"Lena!," yelled the woman from the bottom of the large staircase. "Catalena Grace! If you aren't down here in five minutes, your father is going to leave you! Then you won't have a ride to your new school.," said the woman.

Soon enough rapid footsteps were heard coming down the staircase. "Chill Mom. I was just double checking that I didn't forget anything. Plus Dad wouldn't have to drop me off at my new school if you two would have gotten me a car!," said Lena.

"Yeah, well sweetheart, life isn't fair, and you're not getting a car until you can show that you're going to try at this new school, and get your act together.," said her mother. All Lena could do was sigh at the woman.

"Mom. I'm going to try, but to be quite honest, this school is probably going to be like all the rest. Stuck up snobby kids thinking that they run the school, let alone the world. I'll try my best, but honestly, if push comes to shove, things are going to turn out like my last school.," said Lena.

Lena's mother couldn't help but sigh at her daughter. Lena is a vey strong willed girl, who's image was very different from her previous private school, and, most likely, her transfer private school as well. Her daughter had very much always been the one to disassociate herself from the crowd, and be who she wanted to be, not what others wanted her to be. It seemed the only thing that allowed her some connectedness in school was her affinity for the swim team. "Alright Lena. Just please, try for me, okay?"

"Yeah Mom.," said Lena with a sigh before she gave her Mom a kiss and walked out the door with her last two bags.

After a thirty minute drive from her home, Lena found herself sitting in her father's car staring at her new version of hell. Spencer Academy, was supposed to be one of the elite private schools in Massachusetts, and her father thought it would be in her best interest to attend the school. However, her father wouldn't have chosen the school had she not caused some problems at her last school, St. Kate's Academy for girls. Besides academics, her father also wanted her to pursue her chances for a swim scholarship in college, and Spencer is quite known throughout the state for having the best swim coaches and teams.

"Well sweetheart, you really need to try this place out. Don't shut yourself off from everyone and everything here before you give it a chance.," said Lena's father.

"Dad. You know how everything happened at the last school. I'm not going to stand by and take it if it happens again. I will try, for you and Mom, but that is all I can promise.," said Lena with a deep sigh as she looked out the car's window at the school.

"Alright sweetheart. Lena, if you try for at least a month at this school, your mother& I will get you a car of your choice. Does that sound fair?," said her father, raising an eyebrow at his daughter.

"Fair!? That is perfectly fine! I can do it!," said Lena with a smile. "Alright Dad, I got to get my stuff put into my dorm room. I'll see you later. Have a good business trip. Let me know when you get there.," said Lena with a smile, as she got out of the car, grabbed her duffles and backpack from the backseat, then went to the trunk to grab her big suitcase.

Lena's POV

Well here goes nothing. Perhaps this school won't be that bad. Who knows, maybe I'll actually make real friends and not ones who turn on me when the chance presents itself. Being at St. Kate's was nice. There wasn't the distraction of boys, and I had the chance to concentrate on my studies. However, distraction wasn't far off my radar. The girls of St. Kate seemed like they weren't catty, but the truth is, that school was a jungle. It was every girl for herself, and many prayed that they would survive the day. One of those girls was me. But I wasn't going to be her anymore. I'm going to be proud of who I am, and not let other girls use me, take advantage of me, or constantly treat me like dirt to my face or behind my back. I had enough of that, and it was time to say enough was enough. Hello Spencer Academy...I hope you know what you're getting.

As I entered the building, the sun was low in the sky, and the dorm looked creepier by the minute. The building was dark and looming, and I suddenly regretted having to live in the place. As I walked up the stairs of the old building, I did my best at pulling my suitcase and holding onto my duffles as I made my way up the stairs. By the time, I got to the entrance of the building, I wished that I hadn't packed so much. It was going to be a hard climb up the stairs to the second floor. You'd think that a private school, like Spencer, would have an elevator in its dorm, but not a chance.

After what seemed like ages of trying to make my way up to the second floor, I finally made it up, and now it was time to figure out which side of the hallway I was on, and which room was mine. Traveling down the hallway, I finally came across my room labeled 208. As I put my key into the lock, I noticed that the door had not yet been opened by my roommate, so I would have some time to myself to get everything set up. Within two and a half hours, my side of the room was set up. All my clothes were put in my dresser and closet, my bed was made, and all my other necessities were set up or put away. Now the only thing missing to the room was my roommate. I wonder who she is, or even if we'll get along. Deciding that I didn't want to sit around to much and bore myself to death, I decided to go knock on the door next door and introduce myself. After all, I'm in a new school, and I don't know anyone yet. Might as well try and make some friends. Unfortunately, no one answered the door, so I just turned around, and went back to my room.

Deciding that I didn't want to spend time by myself, I decided to text the only friend I had left from St. Kate's.

Text Message to Tana: What are your plans for tonight? And have you gotten your parents to give in to you coming to Spencer's? I don't want to suffer alone. Plus I need the other half of the Lena& Tana duo to kick some serious ass in the pool.

Text Message to Lena: Nothing. Why? And well, kind of good news...I got my dad to agree to let me go to Spencer's, but the moment I mess up, he's pulling me out and bye-bye duo.

Text Message to Tana: Thank goodness! We should be roommates if mine doesn't show! And well, I heard that there is this back to school bonfire, and we should go.

Text Message to Lena: Alright, I'll be to Spencer's in 30 minutes. Well, I got assigned a room already. I'm in 208.

Text Message to Tana: Girl. Meet your roomie. And I'll help you unpack, then we should get ready for this thing. Does anyone know that we both transferred out?

Text Message to Lena: We are going to be such great roommates! Can't wait to get there! And I don't think anyone else knows, or at least I hope not...

Text Message to Tana: Alright, just get your butt here fast!

Text Message to Lena: 25 minutes out! I'll be there soon!

It didn't take Tana as long as she said it would to get here. After all, that girl was a true thrill seeker and loved to speed whenever she got the chance.

"Laney!," yelled Tana as she came up to me and gave me a big hug. "I missed you Lena. So glad that I get to spend the year with you, let alone share a room."

"Me too...You have no idea. I thought I would get someone who would absolutely hate me.," I said with relief.

