The next three weeks passes bizarrely. Some days seemed like they flew by; hardly had I gotten up and begun my day when night was falling again. Other days took what felt like years to pass; every second seemed like a minute, every minute seemed like an hour, every hour seemed like a day.

I wasn't sure what made the difference in how I perceived time moving, but I undoubtedly preferred the short days. They were easy.

I hardly ever saw Kaito anymore; he was always at work, and when he was home we actively avoided each other. I had unconsciously stopped thinking of him as 'father' the night he hit me. It was impossible to think of him in any affectionate terms, so in my mind, he became Kaito, not dad. I didn't hate him – I mean, I'd always know he didn't like me – but our fragile coexistence of mutual dislike had taken a darker turn.

Ami also avoided me, though not to the same extent as her husband. She ate with me at lunch and dinner, and sometimes, if she was in a good mood, she would make pitiful attempts at conversation. Mostly, when she was short on things to say, she'd talk about Ouran. Apparently her father had gone to Ouran for his high school years, so she told me what she knew about it. I think she might have been trying to help with the change, but I wasn't interested in her assistance.

I spoke less in those three weeks than I usually did in three days, and that's really saying something. I said good morning to Ami, I thanked her for lunch, I greeted her at dinner, I bid her farewell after dinner and I said goodnight. Sometimes I would speak briefly with the staff or the chauffeur if I wanted to go somewhere, but that was all the speaking I did for the duration of winter holidays. I never spoke to Kaito anymore; for the first time, he seemed content to pretend that I didn't exist. I liked it better that way.

I stopped going out to parties. After all, now that I'd got what I wanted – to go to normal school – there was really no reason to keep up the pretence of enjoying them. So the only times I left the house was to run and to go to the dojo for my Judo and Karate lessons.

When winter holidays started drawing to a close, I began to get nervous. I hate to admit it, but I was scared stiff. I had to remind myself that this was what I had wanted. It wasn't my fault I wouldn't fit in where I was going – if Ami and Kaito wanted to send me to Snob Ville then I was cool with it.

It didn't matter to me that the rest of the students at Ouran had probably never set foot in a bar in their lives, let alone get into a fight. At least, that's what I told myself. I knew that they would be the sophisticated, proper type and that I was anything but. I knew that my appearance alone would stand out like a sore thumb – I was ready to bet that the children at Ouran had never even dreamed of wearing worn black leather or dyeing their hair blood red. No, their hair would all be nice, natural shades of rich mahogany brown, or maybe blonde or black. There would be quite a few raven-haired people like myself, I assumed – since this was Japan, after all – but I would be the only one with red chunks. I considered dying my hair back to its natural black for a split second, then immediately abandoned the idea.

About one week into the three of summer, I took the entrance exams for Ouran.

Now, you're most likely wondering how a bad girl like me would ever be considered for admittance into Ouran Academy. There are two answers and both are simple; the first is that I'm smart. I hate telling people, and I try not to flaunt it, but I am quite literally a genius. I have an IQ of 226; most people aren't over a hundred. I did fairly well in school at our old place, though not as well as I could have done; I just didn't care. Even without listening to the teachers and neglecting my homework, I never got under ninety-five percent on quizzes and tests. The second reason was Kaito's job. It irked me, to realise that I would fit in with the rich, important kids at Ouran more than I'd first thought due to him. He was the head of the second-biggest medical company in Japan and worked as co-associate for the largest, an association called the Otori Group. I didn't pay attention to the specifics, but from what I gathered, his position was a big deal.

Anyway, when the day arrived to take the entrance exam, our chauffeur drove me to the school. I came alone; Ami was out and Kaito was at work. All the paperwork had been singed, so it was just a matter of passing the test, a small matter in which I was confident.

I climbed the wide steps leading up to the main building with some trepidation. It was still holidays, so the school was mostly empty. It was the first time I'd seen the place where I'd be spending the majority of the next two years of my life – it was eerily quiet. I passed no one on the way through the main entrance hall. I mentally reviewed the quick directions Ami had given me – take the north-east corridor, go up the steps, down the hallway, last door on the right.

I tried to rouse my courage by growling at myself for being frightened – what was this place, that it should make me feel nervous? I was way cooler than this.

I squared my shoulders and flipped my hair out of my eyes. Time to go show these rich people that just because I was new to the whole 'upper class' thing and wore black leather didn't mean I wasn't smarter than every one of them.

I won't tell the whole exams story, though that's pretty much it. I went upstairs and found the chairman of the school waiting for me. We talked for a few minutes. Well, mostly he asked me questions and I answered in the shortest way possible. However, I did make an effort to be polite, though I didn't bother to speak any more than usual. For instance, when he asked me what my life at home was like, instead of telling him to mind his own business and to butt out, I told him it was perfectly fine thank you very much.

Eventually he got tired of the mostly one-sided conversation and pulled out the exam papers.

