"Welcome to Bullworth Academy, I trust you are aware of the class scheduling that we sent in the mail along with your uniform" Miss Danvers, the school secretary almost barked at the new student standing before her.

"Yes ma'am" the new student, Chloe spoke politely, holding on to her bag strap with a deadly grip.

"Come along, I haven't got all day to give you a tour, we'll start at the headmaster's office, he'll be so pleased that his scholarship will go to a very bright girl" Miss Danvers chuckled as she walked through the open gates of the school.

To Chloe this school looked like a paradise, it was almost a perfect picture of what a school should be like, as she was less fortunate in financial terms she had won a scholarship to this school and she would be the only one in her family to attend a high-profile private school such as this. After the meeting with the headmaster had ended she went to find her locker, she was struggling to find it so she asked the nearest person she found, he was a tallish boy with platinum blonde hair.

"E-excuse me, do you know where locker A-13 is?" Chloe asked civilly.

"No and why should I care, people like you are exactly what father warned me about, always expecting handouts and help, too lazy to do their own work" the boy sneered and then walked off.

"Right, let's try again shall we" Chloe exhaled to herself and then asked a girl who was at the lockers.

"Can you please help me find locker A-13?" Chloe requested "that boy wasn't exactly much help."

"Oh that's right next to mine, what a coincidence" the girl smiled "oh and that was Derby Harrington, he never is any help, he's got a stick so far up his ass it's a wonder he never smiles."

"Ah, Harrington, I've heard of his family, that big oil business, my dad used to work the rigs for them" Chloe laughed almost, it was pitiful that someone of Derby's social standing acted like he was ruler of the universe, she entered the code into her locker's padlock and placed her bag inside.

"He's a major republican though, so if you're a liberal just don't talk politics with him, his kind never listen to common sense" the girl sighed.

"I guessed, by the way I never introduced myself, I'm Chloe, I'm new here if you can't tell" Chloe giggled and held out her hand.

"I'm Elizabeth, but most people call me Liz, oh and don't get your hopes up, this school is shit, trust me it's not worth the $1,800 per semester they ask for" Elizabeth informed her.

Suddenly the bell for the first lesson went, Chloe had chemistry and by the looks of it her new locker friend did as well, they both entered the class, Chloe was handed a textbook from Dr. Watts and was instructed to wait at a station, everyone else had lab partners whilst she was alone. Suddenly the door opened and Derby Harrington; the boy she had a minor disagreement with earlier, had entered the room.

"Harrington, I'd like you to work with Miss Gravett today, show her the ropes" Dr. Watts struggled to remember both Chloe's and Derby's surnames due to his "brain damage."

"Great" Derby muttered under his breath, he almost detested everyone in the room as they appeared to be lower than him in his mind, he slammed his textbook down on the desk with attitude.

"Right today we will be looking at the alkali metals, which is in group...errr..." Dr. Watts trailed off.

"Group 1 of the periodic table, sir?" Chloe called out, she then covered her mouth with her hand "sorry" she then apologised.

"No, no you're quite right, I just had a memory lapse that's all" Dr. Watts chuckled.

"Smartass" Derby muttered, resting his chin on his hand.

"It's simple chemistry, it's not that hard to understand" Chloe hissed "maybe if you didn't act all high and mighty all the time maybe you'd be good at this."

Derby glared at her, he was angered by Chloe's comment his brown eyes were burning with absolute fury. When the bell went for lunch Chloe decided to go to her locker to her bag, the halls were empty, suddenly she felt herself being grabbed from behind, she was then slammed into the lockers.

"I won't fucking hesitate to beat street rat scum like you, and yes I'm aware of your scholarship, you're not getting any special treatment just because you're poor, if it were up to me you wouldn't even be attending this school!" Derby growled, he had his lackeys standing either side of him.

"Alright then, beat me up, I'm not afraid of people like you" Chloe snapped, she was staring into his eyes, she could sense that he was a coward.

