August, the month of summer's dying breath. The sun shone brightly, and the birds chirped with vigor as they settled on the branches of the lush trees. There was no doubt about it: summer had not ended yet. But for many students around the world, summer had most certainly ended, and the disappointed and anxious looking adolescent who stepped out of a bright, yellow bus was not an exception. An equally miffed girl followed behind him. A stern and, frankly, bitchy looking lady glared at the lad and the girl as they approached the iron gate. ''You're late.' The lady said. As if the they could have done anything to speed up that bus! Best to let that one ride. As the useless comment rode, the lady continued. ''I've been so free as to inform the headmaster about your delay, so you can hurry on ahead and meet him in his study. Go on, children!'' And on the children went, across the path that led to the school building. The path met two others at a certain point, both of which led to different buildings. The building on the left drew the most attention, not because it was imposing, but because it was being bombarded with perpetrators didn't have much time to finish their work, as an angry man in a blue suit decided to start chasing them around the school. A bizarre sight indeed... Did that happen all the time, or was this just to impress the newcomers? In any case, the newcomers were quite impressed. So impressed that they picked up their pace and walked into the school building. Another man in blue approached them immediately after they came in, but thankfully not with the intention of chasing them around the school. ''You're the new kids, right? Crabblesnitch' office is upstairs.'' The 'new kids' followed the man as he led them to Crabblesnitch' office. Crabblesnitch. What a name! The young man resolved not to mention that during his first conversation with this Crabblesnitch. In the meantime, the three of them had arrived at the headmaster's study. The man in blue opened the door, allowing the other two to walk right into the office. There had never been a finer gentleman. A stern, weary voice greeted them. ''There you are! You're late!'' The fascination with time among old people these days,.. ''Miss. Danvers informed me in time that you were delayed, so there's no harm done. But do try to be punctual! We value that here at Bullworth Academy.'' Really? They did? Quickly, ring the New York Times! ''... At any rate, welcome! Shay Bonham, correct? And...'' The principal gave the girl a curious look. ''... Alice.'' The girl sounded a bit annoyed. Understandable. First, a rant about punctuality, and to top it all off, he'd forgotten her name to boot! ''Alice, of course. Welcome, Shay and Alice, to Bullworth Academy.'' The most crooked and forced smile in history defiled Crabblesnitch' face. ''We are a well-known and moreover, well-respected school, and we greatly value our tradition of stern discipline, strict schedules and strong moral fiber!...'' One of those stories, was it? Shay nor Alice were particularly interested. Shay and Alice Bonham. Two sixteen year old adolescents, born in a family of an Irishman and his American wife. The former inspected the office whilst enjoying Crabblesnitch' story about tradition and honor. The headmaster seemed to be a well-read man, or at least, he enjoyed pretending to be one. Most likely the latter. The office was quite ornate, too. A snob as well, lovely. ''Now, children.'' A sharp raising of his voice interrupted Shay's investigation. ''We've readied your uniforms. You can find those in your dorm rooms. I have to stress that we most certainly expect you to wear them!'' Shay nodded. ''Yes sir.'' He had no accent, despite his Irish ancestry, Neither did his sister, who was also nodding. ''Good.'' Crabblesnitch was pleased by his display of obedience. Prick. ''Furthermore... Classes start at nine and end at three thirty in the afternoon. Let it be known that we will NOT tolerate truancy! If we catch you skipping class... And we WILL!... Appropriate punishment will be given. The same goes for bouts of foul behavior! Do you both understand?'' They nodded again. ''Aye, sir.'' Shay liked saying that word. Archaic words in general. Crabblesnitch did, too, so he decided that one such word would make for a good ending note, and apparently, it did. ''Very good. You may take your leave, then!''
What a relief! They both walked out of the office in what could be considered a very well masked hurry. Alice was the first to sigh in relief. ''Not my type.'' Shay chuckled. ''I'm sure you'll find someone else.'' Alice and Shay had a very good relationship. They could always hang out, crack jokes and share their thoughts. Both of them were very happy about that, because the opposite is quite common and far less enjoyable. Alice got the joke, but she wasn't quite done complaining about the headmaster yet. ''Did you see his hair?!'' Shay lost his composure upon hearing that. ''H-His hair was... I can't even imagine why!'' He imagined that Crabblesnitch would go to the barber shop and simply tell him to 'mess up his hair', with his current coupe as a result. ''He's a trendsetter! Next thing you know, we'll all look like Hitler.'' That was a risky joke. Thankfully, none of the staff heard it. The man from before approached them again when he spotted them outside the building. ''You know where the dorms are, right?'' Neither of them were completely certain. The man pointed in the direction of the school gate. ''The boy's dorm is on the right, and the girl's is on the left.'' Slow nodding from the other party. ''Thanks.''