Now, I won't lie to you – it was at that moment that I finally got really nervous. I refused to let it show though, and I thanked him coolly when he handed me the test. I kept my calm mask on with a little effort as he handed me a pen and gestured for me to take a seat at the desk in the middle of the room. I got up from the sofa where we'd been sitting and crossed the room, glancing out of the huge floor-to-ceiling window that served as one of the four walls. I could see a tower like the one we were in, another corner of the school, jutting out against the sky. Bizarrely I noted that the building was pink – what a ridiculous colour for a school – before I sat down.

I read the first question. Disbelief assaulted me as I read it again, and then re-read it for a third time. I skipped down the page and read number thirteen, then number eighteen. This time I almost laughed out loud; these questions were easy! I had almost been hoping that the exam would challenge me, or at least make me think. But then again, I hadn't had to actually struggle in academics in my entire life.

I wrote the exam in record time and passed with flying colors. I aced the math, language and sociology questions, as well as the arts and sciences section.

When I went to hand my paper in, the chairman blanched slightly in surprise; apparently I'd broken the record for the fastest writing time.

That was the only bit of excitement I had in my torturous three weeks of break.

When I got home the house was empty except for the staff, so I quickly fell back into my old routine. The last few days passed quickly enough, with the only break being a letter in the mail signifying my official acceptance into the school.

Finally, the first day of high school at Ouran arrived. My parents had bought the uniform – a disgustingly feminine dress in a sickly shade of bright yellow – but I wasn't going to wear it. The uniform wasn't mandatory, I had stubbornly insisted, and that meant that I didn't have to wear it. If they really wanted me to wear the Ouran uniform, they could buy me the male version. I liked the boy's uniform – it was much better looking, and comprised of a blue button-up over shirt, white undershirt, black tie and pants. It wasn't like me to notice an outfit that wasn't all black, but even I had to admit that as school uniforms went, that one wasn't bad.

So it was that on my first day of school, I arrived in one of the family cars at the entrance of Ouran Academy. Contrary to my parent's pleas, I had worn my regular leather and kept my hair its usual mixture of hot red and midnight black.

As I walked down the long, wide, white stone pathway leading to the school entrance, I ignored the whispers and stares I was getting from the other students. They were exactly like I had expected – some tall, some short, different hair and eye colours, but all with the same disdainful, superior expression as they watched me. I hissed in discomfort and more than a little anger – did they have to be so obvious about it? Now even people who hadn't seen me were turning to see what everybody else was staring at.

You brought this on yourself, I reminded myself. All you had to do was wear the uniform and change your hair.

But deep down, I knew that even that wouldn't have been enough. I had never been normal, and while doing those things may help disguise me for a while, in the end people always looked at me the way the students of Ouran High did on my first day.

So I kept my head high and my walk confident to the point of arrogance as I stalked into the school, making an effort to exclude a powerful air of don't-mess-with-me-or-I'll-hurt-you.

I entered the main hallway and looked up, marvelling at how high the ceiling was. When I'd come for exams I must have missed it – but the roof was far above my head, high enough to fit at least a three-story house into it.

Well, that might be because there are three stories, I thought wryly. Ignoring the whispers and pointing fingers, I sashayed up to the front desk and collected my schedule from one of the secretaries. She stared at me, not bothering to disguise her curiosity, and I silently took the paper, sending her a glacier-cold look as I did so.

I read my homeroom number off the schedule, then turned to head that direction – and collided with a blonde boy standing behind me.

"Hey, watch it!" I snapped, and instantly regretted it. The boy – or man, really – was very good-looking, one of the most handsome boys I've ever seen, though perhaps too pretty for my usual taste. His hair was a bright yellow-blonde, and he looked like he was about my age or a little older.

Great way to meet one of your potential classmates, Rin, I thought.

The boy's expression was a bit taken aback – whether by my appearance or my greeting, I couldn't tell – but his face quickly morphed into a smoother, flirtatious expression.

"I'm sorry. Forgive my carelessness. May I inquire as to your name, my dear?"

As he spoke his eyes burned in a strange way, and I blinked. Holy cow, he was cuter than I thought.

I took an involuntary half-step backward and answered without thinking.

"Rin Amaya. I'm new."

I floundered and tried to avoid looking into his eyes, which were a beautiful shade of deep violet-blue.

"I'm Tamaki Suo," he replied in a silky sweet voice. "It is a great pleasure to meet you, miss." And with that, he took my hand and, ignoring the snakeskin glove, gently brushed his lips against it.

I froze, then snapped. I pulled away and skittered back a full three paces, my heart beating wildly. I like to think I was more angry than anything, but in truth, I was frightened. This boy, with his sweet-talking and pretty eyes, had already made a crack in my armour and I wasn't even halfway into my first day.

"I'm sorry," he said with a little half smile. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Scare me? Was it that obvious?

"Don't worry, it's not obvious," he said, echoing my thoughts with uncanny precision. "I'm just good at reading people. Although I have to admit," his eyes did the burning thing again, "your dazzling beauty has my ability to perceive your feelings quite bewildered."

Did he just call me beautiful? No, he couldn't have, I answered myself. I drew my scattered self-control together – not easy, with Tamaki Suo staring at me – and said coldly,

"Thank you. I'll be going now."

