"Skye, time to get up, dear!"

I blinked open my eyes. "Huh? What time is it?"

"It's eight o'clock," my mother replied.

I jumped up. "I SLEPT IN AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I ran to my wardrobe and my mother left my room, closing my door. I got into my red singlet, red jacket and rolled the sleeves up to my elbows, put on my black fingerless gloves, my green cargo pants that had a yellow patch on my left thigh, a net sort of patch on my right knee, and a few yellow threads keeping a rip on my left knee together and my white and black converse. I grabbed my side bag that I had packed the night before and I grabbed my headphones, shoving them in there. All I had in my bag was three books and a tiny pencil case, and my headphones. I brushed my long, mid-back, black and red hair, and ran downstairs. I put my bag at the small table beside the door and ran to the kitchen.

My dad looked up from his coffee and newspaper to see me grabbing a small bowl, some cereal, shoving a bit of cereal into the bowl and grabbing some milk out of he fridge, pouring it into the bowl. I left the milk and the cereal on the bench. I grabbed a spoon, put it in my bowl and took it to the table. I sat down and started eating, quickly.

"Take more time to eat your breakfast, Skye," my father growled. "You'll make yourself sick. Be more lady-like!"

"I'm in a rush," I said with a mouthful of food. "I slept in."

I had five more minutes until my mother had to take me to my new school. I left my breakfast half eaten. I ran upstairs and into the bathroom and brushed my teeth.

"Skye, hurry up or you'll be late!" my mother called.

"Give me another minute!" I called down with a mouthful of water and I spat it out in the sink, cleaning my toothbrush and running back downstairs.

I grabbed my bag at the door and put it over my right shoulder. My mother came to the door with her handbag.

"Have fun today, dear!" my father called.

"Thanks," I called back and my mother and I went to the car. I jumped in the passengers seat and my mother got into the drivers seat. She drove up David Street and after a few streets, we pulled up at the front of Dandenong High, right at the front of the gates.

"See ya," I said and got out, but my mother got out as well.

"Oh honey, you're starting at a new school," she started crying. "My baby is growing up!"

I looked around to check if anyone was staring, but no one had noticed yet. "Yeah, I gotta go now!" I said and ran off. "See ya!"

"Skye!" my mother called but I ignored it, she was embarrassing me. I put my head down, running up the path, trying to ignore my mother calling out for me. I ran around the corner, but I accidentally ran into something, or someone, my hands flew up and I pushed myself off the thing I crashed into. I looked up and I jumped back. "Sorry!" I exclaimed. "I didn't see you there!"

The guy looked down at me. "Nah that's cool. You're new, huh?"

The guy had brown scruffy hair, blue eyes, his right ear had a blue stud, he had a brown collared shirt, a red jacket with black flames and it had stitches up the arms to keep it together, three silver bracelets on his right arm, black fingerless glove on his right hand, gray jeans, a black belt and black and white converse.

"Yeah."

"You in a rush?" I nodded. "I noticed. What from?"
I ducked my head. "My embarrassing mother."

"Blake, who the heck is this chick?" I heard another voice and I saw other people sitting on the low concrete wall, they were all guys, but there was one girl. She walked over to me and the guy and looked me up and down. "So, who is she?"

The girl had black/blue hair, blue/green eyes like mine, a black/blue cap, a black singlet with a red shirt over it that said 'PRIMROSE', a silver watch on her left wrist, blue jeans, a brown belt, a cross necklace, a black wristband on her right arm and black converse.

"My name's Skye," I replied. "Your name?"

"Sara," she said, sounding a bit rude. "This is my buddy, Blake, and the others: Jay, Storm, Heath, Kaleb, Cody, Joel, Nick, Shaun."

"Hi," Blake said. Sara nudged him with her elbow, glaring at him, he shrugged.

"Um...." I muttered, not wanting to stick around because it seemed like Sara didn't quite like me. "Do you know where the front office is?"

"That way," Blake pointed in one direction.

I nodded and went around him and Sara, running off.

"Sara, who was that?" Storm asked.

"No one," Sara smirked as if she didn't care and her and Blake went to join their friends.

I ran down the hallway and stopped when I found the front office. I walked in and over to the front desk.

"Hello dear," the lady said. "You must be Skye Cassidy, the new girl?"

"Yes, that's me," I replied and the lady handed me some paper.

"Here is your map and your schedule. You start with English in Block A."

