Quick little a/n: there is going to be some bashing on things like the uniforms and, if you remember, the school itself. I cannot stress how much I love everything about Ouran. These criticisms are only to show the mindset that Ellen is in (she's pretty negative). These are her opinions.

Don't kill me.

Disclaimer: Bisco Hatori is a creative, hilarious, lovely lady, and definitely not me. These are her characters (mostly), this is her academy, and I am just a fan.

Ellen Adan woke up with a song in her head.

It had come to her in a dream.

She could not remember what the lyrics were, but she knew it had something to do with death. Or was it a flower? A dying flower? Whatever. It was already seven. Time to shower and make her lunch.

She was proud of her quick assimilation to the Japanese clock. Midnight was not a particularly desirable time to finally fall asleep, but Ellen could not tell the sleeping pills when to kick in. She would have to take them much earlier, though. She still felt groggy, as if she were in a haze.

Luckily, the bathroom door was close to the bed and, therefore, so were the caffeine pills she kept. The pills could react negatively with each other, but what of it? What were they going to do, kill her? Ellen smiled at the thought as she lifted her tired body off of the bed.

Two steps and she was opening the bathroom door. She approached the drawer wher the pills were kept and noticed her reflection.

What was she thinking when she bought this horrible nightgown? Ellen watched herself criticize her attire in the large mirror above her faux stone counter top. Pink leopard print? And it was too short. She knew what she was going to do after school. Her gaze traveled up to her hair. The roots were coming through. At her part, she could see the quarter of an inch of blonde. She would also need to pick up dark brown hair-dye when she went out after school. Maybe she should make a list?

Ellen dry swallowed one of the pills and shed the garish sleep attire.

She stood under the shower head, contemplating where she could go and purchase these things while waiting for the water to warm. She realized she knew little to nothing of the city of Bunkyo. Why had she not explored the town yesterday? There was no use regretting that now. If she was going to survive, she had to do one of two things: make a friend, or hire a long term driver.

The school would know a place where she could hire a driver.

xxxx

"The classroom is on the far west side of the academy," the groundskeeper told her.

The way he said it made it seem closer than it was.

Ellen felt sick walking to this class. She did not eat breakfast, she mixed sleeping pills and caffeine, and, of course, she had cancer. It could have been either of these things. She could eat part of the lunch she prepared, but what would she have if lunch time came around and she was still hungry? Their food? Not likely. Anyway, her classroom was just down the hall so she would have to wait until afterward to throw up or eat.

It was nice to see that the classroom was almost normal. There were books, desks, and it even had a chalkboard. Everything looked new and expensive and there was a very nice yellow peony plant in the back corner. The walls were still pink and the floors were still marble, and it was still huge and palace-like,but she could get used to it. It really did not look like a normal classroom, but so what? There was still a chalkboard.

"Hello, miss. Are you new to this class?"

Ellen turned towards the female voice and found a very tall, blonde, foreign woman looking at her kindly. Her attractiveness was fair. Ellen guessed she was Swedish or German, maybe even French. The lack of an accent made it difficult to place her. There was also the distraction of her clothes. The outfit consisted of an ankle length black skirt, a white collared long-sleeved shirt under a black sweater, and slippers, black ones. What was this woman trying to pass off as?

"My name is Ellen Adan. Is this class B-2 with Mrs. Nasman?"

The woman smiled and gently nudged Ellen further from the door.

"You need to work on your Japanese. You are in the right place, young one. Come to my desk, I'll give you everything you need."

Ellen stood in her yellow dress uniform, watching the students come in. The one thing she noticed was the immaculate posture each one possessed. Every one of them could have been royalty. Some of them probably were. There had to have been at least one in this school,.

"Miss Adan?"

Ellen turned to Mrs. Nasman. The teacher flashed the same kind smile.

"Here is the textbook you will be using in this class and a few extra tools you will need during the year. Consider them yours."

The rest of Mrs. Nasman's speech faded away. Ellen's attention was on the mole she spotted on the earlobe of the woman speaking to her. She must have enough money to get that removed, why would she keep it there? At least wear earrings to camouflage it. It was so dark.

"Come, let me introduce you."

Knocked out of her concentration, Ellen caught only the word "introduce" and assumed she meant to tell the class her name.

Ellen spent the rest of the class like this, dividing her attention between the lesson and her peers and sometimes focusing on finding comfortable positions her uniform dress would allow. How did these girls do it? The skirt is so big. Does it get easier with practice? She looked over at the girl closest to her and copied her position, only to rearrange herself again. She could not sit up that straight for long.

Any and all lessons she learned in the full two weeks spent in etiquette class were long gone. She had never expected the need for them to ever arise in her life, so why not let them go? Ellen could not recall if she was even taught how to sit comfortably and proper in a dress in her classes, but maybe she-

"Ellen, do you want to solve this?"

