Please review and tell me what I can make better. ENJOY!

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

James woke and momentarily freaked out because he didn't recognize his surroundings.

'Oh yeah…I'm at Clovers' Boarding School,' he thought to himself, sitting up.

He looked at the glowing red numbers of the alarm clock; it said 6:30am. He then focused on Shane's bed and saw it was empty but there was a faint light coming from the bathroom.

James climbed from his bed and turned on a lamp. He stretched his arms above his head before rummaging through his dresser. After finding and slipping on a pair of blue jeans, Shane emerged from the bathroom fully dressed.

"Good morning. Did I wake you?" Shane asked.

"Good morning and no you didn't. Sleep well?" James asked before pulling on a green Mountain Dew shirt.

"Yes. What about you?" James nodded. "It sucks that you've got detention."

"Oh well, it's no big deal. At least I didn't get suspended like Derek." He tied his black Air Speed shoes then walked to the bathroom. While he was spraying some cologne, he heard a cell phone's chime.

"Brandy and Lily are waiting for us on the second floor," Shane called to him. James figured that one of the girls texted him.

He grabbed his Chemistry, Algebra 2, and US History textbooks along with three spiral notebooks and some pencils and shoved them into his backpack. Shane was opening the door as James slipped on his key and they walked to the elevator.

Just as Shane said, Lily and Brandy were waiting for them. Lily was wearing a blue button up shirt with tan jean shorts and tan sandals. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and slightly curled. Brandy was wearing a bright pink shirt with jean knee shorts and Air Speed shoes. Her sandy hair fell gently to her shoulders. They both waved as the elevator came to a stop and they stepped on.

"Sleep well girls?" Shane asked.

"Wow Shane. You sound like a perv but yes we did, thanks for asking," Brandy replied. Lily and Shane chuckled.

"I'm sorry you have detention James," Lily apologized. Everyone gave her a surprised look.

"You've got nothing to apologize for, Lily. I chose to defend you," James replied, placing a hand on her shoulder. She gave him a small smile.

"Wait…What day is it?" Brandy asked, spreading her arms.

"It's Tuesday," Shane replied.

"OMG Its muffin day! Yes!" Brandy threw her hands in the air and everyone else laughed.

The four friends walked to the café once the elevator stopped on the first floor. There were a few other students in the café, some still half asleep and others fully awake. After going through the food line and sitting at a table, they began conversing about random subjects.

"So are you nervous about your classes, James?" Brandy asked before biting into a large banana-nut muffin; she gave a look of pure bliss.

"Just a little," James replied. "But I'm sure I won't die. Shane made a chart telling me how many classes I have with each of you."

"I wish you luck my friend," Brandy saluted him; they all laughed at her silliness.

"So have you guys heard about the new club?" Shane asked while pointing to a nearby flyer.

"Yeah it's called The Hideout. It opens next week. I'm pretty excited about it," Lily replied.

"Wait, so we're allowed to go off campus?" James asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, basically half the town is our campus so yeah, we're allowed to leave the school's campus," Shane replied, before sipping coffee. "We just have to have our school ID with us."

"That sounds awesome! I thought the atmosphere would be really tense and strict here but looks like I was wrong."

"We all thought the same thing but if you want strict, go to Storm's Cross. Man, that school is ridiculous," Lily explained.

"Oh yeah, you've got a cousin that goes there, right Lily?" Brandy asked. Lily nodded. "It sucks that he can't come here."

"Hey Lily," someone called out. They all turned towards the caller and saw a girl walking towards their table. She was wearing a white button up with a black tie around her neck and a black knee-length skirt that swayed as she walked; she also wore black sandals. Her black hair was curled and fell past her shoulders.

"Hi Anna. What's up?" Lily asked before drinking some French vanilla coffee.

"I heard what happened yesterday and I wanted to make sure you were okay," the girl replied.

"Yes I'm fine, thank you for your concern. Derek was just being a jerk, as usual."

"I'm glad to know you're doing well," Anna then turned her attention to James. "And I heard that you were the brave defender of Lily. I'm Anna." She stretched her hand towards him.

"I'm glad to meet you, I'm James. And thanks for calling me brave," James shook her hand. Anna nodded in response, and then turned to Brandy.

"Did you finish the US History homework, Brandy?" Anna asked politely.

