Chapter 1

They say that time heals all wounds. To be honest, I suppose in some ways it does. Take for instance, if you get into an argument with your best-friend and never talk again, it will hurt at first; but then after a few months it becomes a dull ache in the background. That being said, time cannot possibly erase the memories. Whether the memory is good or bad, you can never really forget. You may think that you have, but one thing may remind you of it. It could be the smell of a certain cologne, or an old song. Then it all comes back. Every hit, every word, every moment. Every sound. And then painfully or not, you remember.

It's hard to place where it all went downhill. Perhaps it was when my mother told me that my dad left because he didn't want me, or maybe it was when my fourth grade teacher told me I'd get nowhere in life. The list could go on. Somehow, and god knows how, I finally made my own mother give up on me. Her exact words were, "I'm done, Gabrielle. Done. I've found somewhere for you to go, and I don't care if you don't like it. If this doesn't work, they may as well take you out back with a shotgun."

I wasn't too bothered either way. It wasn't like I'd be leaving much behind. I'd lost most of my friends, and my Mom was hardly anything to lose. She loathed me, just like I hated her. Bullworth Academy, is what she told the taxi driver. Of course, she hadn't had the common decency to tell me where I was going, but she told a fat Polish guy who probably didn't even have a drivers licence. Luckily for me, I had heard of the place before. A boarding school, if I'm not mistaken. Made like a fucking prison, to house students who were tougher than prisoners.

The uniform wasn't nice, from what I had seen when I googled it. Some sort of skirt that half of the school doesn't seem to wear, a white shirt, a tie and a green sweater vest? Sounds very fashionable. Uniform wasn't too much of a problem, seeing as I could just alter it to fit my standards. What was a problem though, was the girls I was bound to clash with. Typical cheerleader whores, who are usually fucking the guys on the football team; the nerds, who will leave you alone if you do the same, but if you don't they can be brutal little bastards; the rich kids, and finally the tough girls. I'm not talking the girls who hang around with the tough boys, but the girls who punch first and ask questions later.

I don't think I fit into any of those categories.

Not getting into trouble here will be quite hard, I predict. I have trouble controlling my anger, you see. I'm not saying that I'm the female equivalent to the incredible hulk, but I get very irritated. It probably doesn't help that there was an article in the paper about a certain student from this school. I think his name was something like Gary Smith? The sociopath who tried to conquer the entire school like he's fucking Christopher Columbus or something. Apparently they let him back in, and he's 'stable' now. If going all 'why so serious?' on the school is what they consider as a stable human being, then I'm seriously mentally ill.

Before this one, I went to the other boarding school in district known as 'Great Oak Girls School' which was a pile of crap. It sucked being around so many girls. Not to sound like I crave dick, but I do enjoy the company of males (from time to time) and spending a whole year with a load of stuck up rich girls made me want to kill myself.

After about half an hour of travelling, we arrived at Bullworth. There were large metal gates in front of the school, making it look all the more approachable. I grabbed my bags and got out, not thanking the driver at all. Slowly, I walked over to the gates before a woman wearing a suit appeared out of nowhere.

"Gabrielle. I'm so glad you could make it." She stated condescendingly, opening the gates to let me in. I saw her eyes look me up and down as soon as I was in sight, and a look of disgust took over her features. I was wearing a pair of ripped denim shorts, a pair of converses, a white vest and an oversized flannel shirt.

"That makes one of us, then." I smiled sweetly, as I saw her face fall. Not uttering another word, she beckoned me to follow. And I did, lugging my two backpacks through the sea of watching students. My basic information I had on the school looked pretty accurate. Bullies, jocks, 'tough kids', nerds, preppies and the kids who didn't fit into any. It was currently the day before everyone went back to lessons for another miserable year, so my best guess was that everyone was waiting for any fresh meat. The woman lead me through the school building and into a nicely designed office. It smelled of coffee and the carpet must have been stained with the pure despair of the students who entered.

She knocked on the door, and a gruff voice commanded her to let me in. When I entered, I found a man, suited and booted, writing something down at a rather expensive looking desk. That desk was probably worth more than my life. "The Dalton girl, I assume? Take a seat." He said, not looking up from his paper.