Mrs. Nasman's eyes met her own when she looked up, called to attention by her name. Ellen examined the chalkboard for a hint of where the class was at. Just her luck, about ten different problems were drawn in neat handwriting. But, look. One seems to be unanswered. Apparently, they were learning about kinetic energy. She had not studied that in her previous school.

There was only one way to answer the teacher. "No," she said, and copied the problem into her notebook so she would be ready to write down the answer.

The entire room paused at once.

Ellen did not need to look up to know that every head was up and all eyes were on her. As if on cue, the attention of the class turned to the teacher who was standing and darting her gaze between all of the eyes of her students, nervously.

A light titter of a laugh floated past her lips.

"Miss Adan, I asked you to solve the problem." She tapped her chalk on the unanswered equation as if she knew she was lost. She still spoke in a nervous voice: high pitched, jittery, and overly friendly, much like her laugh. "This one right here. Would you like to be walked through the steps to solve it?"

"I don't know the answer, Mrs. Nasman." Ellen craned her neck over the gap between her desk and the boy to her immediate right's desk. A quick look gave her the impression that the equation was answered in his notebook. She returned to the upright position in her chair, apathetic to the boy's stares. "This guy seems to have the right idea, ask him."

Poor Mrs. Nasman was at a loss for words. Should she save face and continue after Ellen or get on with the class before the exchange escalated into something that could jeopardize her career?

"I... uh- well, uh... Mr. Takahashi, would you like to answer this?"

xxxx

At lunch, Ellen ate in the courtyard.

She would have liked to find a banquet hall or cafeteria of some sort, but the students seemed to be avoiding her. Anytime she tried to approach someone, they suddenly darted away or changed course and distanced themselves from her. She had no idea why.

In the end, she decided it was best that she did not find the hall. She did not want to eat around so many snobbish people anyway. Especially when they were so obviously dodging her.

The courtyard was better atmosphere. She was surrounded by many lively plants and large decorative arches, and the student population was not as concentrated. The benches were made of stone and were not very comfortable, but she was out of the school and in the fresh air. Ellen was so pleased, she actually felt like eating.

She was enjoying the sugar coated strawberries she prepared when she overheard a group of girls talking excitingly and giggling. They were in her vicinity, and Ellen had nothing better to think about. Her gaze drifted and lowered to the black strap shoes they all wore, herself included. The three girls continued to walk past Ellen and sat on a bench behind her, out of her sight.

Girl number one was the easiest voice to follow, she was the loudest. "Tamaki! He's my preference, but nearly everyone asks for him, so I can rarely get time."

A younger girl - girl number two - responded, "Tamaki is nice, but don't you think Hunny-chan is so cute? He's so small and sweet."

Girl number three was the quietest. "Are you talking about the Host Club? I thought that was just a myth..."

Both girls one and two simultaneously gasped. Ellen could picture extremely shocked expressions spoiling their pretty features. Another strawberry blocked any negative remarks she had.

"You can't be serious," number one exclaimed, "I don't believe you've never visited the third music room. I won't believe it!"

"Chisa, of course they're real! Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachin are in your class!"

Number three replaced number one as the loudest girl.

"The twins are in the club? We need to go now! Where is the third music room?"

Ellen inconspicuously put the lid back on her tupperware containing the strawberries and quickly returned it to her pink shoulder bag. She could hear the girls scrambling to their feet.

"We'll take you!"

The receding sound of footsteps indicated their departure. The last Ellen heard from them was the same excited giggling that first announced their presence.

No one could prove that Ellen was going to the third music room. For all anyone knew, she was exploring the grounds. Ellen Adan did not chase after silly girlish fancies. She was enticed by the mystery of this Host Club, not the excitement it inspired in the girls. She did not really want to follow girls numbers one, two, and three. In fact, she could leave the idea alone in an instant and let the three girls out of her sight so she could not find the third music room.

Ellen Adan did not need anyone or anything.

But,

It was a good idea to know where everything in the academy was located. Who knows? Maybe one day she would have to find the room herself. Would it not be better to already know where it was? It could be imperative to her academic achievement.

She will follow the girls purely out of necessity. Not curiosity.

Ok ok ok I know that there isn't any interaction with the club members in this chapter, but guess what? Chapter three is already written and up! YAY! Took me a while but I didn't want to leave you hanging.

I guessed at how Japanese classes are separated. It took remembering every anime i've ever seen. (I have little patience for research) If anyone has a big problem with it, tell me how to fix it and I definitely will.

Oh and I like the ending chan on Hunny-chan. None of the other names will have it (or kun or san or sama) if I can help it.

Go ahead and review if you want. I'd appreciate it. But I insist you read chapter three.

Please?