"Yeah but I couldn't find the last two answers but no biggie," Brandy shrugged. Anna nodded again.

"Well I must be going. It was nice meeting you James." And with that said, Anna turned and walked away. James found her interesting.

"What's her story?" James motioned towards Anna.

"She doesn't really have one. No one really knows much about her but she's very nice. She's like the mom of the junior class; she helps people with homework and studying," Lily explained.

"I went to middle school with her. She didn't wear as much black back then and her hair was actually a dark brown color. Between seventh and eighth grade, however, something must have happened because she dyed her hair and started wearing more black, not that it's a bad thing, I'm just making an observation," Shane added. Then he looked at his watch and his eyebrows rose. "We better start heading to class; it's already 7:08. Luckily you've got Chemistry with me, James.

"Yeah I am lucky; I would've been so lost," James said while standing up. "We'll see you girls later." Shane and James walked away.

"Is everything okay, Lily? You've been very quiet," Brandy said, turning to her close friend.

"I just can't help but feel guilty about James getting detention," Lily replied. The two friends stood and walked out of the cafeteria.

"You've nothing to worry about; like James said: 'He chose to defend you.' He was probably returning the favor since you showed him around yesterday. He wants to be close to you, I can tell," Brandy said seriously.

"Yeah you're right. Thanks Brandy, you always make me feel better." Lily gave her a tight hug. "I better head to Theatre, we're painting today." They waved to each other and went their separate ways.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

In Chemistry:

James and Shane entered the room with five minutes to spare. They chose a black lab table in the middle of the room and took out their notebooks and pencils. James noticed a boy walking towards them and tapped Shane's hand.

"Hey Shane, what's up? Who's the newbie?" the boy asked nicely.

"Hey Drew. This is James, he started yesterday. James, this is my good friend Andrew; we've been friends since eighth grade," Shane explained.

"Please call me Drew. It's nice to meet you James," Drew held out his hand which James shook. "So have you found any girls that perk your interest?" Shane rolled his eyes.

"Drew likes to make a bet with each of the new guys about how many girls would ask for your number before the end of the school day." James just laughed as Drew waggled his eyebrows.

"So, how many girls?" Drew laid a five dollar bill on the table top. "I'm betting two."

"Well that's not very nice," Shane laid down seven dollars. "I'm betting four."

"I'm betting five." James laid down three dollars.

"Are you guys betting on girls again?" came a voice. The three boys turned to see a girl wearing jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt with short black hair. Her small hands were on her hips and she was giving them a stern look.

"Well of course, Brianne. You know I do this with every new guy," Drew gave her a mischievous smile. The girl just rolled her eyes. "Are you going to hold the money for us?"

"I might as well." She held out her hand and Shane handed her the money; then she turned to James. "I'm Brianne, by the way. It's nice to meet you."

"I'm James. It's nice to meet you too. So you're pretty much used to this?" he asked.

"Yeah. Sad, isn't it?" she just shook her head. "Here are the rules: you have to get five girls to talk to you before lunch. You can't start the conversation. If you can get five girls to do that, then you win all this money. Deal?" they all nodded their heads. Then Brianne walked away.

"Alright class. Settle down and get in your seats. James Durem, may I see you please?" said a man with thick glasses. James walked towards him; he was given a Chemistry syllabus.

Class went by pretty quickly; every now and then, James would catch Shane glance at Drew and blush a little. James quickly realized what was going on. At the end of class, they had a few minutes to talk before the bell rang.

"So you've got a thing for Drew, huh?" James asked while leaning on his arm. Shane turned towards him sharply with pink cheeks.

"How'd you…" Shane stuttered.

"You've been looking at him all class." Then James looked over to see Drew walking towards them and got an idea. "So Drew, have you heard about the new club, The Hideout?"

"Yeah I'm pretty excited like everyone else; this town was getting a little too boring. You're going, right guys?" Drew leaned against their lab table.

"Heck yeah but I've got no one to go with," Shane said then he turned to James. "You're going with Lily, right?"

"Hopefully. I'm sure we can find you a date. What about you Drew, who are you going with?"

"Well Shane, would you want to go with me?" Drew had a tint of pink on his cheeks.

"Uh…Sure. Thanks for the invite."

"Great. I'll see you guys later."

When Drew walked away, Shane turned towards James with an accusing stare.

"You did that on purpose."