"I can't be bothered to, you're not worth my time" Derby groaned as he rolled his eyes and then walked off, his sidekicks following.

Chloe was almost relieved that she hadn't taken a fist to the face that day, she went to find Elizabeth and she sat down next to her.

"Well Derby just tried to punch me in the face because I insulted him" Chloe explained nonchalantly.

"Ouch, well he's a rich spoilt brat so I'm not surprised" Elizabeth mumbled.

"Yes, but you have to admit he is kinda cute, if you ignore his egomaniac personality" Chloe admitted quietly.

"Oh my god no, don't fall for him, he's the human representation of actual two week old garbage" Elizabeth panicked.

"And I haven't fallen for him, he's just too gross, like yeah he's attractive but his personality is just plain awful" Chloe sighed.

"Why is it that attractive guys are the ones with awful personalities?" Elizabeth asked metaphorically.

Chloe shrugged, she checked her watch and her class schedule, she had Maths next, thankfully it was a class that did not contain Derby Harrington which made her cheerful. After Maths ended she walked back to her locker and claimed her bag, she walked home, and was greeted by a hug from her mother.

"How was your first day at school sweetie?" Chloe's mother asked.

"Great, I've made a friend and there's this guy who almost punched me in the face because he was an idiot who refused to pay attention in class" Chloe responded almost sarcastically.

"Oh well you'll get rotten people like that all the time, Christopher is sick again, he has a temperature, poor thing, he's been asking for you" Chloe's mother sighed.

"Is he up in his room?" Chloe questioned her mother.

Chloe's mother nodded, removing the cupcakes that she had been baking from the oven, Chloe wandered up the stairs to see her 9 year old brother.

"Hey, mum told me you weren't very well, is there anything I can do?" Chloe offered to her brother who was weak in appearance and very pale.

"Can I sleep in your bed tonight?" Christopher wondered.

Chloe chuckled and walked over to Christopher's bed, she combed her fingers through his soft auburn hair.

"I'll make it easier for you and stay in your bed instead" Chloe sighed and shook her head.

"Thanks" Christopher mumbled.

"I'll just go and finish my Maths homework and I'll join you" Chloe told her younger brother.

Christopher nodded and went back to sleep, Chloe walked back down the stairs she sat down at the table and asked her busy mother about Christopher's state.

"What's wrong with him?" Chloe wondered.

"The doctor says it's a bacterial infection, I can't pay for the course of antibiotics though" Chloe's mother informed her daughter.

"How much are they?" Chloe asked, getting her Maths books out.

"$250, I wish I could afford it but between paying the utility bills and paying for my car so I can go to work I can't afford it, and I just feel like I'm failing as a mother, if only your father was still here" Chloe's mother muttered.

"I have that money, I saved it up from my pay checks," Chloe reassured her mother "I'll just get it out from the ATM in town."

"Oh, thank you dear, I'll pay you back as soon as I can" Chloe's mother almost exhaled in relief to hear that she could pay for her younger son's treatment.

"Don't worry about it, all I want to see is Christopher getting better" Chloe sighed.

Chloe completed her English homework and walked down to the ATM and took out $250, she then walked back to her decrepit looking home. New Coventry was definitely her least favourite place. After she placed the money on the side she walked up the stairs and into Christopher's room, she climbed into his bed and fell asleep.

The next day Chloe woke up at 7:30 in the morning, she got ready for the day and had her breakfast, she walked down to the bus stop that would send her on her journey to school, she felt absolutely depressed about being there, she felt guilty for not being as rich as the other students, she steered very clear of the preps due to the fact that they now perceived her as an enemy and an easy target. However, today they had other plans.

"Say Bif, could you be so kind and drag that little sewer rat over here, please" Chloe overheard Derby command. The tall red headed boy who was guarding him nodded silently, he approached Chloe, grabbed her by the arm and dragged her over to Derby, he had a very strong grip so she couldn't escape.