"No one could hate you Laney-bug...except for those bitches at St. Kate's. I hope they know that their losing two of their best swimmers. They better be ready to get their asses handed to them.," said a somewhat fuming Tana.

"Hell yeah we're going to kick some major ass! Their going to be so pissed when they find out that they lost us both.," I said with a laugh.

"Well anyways...want to help me unpack.," said Tana as she gave me a puppy eyed look.

I sighed, "I suppose. After all, the faster we unpack you, the faster we can get to that bonfire tonight."

After an hour of unpacking all of Tana's things we were finally ready to start getting ready for the bonfire. I decided to put on a purple three quarter length sleeved crop top, high waisted dark wash skinny jeans, leopard printed classic vans, and a boho fringe crossbody bag that had the same color of purple in the pattern as my shirt. Tana decided to wear a sleeveless, black Pink Floyd dress with purple nylons, stone colored combat boots, and a purple dreamcatcher bracelet. We always chose to dress simply at parties or bonfires because you never knew when you might have to run from the police. One has be dressed reasonably. Plus if this bonfire is out in the woods, we don't need to be wearing heels anyway. I mean, hello, that's just an easy way to ask for a sprained ankle.

"Alright, are you ready to go?," Tana asked me as she quickly sprayed on some Peace, Love& Juicy by Juicy Couture and grabbed her car keys.

"Yeah, let me just spray on some perfume, and we can lock up and head out.," I said with a smile as I quickly decided on wearing Burberry The Beat for the night.

As we made our way to the Dells in Tana's Audi that she'd gotten for her birthday in July, I noticed how different Tana looked from me. Tana had always been the beautiful one out of us two. She was scene like me, but she kept this natural beauty about her. Her long jet black hair offset her fair skin perfectly, and her black eyeliner always made her deep gray eyes pop. Unlike me, Tana has her ears gaged, and a monroe piercing. Her parents let her take on a more dramatic appearance, which was delightfully scene, while my parents were more conservative about anything and everything that I did or wanted to do. Unlike Tana, I have my ears pierced, but not gaged, and no facial piercings, well besides my nose piercing. The only truly dramatic and scene thing that I got to do was dye by hair hot pink, with a jet black section that goes through my bangs. I guess you could say that in that retrospect, I was a little dramatic, but I loved it. Its what set me apart from everyone else, however, it was an issue when it came to swimming since the chlorine loves to hate on dyed hair. But on a positive note, the pink hair really made my deep green eyes pop.

"Alright Laney, we're almost there.," said Tana bringing me out of my thoughts.

As we pulled further into the forested area, we began to see student vehicles parked in between trees. We found a spot next to an old Volkswagen Rabbit, and quickly got out and locked the Audi before heading toward the sound of the music. As we got closer to the area, the music got louder and the light of the bonfire could be seen. Upon reaching the bonfire, hundreds of people could be seen mingling with each other, either talking or dancing. Tana and I decided to just take in the scene before us and stand by the bonfire and talk. We had no intention of drinking tonight, and only wanted to meet some new people. Unfortunately, for us, some jock decided to ditch his assumed girlfriend, and come over to us to "talk."

"Hey Princess of Darkness, you got a name?," as the cheeky guy directed his question at Tana.

"Yeah, I do actually, and you won't get the privilege of knowing it because you're cheeky asshole that I could careless if I got to know.," said Tana heatedly.

"Now, now, no need to be so cold Princess.," said the guy. "My name's Aaron by the way, and I think you're going to come to like me, especially since I have so much that I can give you."

"Dream on. Why don't you go find your little friends, and leave us the hell alone, or I'll make you wish you had never spoken to me.," said Tana fiercely.

"Calm down Princess...I'm sure I'll see you later anyways, perhaps alone.," said Aaron cheekily, winking at Tana before he walked away from us back to a not too please looking girl.

"What an asshole. If he gets his ass handed to him by me one of these days, he has it coming.," said a pissed off Tana.

"Oh believe me, I know. I was just as pissed as you were when he talked to you.," I said glancing at Aaron as he continue to stare at us.

Tana and I didn't have much time to socialize with each other before a group of girls from St. Kate's spotted them, and decided to start some drama.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Princess Goth, and her friend Pink Freak. What are you girls doing here?," asked Rayne maliciously.

"Oh is that a psycho-bitch that I hear? I think it is. And the question isn't what are we doing here, its what are you pathetic girls doing here. This is a Spencer Academy bonfire if you didn't know.," I said heatedly.

"Oh we know. We came here to crash it, and find some boys.," said Rayne as she looked at her friends.

"Oh you're not going to crash it. Either you leave, or we'll make you leave.," said Tana giving Rayne and her minions a glare.

"Touchy, touchy. Wouldn't want to get into another fight now would you Pink Freak?," asked Rayne her voice dripping with fake sweetness.

"For you, I'd be willing to do just about anything to make you miserable.," I said with a smirk.

"Is that right?," asked Rayne as she stepped so she was directly in my face.

"Yeah it is, and if you dare challenge me, I will make your life hell. And I might just start with this swim season. You just lost St. Kate two of their best swimmers. Good luck making it to state now.," I said with a smirk.

As I walked away from the girls, Rayne grabbed my shoulder to turn me around, "You bitch!," she yelled before slapping me across the face. That did it, she had successfully unleashed my inner monster. After she slapped me, I immediately tackled her to the ground, and started punching her. Luckily for her, someone put an arm around my waist and pulled me off of Rayne, and held me back in the process. I, of course, was struggling to get at the beaten and bruising girl, but the guy held strongly to my waist.

"You need to calm down Lena. Laney! Listen to me! Calm down! Its over, you got your punches in. Leave the girl be.," said Tana who was standing in front of me.

I finally started to calm down enough that by the time Rayne's gang got to her and picked her up, the hold on my waist was finally being released.

"Hey, thanks man.," said Tana.

"Yeah no problem. Didn't want that fight to get too out of hand.," said the distinctly male voice.

At the sound of his voice, I turned around and decided to say my piece, "Hey, thanks for getting involved, you really didn't have to. And I'm sorry that I struggled against you so much. I just really hate that girl, and she really lit my short fuse by slapping me.," I said genuinely to the handsome brunette before me.

"Yeah, its no problem. I completely understand the short fuse issue. It happens to the best of us.," said the guy.