"Did what? I've no idea what you're talking about."

"You got Drew to ask me out." Then the impact of what he said hit him and James slapped a hand over his mouth so he wouldn't say it again but more loudly.

After the bell rang, James made his way to his next class, US History. He tried his best to hurry so he wouldn't be late and so he could see Lily. When he entered the classroom, he was glad to see an empty seat next to her and she gave him a wave.

"Hi. How was Chemistry?" she asked once he sat down.

"It was interesting; especially since I got Drew to ask out Shane," he replied.

"Are you serious? That's awesome!"

"So Lily, even though you just broke up with Derek, would you accompany me to The Hideout on opening night?"

"Sure that sounds like a great plan." Her attention went to the elderly woman that just entered the room. "There's the teacher; let's go tell her you're here."

On their way back to their desks, Lily and James were intercepted by a girl with long, red curly hair. She was wearing a tight bright blue shirt with a short jean skirt and red flip-flops.

"Hi. You must be James. I'm Megan," the girl said, reaching out her hand. James gingerly shook it. "I was just going to let you know if you need a tour or any help at all, don't be afraid to stop by my dorm." She handed him a small piece of paper.

"Thanks. Hey Lily, don't you think it's the perfect coincidence that she just happened to have a piece of paper with her number on it?" James asked sarcastically. He wadded up the paper and threw it in the wastebasket. Megan gave them a pissed off look and walked away. Then Lily and James took their seats.

"I've never known a guy to decline a date with Megan. Every guy practically falls head over heels for her. Even Derek stole a glance at her every now and then," Lily told him; James just shook his head,

"That's ridiculous. Clearly, they only care about her looks," he replied.

"What about you?"

"What about me?" James gave her a confused look.

"What do you look for in a girl?" she had a tint of pink on her cheeks which caused James to smile.

"Well, I mostly care about a girl's personality; but if a girl has good looks, more points for her. Kinda like you, Lily." Her blush grew brighter which caused James to laugh.

"Alright class, settle down. Turn in your books to page 258 and read until page 265, then answer the questions on page 266," the teacher said, writing the numbers on the board.

Throughout the class, James would sneak a glance at Lily to see her still blushing at his comment. He wondered how she felt about him.

"I'm the same way," she said suddenly.

"Huh?"

"I care more about a guy's personality than his looks but good looks add on to the advantage list," she explained. "Kinda like you, James."

They turned and gave each other wide smiles.

'I think I'm gonna like it here,' James thought to himself.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

James and Lily were walking to the cafeteria talking about the US History homework they got when they were intercepted by four guys.

"Hello Lily. Is this James?" one of them asked. He had short brown wavy hair and a scowl on his face. He seemed to be the leader of this group.

"Yes. Why do you care, Tyler?" Lily replied. She placed a hand on James' arm gently.

"You guys must be friends of Derek, right?" James asked.

"Hardly; we just play soccer with the asshole. We just wanted to say 'thanks' sticking up for Lily. She's been a tutor for all of us but we were too…scared to tell him that he was treating her wrong," another guy said; this guy had bright blonde hair.

Lily gave them all a look of confusion and shock. "So you're not going to try anything to harm James?"

"No, but we wanted to warn you. Some of the other team members won't feel the same. They might try something," Tyler replied. "Guys like Brent, Nick, Josh, and Dan. We're going to try to talk some sense into them to back off but I'm not sure how much we can do."

"Thanks Tyler. That means a lot to me, to the both of us," James stuck out his hand which Tyler gladly shook.

"No problem; we were just telling you what's going on."

"It's the least we can do since Lily helped us pass biology our freshman year, then geometry last year," Blondie said. "I'm Rick by the way. This is Tony and Logan." The other two guys gave slight waves. "Well we've got to get going. It was nice meeting you. See you later." The four guys walked away.

"Well that was…surprising," James said. Lily turned to him. "I've never been on good terms with athletes. I always think that they think they're better than the rest of us."

"Some of them are like that, like Brent and Nick. Derek always brought them to fights but never actually raised a fist. He may be good on the field but he fights like a wuss," Lily laughed; James laughed with her.

They went through the lunch line then found the table Shane and Brandy were sitting at. Shane continued to stare at James as he ate his lunch.

"You're still shocked that I got you a date with Drew, aren't you?" James asked smiling.