I turned to leave, making sure to keep my body posture confident – which was the last thing I felt like – as I swept away from Tamaki. I risked a glance backward, and was rewarded with a glimpse of Tamaki's expression of absolute shock. He wasn't moving (actually, it looked more like he was permanently frozen) so I hoped that I'd surprised him enough to ditch him.

However, hardly had I gained the first few steps of one of the staircases when I heard quick footsteps behind me. I resisted the urge to run – or at least turn around and slam my elbow into his nose – and kept walking. The footsteps reached me, and Tamaki slid around me on the staircase and stopped, forcing me to stop as well.

"I thought I got rid of you," I growled, loosing all pretences of politeness.

Tamaki gulped in shock and his face went pale. I could see that he was completely thrown off; I got the feeling that not many girls would have continued being so cold to him after his first display.

"Flirting doesn't work on me, you know," I said before he could open his mouth.

Tamaki gaped like a fish out of water, and I barely contained a laugh – I pitied this guy's poor friends.

"We'll see about that," he said, forcing a smile.

I sighed; apparently getting rid of him would be harder than I thought. I was considering clouting him with my binder when he slipped his arm around my bag's strap and slung it away from me.

"Let me take that for you," he said.

My mouth opened in shock before I reflexively tried to grab the bag back.

"No," I growled, with less expressiveness than usual.

Tamaki kept the bag out of my reach and smiled again, but I found that I wasn't nearly as affected by his good looks as I had been before.

I must be acclimatizing to him, I thought as I momentarily gave up on getting my bag back. The thought of acclimatising to him was strangely unappealing, despite Tamaki's welcoming manner.

I stepped around him and continued up the stairs, internally groaning when he fell into step beside me. Would I ever get rid of him? How much discouragement did it take for a guy to give up? I mean, it wasn't like his attempts at wooing me were heartfelt. I don't know how I knew, but instinctively I realized that this Suo guy was no amateur at the whole girl thing, which made me dislike him more.

"So what's a beautiful girl like you doing here at Ouran?" he asked amiably.

I glared at him and wished that he'd stop calling me beautiful when he didn't mean it, but decided to respond when he kept looking at me expectantly without a hint of a reaction to my unfriendliness.

"My parents gave up on me," I said flatly. The words end of story were very clear, if unspoken, at the end of the sentence. Tamaki, however, seemed oblivious.

"Gave up on you? That doesn't seem very nice. Forgive me for intruding, but I don't understand. You're obviously lonely, why would anyone give up on you?"

"Because I made them!" I spat, suddenly furious. I ignored his suddenly wide eyes as I moved closer, getting in his face. It didn't escape my notice that I was at least the same height as him, even with the slight crouch that I always unconsciously slid into when I was angry enough to throw a punch. "I don't care who you are," I snarled in a low, soft monotone more menacing than a shout. "I don't care how important you or your family are. I don't even care what your name is. Nobody asks me about myself. Nobody. Ever. So just leave me alone, and I'm sure we'll get along fine."

Tamaki was finally silent – he seemed almost dazed – and I snatched my bag and spun on my heel, stalking away before I could ruin that pretty white smile of his.

For some reason, up till that point I'd been almost oblivious to my surroundings – not a normal occurrence for me, as I tried to always be aware of who and what was around me – so I hadn't noticed my audience.

As I walked, girls in bright yellow dresses that had been clustered around Tamaki and I parted like the Red Sea, as if anxious not to get too near me. They gave me dirty looks, which I returned. The few that met my eyes quickly looked away. The suddenly hostile air that I felt radiating from them, however, refused to abate.

There were a few boys in the crowd as well, though they were trying to be less conspicuous about watching me as I moved away from the scene. They didn't seem as angry as the girls; in fact, a few of them seemed almost pleased with something.

I brushed it off. Whatever. The social affairs of this school were totally unrelated to me; all I wanted was to be left alone. Wasn't my fault if the school hottie had to irritate me on the first day.

The school hottie. With that errant thought, the reason behind the other girls' new animosity clicked into place. Of course! They all had crushes on Tamaki! He was such a scoundrel. When I'd walked through the front doors, he hadn't noticed me for who I was – he'd just seen another female student who wasn't under his spell yet.

As I found my classroom – which looked more like an eighteenth century ballroom – amidst the whispering, I tried to forget the entire morning. I tried to forget Suo and the honest sincerity in his eyes when he'd asked me my name, or when he'd flippantly said that I was lonely.

It wasn't like I regretted discouraging him – on the contrary, I was more than ecstatic to be rid of my self-assigned admirer – but I was perhaps a bit more melancholy than usual as I took my seat.

I was having trouble wrapping this chapter up, so I just sorta cut it off… the next one will continue immediately on from this point. Reviews are appreciated. Speaking of reviews, do you know how many I got for last chapter? None. Not one. Now, if you're an author, then you'll know how depressing and discouraging that is. So please please please tell me what you thought of this chapter? I will give you cookies *holds out cookies*