Hi guys, so in case you didn't know, I'm you just got stormed. If that means anything to you, don't shoot me :P. Pretty much, I used to write a lot on this site ("Why, Hello", "I Do?", "You Belong With Me", "Arranged", etc), then I quit for two years, and now I'm semi-back. As in, for the next couple of weeks I may be writing a bit- but not throughout the year- and at the end of this year/early next year I'm going to be re-doing all of my old Protector of the Small stories and making them (hopefully) better!

This is the equivalent of my old "Why, Hello". And I'm sorry it's not called "Why, Hello" but I decided that a fresh title was in order. It's going to be changed. It's going to be remodeled. It's going to be turned upside down and shaken around and...

Yeah ok, getting a bit carried away here ;) All you need to know is that it's a modern Protector of the Small Kel/Dom. Set in a high-school... well you'll see. Wouldn't want to spoil it all at once, would I!

Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to five amazing people that added me to their author alert! Already! So, here it is, to Alyss Mainwaring, kilysa, sokkr-rox, Reichuru and KsandraMallan! Cheers guys, and I hope you like it. Never fear if this chapter is a bit slow, because there's going to be more chapters!

Chapter One: "Welcome to Tortall Selective High School"

It was the brick wall, with its carefully chosen variety of browns and greys, and its shining, golden letters spelling out "TORTALL SELECTIVE HIGH SCHOOL", which first gave Kel an idea of what exactly- or more precisely, where- she had gotten into. She stared out the window of her mother's beaten red four-wheel-drive and suddenly understood the half-impressed, half-stunned looks on her local friends' faces when she'd casually mentioned that she'd be attending "Tortall High" that year. She hadn't known why they'd looked like that, but that simple brick wall explained a lot. It looked fancy. Very fancy. And quite possibly snobby.

"It looks… quite selective," Kel said hesitantly to her mother, attempting to find some positive words to describe her thoughts.

Ilane smiled across at her daughter, amusement twinkling in the sea-green eyes that Kel hadn't inherited. "I told you it was quite an impressive school. Now shall I drive you in or do you want to walk from here?"

Kel risked another glance across at that intimidating brick wall. Thick trees hid whatever was behind it, but she could see next to the gate the beginning of a long, winding gravel driveway. The summer sunlight, which had been trapped behind a cloud, was released, and chose just that moment to beam upon the wall. The golden letters glinted and glared in the new light, making Kel want to cover her eyes. Somewhere behind that wall and those trees was her new school, her new life. And she was not about to let that brick wall or those golden letters scare her away.

"Thanks, Mama, but I'll walk." Opening the door, she hopped out of the car, glancing self-consciously at her reflection in the windows. Kel had never been the sort of girl to spend long at the mirror, but today she felt oddly nervous. It was probably the move. Tortall was very different, very far from Yaman, and she probably still hadn't adjusted to the time difference. At least that's what she told herself. She grabbed her large sports bag out of the back of the car, and walked to her mother's window to kiss her on the cheek. Ilane knew better than to offer to walk her daughter in; Kel had always liked to be independent and at sixteen, considered herself capable enough to do most things.

"I'll see you next weekend," Ilane said in her melodic voice. "Have a good week, alright, dear?"

Kel nodded and let herself have one last hug. "See you then, Mama."

Kel was almost beginning to regret walking after the fourth bend in the road. She still couldn't see the school, and it had been several hundred metres. The long walk wasn't exactly helping her nerves, as much as she hated to admit it, and she forced herself to slip into the breathing exercises that she'd learnt in Yaman. In. Out. In. I am like a smooth rock. Out. A still stream. In. I can do this. Out. It's just a new school.

As she rounded the next bend, she was relieved to have found the school. The wall had been a good warning; the school buildings themselves would have shocked her if she hadn't have seen the wall. They were in keeping with it, all harmonised grey-and-brown bricks and smooth lawns. And the entrance was even labelled, more golden letters reading "RECEPTION". Kel headed towards this, cutting across the lawns before realising that these were probably off-limits, and dodging back onto the path.

She swung open the door labelled "RECEPTION" and walked inside. There was no one at the desk, but there were various hallways and doors around. Nervously, Kel straightened her blue t-shirt and composed her face, making it still and unreadable like she'd been taught in Yaman. She spotted a bell on the counter and leaned forwards to ring it, but voices in one of the hallways stopped her.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Jon!" This voice was female, and it sounded angry. Kel stood very still. "Forbidding me from going near the second girl ever to be admitted into our sports program, really? What am I going to do? Give her a magic charm to make her succeed?"

