Disclaimer: Took awhile to get this up. Computer problems galore…but I'm fine now! Mental breakdown averted! This is a sequel to my previous fic, When We Were Young (read it, it's cute, good, and a prequel. Not necessary, but some references will be made.) and follows the lives of our favorite characters. I planned this to be the first high school fic, but since I wanted to wait until I beat the game, others beat me to it. Ah, well, who cares? I beat the game, here's your fic. I'll update as often as I can.

Also, I'm gonna make a Gwendolyn bracelet. I have the design; I just need to simplify it (her boots are hell. Those colors…) and get the colors I need. Wish me luck!

Enjoy!

Chapter One

Despite knowing her best friend was guaranteed to be in her class, Gwendolyn woke up on her first day back in public school filled with dread. Sure, she trusted Mercedes, but they hadn't spent much time together over the past few years. How could they, when Titania Prep was hours away, and Mercedes's only transportation was Griselda, who hated driving! It wasn't like Odin went out of his way to visit his youngest daughter. So, yes, she trusted Mercedes, but still, from today on, until she gained her own status and made more friends.

For the first time in her life, Gwendolyn regretted not making more friends her own age. It was understandable, after all Mercedes wasn't the most agreeable person out there. In fact, on a scale of one to ten concerning agreeable, she was a negative three. It came from being the only child of a woman who loved to (and could) spoil her darling daughter (and, on occasion, her daughter's best friend). And she was a loyal friend who wrote weekly and called daily (or rather, nightly), but what if she had changed in the last month? They'd both been busy with school preparations, and their only contact had been texting (which Gwendolyn was firmly against).

"Stop angsting and get moving," Griselda said from the doorway. She was staying at home while waiting for her third (and final!) semester at the University of Erion to begin. As the eldest of the sisters, and other than the maid, the only one home, she had made it her responsibility to see her sister off. "You'll be fine. You and Mercedes are so close I've been thinking of a coming out party."

"But—" Gwendolyn began, but didn't finish. Griselda had a point. She and Mercedes were best friends since nursery school, when Mercedes had crammed clay into the mouth of a kid harassing Gwendolyn. Her worries were for nothing, especially since the last text she received threatened to kidnap her if her father changed his mind and shipped her back to Titantia. The only thing Griselda was wrong about was—"Griselda, if we were a couple, don't you think we would have mentioned it? That'd be like—like dating you!" Her nose wrinkled.

Griselda laughed, turning to leave. "I know, I know, I just had to say it." She shut the door before the pillow hit it.

The hallways buzzed, morning talk consisting of boys, girls, the summer, and class schedules. Not even Oswald was exempt, being dragged into a conversation by his (possibly only) friend, Brom, and his off-and-on girlfriend, Myris. He liked them well enough, but they never seemed to get that he didn't care whose party got busted up by the police, who cheated on who, or other such teen drama. Still, he listened with feigned interest, silently counting down the minutes until the bell rang.

"Oswald? Are you listening?" Myris demanded, hands on hips. She had picked the habit up from Mercedes, his father's cousin, and used it well. Very few challenged a girl that looked like she would rip their head off and use it as a soccer ball. Oswald nodded. "Good. Then you won't mind?"

"Uh, sure, I mean, no, I mean, whatever you want," he stammered.

"Good," she grinned, then skipped off.

"What did I just agree to?"

Brom also grinned. "Lending her Belderiver for this weekend."

"What? No!" Oswald protested. Beledriver was his car, brand new, burgundy red with a plush interior (not leather, his father had advised him, as leather seats were fond of keeping generous amounts of skin on hot days) and the closest thing Oswald would ever have to a child. The only person other than him allowed to drive it was Melvin, and only because he paid for it, and its hefty insurance. "She'll ruin it!"

