Disclaimer: I don't own Home & Away or any of their characters, but I do own fictional characters of my own creation that will appear in this fic.

Chapter 1

March 11, 1996

Stephanie Mboto arrived at Summer Bay High for another week of school. Stephanie moved to Summer Bay two months ago after being sent to live with Travis Nash and Kelly Watson, her new foster parents. Within that time, Stephanie made new friends in Sally Fletcher, Selina Roberts and Chloe Richards. Just as Stephanie opened her locker, a girl with frizzy brown hair made her way towards the corridor and made her way to the row of lockers Stephanie was at.

"Hi, are you new?" Stephanie asked the girl.

"What's it to you?" the girl asked her rudely.

"Well, it's not easy being a new student. I just thought I'd introduce myself. I'm Stephanie Mboto."

"Tiegan Brook." the girl replied, shaking Stephanie's hand.

"So, what year are you in?" Stephanie asked.

"Year 11." Tiegan replied.

"I'm Year 11 too." Stephanie said.

Tiegan smiled at Stephanie before saying, "You know something? I'm actually glad to make a friend."

Stephanie smiled back and replied, "I'm glad to hear that. I try and be friendly to the new people I meet."

"So, how long have you been at this school for now?" Tiegan asked.

"Since the start of the school year. I've moved around a lot over the years." Stephanie said.

"I've lived here before." Tiegan said.

"Have you?"

"Yeah." Tiegan said. "I lived with a foster family at the local caravan park for about three weeks last August."

"Pippa, right?" Stephanie said, realising who Tiegan was talking about.

"Yeah."

The school bell rang.

"Time for roll-call." Stephanie said.

"My roll-call class is in one of the English classrooms." Tiegan said.

Stephanie looked at Tiegan's timetable. "It looks like you're in the same roll-call class as me. Come on, I'll lead the way."

"Thanks." Tiegan said before she followed Stephanie to their roll-call class.

Later, Sally Fletcher was finishing her Biology homework when the Year 11 school bitch, Sonia Hammond, strolled over to her.

"Oh, look at this! Fletcher's doing her homework!" Sonia sneered.

Sally rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Sonia?" she asked in an annoyed tone.

"I just wanted to let you know what a nerd you are." Sonia smirked.

"Just leave me alone!" Sally snapped.

"Can't do that. Sorry." Sonia laughed.

"Leave my foster sister alone, you cow!" a voice shouted out.

Sonia jumped up to find Tiegan, Stephanie and Selina walking towards her.

"Well, what do we have here?" Sonia sneered, undeterred by Tiegan's threat. "Come to be Sally's saviour, have we?!"

"Just rack off, Sonia." Selina said angrily.

"I'm not intimidated by a little slut like you, Selina!" Sonia said, smirking.

"That's it!" Selina charged at Sonia, but Stephanie and Sally held her back.

"Selina, she's not worth it." Stephanie said.

"Exactly." Sally said.

"Go on. None of you have the guts to hit me." Sonia mocked.

"Is that right?" Tiegan asked her.

Then all of a sudden, Tiegan punched Sonia right in the face!

"How's that for a hit?!" Tiegan shouted.

Sonia glared at Tiegan, while wiping her bloodied nose.

"Oh, you are going to regret that!" Sonia growled.

"Leave Sally alone! In fact, leave my new friends alone! Got that?!" Tiegan yelled.

Without saying another word, Sonia stormed off.

"You okay, Sal?" Tiegan asked her foster sister.

"I'm okay now." Sally replied.

"Wanna go to the diner for lunch?" Selina asked the girls.

"Sounds like a great idea." Stephanie said.

"Then, let's do it." Selina said.

When lunch break started, Tiegan met up with Stephanie near the bicycle rack out the front of the school.

"So, how's your day been so far?" Stephanie asked her new friend.

"It's been okay, but I've been having problems." Tiegan replied.

"What sort of problems?" Stephanie said, looking concerned.

"I have a learning disability." Tiegan said.

"Are you dyslexic?" Stephanie asked her.

Tiegan looked down before replying, "I have analphabetism."

"What's that?"

"The inability to read and write." Tiegan said.

"Your writing seemed fine in class." Stephanie said.

"I've been getting extra lessons to fix my illiteracy."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Stephanie said, giving Tiegan a sympathetic look.

"Don't worry about it." Tiegan said. "Now, tell me about yourself."

"Well, I was born in Somalia. My father and sister were killed in separate massacres, while my mother fled Somalia. A doctor took me to live with him in England, but he died a few years later. When that happened, I arrived in Australia and lived with a foster family in Brisbane for a few months. I was then sent to live with another foster family, although this time they lived in Sydney. I lived there until the beginning of this year." Stephanie said.

"Sounds like you've been through a lot." Tiegan said.

"I have." Stephanie replied.

At this point, Selina walked over to them.

"Ready to go to the diner?" she asked Stephanie and Tiegan.

"You bet." Stephanie replied.

"Chloe and Sal are already there." Selina said.

The three girls then started walking to the diner to have their lunch.

NEXT TIME...
- Sonia Hammond wants revenge on Tiegan
- Stephanie plans an outing with her friends
- Selina falls head over heels for the star of the Summer Bay High rugby team
- Sally gets a phone call from her old friend, Gloria