"This place looks like it's right out of a fucking book. How is it I'm here again?"

Stepping into the foyer of Dalton, Sebastian Smythe felt like a prince from his favorite fairy tales. He still didn't understand how he ended up at a place like Dalton Academy. With his uniform he looked the part, but he felt completely out of place.

He himself seemed to be made of legs, or maybe that was just because his pants were high waisted. He had long arms, perfectly coiffed, chestnut brown hair that may have stood a few inches too high, and piercing emerald green eyes.

His family wasn't made of money, that he knew, and it kept him confused as to how his parents could afford to send him to a place like Dalton. The tuition had to be ridiculous, the attitudes snotty, but the classes more challenging. That was what excited Sebastian most, because his last school didn't challenge him at all. Hopefully he could push himself to apply himself to do well instead of reading through his classes and still acing everything.

He always thought of himself as more of the bookish type. Though being naturally thin, he would much rather sit inside and read or plunk out a tune on the piano than pick up a football or run across a field. The few unpopular activities he could have done at his old school were his favorites: holing up in the library during study hall, getting the leads in all the school musicals (even though he didn't really want them. He thought there were definitely more talented people than him who deserved those roles more), practicing to become a concert pianist, or choosing books over popularity. He was always the outcast of sorts, but his friends always lay within the worlds he read about.

Hopefully he could find somewhere to fit, but in the mean time he needed to figure out where the hell he was going. This place looked and felt like a maze, so naturally Sebastian felt lost. He never had a good sense of direction at the best of times, but this felt more like the worst of times. Hallway after hallway looked the same and he had a sinking feeling he was walking in circles. "That statue looks awfully familiar," he thought.

After wandering around for what felt like ever and with terrible directions from other Daltonites, he finally found his room with all of his things already there. "At least all of my shit is here. Now I can decorate how I want to," he said as he reached in his trunk and grabbed a roll of posters. Now, just because he wasn't a sports player didn't mean he didn't follow sports. He hung his Bayern München poster alongside his Fight Club, Harry Potter, and Kingdom Hearts posters. Sebastian also had a bit of a nerdy streak in him, having enjoyed his fair share of the Final Fantasy series, Halo, and Kingdom Hearts.

His parents paid a little extra to make sure he had his own room so he could focus on studying, but he wouldn't mind if other things happened. Not that they ever did, though. He never felt good enough about himself to even let someone else get that close. He wasn't comfortable enough with his own body, which he saw as needing serious improvement, and he didn't think he would ever be able to keep up with someone if they did decide to like him. I didn't help that he thought sex was something special; meaning people usually gave up after one date.

Classes kept him busy enough to forget about being single. They definitely challenged him more. He actually got lost in his French class, which was especially weird for Sebastian because he lived in France for a time. His biggest struggle was always science (he prided himself on being a man of words), so Chemistry absolutely baffled him. Luckily, his lab partner Nick was a whiz. He always helped Sebastian out when he needed it.

Speaking of Nick, it took Sebastian a few days, but he started to make some friends. First, of course, was Nick, Then his roommate Jeff, followed by their friends Wes and David. They had frequent coffee/study dates where Nick tried to make Chem make sense for Sebastian and it just wasn't working. Jeff couldn't stop chuckling.

"What's so funny?" Sebastian asked.

Jeff didn't waste a second. "Chemistry isn't that hard. It's all rather rational and it fits together. No one should ever have a problem.

Sebastian just looked back to his paper and wondered if he was going to be able to hack it here. He was finally in a place where he was challenged, but everyone around him seemed light years ahead of him. This may or may not have been a good move. He'll have to wait and see.

"It's ok, Seb. I promise you'll understand. I'll help you the best I can so you'll do well. Okay? It'll be fine." Nick tried to assure Sebastian, but all Sebastian could do was hang his head and wish he was better than he was.

"So…Sebastian…" Jeff was trying to break the tension lingering over him, "do you do anything besides class?"

"Well, I've taken piano for 10 years and I like singing in the shower. That's about the extent of it, other than reading and video games," he responded.

"Oh my god, you should check out AND audition for the Warblers!" Nick exclaimed.

"Who're the Warblers?"

"They're amazing. They're our equivalent of a Glee club. It's an a cappella ensemble and is known across the States."

"And it doesn't make up biased that we're in it," Jeff added.

"All of us," Wes said. "I'm president and David is my VP. We all have a ton of fun and we always do well at competitions."

"Come at least audition? You'll have all of our support," Nick almost sang.

"Ok. I'll come and sing. I can't promise it'll be good, but I'll hope something decent comes out." Sebastian wasn't sure of what he could do, but he sure did miss singing.

The next evening around 5 Sebastian nervously walked to the Warbler practice room and gave himself one last chance to turn back and enjoy being just another student instead of part of something greater than himself.

He took a breath and opened the door…