"Well thanks...sorry I don't know your name.," I said giving the guy a half smile.

"Chase.," said the guy.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Lena, and this is Tana.," I said motioning to Tana.

"Well now I know two people. I just transferred in.," said Chase.

"We did to, from St. Kate's.," said Tana.

"Oh yeah, I know St. Kate's, all girls school with the best girls 100m freestyle team.," said Chase with a smile.

"Yeah, that's right, Tana and I were on that team. They just lost two of its best swimmers due to problems at school.," I said. "But we're looking to make Spencer into one of the best girl's swim teams with our addition to the team."

"Yeah, I'm a swimmer myself, and I have goals like that for myself as well. I'll probably see you ladies at practice.," said Chase with a smile. "But anyways, it was nice meeting you ladies, and I'll see you later.," he said flashing us a smile before he disappeared into the crowd.

"He was so cute.," said Tana.

"Yeah, he was...and nice.," I added with a half smile.

It wasn't long after Chase left us, that the crowd all seemed to turn in the direction of four boys walking in the direction of the bonfire.

"They're gorgeous.," said Tana openly glancing at the boys. I personally could careless about the boys. I've never had a boyfriend, and I didn't intend on getting one, especially with swim season being upon me. Now, Tana on the other hand, loved boys, and she'd had a good handful of them since freshman year. "Oh, I want to take one of them home with me.," said Tana dreamily.

"If you want to do that, please make sure I'm out of the room.," I said seriously.

"Oh lighten up, its not like I would do anything with them on the first night.," said Tana scoffing at what I'd just said.

I just rolled my eyes and looked at the boys. They were definitely good looking, but I could see the type of girls they were in to, after two preppy, beautiful girls went up to them. "I'm so jealous of those girls.," said Tana.

"Tana, don't be jealous of them. There are probably other guys just as cute as those ones who would love to take you out once they see you tomorrow. I mean, what about Chase?," I said with a smile as I glanced at my friend.

"I know, you're right. I'm just being a green monster at the moment.," said Tana with a sigh.

"Oh shit, look, that kid, Aaron, and his goons are making their way over to the group.," I said.

"Ugh, can't that asshole just leave people alone. It's his own damn fault if he gets his ass beat by those guys.," said Tana watching everything unfold.

After two minutes of talking, Aaron finally pushed one of the guys in the group, looking to start a fight. "What an idiot. He's going to get his ass kick.," said Tana. Luckily for him, Chase showed up and broke up what would have been a fight between Aaron and one of the guys. Unfortunately, for Aaron, one of his goons puked all over him.

After his friend puked on him, the DJ made an announcement that cops were seen heading towards the Dells.

"Well, that's our key to get the hell out of here before we get caught.," said Tana glancing at me.

With that, Tana and I began heading towards where she parked her Audi. As we were walking in the direction of Tana's Audi, I spotted Chase, and heard him say to one of the guys, "Man that guy's puking came at an opportune time."

After hearing him, I yelled across to him, "Chase!," and pulled Tana to walk across to where him and the group were walking.

"Hey.," said Chase.

"So I saw that you had to stop two fights tonight. Someone's Mr. Hero.," I said jokingly.

"Yeah, well, what can I say...come's with the job description.," said Chase sending me a smile.

"Hey man, who are your two friends?," asked a tall, dark haired boy.

"Uh, this is Tana and Lena, they transferred in from St. Kate's.," said Chase motion to us.

"Nice to meet you ladies, I'm Caleb.," he said.

"Likewise.," said Tana and I.

After that, we walked in silence till we got to Tana's Audi, which was parked next to the car the two girls and Chase got into.

"Lets get out of here, but lets have some fun while we're at it.," said a smirking Tana.

"And this is why you're my friend.," I said giving Tana a mischievous smile.

As we made our way through the woods of the Dells, Tana began driving her Audi at a very fast speed. It wasn't long before we saw the flashing lights of a police car, and saw them flip around and begin chasing after us. "Hold on, Laney-bug. Its about to get interesting.," said Tana. I just braced myself for whatever was going to happen next.

With Tana's expert driving skills, we soon lost the cop car and began making our way back to Spencer. As we were making our way back on the highway, a black Hummer H3, came out of no where from behind us and began following us.

"Yo, I'm going 100 mph, and these people are behind me, following me just as fast.," said Tana, glancing at her speedometer, then up at her mirror.

"Just ignore them. If they want to go faster than what you're already going, then let them pass you.," I said.

"No. Let's make this interesting and see if they can or want to keep up. Plus I haven't tested out this thing's speed on the track in a long time, so we'll see if my baby can still do it.," said Tana before she began steadily speeding up.

"What speed are you at?," I said as my grip on the panel of the door tightened.

"Approaching 200 mph.," said Tana nonchalantly.

By this point in time, we'd lost the Hummer, and were really close to Spencer.

"Well ya might want to think about slowing down now Tans. We're almost to the dorm parking lot.," I said getting a little concerned.

"Relax. I'm not going to crash this thing.," said Tana as she rolled her eyes.

However, Tana did think it would be funny to "accidentally" whip into the dorm parking lot at 80mph. Luckily for us, Tana expertly maneuver in the parking lot and manage to slow her speed down before she pulled into a spot.

As I got out of the car I said to Tana, "Next time, remind me to drive myself."

Tana just scoffed before saying, "Whatever, you love my driving skills. Plus if you had been driving and had gotten chased by a cop, you would have gotten caught or given up." After saying this, Tana had a joking grin placed on her face.

"Ha ha, very funny Tans. I would have been fine.," I said matter of factly.

"Uh huh. Sure you would have kiddo.," said Tana with a little giggle as she tried to lighten the mood. As we made our way back to the dorm, Tana through her arm over my shoulder, and we made our way into the dorm to get a little bit of sleep before our first day at Spencer Academy.

Beep. Beep. BeEP. BEEP. As Lena's alarm went off, she quickly sat up and reached her arm out to hit the off button. After the annoying sound stopped, Lena immediately fell back, harshly hitting her pillow, reminding her that it was indeed 7am, and she had class starting at 8:30am. After about ten minutes of laying in her bed, she finally decided to roll out of bed, and go take a shower. As Lena made her way to the bathroom down the hall, she noticed that not many people were up and about in the halls yet. They were all probably thinking the same thing as her, 'Why are we all up at this ungodly hour?.' After a good ten minute shower, Lena made her way back and into her dorm room. Tana had yet to get up, so Lena decided to wake her up, so she would have time to get ready as well.