"Thank you," I smiled and walked out, down the hallways.

I was looking for my class, but I didn't know where it was, and the bell rang.

I walked down hallways, looking for my class, but I had no idea where I was! I turned a corner, looking down at my map, but I crashed into someone. I was about to fall backwards, but the person put their hands on my shoulders and stopped me from falling, helping me gain my balance and they took their hands back.

"Do you make a habit of running into people?" I heard the voice.

I looked up. "Oh, sorry!" It was Blake, the guy I ran into earlier.

"Let me guess, the reason you're wandering around the school after the bell is because you're lost?" Blake asked.

I nodded, ducking my head, but then I looked up at him. "It's my first day and I have to get lost!"

"Let me see your timetable," Blake said and I handed it to him. He read it over. "You're in all my classes, even electives."

"Then you know where Block A is?"

"Yep. And to start off with, you're in Block D," Blake smirked.

I sighed. "Well, what are you doing wandering the school after the bell?"

"Good comeback," he said. "I'm just being late as usual."

"You're always late?"

"Yep. I hate class. I wouldn't go to school if I didn't have to," Blake smiled. "Come on, I might as well get to class. I'll show you where it is."

"Thanks," I said and put my map and timetable in my side bag. I walked beside him as we headed off to class. Blake walked with his arms up and his hands behind his head, almost as if he was lying down and relaxing.

"So, when did you decide to come to Dandy High?" Blake asked.

"Since I moved to Victoria," I sighed.

He looked at me. "Where'd you come from?"

"Perth."

"Wow, that's pretty far. Why'd you move here?"

"My father got relocated for his job, so we all had to move."

"Did your parents consider Cleeland?"

"Yep. But they decided on here."

"Cool. This school is better than Cleeland anyway."

"That's why my parents wanted me to come here and not Cleeland."

"Let me guess, your parents want you to be a perfect daughter with good grades and a rich boyfriend?"

"Pretty much."

"Is that what you're gonna do?"

"Nope. They complain when I eat with my mouth full and leave everything everywhere. They say I'll never get a boyfriend if I'm always like that and all. It's quite annoying."

Blake laughed. "You seem pretty cool."

"Thanks."

"I can see now why you wanted to run from your mother earlier."

"She was crying! How much more embarrassing can it get!?"

"Much more," Blake sighed.

"Explain," I looked at him.

"When I first started here in year seven, my mother insisted that I held her hand all the way to the front office. Whenever I took my hand away she grabbed it again. I got teased for it for the whole year."

I laughed quietly. "Okay, now that is embarrassing!"

"So you think you got it hard?"

"Not anymore."

"Class is here," Blake said after a while and we stopped at a door. He opened it and walked in, I followed him, but stopped quickly to avoid running into him again.

"Mr. Walker, why are you late again?" I heard a male's voice and I looked around Blake to see a male teacher wearing a black suit with brown hair and a mustache.

"Sorry, sir," Blake smirked and stepped aside. "I was just escorting our newest student to class."

The teacher looked at me. "Ah! You're the new girl. Well, why don't you stand in front of the class and tell us about yourself?"

"You did that on purpose!" I whispered to Blake, he nodded and walked over to his seat next to some other guy, Sara on the other side.

"Well?" the teacher said.

"I'd rather not," I insisted.

"Well, okay. You can sit in the seat next to Blake. My name is Mr. Stevens by the way."

I nodded and looked at Blake, he pulled the chair out that I was supposed to sit in for me. I walked over and sat beside him.

"Hi," the guy next to Blake said, poking his head around Blake. "My name's Jay."

Jay had black scruffy hair, blue eyes, a scar across his left eye, a black stud earing in his right ear, a brown shirt with a Japanese symbol on it and a white outline of a lion, a bandage up his left arm, not reaching his elbow, a few inches lower, it came half way up his fingers, dark green cargo pants, a brown belt with a big silver ring on the right side of it, keeping the belt together, and black converse.

"Hi," I replied.

"This is Skye," Blake said to Jay.

"Nice to meet you," Jay smiled, putting his hand out in front of Blake. I hesitated but took his hand. He shook my hand and we both let go, taking our hands back.

"Jay!" I heard Sara hiss under her breath.

"What?" Jay whispered. "I'm just being nice."

"Since when are you nice to new people!?" Sara growled quietly.

"She seems okay," Jay replied.