''Thank you, SIR!'' The prefect roared. Shay almost flinched. ''Of course!'' He said, before heading off quickly with his sister at his side. The latter looked over her shoulder for a moment and saw the man yell at a few boys in the distance. ''... Rude.'' She rolled with her clear blue eyes. Shay grumbled. He didn't like it when people got the better of him like that. Shay, the stately one, or so his name implied. In truth, he was quite easily scared. He'd always been that way, ever since he was little. Normally, his sister would stick up for him when people picked on him, but this time, she was rather surprised herself. ''Another stuck-up jerk.'' Alice sighed. ''Well, I'm gonna check out my dorm room. See you later, Shay!'' She waved cheerily and took off. Shay looked at the filthy building that was apparently his dormitory. The fragrance of rotten eggs would no doubt wake him up a few times tonight. Suddenly, a scruffy-looking kid got in his way. He had numerous zits and red hair. ''Hey, new kid!'' He yelled. Why was he yelling?! Shay gave him a nod. ''Perceptive AND loud! Bullworth raised you real well.'' Shay had taught himself that biting sarcasm. Given his slightly frail nature, he knew he was going to need it. Not that Shay was a frail boy himself. He didn't sit on his ass all day, that much was clear from a mile away. Still, the red-haired ambusher wasn't impressed. ''What'd you just say?!'' His fingers curled up until he had himself a pair of menacing fists. Shay had no time to explain himself. ''You think you got balls, new kid?! DO YOU!?'' He did, but unfortunately, they were about to fall right off. ''We're gonna teach you how things work around here!'' The angry boy continued. A few others backed him up. ''Show him, Wade! Take him out!'' Shay sighed and threw his luggage on the ground. In a surprisingly steady voice for him given the situation, he said: ''Bless! Looks like I get to prove my manhood today!'' Wade couldn't stand Shay's condescending attitude any longer and rushed right in. Shay saw it coming, luckily. He always prepared for the worst, and this one time, that mindset proved appropriate. Wade's charge was interrupted by the sudden collision of Wade's stomach with Shay's knee, which forced all of the air out of his body. Shay shoved Wade, who stumbled back. He didn't fall over, which was commendable. Shay sighed. ''Are you going to do that again? One more sudden move and I might tear my waistcoat...'' He wasn't actually joking. Shay dressed fancy, and he valued his look a lot. He wasn't posh, but he did have certain standards for himself. Meanwhile Wade had grown even more enraged. First, he got snappy comebacks, and then he got humiliated! Not good for his reputation. Shay didn't seem to understand that, but Wade was determined to make him understand. He threw a hay maker at Shay, and made sure he put all his weight and force into it. Shay didn't dodge in time, but it didn't matter; Wade's damaged core took its toll on the punch, which turned into more of a stumble than a proper haymaker. Wade's tenacity, in turn, took its toll on Shay's composure. He wanted the fight to end, he couldn't stand the nerves. An overhand right struck Wade on his left temple, costing him his balance. Shay's breathing was shaky. Please, let it be over! His first day at school had descended into a horrible massacre... Wade was about to get up, though, which made Shay even more hopeless. Was Shay really that weak, or was this kid just not giving up? Wade still had his hand on his left temple, which was hurting quite a lot, as were Shay's knuckles. ''You're DEAD, new kid!'' Shay sighed heavily. ''To be honest, mate, I look a lot more alive than you do! Why don't you just let the new kid be so he doesn't feel compelled to put your head on a pike?!'' An absurd threat, but those weren't Shay's strongest point anyway. Wade responded by making a very sudden move. He punched Shay's nose with surprising speed considering his own injuries. Shay smelled a wet, rusty scent. Blood. Blood?! ''Fine, Wade. To your health!'' Shay spat in Wade's face, and landed another hard hit. Of course, that had to be the precise moment for the nearby prefect to witness. A dark man in the infamous blue suit jogged towards the scene. ''WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!'' He exclaimed, as he grabbed Shay by his collar. ''Would you mind?!'' Shay exclaimed. ''That's After Six!'' Still not a snob. The prefect clearly had no idea what After Six was, and kept holding on tight. ''What happened here?! I want answers!'' Wade was ready to give him some answers. ''Eh punfd me!'' Wade spat on the ground. The prefect shook his head and gave Shay a venomous look. ''A