An almost sadistic look came into Brom's eyes. "You could always tell her you weren't listening. I'm sure she won't mind you ignoring her. And lying"

Like that was an option. She'd yell at him about how rude he was, then cry because he was breaking his promise. Oswald didn't deal well with tears. In fact, whenever he saw someone crying, he ran in the other direction (which didn't always work out, as Mercedes had no qualms about chasing him until he agreed to comfort her, which often meant an unnatural amount of ice cream).

"If she puts even a scratch on my Belderiver, I'm telling her about every complaint you've ever voiced, and some you haven't."

Brom paled. "Right. I'll make sure nothing happens."

"Good."

Mercedes ran into the classroom, expecting Gwendolyn to already be there, but breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't see her friend. She had meant to make Oswald drive the both of them to school, but by the time she woke up he'd already left, and she had been running let. He mother had offered to write a note excusing her from her first few classes so she could enjoy the morning having a leisurely breakfast in the garden, but Mercedes could picture Gwendolyn's reaction to that. She wouldn't yell, but she'd get this disappointed look in her eyes and tell her not to worry about it, it was only her first day back, it wasn't like it was all that special. Guilt was her specialty, and she used it well.

Her usual seat, in the back corner, right next to the window, was open, though the seat next to it was occupied, as was the one before it. Mercedes marched over, dropped her bag in her seat, and addressed the person in Gwedolyn's seat.

"Move, Onyx." Who the hell dyes their hair white? And goes tanning? Geez, the massive muscles must've messed with his brain, she thought.

"I left you your precious window seat, so back off," he grumbled. Last year, the two had vied for the spot, racing to class daily and using friends as distractions to impede the other, but the competition had ended when Mercedes had demonstrated her willingness to do anything for her favorite seat. Onyx wasn't a fool—he could only use dissolvent so many times before it removed his hair along with the glue/paint/honey/gum.

"Yes, but now you're in my friend's seat. So move."

Onyx scoffed "What friend?"

"My long lost lesbian lover. You really want to come in between our reunion?" she snapped.

He paused, musing over the subject, then smirked. "Sure. Sounds fun."

Mercedes rolled her eyes. "It's sarcasm, Onyx. Learn it. She's my best friend since we were kids, and if you don't move, you're going to be right in the middle of our gossip, nefarious plotting, and trust me, you'll hear about your doom before it happens. And it will be painful."

Onyx looked at her. If she could see inside his mind, Mercedes would bet that he was thinking losing his hair again. Even the self-appointed Don Juan of Ragnanival High couldn't carry off being bald, and he quickly moved across the room, where one of his many girlfriends awaited.

The door slid open and Oswald rushed in, sitting in the first available seat. Mercedes sighed. She'd been trying to get him to embrace the joy and freedom of the back row with her, but her cousin believed in getting a good education and forced the ideals off on his son. Melvin could be so naïve about the world of teenagers.

Again, the door opened, this time for a blonde man, followed by a pale haired girl. Gwendolyn hadn't changed much over the last year. There was the expected change in height, but even that was miniscule. Like Mercedes, she had done most of her growing, with only a few inches left to reach. Unlike Mercedes, though, she was five-and-a-half feet tall, while Mercedes brushed five when she stretched. She used to believe she'd shoot up with the onset of puberty, but unfortunately she saw a picture of her father. Common sense said that if she took after her mother in most aspects, she would take after her father in some. That area was height.

Gwendolyn, who took after her magazine model mother, glanced around nervously, eyes wide and frightened. Mercedes waited a moment, then waved happily, catching Gwendolyn's eye. The scared look disappeared and she waved back. A few students turned, but others, ones who had been in the same classes with them before, didn't bother.

"As you can see, class, we have a new student. This is Gwendolyn Hugin, and she's just come back to our school after studying abroad in Titania. Please help her adjust to our system. Now, Gwendolyn, if you'll take a seat, we can do the usual welcome back jazz. The sooner it's done, the sooner you all can get back to your bragging about who had the best summer vacation."

Mercedes pointed to the seat next to her, which wasn't necessary as Gwendolyn was already headed for it.

"What are you wearing?" was the first thing out of her mouth, followed by a "And why do I want my own?"