"Tana...," Lena got no response. "Taaana...," again Lena got no response from the sleeping girl. "KATANA MARIE! If you don't get up right now, you're not going to have time to get ready and go eat breakfast before class!," yelled a slightly irritated Lena.

"Alright, I'm up...," said a groggy Tana.

By 7:55am, both Lena and Tana were ready to go to the cafeteria in the main building for breakfast. As they walked toward the main hall of Spencer Academy's campus, Lena noticed that more students were out and about than she saw in the dorm earlier that morning.

"This school better have good breakfast food, or I'm never waking up this early ever again.," said Tana with a straight face.

"I'm sure the food is fine.," said Lena reassuringly.

"Better be.," said a slightly grumpy Tana. The girl wasn't much of a morning person, and frankly, neither was Lena, but Lena tried to make the best of it.

After grabbing some oatmeal and milk, Lena found a table to sit at, and waited for her picky breakfast eating friend. As she waited, she decided to take out her iPad, and see if she any messages from her good friend Liv, who she met at swim camp over this past summer. Luckily for Lena, she did indeed have a message from Liv.

Email from Liv Pendleton:

Hey there Lena! I've missed you since camp finished. I know that I'll see you at some meets though this fall. I know, for sure, that Jefferson Academy is going to be coming to one of Spencer's swim meets. Hope to swim against you in the 100m free, and beat your sorry behind. Ha! Keep swimming girlie and stay fresh.

Receiving an email from Liv made Lena miss her even more. She was one of the few people, besides Tana, that befriended her because she was a good person, and not just because she was one of Massachusetts elite swimmers or had money. However, before Lena could write Liv back, Tana finally sat down with her breakfast, and she had yet to touch her own. Plus class was going to start in about fifteen minutes anyway.

"So, what classes do you have?," asked Tana in between taking bites of her cereal.

"AP English, AP History, Spanish IV, AP Anatomy& Physiology, AP Calculus, PE, and Study Hall. What do you have?," said Lena before taking another bite of her oatmeal.

"Almost the same as you. AP English, French IV, AP History, AP Anatomy&Physiology, AP Art, PE, and Study Hall.," said Tana before taking a spoonful of her cereal.

"Hopefully we can sit by each other or get partnered up in the classes that we share.," said Lena.

"Yeah, but often times its highly unlikely because the teachers love to make suffer even more in this hellish place.," said Tana with a smirk.

Lena couldn't help but laugh at what Tana said. It was unmistakeably true. As Lena finished her oatmeal, she quickly looked in her backpack to see if she had everything she needed for her first class.

"Shit!," said Lena in a whisper.

"What?," said Tana with some cereal in her mouth.

"I forgot my schedule book on my desk in our room. I can't go without it for the day. If I don't put it in there, I can never remember or keep track of assignments.," said Lena with frustrated sigh.

"Well you better hurry your butt back to the dorm and book it back to get to AP English. Class starts in less than ten minutes.," said Tana glancing at the time on her iPhone.

"Shit. Save me a seat if you can.," said Lena before running off in the direction of her dorm.

It took Lena three minutes to run from the main building to her dorm room. When she finally got in her room and grabbed her schedule book, she glanced at her alarm clock. 8:25am, is what it read, that meant that she had five minutes to get to class on time.

Lena's POV

Shit why did I have to wear high heeled oxfords on the day that I forget something back at my dorm room. I'll be damn lucky if I make it to class on time. As I ran back to the main building, I noticed how empty campus looked. The first warning bell had already rung, which meant that everyone was either walking in the main building trying to get to class, or was already seated in class. I on the other hand was just making it to the main building with two minutes to get to my class on the second floor on time. Well here goes to getting a tardy and a bad rep on the first day.

As I ran through the halls, my heeled oxfords loudly clacked on the marble floors. The English teacher will probably be able to hear me a mile away, and I'll make even more noise walking into the room. This is fantastic. As I neared the English lecture room and pulled open the door, the final bell just rang. Lucky for me, the English teacher didn't say anything, and I saw Tana quickly wave at me to tell me to come sit by her. As I approached where Tana was sitting, I mouthed to her, "Thank you," as I made my way up the lecture room's stairs to the row she was sitting in.

Upon sitting down, Tana whispered to me, "Nice work making it to class just as the bell rang." I just smirked and nodded as I got out a notebook and pen to use for taking notes.

As I stared at the front of the room, waiting to take notes on the day's subject, the English teacher made a quick announcement. "It appears that we have four new students with us this year. So I would like to say welcome to you all, and when I call your name, I would like you to say where your from, where you transferred from, and anything else you might like to add. I'll start first with Mr. Chase Collins.," said the English teacher.

"I'm Chase Collins...from Boston. Transferred in from Lafayette Academy, and I'm a swimmer.," said Chase. I saw him look in my direction, so I gave him a quick smile before redirecting my attention to the front of the room.

"Thank you Chase.," said the English teacher.

"Next, Miss Katana Parker.," said the English teacher looking expectantly around the room before Tana stood up from her seat next to me.

"I'm Katana Parker, but everyone just calls me Tana. I'm from Andover. Transferred in from St. Kate's Academy for girls. I'm also a swimmer like Chase, but my specialties are the 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle, and 4x100m freestyle.," said Tana confidently not even bothering to look around the room.

"Thank you Tana.," said the English teacher.

"Alright, Miss Catalena Towne.," said the English teacher once again looking expectantly as she glanced around the room.

"I'm Catalena Towne. I'm also from Andover. Transferred in from St. Kate's Academy for girls with Tana. Tana and I were on swim team together at St. Kate's. We currently hold the state record for the 4x100m freestyle, and I hold the record for the 100m freestyle for women's high school swim team. I plan on joining Spencer's women's swim team, and becoming an asset to the team this year.," I said before quickly sitting down.

"Thank you Miss Towne, I'm sure that Spencer's swim team will be able to use you.," said the English teacher before moving down to the last person on her list.

