I clutched my schedule in my hands, walking down the hall with my bag slung over one shoulder. Room 209, where was room 209? Based on the numbers I was passing, I was getting close.

Finally, I saw it at the end of the hall. Room 209. I broke into a trot, and walked into the classroom. I looked upon the sea of white, red and gold uniforms, searching for a place to sit. My eyes landed upon an empty seat in the third row, and I walked over to it and sat down.

"Are you new?"

I looked to my left to see my deskmate. She was shorter than me, but only by a little bit. Her hair was a color that was on the borderline between brown and blonde, and she had eyes that were on the borderline between blue and green. She had a small turned up nose, very much like mine, and a square jaw. Her hair was pulled up into a very high ponytail, and I could tell that it was very, very long.

"Oh! Um, yeah," I said, giving her a tentative smile.

She gave me a giant grin in return. Okay, this one was friendly. That was potentially dangerous. "I'm Beck," she said, extending a hand for me to shake. "Beck Wolf."

"Like the famous solar surfer?" I blurted, before catching myself.

She chuckled. "Yeah, like the famous solar surfer."

I shook her hand, embarrassed. "I'm Jim Hawkins," I said.

"It's nice to meet you, Jim!" she said, pumping my arm up and down. Oh no. She was enthusiastic. Perhaps I had chosen my seat incorrectly. After a moment, she said, "It's unusual of them to let students in mid-year. Who recommended you?"

"Captain Amelia," I said.

Her head snapped towards me. "Say what now?"

"Captain Amelia? Amelia Doppler?" I said.

"Yeah, I know who Captain Amelia is. The dean recommended you?!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah…" I said.

"What on earth did you do to get the dean's attention?" she asked, sounding impressed.

"I-" I started, but the bell rang and the teacher walked into the room. I smiled upon recognizing a familiar face. This was Doc's class.

"Good morning, students!" he called.

"Good morning, Doctor Doppler," the class called back.

"Alright. Now, the first order of business today is introducing a new student!" he said, hands on his hips.

Shit. I suppose this was unavoidable, but… still. Shit. The last thing in the whole universe I wanted to do was get up in front of a bunch of high school students and be forced to answer their questions.

"I would like to introduce Jim Hawkins!" said Doc, beckoning me to the front of the class. I obliged, but I wasn't thrilled about it. "Now Jim, why don't you tell the class a little about yourself?" he suggested.

I looked out over the class, and found that every eye was turned towards me. Beck was even leaning forward in her seat, an eager expression on her face.

"I'm Jim Hawkins," I said. Shit, the doc had already said that.

"Where are you from?" called a student in the back.

"Montressor," I supplied, nervously.

"The mining planet?" asked the same student.

"Um… yeah," I said.

I heard someone whisper something to their deskmate, and they snickered loudly and rudely. I flushed. Yeah, I know Montressor isn't exactly a rich place. But it's home.

"Jim, tell them about what happened a couple of months ago," prompted Doppler.

I groaned inwardly. "Last month, I got home from a months long voyage in space," I began. "The voyage was captained by Captain Amelia, and financed by Doctor Doppler. We went to find Treasure Planet," I said.

I heard someone snort. "You were on that boat that chased a myth?"

"It's not a myth!" I protested. "It exists! We found it!"

"It's true," said the doc, backing me up. "We did indeed find Treasure Planet. Jim found the map, and was the only person who could open it."

The class murmured, seeming to finally believe me now that Doctor Doppler backed me up. I looked over at Beck. She looked shocked. I shuffled back to my seat, and the class commenced.

Someone slammed my locker shut as I grabbed my textbook for the next class. I jumped, and looked over to see Beck leaning on the lockers. "Holy crap, Jimbo," she said, sounding impressed.

"Don't scare me like that!" I protested, nearly dropping my book.

"Sorry," she said, wincing. "Didn't mean to."

"What exactly do you mean by 'holy crap'?" I asked, a bit harsher than I meant to.

"You found Treasure Planet?!" she exclaimed. "You! You did!"

"Yeah," I said.

"I always knew it was real," she said, smirking. "Hey, want some help finding your next class?"

I was about to protest, but decided against it. Even though I was a proud bastard, I was completely lost in this massive school.

"Oh hey, you have shop next. That's right next to my next class!" she said, looking at my schedule. She grabbed my arm, and began to walk. I followed her, but pulled my arm out of her grasp.

"I can lead myself," I said, not unkindly.

She smirked again. "Sorry," she said. "I get excited."

"So I've noticed," I mumbled.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing."

"Alright, here we are," she said, after a while. "Shop is in there. Meet me after class?"

"Why?" I said rudely, before I'd even realized I'd said it. The moment that word left my mouth I wished I could take it back.

"Because you'll need help finding your next class," she said. "Catchya later, Jimbo!"