"What do you want?" Chloe asked furiously, trying her hardest to escape Bif's grip, but knowing that if she tried too hard she'd dislocate her shoulder.

"I'm just wondering why you're still here, surely you only had enough money to attend for a day only" Derby sneered.

"No," Chloe sighed and she forcefully reclaimed her arm "I have a scholarship, you uneducated inbred spoilt bastard."

"What did you just call me?" Derby roared.

"I called you an uneducated inbred spoilt bastard," Chloe repeated "honestly for this standard of school you'd think you of all people would be a bit smarter."

"How dare you, you little cow" Derby spoke through gritted teeth "Bif, get her" he then ordered.

Chloe began to run, she had messed up entirely, the boy called Bif was chasing her and he was a lot quicker so if she was caught she was partially screwed, she ran behind the school and decided to hide in the gym locker rooms, if Bif was anything like Derby he wouldn't be bright enough to think that she'd be there. But she was wrong.

"Alright I'll try and make this as painless as possible if you just come out" Chloe heard Bif speak, she was terrified for her life right now so she closed her eyes and hoped that he would just get it over with.

"Ha found you, you little rat" Bif smirked and grabbed Chloe by the collar of her blouse.

"Just get it over with alright, I don't have all day" Chloe commented sarcastically which wasn't a clever move as Bif had struck her stomach with a solid punch. Bif had left Chloe on the floor quivering in fear and agony.

"Maybe that'll teach you to never cross us again" Bif laughed "god you're weak, that was me being nice."

Bif had vacated the locker room leaving Chloe in a crumpled heap, luckily her first lesson for the day was English a lesson she automatically enjoyed despite how much her stomach was aching, she walked to her English class and sat down in her seat, her stomach dropped when Bif, the prep she had a beating from earlier walked through the door, she almost started crying at the sight of him, she averted her eyes from his direction. The English teacher strolled in and wrote his name on the blackboard.

"Usually I wouldn't write my name out like this however I am aware we have a new student with us today, that's great news considering we're just about to start a literature analysis unit, come up to the front miss Gravett and introduce yourself to your peers" Mr Galloway beamed with joy.

Chloe's heart sank, she didn't want to have to introduce herself, she asked herself why the teachers couldn't just acknowledge that she was there and get on with their class like Mr Hattrick did. Chloe sighed as she walked to the front, she introduced herself and then returned to her seat.

"Right, in this new unit we shall be analysing Shakespeare, and I know it's boring to keep returning to Shakespeare at this point, but the exciting thing is we will be doing a bit of role play for the next two weeks isn't that exciting," Mr Galloway explained in an eager tone "I'll start handing the texts out and I'll put you into groups of three because it's fairer that way."

There was quite an audible groan from most of the class, but Chloe still remained intrigued, she didn't get to do much of this type of work at her old school due to its lack of funding.

"Chloe I'll put you with Parker and Bif, those two are nice and are actually passing this class" Mr Galloway chuckled and placed a copy of Romeo and Juliet down on Chloe's desk, Chloe then moved over to sit with a prep she had never seen before, he had black hair and light olive skin. She did however start to freak out when Bif sat down, her stomach began to ache again reminding her of the incident in the locker room.

"This is a mistake" Chloe mumbled quietly and she then flipped to the first page of the play.

"I second that" Parker muttered.

"Right, I want you to decide on a scene you want to perform at the end of the two weeks, make sure it has enough characters for everyone in your group, make sure you analyse the techniques used and symbolism in the scene you'll be studying because you'll be doing a practice essay on it" Mr Galloway instructed "I may let you go and practice around the school ground."

"Sir I thought this was an English class, not drama" Bif criticised Mr Galloway suddenly.

"I know I know, but it's the only way to get some of you to learn this text considering you will have to be writing essays on it, quoting the sources without having the text in front of you" Mr Galloway sighed in response to Bif's criticism "right for the next hour you're free to go and practice wherever you'd like."

Chloe stood up and led her group to a nice secluded part of the school where they could practice the scene they wanted to do.