"Everyone does," giggled Mercedes, pulling her flower headband off. "Mom made it. Isn't it wonderful?"

Gwendolyn nodded, fingering the acrylic blooms.

Cornelius cleared his throat. "If you girls are done chatting, I'd like to get this over with."

"Oh, start whenever, we'll catch up," Mercedes said, waving cheerfully. In the front, Oswald cradled his head.

"Sorry, sir, we'll be quiet," Gwendolyn rushed to add.

"Thank you. And yes, Mercedes, we all want our own bunch of flowers to wear on our head. Maybe, to keep us from being too jealous, you'll leave it at home tomorrow? Now, everyone write down your information on these index cards. Name, emergency information, and schedule, not likes, dislikes, and status. I don't think I could care less about who's dating who."

"Okay, everything's done. Since it's the first day, giving you homework would only make my life harder, so either stay here and chat or go find something to do. But don't leave!" Cornelius yelled as half the class fled the room.

Gwendolyn turned to Mercedes. "Um, is he always like that?"

Her fair-haired friend grinned cheekily. "Yep. He's really popular because he doesn't care what we do as long as we get our work done. Oh, and don't get him in trouble. Oh, and get this," she motioned for Gwendolyn to lean in as she did the same. "He's dating—and living with—Velvet!"

The news had the desired effect. Gwendolyn gasped, looked at the teacher, who returned her looked quizzically, then back at Mercedes. "No!"

"Yes, and more than that! They're pre-engaged!"

"Velvet? Oh, I can't believe I'm so out of the loop! Is there anything else I missed?"

"Tons! Ingway's in college, still studying those horrible things," Mercedes shivered. "And he lives in a dorm. It's way cool, but I barely get to go there. He's always in his lab, working on some experiment or another."

"A college boy barely in his room when a cute girl wants to go there? What has this world come to?" Onyx interrupted, sitting in the seat before Gwendolyn's. "Hi, I'm Onyx."

Gwendolyn glanced him over, a habit she picked up from her dorm mate back at Titania Prep, and shook his hand. "I'm Gwendolyn."

"Yes, I gathered that from your introduction earlier," Onyx replied.

"Why are you being nice?" Mercedes muttered, suspicion lacing her voice.

"Why wouldn't I be nice to a new student? She hasn't done anything to me."

"Actually it was her idea to attack your hair. So blame her for your temporary baldness."

Gwendolyn blushed, remembering that, indeed, it had been her idea. She hadn't known the effect, but the trap set to go off when an unsuspecting victim sat was her design, as was the brilliance of pouring glue on said victim. At the time, she would have never thought she'd meet the loathsome thief Mercedes had mentioned.

"It may have been her idea, but you were the one who did it. Besides, how can I be angry at such a lovely creature?"

She blushed again, though unwillingly. Already Gwendolyn knew that the boy in front of her was a womanizer, to whom one girl was the same as another, and someone she wanted nothing to do with. Her father had attempted to set her up with plenty, and she knew plenty of girls who dated such guys, thinking their attitude was just the exterior and they could change them.

How's that going for them? Not good. Why? Because jerkass womanizers will always be jerkass womanizers. Unless the jerkass womanizing is just a façade, which only happens in movies.

"Jeez, Onyx, lay off. She just got here. Wait at least a week before you prove that this school has nothing to offer by way of guys," said Mercedes, wrinkling her nose. "C'mon, Gwendolyn, let's go tease Cornelius about Velvet."

Gwendolyn nodded, quickly following in the tactical escape.

When Oswald returned from the vending machines (the cacao bars were gone, no surprise—damn Mercedes, couldn't she leave anything for anyone else?) he was both surprised and not at what he saw. Mercedes was standing at the front desk, which was a normal occurrence, considering her friendship with Cornelius's girlfriend, but with her stood the new girl. What was her name? Gwen something. Gwenivere? Gwenyth?