"Last but not least, Miss Sarah Winham.," said the English teacher before once again glancing around the room for the girl.

"I'm Sarah Winham. I'm from Boston, and I just transferred in from Boston Public. Oh, and unlike the other three, I'm not a swimmer.," she said before sitting down.

At Sarah's last statement, there were a few snickers in the room, and some giggles from a few people. Tana and I gave each other a look before cracking smiles and once again turning to face the front of the class.

Like English, my classes went much like the rest. Each time, the teachers had me introduce myself to the class. By the end of the day, I was so ready to be anonymous once again. So far I hadn't made any friends, and Tana and I were trying to stay close together in class or between classes. A few times I had heard some girls make some comments about my hot pink hair. I know that my hair is by no means conventional, but some girls need to grow up and stop ragging on people. Once the final bell rang for the day, signaling an end to my first day of classes, I quickly made my way to the women's locker room to change for swim team practice. I decided to wear my black flyback training suit with rainbow colored reptile print on it, a black hair management cap, a black silicone swim cap, and black vanquisher 2.0 mirror speedo goggles. I was anxious for swim practice to start, and I couldn't wait to see what team I would be working with for the season. As I was finishing up in the locker room, and about to head out to the deck of the pool, Tana walked in to get ready for practice. I waved at her before leaving the locker room, and allowing for her to change.

I was the first one of the girls team to be sitting out on the deck waiting for practice to start. Tana came out of the locker room after about five minutes, wearing a black, green, and aqua colored python flyback training suit, hair management cap, purple silicone swim cap, and black vanquisher 2.0 mirror speedo goggles. As we were sitting there staring out at the pool, Tana decided to speak up first.

"Ready to kick some ass in the pool today?," asked Tana glancing at me.

I gazed out at the pool of the water a while before answering her, "Yeah, I'm more than ready. I just have this bad feeling that something is going to happen today in the pool."

"What do you mean? Do you feel like something bad is going to happen to you?," asked Tana worriedly.

"No. Not me. But someone else. I'm just getting this really bad feeling.," I said once again staring out at the water as if it could give me the answers.

"Well, just take your mind off of the bad feeling. I need you to push the thoughts aside, and be the great swimmer that you are today. It's our day to prove ourselves and to shine. I need your support, and to know that you'll be there swimming your ass off just as much as I'm going to be.," said Tana looking seriously at me.

"Alright. You and me babe.," I said getting up and holding my hand out to Tana.

Tana took my hand and said, "Always and forever. You and I. Let's go get warmed up and kill it out there today."

As part of the first practice the women's swim team coach just had us all do a lot of conditioning for the day, which consisted of swimming two miles for the day plus an ab workout. Unlike some girls, Tana and I weren't tired since we both swam all summer long for various club swim teams. When all the other girls were going to call it a day, Tana and I decided that we wanted to do some 100m freestyle time trials and see where we were at for the beginning of the season. We had Coach Pierce get out a stop watch, and had him give us the commands before we would take to the water.

"Swimmers to your blocks.," said Coach Pierce

"Swimmers set.," said Coach Pierce. Once we were set, it didn't take long for the Coach to blow his whistle, signaling for us to fly off the blocks and into the water. As I felt myself hit the water, immediately my mind went into overdrive. Everything else around me didn't matter. I could feel myself pushing myself harder than any other time that I'd ever swam the 100m freestyle. I wanted to know where I stood in the water, and I wanted to be the girl no one could beat. As I did my final flip turn for my final lap, I pushed myself to the max. I no longer knew if Tana was keeping up with me, and I didn't care. All I cared about was whether I could beat the record I'd set last year. When my hand came in contact with the pool wall, I was breathing heavily and looked around the pool for Tana. When Tana made it to the wall, the Coach looked baffled by the results he had received.

"No. This cannot be right.," said the Coach as he scratched his head.

"What can't be right?," I asked gazing up from the pool at him.

"Lena. Never in all my years have I ever seen a high school girl swim this fast in a 100m freestyle event, let alone at practice. You just swam a 52.63 second 100m. I'm baffled. Your time would beat out many previous Olympic gold medalists. This is phenomenal! And Tana, you really stuck with Lena! You swam a 53.79 second 100m. You girls are probably the fastest girls Spencer's has seen in a long time, if ever! Good job ladies! I think we have big things in our season ahead of us. You girls get out of here and rest up!," said Coach excitedly as he kept glancing down at his stop watch and clip board.

"Great. Now our coach is going to obsessively talk about us in practice. If we're not hated yet by the other girls, we probably will be now.," said Tana, looking at me as I removed my goggles, swim cap and hair management cap from my head to reveal my bright pink hair, upon which she did the same thing.

"Yeah, you can say that again.," I said running a hand through my hair.

As we made our way out of the pool and towards the girls locker room, some guys were just entering the pool from the boys locker room. I noticed that many of the guys at Spencer's are quite good looking, but I still wasn't interested in any boys. However, Tana was practically drooling at all the guys. She hated being at St. Kate's for the mere fact that it was an all girls school, and that meant that she had little to no interaction with those of the opposite sex. Lucky for her, Spencer's was not only co-ed, but it also had a men's swim team, which she was getting her first look at now. I let Tana look at all the guys while I tried to walk past them unnoticed. However, this tactic didn't seem to work. As I was trying to inconspicuously make my way into the girls locker rooms, Coach Pierce decided to yell after me, and stop me from leaving.

"LENA!," yelled Coach Pierce.

"Ugh, yeah Coach?," I asked as I turned to look at my swim team coach.

"Be in my office tomorrow morning at 8:30am sharp.," said Coach Pierce with a very serious look etched into his face.

"But Coach, I have class at 8:30...," I said looking confused and shocked.

"Don't worry, I'll have it covered. Just be there.," said Coach Pierce looking serious before walking off in the direction of the entrance to the coaches offices from the deck of the pool.

I couldn't help but give a helpless look to Tana.

"Lighten up Laney-bug. It'll be alright. Plus, Coach probably has something really important to talk to you about.," said Tana, trying to lessen my growing stress level.

Now I really needed to get back in that pool and de-stress. "Yeah, I suppose you're right.," I said with a sigh.