"Yep," Shane replied smiling. "I owe you, man."

"Whoa how'd you manage that?" Brandy asked.

"Just by mentioning about The Hideout's opening and getting Shane to say he's got no one to go with. But now he does."

"Nicely played, my friend. Nicely played," Brandy applauded him. "So how's your official first day been?"

"It's been interesting, yet good. I've got detention today. What room is it in?"

"Room 210, I believe. You might want to go ask the office to double check though," Lily answered. "James, I really am sorry."

"It's no big deal, really. Besides, it isn't your fault." Then he suddenly remembered something. "Hey Shane, where's Brianne?"

"She's somewhere around here." He raised his head and looked around. "Here she comes."

Sure enough, Brianne and Drew were walking towards their table with lunch trays.

"Okay spill, James. How many girls talked to you today?" Drew asked, giving him a mischievous look.

"Five girls, just like I said. Pay up," James laid his hand on the table and Brianne handed him the fifteen dollars that were bet earlier that day.

"Did you guys make another bet?" Lily asked smiling.

"Why dear Lily, whatever do you mean?" Shane faked innocence and laid a hand on his chest. Lily just rolled her eyes and everyone laughed.

"So guess who just made friends with Tyler, Rick, Tony and Logan?" Lily prompted.

"Are you talking about the soccer snobs?" Brandy asked, before sipping her coke.

"Apparently they're the good kind of soccer snobs. They told me that four other players might come after me for what I did to Derek," James replied. Brandy raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"I think Tony and I have US History together. He seems like a decent guy," Brandy said. She seemed to stare off into space, trying to place his face and name together.

"I don't like any of them. I hate that they never seem to be alone, they're always with another teammate and it seems like they're about to jump somebody," Shane grumbled.

"You've got a point, Shane. Maybe it's because they're not recognized when their alone," James said before sipping his Coca-Cola. Shane raised his eyebrows.

"Hm. Never thought of it as that way." Then his eyes flashed to the clock. "We better get going, James; the bell is going to ring in like four minutes."

With that said, the two boys left the lunchroom and their friends to go to Painting 303. They really didn't talk about anything, but the silence wasn't awkward or uncomfortable, just natural.

"I have to say, it surprised me when you told me that you like to paint," Shane said, opening the class room door. James just shrugged.

"I've always loved doing art. My sister collects it and hangs it up in her room. She's even got a very large bulletin board to pin them up," James replied.

"That sounds cute. I've got an older brother but he's into legal activity; he wants to be a lawyer which could help in the future."

"You don't think you'll need a lawyer in the future, do you? You don't seem like the kind of person to get in trouble with the law, Shane." Shane just shrugged.

"I'll probably lose my temper every once in a while and kick someone's ass but that's as far as I'll go," he reassured.

They walked into the classroom and up to the teacher's desk. There was a gold plate saying 'Rachel Rushton' next to a cup of pens, pencils, and paintbrushes. She was a kind looking teacher with dark brown hair that came to her shoulders. Her black, thin rimmed glasses sat on the edge of her nose and her hand automatically pushed them up.

"You must be James. I'll be your art teacher this year. I would like you to call me Rachel," she offered her hand which he shook. "Shane, why don't you get him some supplies and he'll be the easel next to you. I'll tell you the assignment in a few minutes."

"Sure Rachel." Shane led him to a wall of cabinets in the back and picked out two paint pallets, watercolors, and three brushes. "I'm sure we'll be painting today; she always assigns painting on the day we get a new student."

"That sounds awesome. Why does she like to be called by her first name?" James asked as he set down his supplies on a small table next to his easel.

"She says being called 'Ms. Rushton' makes her feel old. She's only 24 so it's understandable."

"Okay class, today we'll be painting something that James likes since he's our new student," Rachel said as she went to the middle of the classroom. A few of the students chuckled. "So James, what will be painting today?"

"Uh, well, I've always like oceans and beaches," James replied with a dumbfounded look.

"That's a great choice! Class, you have 90 minutes to paint a beach." Her attention turned to a girl with blonde hair as she raised her hand. "Yes, Caitlin?"

"Does it have to be a specific time at the beach? Can it be sunset?" Caitlin asked. She was wearing a tie-dye tank top and paint-spattered jeans with white flip-flops.

"That's a good question. What do you think James?"

"It can be anytime you want," James told the entire class.

