Juliet POV

I pushed my dark red hair out of my eyes and contemplated my look. Light blue t-shirt, jeans, black flats. Auntie Tata always said that a good first impression could work wonders. Auntie...she was the only family I had left ever since my parents had died in a car crash. I'd been living with her from then on. I'd grown used to her eccentricities and quirks, her constant moving from one city to another. Then yesterday morning, Auntie had announced that we were finally going to stay permanently in Sweet Amoris, some town I'd never heard of. She had dragged me onto the plane and then, 3 hours later, we were there at Auntie's pre-bought condo.

"Juliet! Juliet Hermia! Breakfast's ready, eat fast so you can get to school on time!" came her sing-song voice, floating up from downstairs. Ugh, I hated it when she used my entire first name. Apparently my parents had been extreme Shakespeare fans. I was fond of Shakespeare, but not completely obsessed with it. I sniffed. Pancakes?

"Coming, Auntie!" I yelled back, and clomped down the stairs. Hm. Pancakes. I was right. Auntie Tata's actually not that bad of a cook, just that her recipes...are...let's just say...unconventional. Pancakes are too "normal" to be in Auntie's dish. I took one bite and gagged. Asparagus?! Yup, just another way to "introduce" a new ingredient to perfectly good pancakes.

Anyhow, I choked it down, and proceeded to hug Auntie goodbye, tell her that I would ride my bike to and from school, and jog to my bike. I pedaled as fast as I could, after glancing at my watch. Auntie had shown me around town yesterday, so I knew how to get to that high school. Three minutes later, and I was there. I locked my bike to the post and slung my backpack on.

I joined the throng of students milling about at the front entrance. A girl with blond hair and violet eyes jostled me and she apologized, but in the process stepping on my foot. I clapped my hands over my ears as soon as the bell rang, ostentatiously loud. Immediately, the principal, a short and stout old lady with gray hair tied up in a bun, sought me out. "Juliet Windsor?" she asked cheerfully. I nodded, and she beamed. "Lovely! For new students, see Nathaniel in the Student Council Room. Oh, and my name's Mrs. Shermansky, dear. Don't hesitate to call Nathaniel at the first sign of trouble or doubt. Star student, lovely boy, he is..." she waddled off back to her office. I walked into the room, where I saw a blond boy organizing papers with his back to me.

I cleared my throat. "Hi, I'm looking for Nathaniel?"

He turned around with a smile. He was cute, but not my type. "That's me. I presume you're the new student. Juliet, is it?" I nodded, and Nathaniel walked up to me with some papers. "Okay, to get you fully registered, we're going to need you to hand in a photo ID, a completed registration form, and $25."

I brightened. Who knew that Auntie could be so perceptive? She had given me an ID to carry around just in case, and had made me fill out the registration form before we got here. "Okay. Here they are." I handed him the form, $25, and the ID.

"Okay Juliet. We can get you registered now. Your first class will be at Classroom 2B, Language arts." He handed me my schedule and I left, waving a thanks as I strode out.

I breezed into Classroom 2B, trying to act confident. Thankfully, this class hadn't started yet, and I situated myself at the back (I have good eyesight), next to a girl with bright orange hair. She smiled. "Hi, you're new, aren't you? I'm Iris." She struck me as the kind of person I could actually make friends with.

I smiled back. "Yes. My name's Juliet. So, this class is Language arts, right?"