After showering in the locker room, I took my time getting ready to go. I had a lot on my mind and couldn't seem to shake any of the thoughts. All the other girls had already left the locker room, including Tana, and so it was just me, myself, and I to keep myself entertained. Since all the other girls were gone, I hooked my iPhone up to a small dock that I always packed in my Speedo backpack and began streaming music from my playlist. I really don't like the feeling of being completely alone in the locker room, and I almost always need something there to keep me occupied. As I began to straighten my hair after blow drying it, one of my ultimate, favorite songs came on, Best of You by Foo Fighters, and I couldn't help but belt it out as I straightened each layer of my hair. When the song ended and I was getting ready to tease my hair before packing up my things to leave, I was thankful that no one was in the locker room to see my crazy mix of dancing and singing while fixing my hair. However, that thought was short lived because as I walked out of the girls locker room with my filled Speedo bag, there were a few guys not too far outside the door that snickered as I walked out. Great, I guess my singing didn't quite go unnoticed. As I was trying to walk past them without being further embarrassed, one of them spoke up.

"Ya know sweetheart, you should really think about being a little more quiet when singing with that voice of yours.," said the guy that I recognized from the party the other night. I thought his name was Aaron, but I wasn't for sure, so I just went with a general comeback for his pathetic attempt at wounding my pride.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I just hear the voice of a pathetic loser? Aww honey, don't be so down on yourself. I'm sure that one day someone will laugh at your pathetic little comments. And do me a favor, next time you decide to talk to me, try not to let low-standard trash come out of your mouth. Okay?," I said before sassily walking away from a very pissed off guy and his taken aback friends.

It served that loser right to get shown up, and I didn't regret a word that I said. I quickly walked from the main building of Spencer's campus to the dorms where I'm sure I would find Tana working on her homework.

As I made my way into our dorm room, Tana said, "Hey. What took you so long?"

"Nothing. Just needed to clear my head a bit.," I said.

"Okay. Hey, I have a question for you.," said Tana glancing up at me from her homework.

"Ask away.," I said as I set my bag down and began rummaging through it and taking out my suit and towel that needed to dry in the bathroom.

"So, a guy today asked me to go out to this bar tonight, and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?," asked Tana, looking hopefully at me from her desk.

I sighed and asked, "Well, what time do you need to be there by, and how long will we be staying out?"

Tana immediately brightened up at my response, since I'm not really the most outgoing person. "Well, he told me to meet him there around 8:00pm, and I don't think that we'll stay out past midnight.," said Tana with a smile.

"Alright, well that gives me about a little over an hour to get some homework done, and get ready.," I said with a sigh.

"So you'll go?!," asked Tana looking expectantly at me.

I sighed again, "Yes, I'll go. Only for you would I ever do this on a school night.," I said glancing at her before sitting at my desk and began working on a worksheet that was due the next day in Spanish.

Tana let out a little scream, distracting me from what I was doing and began happily clapping. She could be such a weirdo sometimes.

After almost an hour of working on homework and finishing most of what was due for the next day, Tana impatiently reminded me that I had to get ready asap. I begrudgingly got up from my desk and headed over to my closet to look for an outfit for the night. I decided on a tribal printed body-con dress with a light wash, studded jean vest, hot pink all-star converse, and a small blue clutch. After getting dressed, I immediately went into our bathroom and applied some eyeliner and mascara, not bothering to put on any foundation. By the time I was finished, Tana was impatiently waiting by the door with her car keys in her hand. Tana decided to wear a black, fringe crop top with green skinny jeans, a cream leather jacket, and coral booties. She looked damn good, and this guy that she was meeting up with would be an idiot to not think so.

"Finally. Are you ready?," asked Tana as she impatiently spun her car keys around her finger.

"Yes. Let's get this over with.," I said as I reluctantly began to follower her out the door before locking it and heading in the direction of the stairs in order to get outside to the parking lot.

Tana made it to the local bar in Ipswich in record time, and there already seemed to be a good sized crowd at this place called Nicky's. "Is this the place?," I asked as I reluctantly got out of the car.

"Well, duh, why would I have parked the car if it wasn't?," said Tana as she locked the car and began walking towards the entrance of the run down looking bar.

All I could do was sigh before deciding to walk after the girl. As I walked in the entrance of the busy bar, I was instantly met by the smell of liquor and food. With a place like this, how could I not have a good time. Right? Wrong. I'm not really the big, social person, that would be Tana. I'm just along for the ride. Just after walking into the bar, Tana immediately walked in the direction of the bar, to grab a drink. "Want something?," asked Tana as she glanced back at me. "Just a water.," I said barely glancing at her as my sight went around the busy room. "Alright...Could we get a coke and a water?," Tana asked the bartender. "Sure thing.," said the tall, bald bartender. As we waited for our drinks, I decided to start a conversation with Tana. "So, do you see your man?," I asked playfully. "No...not yet. I'm sure he's around here somewhere.," said Tana as she looked around the room. "I'm sure he's here as well.," I said giving her a reassuring smile. Soon we both had our drinks, so we tried to find a table in the busy joint. When we finally sat down, a guy started walking towards our table. He was very handsome, having light brown, clean cut hair, a square jawline, and a six foot athletic build. Deciding that I didn't want to continue to stare at the guy, I decided to turn my gaze to see Tana's reaction. Tana spotted him too, and a smile began to grace her lips as she saw him walk over to our table. "Glad you could make it.," said the handsome guy as he stared at Tana. "Well, what can I say, I couldn't turn down the chance for a night out.," said Tana flirtatiously back to the guy. The guy just smiled at her, and Tana, realizing that I was still there decided to introduce us. "Oh. Ryan, this is Lena. Lena, this is Ryan.," said Tana as she smiled and gestured between us. "Nice to meet you Ryan.," I said giving him a smile. Ryan smiled back and said, "Likewise." "So do you want to go dance?," asked Ryan as he looked at Tana. Tana just smiled and nodded her head.

