A/N: Hey! Thank you all so much for all the kind reviews. I had no idea I would get so many. They all made me so happy, so here's another chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

"What's your name, Dear?" a young lady who claimed to be Ms. Lotze asked Aria Montgomery. She pointed the piece of chalk she was holding at Aria and gestured for her to come forward. "Come here, to the front of the class, don't be afraid, we don't bite."

Aria shrugged, put her head down, and slowly walked to the front of the classroom. She was in Algebra2, her first class at her new school. As she walked, she felt eyes prying at her. Most seemed friendly, but she didn't care. She didn't want to meet anyone at this horrible school, much less become friends with someone.

When she reached the front of the class, she grumpily raised her head. She was being stared at by twenty girls, and she didn't like it. It made her feel like she was being questioned by the police, or was being mocked at at school because she had told the truth but no one believed her.

"My name is Aria," she finally mumbled. "Aria Montgomery."

Ms. Lotze smiled from the front of the class. "And how old are you, Aria?"

"Seventeen," she whispered, finding it a useless question. Of course she was seventeen, everyone else in the class was seventeen, too.

"And where are you from?" the teacher kept on asking her questions, and Aria didn't like it.

"Rosewood," Aria said, without further explanation. She saw some people being hit with realization, as if during summer break they had watched the news and Rosewood had been on every channel. She slowly looked down and stared at her uncomfortable school uniform. It was a button down white shirt, a gray plaid skirt, and knee high socks. She hated it, it made her feel like she was forced to live the way the school wanted her to, without any freedom.

"Rosewood, as in Rosewood, Pennsylvania?" some girl asked.

"Yeah."

Ms. Lotze sensed that she had had enough questions and patted her back. "Aria, why don't you go take a seat. There is one next to Sarah back there." She pointed to a lone girl in the middle of the class, who looked like Aria, bored and in pain, not willing to talk.

"Great." Aria forced a smile and she scooted down the isle to sit with Sarah.

. . .

As class went on, Aria noticed some people stare at her. She thought it was because they knew her history, or maybe it was because they did not like newcomers. Nobody ever liked newcomers.

During class, Aria tried to pay attention, but her focus was elsewhere. Her mind flashed with moments that had happened in the past two hours. Her parents had sent her away, she had arrived at this school, they had gone with her to the office, checked her in, then left without a kiss goodbye.

She had been shown to her dorm, but her roommate was not there. The principle had told her that she was in class. Aria had been given her uniform, told to change, and then they had sent her to math class without another word.

Oh, right, they had also taken her computer. And since her phone had been destroyed and her computer taken away, she had literally no way to communicate with Rosewood. Not with her parents, not with Ezra, not with the girls, no one.

"Aria!" Her thoughts were interrupted with a teacher calling her name.

"Yes?"

"What's the answer to my question, Aria?" Ms. Lotze asked as she pointed to the chalkboard. A large equation was written on it, and she hadn't the faintest clue how to solve it.

She looked down at her notebook, her note-less notebook, and cursed silently. A few kids giggled around her. She didn't want to start school on a bad foot, but here she was, daydreaming in her first class. Just before she said I don't know she felt a nudge on her arm. She quickly looked over at Sarah's notebook. She had written a large 324 in the middle of it.

"324?" Aria called.

"Is that a question or an answer, Ms. Montgomery?"

"An answer."

"Well," Ms. Lotze answered. "You're absolutely right." Then she continued babbling on about math, and Aria picked up her pencil, and this time, took some notes.

. . .

After class, Aria ran to catch up with Sarah.

"Hey," she mumbled to Sarah, who walked alone to her dorm.

"Hey."

"Thanks for what you did," Aria whispered. "It was really cool."

"Don't mention it," Sarah said. "I would've loved it if someone had done the same for me on my first day."

"You were shipped off, too?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"I," Sarah caught her breath, "I'm not that sure, actually. Something about an older guy and something about my friends being bad influences. What about you?"

"My parents didn't like my boyfriend," Aria confessed. She was surprised that she could talk so easily to Sarah.

"That's tough."

Aria nodded. "Yup."

"You know, you're the only person here, along with me, who was sent her involuntarily."

"Who would come to this school voluntary?" Aria joked.

Sarah laughed. "I ask myself that every day."

"So," Sarah asked after a moment of silence, "where are you heading?"

"I think to my dorm. Then I'll go to English."

"English with Mr. Harvy?"

Aria shook her head. "Bingo."

"Great, then I'll see you there."

"Where are you going?" Aria asked.

"To my room."

"Uh," Aria mumbled, "could you lead me to dorm 26, please? I have no idea how to get around."

"Sure," Sarah said, a smile crept across her face. "Just follow me. We're dorm mates."

And just like that, Aria had a feeling that maybe boarding school wouldn't be so bad. After all, she had a friend now, and a friend who she connect with.

R/R: So what do you think? Please tell me in the reviews :)