Another voice came, this time male and calm and reasonable. "You know that's what the parents want to believe. You know how most of them feel about this, they don't approve! You just have to let the girl prove herself. She's meant to be good. If she can't prove that she is, then she shouldn't be here. She doesn't need you interfering."

With a slight shock, Kel realised that she herself was the subject of this conversation, and also that she probably didn't want to hear the rest. She reached forward and pressed the bell, which proceeded to make a loud and obnoxious ringing sound.

"I'll get it," the female voice spoke again, laced with exasperation. "You go back to your important principal-ly duties or whatever you do around here."

"Alanna-" the male voice began, this time slightly frustrated, but footsteps stomped around the corner and Kel looked up to see a short, stocky woman with bright red hair striding towards her. The woman halted abruptly at the sight of Kel, looking her up and down, and Kel had to force herself not to squirm. This had to be Alanna Cooper, the only woman to have ever gotten into the sports program at Tortall High. Well, "gotten in" was a bit of a loose term... "Snuck in, dressed as a boy" was probably a more accurate description of Alanna Cooper's career at Tortall High. Nonetheless, the famed "Lioness" had definitely proved herself, and was a pioneer for women in basketball, athletics and soccer. Actually, she was probably the pioneer for women in most-

"You must be Keladry," Alanna said, her tone giving nothing away. "I'm Alanna Cooper. I teach sports here."

Kel repressed her excitement and instead nodded calmly, holding out her hand to shake Alanna's. "Nice to meet you, miss."

Alanna stepped closer to grab her hand, and with a shock, Kel noticed just how short she really was. She didn't even reach Kel's chin, but instead only made it to her shoulder. Alanna, however, didn't seem fazed by this, and Kel supposed that she was used to being dwarfed. "I'll get you your timetable."

Kel nodded, and turned away, but the male voice, whom Kel assumed was the principal, also joined then. "Hello, Keladry, I'm Mr Conte. Welcome to Tortall Selective High School." He introduced himself with a smooth flash of white teeth and twinkling blue eyes, but Kel was finding it distinctly hard to warm to him after overhearing what he had to say about her.

Alanna was obviously having similar thoughts, as she banged the top of the printer shut, muttering rude words under her breath. She handed Kel a timetable, managed a kind of grimace-smile, and stomped off back down the hall, shooting Jon a glare as she passed.

Kel glanced down at her timetable, eyeing the list of subjects at the edge to see that they'd gotten them right. "English, standard. Advanced mathematics. Biology. Personal development and health (PDH). Sports studies. Japanese extension (distance studies). Sports program," the paper read, all of which Kel confirmed in her head as correct. She glanced at Monday's schedule and found that she had maths first, followed by biology, a double Sports studies and a double Sports program, whatever those were. Alanna had also given her a map of the school and scrawled her room number- which seemed to be "B75". Just how big was this place, anyway? A key was sticky-taped onto the back of the timetable, and Kel tore it off absent-mindedly. Looking up, she found that Mr Conte was still there, his blue eyes like spots of ocean on his face.

"I'll find you someone to show you your room," he offered cheerfully, but Kel shook her head. She hadn't seen any other students around, and she would rather make her own friends rather than be forced upon someone else. "It's fine, sir, I have a map."

"In that case, I hope that you have a good first day, Keladry," he said pleasantly, and Kel smiled and thanked him and pretended she had heard nothing.

After several wrong turns, Kel managed to find what was labelled as "The Sports Wing" on the map, and headed up a flight of stairs to "rooms B42 to B80", which would hopefully include her room. The place was massive. They apparently had an "Arts Wing" along with the "Sports Wing" and "Academic Wing" and also a "Dancing, Gymnastics and Equestrian Wing", which Kel didn't entirely understand, because weren't those sports as well? Nonetheless, she strode down "Sports Wing" corridor 2, sports bag bouncing against her leg, reading the numbers from the doors. 73… 74…

She reached room 75 only to discover that someone had decided it was a good idea to cover the doorhandle in vegetable oil. "So funny," Kel muttered to herself, before digging in her bag, grabbing a tissue, and unlocking and opening the door that way. She stepped inside, skied halfway across the room in what seemed to be another patch of oil and ended up face-first down on her bed after hitting it in her slippery adventure. She got up slowly, flicked on the light and saw that her mysterious prankster had written on the wall mirror "Take yourself to the arts wing, Girls dont belong here."

"Not even an apostrophe in 'don't'," Kel commented aloud, trying to make light of the situation. She couldn't deny that all of this, seemingly just to try to scare her off, was not only annoying but worrying. But she was not going to let that get to her. It was her first day, she'd made it into the Tortall High Sports Program- "sorry, the Tortall Selective High School," she corrected herself under her breath- and she'd just met the famous Lioness. Today was already good, and it was going to get better.