Once the two were gone, dancing on the small dance floor of the bar, I decided to finish my water before leaving the table and deciding to go dance as well. Honestly, there wasn't much else I could do except sit at the table by myself on my iPhone, or hit up the pool tables, which was the worst possible option. As I walked toward the dance floor, a song that I could actually dance well to came on. As I got into the crowd on the dance floor, I began to start to dance by myself, not caring if anyone was watching, or what they thought. After a while of dancing, the crowd around me seemed to thin out. Now I was in everyone's view, and people seemed content to just watch the way in which my body moved to the beat. However, after the song ended, I decided that I had had enough of being the source of people's entertainment for the night, so I headed towards the bar to get myself a water. Once I got to the bar and received and paid for my water, a person had come up behind me. "Who knew that Spencer's best female swimmer could dance like that?," asked the voice that I immediately knew to be Chase's. I turned around with my water in my hand and said, "Well what can I say, I'm full of surprises." Chase laughed and gave me a genuine smile. "Well, I'd definitely like to see what else you have in store.," said Chase flirtatiously. I quirked an eyebrow and said playfully, "Oh really. And just what makes you think that I'd let you see what else I have up my sleeve." Chase chuckled and said, "Because I'm a charming young man who you can't resist." I laughed and said, "Whoa, slow down there Prince Charming. That has yet to be seen." "Well perhaps I can show you just how charming I am. Save me a dance tonight?," Chase asked giving me a sexy, stern expression before he walked away back to the table where some girls from last night were sitting, along with the guy I met last night, Caleb. I down my water before deciding to go check out the rest of the bar. As I made my way through the crowd, I came to the back corner of the bar where a group of guys were playing pool. I recognized a few of the guys from the night at the dells, and, unfortunately, I saw Aaron was among the guys playing pool. Should have known that an asshole like him would be hanging around the pool tables.

3rd Person POV

As Lena walked away from the pool tables towards the other side of the bar, she heard someone say to her, "What sweetheart. Don't like watching a game of pool." As Lena turned around, she saw Aaron leaning on a pool cue, waiting for her reply expectantly. "No, I like watching pool, I just don't enjoy watching if there are assholes like you playing.," said Lena, rolling her eyes at the guy. The two guys that Lena didn't know just smirked and snickered at her reply, seeming to enjoy what she had said to Aaron. With that Lena decided to walk away from the situation. However, Aaron didn't like not having the last word, so, of course, he had to say something unnecessary back to Lena. "Yeah and I don't like hearing bitches like you speak, but that doesn't seem to stop you from opening that pretty little mouth of yours.," said Aaron with a smirk. Lena immediately tensed before turning around with a pissed off expression upon her face. "If anyone's a bitch, it'd be you.," Lena said seethingly. "Honey, you should look in the mirror sometime because you're the only female dog that I see around here.," said Aaron, looking like he'd just won. "We'll see who the female dog is. Reset the pool table. I don't care if you guys are in the middle of a game. It's either going to be I beat the hell out of his pride at pool, or I kick his ass.," said Lena heatedly. The two other guys didn't want to argue with Lena, so they began to set up the balls for breaking. "Bitches can break.," said Aaron, giving Lena a smirk. Pretending that Lena didn't notice that it was directed at her, she said triumphantly, "By all means, after you," as she gestured to the pool table. The two guys that were playing earlier just snickered and smirked at what Lena said, and Aaron's reaction. "Oh, I'm sorry did I hit a sore spot? Stop being such a prick and break.," said Lena before sassily walking over to the other side of the pool table. Aaron reluctantly broke and didn't make any, much to his dismay. "Well, looks like a good start for you. Now watch and learn.," said Lena as she bent over, taking aim with her cue. "Solid 7, left corner pocket.," said Lena as she hit the cue ball. After the ball went in the left corner pocket, Lena moved around to the side of the table to make another shot. "Solid 3, middle left pocket.," said Lena before once again making it. Taking another angle on the pool table, Lena said, "Solids 1 and 6, bottom corner, right pocket." After making both the balls, Lena moved once again and lined up her shot.

It didn't take Lena long to completely empty the table of all the balls and win the game, without Aaron getting a chance at a shot. "Well, it looks like I won. So, if anyone's a bitch, it'd be you. Have a good night Aaron.," said Lena before handing off her cue and walking away from the pool tables. For Lena, it felt damn good to put Aaron in his place, and now it was time for her to get a drink. Even though it was a school night, Lena felt like getting slightly intoxicated. When Lena got up to the bar, she ordered two Long Island Ice Teas, flashing the bartender her fake id. Getting both her drinks, she quickly downed them in about five minutes. As she began to feel a buzz, Lena headed back to the dance floor as All Night by Team Pitbull came on. Feeling a high buzz running through her body, she let it take over. However, dancing on the dance floor didn't last long because she soon wanted a few more drinks. Heading over to the bar, Lena order two shots of tequila and once again flashed her fake id. Taking the shots of tequila with lime and salt, she really began to feel that tingle she loved through her body. After a few minutes of standing around by the bar, she once again made her way over to the dance floor and started dancing. After dancing for a few minutes, Lena began to get bored by the people around her, and so, deciding to lighten things up, she made her way over to a table of people sitting close to the dance floor. Thinking it was a good idea in her intoxicated state, Lena disregarded the people at the table and decided to climb on top of it and start using it as a dancing platform. Lena was so out of it that she didn't even notice the people step away from the table and a crowd surround the table. Soon enough, Tana made her way through the small crowd around the table and started yelling at the oblivious Lena.

"LENA! GET OFF THE TABLE NOW!," yelled Tana, but Lena didn't seem to notice her friend. "LENA, IF YOU DON'T GET OFF THIS TABLE NOW, SO HELP ME, I'M GOING TO HALL YOUR ASS OFF THAT TABLE WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!," yelled Tana again at the still dancing Lena. However, before Tana could make a move to drag Lena off the table. Lena began to sway and grabbed at her head. Before Tana's eyes, Lena went limp and fell off the table. Luckily, for both Tana and Lena, a tall, blonde haired boy reached out his arms and caught the falling Lena.

Lena's POV

I could tell that Tana was yelling at me to get off the table, but I didn't care. I just wanted to keep dancing, and I could care less what other people were thinking about me. However, my dancing was soon cut short. A sharp pain worked its way throughout my body, and suddenly, everything went black.