Sara didn't say anything after that and the teacher started the lesson. I ducked my head, Sara really didn't like me.

Blake wrote on a piece of paper he ripped out of his book. He slid it across the desk to me and I looked down at it, reading it.

Don't worry about her. She's like this to every new person. She just doesn't seem to like them. She'll get over it eventually.

I looked up at Blake, he smiled and me and I tried to smile back. I was going to grab a pen out of my bag but Blake just handed me his, considering we weren't allowed to talk in class.

I wrote on the piece of paper under what Blake had written.

It's just a surprise. New school and I'm already hated.

I slid it across the desk back to Blake when the teacher wasn't looking. Blake read it and looked at Sara, randomly drawing in her book. He wrote on the piece of paper again and slid it back to me.

It'll pass. Just give her time to get over it.

I sighed and gave up passing notes. I payed attention to what Mr. Stevens was teaching, just comprehension and fixing up stories, little-kid stuff.

Class was over before I knew it and I had Science, which meant Blake had it too. He got up. "You coming?"

"Yeah," I got up as well and followed him out of class. He walked beside me as we went to Block C for Science, he was just talking about how boring English was and that he could have ditched and had more fun.

We reached Science, Sara and Blake had to sit together, and I had to sit next to Jay.

"So, where'd you come from?" Jay asked.

"Perth."

"Why?"

"Father had to relocate for his job."

"What does he work as?"

"Some business company, I'm not quite sure," I replied.

"Fair enough. You should hang out with us, you're cool!"

I glanced over in Sara's direction and looked back at Jay, shaking my head. "I don't think Sara would like it."

"She'll get over it! She's a party-pooper!"

"That's nice to say about your friend."

"It's true! She gets mad at me for being nice to you! It sucks!"

"Okay."

"So, you're hanging out with our group for the rest of the year!" Jay declared, a little too loud.

Sara looked over her shoulder at Jay, a glare in her eyes, I looked down at the desk to avoid her gaze. Jay shrugged in Sara's direction and she must have done something because he gave her the finger, poking his tongue out at her.

"See?" Jay smirked. "She's a party-pooper. She throws awesome parties, but she's still a party-pooper."

"What grade are you meant to be in?"

"9, like you and everyone else in this room."

"Sure it's not grade 3?"

"Now you're just getting smart!"

"Yep."

"See, that's why you're cool!"

"Jay!" the teacher growled. She looked at him. "Stop talking and get on with your work!"

"Sorry," Jay shrank in his chair, pretending to be scared and when the teacher turned around to write on the whiteboard he gave her the finger. "She's a stupid bitch," he whispered to me.

"Are you always like this?" I asked, also whispering. Jay smiled and nodded.

We had to write down equations to do with mixing Carbon Dioxide and Copper Sulphate.

"Hey, Skye," I heard Jay whisper and I looked at him. "Do you understand any of this?"

I nodded and pointed to the diagram he drew on his paper. "It's just explaining what we would have to do in the experiment. Like mixing that and that"- I pointed to the two drawn substances -"and writing down how it works and what the reaction would be."

"Ohhhh..." Jay said. "Thanks. You're smart."

I smiled and went back to my own work, but after five seconds, Jay nudged me. I looked at him.

"What two substances are they again?" he asked quietly.

I sighed and rolled my eyes, smiling. "Carbon Dioxide and Copper Sulphate."

"Ohhhh.... Thanks." He went back to his work. I went back to mine, but I stopped, waiting for it, and one second later he nudged me again. I turned to look at him. "Sorry, but, what would the reaction be?"

"Probably an explosion if you're lucky," I mumbled. "For you anyway."

"I don't understand it," Jay said quietly. "Sorry if I'm bugging you."

"No, not at all," I smiled to reassure him, I was glad I already had friends, even if Sara didn't want them to even talk to me. "The Copper Sulphate could probably melt if you add the solution to the experiment."

"Okay, and then what do we do?"

"Just write down how you came to the solution of what would happen."

"Ohhhh..... okay," he said and started writing it down, talking as he wrote it. "I asked Skye and she gave me the answer. That's how I came to my solution."

I nearly laughed. "That's not what you should have written!" I whispered.

"I'm telling the truth. I got the answer from you."

"The teacher won't take that for an answer."

"Well she'll have to. She can stick it up her ass for all I care."

"That's nice to say about the teacher."

"I know, eh?"

I sighed. "Note the sarcasm."

"I did. She's just a bitch and I hate her."