"Anyway, you should make sure not to be mean to us, 'cause Velvet and us are tight. She may not mind you giving me detention—we found that out last year—but upset Gwendolyn and she'll kill you. Gwendolyn's the little sister she never had." Mercedes winked conspiratorially. "Once she asked Griselda to trade."

Oh, yes, it was Gwendolyn, the other person Mercedes was always talking about.

"I almost accepted," Gwendolyn giggled. "The look on Ingway's face when he realized that meant Griselda would be his little sister was priceless."

"I have a picture somewhere."

Cornelius looked intrigued. "Really? Is there I chance I could get a look at that?"

"Sure. Oh, Oswald, you're back."

Oswald nodded, going to stand with the group. If he didn't Mercedes would harp until he did. She was very good at that. Why was he surrounded by such women? Even Elfaria had to have her way all the time. Hopefully this new girl wouldn't be like that. If she was, and they got into an argument…well, he just hoped that never happened. It'd really be a lose-lose situation.

"Gwennie, this is Melvin—you remember him? We hid a snake in his bed once?—Oswald's his son. And my cousin, but you'd never know it from looking."

Gwendolyn did look, back and forth between the two, obviously not seeing any resemblance, but searching. Oswald didn't look anything like his family. Where they had blonde hair, fragile features, and suntanned skin, he had silver hair, harsh and angular features, and pale skin that only burned, making picnics unbearable. They did all have red eyes, but his shade was more intense while theirs bordered on brown. It made perfect sense, of course, considering that he was adopted.

"You must take after your mother," Gwendolyn offered as an explanation. It'd be easy to take that way out, but while it may save face for himself, it would hurt another.

"I'm adopted. Melvin found me when I was young."

She nodded. "I suppose having a smart father makes up for having Mercedes as a cousin."

"Hey!" Mercedes cried, a hand over her chest. "That hurts, Gwendolyn, it really does. I'm a much better relative than Melvin. I'm fun."

There were a few things Oswald could say about that, such as pointing out her tendency to show up unannounced, borrowing his books without asking, trying to borrow Belderiver, but pointing that out wouldn't do much, other than annoy her. If Elfaria would stop spoiling her, maybe she wouldn't think everyone else would, but mentioning that would have disastrous results.

"Right, Oswald?"

With a silent curse, Oswald realized he had once again zoned out and missed an important question. Twice in one day—maybe he didn't eat a healthy enough breakfast?

"Right?"

"No, I don't agree," he said, remembering what happened earlier.

"What? I thought it was a good idea," Mercedes whined.

"It's okay, Mercedes, really," Gwendolyn said, trying to soothe the girl, who looked like she was about to cry.

Oswald had a feeling he got the answer wrong again. "I-I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. What did I just say no to?" He looked to Cornelius for help.

"Mercedes wants to throw a welcome back party for Gwendolyn. You disagreed," the teacher replied.

"I've only been planning this for weeks! Every since I found out Gwendolyn was coming back! I made everyone clear their schedule, got music, food, movies, all I needed to do was get you to agree to host it!" Tears welled up in her eyes, dangerously close to falling.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know! I'll talk to Melvin, I'm sure he'll say yes!"

The bell rang and students began filing back in.

Mercedes sniffed. "You promise?"

"Yes, of course! It'll be great! Right?" Oswald asked, looking at Gwendolyn in hopes that she would help him out.

"Yes, great fun. Don't feel guilty," she added to Oswald. "She's faking."

"Ah, Gwendolyn! You ruined it."

Oswald watched as she, who had just been so close to full on sobbing, cheered up instantly and wiped the tears off. He continued to watch as both girls went back to their desks, and as Mercedes winked.

"I just got conned. By my cousin."

Cornelius agreed.

"Does that make me pathetic?" Oswald asked, turning to his teacher.

"No, Oswald, not pathetic. Just male. Women like that have used men since the beginning of time. Luckily my Velvet's nothing like that."

"For now," Oswald replied, wanting to ruin the chipper mood. That'll teach him to brag.