As I woke up, I noticed that I was no longer in the bar, but I was back in the dorm in my own room, and it was still dark outside. All I could think was how did I get here, and why does my head hurt so bad? As I glanced at my iHome, the clock read in bright blue letters, 4:45am. Great, so I've been passed out for a good five hours or so. After glancing around the room a bit, I realized that Tana was passed out in her bed, and our clothes from a few hours ago were strewn around the room. No doubt Tana probably didn't bother putting our things in our laundry baskets because she was too busy dealing with a passed out me, and she was too tired to care. Deciding that I would be getting back to sleep any time soon, I decided to get up and go take a shower. Getting up so quickly to go grab my robe, a towel, and my shower caddy wasn't too great of an idea however. I soon began to feel nauseous, and I wished that I had stayed laying down. Rushing out of the room and down the hallway to the bathroom, I quickly dropped my things and headed into one of the stalls to relieve the horrible sick feeling that was raging in my body. I immediately felt better afterwards, but now I was in serious need of that shower and, no doubt, my teeth desperately needed to be brushed and my mouth rinsed. Getting into the shower, the warm water felt amazing on my skin, and I began to wash away everything from the night before, including my worries and anxiety. After what probably was a twenty minute shower, I felt refreshed and ready to take on another day at Spencers. Having dried off, I put my robe on and grabbed my towel, pajamas, and shower caddy before quickly exiting the bathroom and making my way down the dim lit hallway that I now realized was a little bit creepier than before. As I made my way down the hallway towards my room, I began to hear noises from behind me that made the hair on the back of my neck rise. Not wanting to look behind me, I made my way down the hallway as quickly as possible until I finally reached my room door. I quickly flung the door open and tried to quietly shut it behind me without waking up Tana. Taking a big sigh of relief, I finally stepped away from the side of the door and went to hang my towel up in our small bathroom as well as put my shower caddy in there. Coming back out of our small bathroom, I glanced at my clock and noticed that it was only a little after 5:20am. Great, now what was I supposed to do for the next two hours, when I really had to be up to get ready for my second day of school.

I wasn't able to think of anything that could possibly keep me occupied for two hours, so I decided to grab a sports bra, underwear, and a pair of shorts and crawl into bed for about an hour. Upon crawling into bed, it surprisingly didn't take me very long to get comfortable and fall back asleep. However, as I had promised myself, I only slept an hour more, and before I knew it, my alarm went off at 6:40am, and I decided that I would put on a shirt, socks, and tennis shoes and head out for a run this morning then come back and get ready. After running for an hour, I felt just as refreshed as I did after taking a shower. Making my way back into the dorm room, I quietly shut the door behind me, but quickly noticed that Tana was no longer sleeping. "Hey.," I said as I made my way into the bathroom to wash my face. "Hey.," said Tana, who seemed to be slightly pissed off at me, no doubt because of last night. "Look, I'm sorry about last night. I know that I probably ruined your night with Ryan, and I just want you to know that I'm really sorry about that.," I said shamefully glancing at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. I could hear Tana sigh from within our room. "Lena, it's not just that. You scared the living shit out of me when you passed out. I didn't know what to do. Here you were intoxicated and not listening to me, and the next thing I know you're falling from on top of a table. I was so worried about you that I could barely think straight! I don't want what happened to you several months ago to happen again!," said Tana taking a deep breath. I didn't say anything back, I just gave her a blank look. "Don't you get it!? Lena! Alcohol makes you uncontrollable, and I'm not going to let you go through what you did a couple months ago. I won't put myself back in the position where I'm following an ambulance to the hospital, and then waiting in the waiting room to find out if they could get you stable. I'm not going to do that again. Lena, you're my best friend, and I care about you so much. So much that I'm not going to stand by and watch as my friend, who I love, slips through my fingers once again.," said Tana in between taking breaths and trying to calm herself down. "Tana, I'm not that girl anymore! That night was the worst night of my life, and I never want to relive that ever again! Sure, I'll admit that last night I had a little bit more to drink that I should have, but I would never let myself get to the point that I was a couple of months ago. I could never do that to you or my family again. I'm so sorry that I let it get as far as it did last night, though. I know that I really scared you and to be honest, waking up this morning and realizing that I was back in our room without knowledge of how I had gotten here really scared me. I'm sorry Tana. Can you forgive me?," I said looking down and not daring to look up at my best friend. "Ah, what the hell. What's there to forgive? Just promise me that you won't do that ever again.," said Tana with a sigh. I just nodded my head and went to washing my face before heading out of the bathroom to my closet.

After getting ready for my second day, I couldn't help but comment to Tana, "You know, I really hate wearing uniforms. Why is it again that we keep allowing our parents to send us to private schools?" "Because we realized a long time ago that if we play along with what they want, then we get more of what we want.," said Tana as she finished up on her make-up before heading over to her desk to grab her backpack. "Oh yeah. Well remind me later to complain to my parents about possibly letting me have some money, so we can go shopping.," I said with a grin. "Oh, don't worry, I won't forget to remind you.," said Tana with a smile.

As we both left the dorm to head to breakfast, I suddenly began to hope that everyone had forgotten about what I had done last night. The last thing I needed was people gossiping in the hallways some more about me. As Tana and I walked into the cafeteria, I wasn't so luck, however. As we walked my some tables, I could hear people whispering and feel eyes following my every move. Great, today was going to be just great. I quickly grabbed some fruit and apple juice and found a table. The quicker I could sit down and eat, the quicker I could get the hell out of the cafeteria's gossip fest. Tana did the same and quickly sat down next to me. "Hey, don't sweat it Laney-bug. Something else will happen, and everyone will soon forget about last night.," said Tana as she tried to reassure me. "Yeah, you're probably right, but I hate having to walk by everyone and just know that they are thinking or talking about what I did last night.," I said with a sigh as I looked down at my bowl of fruit. "You know, if you stare at your fruit any harder, it's going to catch fire.," said Tana with a chuckle. I just smiled and began to eat the fruit. After talking to Tana for a while, we finally heard the first bell ring, and I remembered that I had to meet with Coach Pierce in his office at 8:30am. I quickly grabbed my things and told Tana that I'd see her in class before quickly dashing out of the cafeteria in the direction of the pool. I just had this feeling that today, and probably this week was going to be a piece of work.