fight on your first day of school. The headmaster's going to want to have a good, long word with you, you little jerk!'' Call me little, Shay thought, and you'll insult yourself. After all, they were equal in height. Shay broke out of the prefect's grip. ''I object! He attacked ME! Why do you think my nose is bleeding?!'' Sense wasn't usually popular with school staff, but he couldn't help himself. It was just so horribly frustrating! ''Shut up and go to your dorm! The principal's going to talk to you later!'' And with that, the prefect was off. Shay fixed his winged collar, which was not quite damaged at all, thankfully. He gave Wade another look. ''Well, at least you managed to frame me. That worth your tooth, prick?!'' Shay took off in a hurry. He walked into his room and shoved all his luggage into the corner. A very plain uniform was waiting for him on a made bed. THAT was the school's uniform? Surely, he could customize his outfit a little bit so it wouldn't look... Well, like that. He sighed. Why in the world did his parents have to ditch him and his sister here!? He knew why, but he wasn't agreeing with anything anymore. His father had to move because of his job, and the family with him. As it happened, Bullworth Academy was the only school in the area. At the time, he didn't mind much. Shay didn't have a good time at his old school, because unlike his sister, he wasn't a particularly charming person and had trouble reaching out to people and making friends that way. He'd always been a bit of a wallflower. Not that he looked the part. Shay was a strapping young man with a face that could be considered handsome. Beautiful, even, according to a gang of middle aged admirers. He didn't have the feeling that his peers thought much of him, though, no, his peers were always interested in Alice. Not that he blamed them. He'd choose a stunning, sweet girl over a boring sod like him. But deep down, he'd hoped that people in Bullworth would choose him for him too, for a change. Well, one of them had chosen him already. As his target, no less. Flattering! Now that he saw what kind of place this was, he started getting depressed. He'd hoped for a fresh start, but this was far from fresh. This was fucked. Fucked and rotten. So far, the only thing about this place that didn't suck was the company of his sister, but the exact same thing applied to his old home. What his old home lacked was bullies, which this place was crawling with, apparently. Upon realizing that, he snapped out of his self pity. His sister was in the girl's dorm. Was she getting a hazing of her own? That idea made him anxious. Alice wasn't famous for her martial prowess. They could be ganging up on her and maim her for all he knew! Shay felt a sudden urge to run to the girl's dorm, but who'd be waiting for him outside? The string of intrusive thoughts was interrupted by the sound of his door opening. He looked at the source of the noise and saw a short, bald guy enter his room. He looked a bit... Aggressive. Was he going to fight him too?! The boy squinted when he caught Shay staring. ''Got a problem, fancy pants?!'' Shay shook his head. ''Just surprised and exhausted... Which I guess is a problem.'' The stranger shrugged and jumped onto the bed on the other end of the room. ''Whatever... Wait. Are you the new kid everyone's going crazy about?'' Shay nodded. ''Crazy's the word.'' The boy sat up and gave Shay another look. ''So, you're the kid who got into a fight just then?'' Shay sighed and nodded reluctantly. Jimmy smirked. ''I didn't see it, but I heard you showed him.'' ''Wade, you mean?'' Shay asked. Jimmy gave him a nod. ''Yeah, that asshole. He had it coming!'' Apparently, this kid was on his side. That's a first! Shay forced a smile. ''My name's Shay.'' ''Jimmy'' The bald boy opened a box of eggs, and threw it into the bin when he discovered it was empty. Jimmy gave Shay another squint. ''Are you English?'' Shay half nodded. ''Irish, aye. Or well, my dad is. I'm American.'' Jimmy seemed less tense. ''Okay. I thought you were one of those losers who pretend they're English so they can act all rich. You look like one, though.'' Shay saw a few snobby looking kids today. Jimmy was most likely referring to those. ''Those are just clothes! I'm not a snob!'' Shay wanted to make that extra clear. ''Then we're cool.'' Jimmy was sober about it, at least. ''So...'' Shay said. ''... How long have you been here?'' Jimmy snorted. ''Two days. So far, so shitty.'' Shay removed a strand of his auburn hair from his face. ''Same here, except I've only been here for twenty minutes.'' So, Jimmy had been here for two days? Shay was beginning to wonder if he was even going to last that long at this rate.