And on that note, the class began painting. Every once in a while, a student raised their hand to ask how to mix certain colors or ask James a question and he realized he liked that he got to be the teacher for a day. At the end of class, everyone showed him their paintings and Rachel told him to pick his favorite to hang in the display case but since he couldn't pick, she decided to hang all of them in it.

"That was actually pretty fun," James admitted as he and Shane walked to English.

"Yeah, everyone loves Rachel. A few years ago a rumor said she was going to be fired. So many complaints were made to Mrs. Bethell. Some students even threatened to transfer to Storm's Cross," Shane explained. James couldn't think of a response so he raised his eyebrows. "Thankfully the rumor turned out to be just a rumor. Rachel said she loved how much her students loved her art class. She's strict but only when a student is being disrespectful."

"She's entirely different from my old art teacher; not that I'm complaining. Mr. Crum, my old art teacher, was entirely too strict. I don't even see why he became an art teacher. Some kids said he did it to meet cute art chicks. He was fired after my freshman year 'cause the rumor turned out to be true."

They walked into English and took their seats. There was an assignment written on the board and they were allowed to work with partners. Shane stopped from what he was doing and did a face-palm and groaned. James just gave him a weird look.

"I totally forgot: Derek is in this class. I mean, yeah he's still on suspension but he's going to be back tomorrow," Shane explained. James just shrugged.

"It's his choice if he wants to start shit but I'm sure he won't go far unless he'll get kicked off the soccer team," James replied.

"You make an excellent point. I'd be surprised if he wasn't already kicked off."

Time went quickly and the two friends finished their work and handed it in. The teacher properly welcomed James and told them that they could leave class early. They were walking in the direction of their dorm when they heard their names being called out. They turned to see Brandy jogging to catch up with them.

"Hey guys, what's up?" she asked after catching her breath.

"The teacher let us out early so we decided to go to our dorm. Did you get to leave too?" James asked. Brandy smiled wide and nodded her head. "What class did you have?"

"Chemistry. And if I'm correct, we both have theatre next period, right?"

James fished out his schedule from his back pocket, looked it over, and nodded.

"Sweet. Is it cool if we walk to the back building together?"

"Sure," Shane replied. "So did you find out of Soccer Tony is in your US History class?"

"Yep; he is. I didn't talk to him though. Did you know he hangs out with Anna?"

"Wow, that's surprising."

"Oh you mean that chick that I met this morning?" James asked.

"Yep," Brandy replied.

"So why is it so weird that someone hangs out with her?" Shane and Brandy looked at each other.

"It's not that it's weird, it's just that, well; everyone knows that something happened in the summer between seventh and eighth grade because that's when she started wearing dark colors and she dyed her hair black. Some people think a really close relative died or something," Shane explained.

"That is kind of weird; not that someone may have died but how everyone talks about her."

"Yeah but no one asks her questions about it. Some people think she's into witchcraft and until Tony defended her during her freshman year, she was constantly whispered about."

"So Tony is her protector or something like that?" James asked. They both nodded.

They entered the back building and went up to their dorms to prepare for the last class of the day. Brandy told James that all he needed was a spiral notebook and a pencil. After leaving the building, Shane went off to his own class and Brandy and James went to theatre. The class went by slowly since everyone had to pick a scene from scene books. James decided to do a monologue from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (A/N: it's the only Shakespeare play I like so give me a break). After class, James went to his first day of detention which wasn't all that bad. He got some homework done but he wasn't allowed to go to the library which sucked, in his opinion.

Later that night, he made his way to the cafeteria for dinner with Lily, Shane, and Brandy. He really liked the fact that he was quickly accepted into their group and could spend so much time with them. He wasn't going to let anyone bother him this year, especially Derek.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Derek lay in his bed staring up at the ceiling, loathing James. He was at home with his older brother Adam and younger sister Kiki; his mom was still at work but she was coming home soon.

'I can't believe he took Lily from me. I bet they're already dating, that whore. I should've been on my guard. He's going to pay. She belongs to me and no one else!'

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

A/N: Will Derek get his revenge? How will James' third day go? Again, why am I asking you all the questions?

If you have any questions, please don't be afraid to ask…I'm hoping to submit this story to Apple or Scholastic Books and see if I can get it published. I know it's a huge step but a girl can dream, right? Chapters 3 & 4 combined