"That seems fair."

"JAY!"

Jay cringed and looked up at the teacher. "Yes?"

"What have you been told about swearing in the class!?!?!" the teacher growled at him.

Jay cleared his throat with a cough. "That it is rude and it can upset people's feelings. It should be used in your own time when people are not around you to not upset anybody. It is not to be used in a classroom," he recited. "Blah, blah, blah."

"Jay!!!!!"

"What!?"

"Who were you calling a bitch?" the teacher asked.

"Miss!!!!!" Jay exclaimed. "You just swore!" he made an expression to make it look like he couldn't believe it. "All this talk about it being bad and you start swearing as well. That's bad role modeling don't you think?"

"It was a question."

"Well, then I was calling you a bitch, it's only the truth."

"Why were you calling me a bitch?"

"Because you are one."

"Jay, that is very rude!" one of his friends turned around and held up their index finger, waving it at him. "You are not supposed to say things like that to a teacher," he put on a voice and made himself look so supreme. "You should be more respectful of your teachers."

"You can't talk, Storm-boy!" Jay said back to the guy with black hair, a white shirt, dark jeans with chains and a chain bracelet on his left arm. "You called Mr. Stevens a fat pig at one stage."

Storm was quiet. "................... That was different!"

"No it wasn't!"

"Yes it was!"

"No it wasn't!"

"Yes it was!"

"SHUT UP!"

Everyone turned to look at Sara, she had her head down to her work and one hand on her head. "You're all giving me a headache so SHUT UP!"

"Why?" Storm asked.

"Because I'll smash the fucken shit outta ya if ya don't!" Sara threatened.

"Would she really do that?" I whispered to Jay.

"No. She just says that to get her own way," Jay smirked. "She wouldn't really do it."

Whether it was true or not, she was scary.

"Miss. Johnson!" the teacher growled. "There shall be no swearing in this class!"

"Does it look like I give a fucking shit?" Sara growled.

"GET OUT OF THE CLASSROOM!" the teacher yelled and Sara shoved her book in her bag, grabbed her bag and walked out without another word.

"Nice one, Sara!" one of the boys called out.

The girls were just blinking, not really surprised, but scared.

"Now, if we can continue with the rest of the class," the teacher calmed down a little, but the bell rang for recess.

"Come on," Jay said to me. "You're hanging out with us."

I sighed and put my book and pencil in my bag and put the bag over my right shoulder, following Jay to the door, where we met up with Blake.

We walked down the corridor with Storm tagging along with us, asking me questions like where I came from and all.

I followed the three guys out onto the oval near a big wooden table, beside the netball courts, was. Two of the guys that were already there had something on the ground and threw a match onto it, making it burst into flames. Sara was sitting on the table, watching them. The other guys were sitting at the table as well.

"Hey guys!" Jay called out to the other people. "Say hi to Skye!"

I froze as all eyes turned to me. Jay smiled and walked behind me, pushing me forward. "Don't be shy!"

"Kinda hard not to be," I murmured.

The two guys left their fire and everyone was crowded around me, except Sara.

"Hey, the name's Kaleb," one of them said.

I was introduced to all the other guys and I nodded.

"So, where'd you come from?" Heath asked.

I sighed. "Perth."

"How come?" Joel asked.

"Dad relocated for his job."

"Why?" Cody asked.

"Dunno."

"What does he work as?" Shaun asked.

"Dunno."

"Why were you running from your mother this morning?" Nick asked.

"She was embarrassing."

"How?" Cody asked.

"She was crying."

"She's gonna be hanging out with us for the rest of the year," Jay announced.

"Okay," all the guys seemed to agree, happy about it.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm out of here," Sara said and walked off.

Heath sighed. "She hates new people."

"I noticed," I mumbled. "Why?"

"She just does," Joel answered. "She doesn't tell us why."

"Oh, so she returns," Storm said and they looked to the side to see Sara returning. "That was quick."

"Shut up. I forgot my pen," Sara growled, glancing at me with a glare. She picked up her pen, shoved it in her mouth and walked off again.

Recess was spent with me as the center of attention, which was creepy. Sara had given up walking around and stayed with us, lying on the table, not actually with the group.

The rest of school was pretty fun, Jay and Blake found ways to piss the teachers off and the others joined in happily. Sara was still angry.

After school came and I grabbed my phone, texting my mother.

I'm going to walk home today. If you don't mind