was all about setting up the premise of the situation and Gwen's shy but slightly inwardly sassy character. Next chapter we meet the bubbly and charming Morgana, who's hiding a very painful secret. Please review!