A/N: New fanfic inspired by me being bored during STAR testing… they give you over an hour for tests that take 20 minutes. So this will be in most of the character's point of view but mainly Meredith's and Derek's. There will be three chapters maybe more or less later per section and Meredith and Derek will each have a chapter in each section. They are the focus, after all.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but all the available seasons, a couple shirts, and the past two calenders for Grey's. Oh and the memories of meeting them. Just don't sue me.

The Status Quo

Part One: The World Exploded into Love

Meredith's POV

My alarm clock went off and I quickly got up, immediately feeling the affect of the cool air against my previously warm body. I turned off my alarm and rose from my bed then walked to the bathroom. Once I got to the hall, I noticed a post-it note on the bathroom door and pulled it off.

"Mer, had to go to the hospital."

I really do love the affection my mother shows me. She didn't even give me a simple "good luck." It is, after all, my first day in New York. I need the luck considering I don't know anyone below the age of 30 in all of Manhattan. Previously Boston was my home; I loved Boston, still do. But my mother got a job offer she simply "couldn't resist" and here we are in New York.

I turned the shower on and let the warm water immediately soothe my body, warming it up right away. As I got out, I looked at the cliché school uniform hanging up and sighed. I was instructed to wear the plaid jacket with a white blouse and matching plaid skirt… yeah, it's as horrible as it sounds. Within an hour I was walking out the door of our new house. Unlike our old home back in Boston, this house came complete with a heated pool, hot tub, filled game room, and five guest rooms for people I doubt will ever come. This is definitely New York, I thought to myself. Status is everything.

Conveniently located across the street from my school was a large Starbucks. I had noticed it the previous week and knew that would be my favorite part of this new school. After walking in, I realized it was even larger than I'd expected and was full of kids my age which, I presumed, were my new schoolmates. I waited in the long line and ordered my usual; veinte double espresso café mocha and blueberry coffee cake. Looking around, I realized most all of the seats were taken; I was new and had no where to sit. I stood there for a minute contemplating where to go-which must have gone noticed-because within moments, a tall blonde girl was introducing herself and inviting me to sit with her and her friends. I smiled and introduced myself as we made our way over to the couch occupied by her friends. On the couch sat: a bitter looking Asian girl with curly hair, a short chubby boyish looking guy, and a jock-like guy. They all looked up at me awkwardly as we arrived.

"Hey guys this is Meredith. She's new here." Izzie said, gesturing towards me.

They all greeted me politely with the exception of the Asian girl, who opted to glance my way and turn back to her coffee and the small boy sitting next to her, referring to him as "Bambie." I took a seat next to Izzie and we began talking about our classes. It turned out I was in the same grade as them all and Cristina and I were in a few of the same classes: A.P. History, A.P. Biology, and my A.P. Statistics class. Izzie and George were both in my P.E. class and Alex was in my A.P. History class. This year, I am taking four A.P. classes, as is Cristina. Izzie, George, and Alex are all taking two; the normal amount. This will be my first year in a private school and I'm slightly intimidated by it all; not being as ahead of the others, the competition, the uniforms, the social structure.

As we approached the school, Izzie offers to show me around and the others leave us as we go in the opposite direction. She first shows me to my history class, then literature, both of my languages, then biology and statistics. After she showed my around, the bell rang as if on cue, and we walk to the girls locker room together. Luckily, we both have Coach Wright, along with George. Even though we were told to change into our P.E. uniforms, all we did during the 50 minute class period was go over the class rules. Alex met me in front of the locker room, which was on his way, and walked with me to our history class. He sat beside me and Cristina in front of me. We went over the class rules for the first half of class and read the introduction of our textbooks for the second half. Cristina read the entire thing, having eagerly volunteered. Alex commented on her being a suck up under his breath, but obviously not soft enough, as Cristina shot him a quick glare before returning to reading. Literature was pretty uneventful considering I knew no one and no one bothered to look my way. I sat in the front row and all we did was sign those papers with the usual class rules we had memorized by the second grade. No offensive language, no cheating, no killing people; common sense. George met me in front of my literature class, having been next door himself, and we walked to the lunch table together. I pulled out three slices of left-over pizza and offered Alex a piece after noticing he didn't have anything. He took it gratefully, saying he owed me one. We talked mainly about my dull past in Boston and our new teachers. Maybe I'd like New York after all. As soon as the bell rang, Cristina dragged me to biology, insisting we get their early for front row seats. We were the first people in the class, but to Cristina's dismay, the teacher put an overhead projection of our assigned seats up. She was in the second row, which, apparently, was too far back. The girl next to her reluctantly moved from the back towards the front, removing the piece of hair she was chewing from her mouth. I was placed in the back corner and my lab partner was not yet there. The tardy bell rang and in walked my lab partner. Wow.

"Mr. Shepherd, you're late." The teacher stated the obvious.

"I'm sorry ma'am."

"Don't let it happen again."

He took a seat next to me and smiled, making my heart race a little. He was the epitome of perfection. Hair that went in all directions yet managed to look great, sky blue eyes that could see through your soul, sexy stubble. The teacher gave us an activity that was meant to get us to know our lab partner or something like that.

He was the first to speak as I found myself unable to. "Hi I'm Derek Shepherd." He extended his hand and I took it, shaking it lightly and never tearing my eyes away from his.

"Meredith Grey."

He asked me what grade I was in and he looked surprised when I told him I was a sophomore. Apparently, he was a senior; way out of my league unless he was looking for an easy lay. I wondered if he was taken. Of course he was, why wouldn't he be? If he wasn't he was a man-whore, that could have been it. We mainly discussed my teachers and New York. He apparently lives around the corner from my house which, we soon found out was because the teacher based lab partners on location because we would be doing a lot of work together outside of class. When the teacher continued explaining class rules and such, I couldn't help but wonder why I felt as though I was being watched, or better yet, why the guy sitting next to me met my eyes when I looked over.