We were sat in silence for a while before he put his pen down and laced his fingers together. "Not the sharpest tool in the toolbox, are you?" he mocked, and I could already feel myself getting annoyed with him.

"Likewise." I replied smoothly.

"Miss Dalton. I would advise you to keep that mouth of yours shut in times like these. We do not take kindly to mouthy little girls." He threatened, before someone opened the door rudely. In the doorway stood a student, I presumed, with brown hair, slightly tanned skin and a jagged scar running through his eyebrow. He was wearing a teal sweater vest, with a white shirt and black pants. I wasn't about to lie, he was a reasonably attractive guy.

"Sorry I'm late." He announced, in a rather smarmy voice. Surprisingly to me, he then took it upon himself to sit down next to me in the other chair. Dr Crabblesnitch just frowned, and quickly wrote something down.

"Mr Smith, you've arrived." He said more to himself than anyone else. And I think that, that was when it finally clicked. I was sat next to Gary fucking Smith. The psychopath who got expelled. The one that everyone was talking about. To avoid confrontation, Dr Crabblesnitch decided to introduce us both at the same time. Of course, Mr Hitler over there got a 'This is your one and only chance' and I got told multiple times to curb my attitude. Before I knew it, we were allowed to go to our dorms and change into our uniforms.

I didn't want anything to do with Gary Smith, neither did I want to get caught up in any fucked up shit that went on in his head, so I walked away from that office as fast as I could. Unfortunately for me, he caught up with me. "So you're the new girl everyone was whispering about." He stated, as he walked in sync with me. People from all directions were staring at us, and I figured being seen with the literal school psycho wasn't the best way to give off the best first impression.

"I am." I replied bluntly, not giving him anything to play off.

Gary chuckled to himself, "Talkative one, aren't you?" I could see the girls dorm about two meters away, and if I could ditch him now, I'd never have to be around that weirdo again. Sadly, I had a feeling that I'd be seeing a lot more of him after today.

"Adiós," I smiled, offering him a flick of my wrist. He didn't reply at all, and as far as I know he went to the boys dorm. I couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for the guy, it couldn't be very nice being known as that psycho kid who got sectioned. Sometimes I'm a lucky bastard, this time because I had gotten the privilege of my own bedroom.

After about fifteen minutes of wallowing in self pity on my bed, I unpacked my stuff before getting started on sorting out my uniform. I had been given a dark green tartan skirt, a white shirt, a tie and a dark green jumper with the school badge on it. Not forgetting the knee high socks, of course. Trying it on, I rolled the skirt so it was high enough so I didn't look like a nun, I unbuttoned the top button of my shirt and tied the tie loosely, swapped the white socks for a pair of black ones, and opted for a pair of black vans instead of school shoes. The jumper was decent, I had a choice of a green sweater vest, or a jumper. I opted for the sweater vest.

If I did say so myself, I looked hot.

Now wearing the uniform, I went out to explore properly. After an hour of wandering round, I found myself sitting on the football stand. It hadn't even been a full day and I hated it here. The kids were gross, the teachers were assholes and the only person who had bothered to talk to me was a sociopath. Ever head of the phrase 'talk of the devil?', it was quite relevant in that moment. I felt the presence of another person beside me, and I caught a glimpse of a teal sweater. "Gary." I said out loud.

"I'm surprised. I was expecting you to call me a psychopath and run for your life." He muttered angrily, staring at his shoes.

I shrugged, "That was coming next, Sunshine."

Gary sat back on the bench, looking out onto the empty field. I still felt uncomfortable around the guy, but he didn't seem like he was going to do any immediate damage, so I stayed. After a while I couldn't stop myself from asking the obvious question.

"Why did you do it?"

He turned his head to me, and gave me a smouldering look, so much so that I felt a chill go through me. To my surprise, his face straightened out and he chuckled to himself. "It's sink or swim, Gabby. And if you're good at swimming, you gotta let the losers drown. I was doing this school a favour. Do you understand how great this place would be if I was king? God, the possibilities are endless. Trust me, this time I'm not losing." He ranted, and it opened my eyes to something new about this person whom I knew nothing about. He really did believe what he was doing was completely sane.

"You believe that?" I asked curiously, not maliciously.

He tutted, "All in good time, Gabby. Soon, you will too." And with that, he left, just like he came, instantly.