~Sunshine Academy~

A/N: That one review really got me going for a second chappie! Whoever is reading this, I really hope you like it. Please review to help me become a better writer. Let the reading begin!

"Wake up! Wake up, Chelsea! Come on, don't make me pull you out of bed. Chelsea, wake up."

Chelsea stubbornly opened her eyes to see Ace staring back at her. She blinked and sat up, rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?"

Ace shrugged and rubbed her hands together. "Six in the morning. Breakfast starts at seven and you might want to take a shower."

Chelsea blinked some more and stepped out of bed. The morning chills froze her bare legs and arms and she instantly regretted wearing just a tee and shorts to bed. She shivered. "Is it okay if I do?"

Ace combed her shiny turquoise hair. "Take a shower?" She asked, and Chelsea nodded. "Sure, darling. Go on ahead. Do you need a towel?"

Chelsea shook her head and waddled to her suitcase. "Nope, I'm good." She rummaged through her suitcase to find her soft towel. "And, um, what am I gonna wear today? Is there a certain uniform or something?"

Ace tittered quietly. "You might've known if you had read the student manual, Chelsea."

Chelsea laughed nervously. "Oh, well, I think that I might've lost it...or something. Sorry."

"I was just teasing you," Ace laughed. "And yes, we do have a uniform. Don't worry about it, I picked it up for you. Thank God, Dakota didn't do anything to it." She pointed to the new uniform on the dresser.

"Thanks, Ace." Chelsea stepped into the bathroom, stripped, and then jumped into the shower. It was already a little moist from when Ace had used it, but Chelsea thought the shower was pretty nice. It was a dorm room shower after all.

She turned the knob to hot and screamed the second the water touched her. "AH!" Chelsea cried loudly, ice cold water dripping on her body. She could hear Ace rush to the door and knock urgently.

"Are you okay?! Chelsea?!" Ace yelled in worry.

Chelsea turned the knob to cold and was surprised by the warm rushing down. She was glad Ace couldn't see her red face. "Yeah," she yelled back sheepishly. "Just the cold water...heheh."

"I was about to say," she heard Ace giggle, "I thought something bad happened. If you need anything, just let out a bloodcurdling scream again."

Chelsea laughed, letting the water run through her chestnut brown hair. She looked at all the different shampoo and conditioning products that Ace had. "Color Action: Triple Effectiveness for Better, Silkier Hair. Guess I'll try that."

After much hair care and body washing, Chelsea hopped out of the shower, refreshed and awake. "Ace?" She called out. "Could you hand me the uniform, please?"

"Sure." Ace called back. Chelsea bashfully opened the door a tiny bit and quickly snatched the uniform from out of Ace's hands.

"Thanks." Chelsea took a look at the uniform and shrugged her shoulders. It wasn't bad, she guessed, having to put up with it for the rest of the year. She definitely expected the crisp white tee, navy blue plaid skirt, and brown socks.

She pulled the ensemble on and fixed the bright yellow tie around her collar. Then she tucked her tee in. "I don't miss you, plaid skirt." She joked as she smoothed the creases on her uniform, looking at herself in the mirror. "Still not all that bad in plaid, am I?"

She opened the bathroom door to see Ace also fashioning the school uniform much better than herself. Ace was still combing her turquoise hair when Chelsea had finished showering, and looked up with joy when she saw the brunette in the uniform.

"How adorable! You really rock that uniform, Chelsea!" Ace complimented, fawning over the girl.

Chelsea giggled quietly. "Not as much as the uniform just fits you, Ace. You look amazing in anything!"

"Oh, please! You should see me in sweats. I hope you don't anytime soon…" Ace trailed off, her combing paused. She shook the random thoughts out of her head. "We have lots of time before breakfast. Maybe I could braid your hair or something."

Chelsea fumbled strands of her wet, damp hair. "You can try. I'm not one of those girls who wake up with perfect hair." She sat down on Ace's bed and handed her a comb.

"You're gonna be fine. Your hair is wonderful." Ace said as she combed through Chelsea's hair. "The new conditioner I bought really helps. Though your hair is so naturally smooth and straight and oh, it's so pretty!"

Chelsea snickered, grinning at Ace. "Yeah, right. My plain, boring hair? You have turquoise hair. I think that says daring, adventurous, and exciting. You're all that."

Ace gushed happily and finished two pigtail braids in no time. "Finished!" She cheered gleefully and hopped off the bed. "But it's six-forty! There's too much time to waste!" She frowned and shook her head. "I should do my hair in pigtails too!"

Ace tied her hair up into two glamourous pigtails. "I think that maybe we should go to another girl's room. How about Julia and Natalie's? They're always so much fun!"

Ace dragged Chelsea out of the room before she could respond. "Ace!" The brunette struggled. "I don't have shoes on yet!"

Ace paused her running and sighed. "Oops! Well, Julia probably has some chic slippers you can wear all day." She continued to drag Chelsea down the hallway.

"Ace!" Chelsea complained, but she couldn't help but smile. "I can't wear slippers around school! Aaaaaaaaaaaace!"

"It'll be a great first day. The slippers are really comfortable, trust me. Hey, we're almost there!" Ace pointed out as she made a sharp left turn, causing Chelsea to almost collide with the wall.

Chelsea quickly looked down at her brown socks, rubbing against the floors of the academy. "I give up," she murmured, finally looking up to see that they had arrived in front of the dorm room.

"It's Ace!" Ace called as she loudly knocked on the door.

Julia opened the door, revealing her pretty blonde hair also piled into two pigtails. "Hey girls! Looking fanta-fabulous in those pigtails!" She invited the girls in and the smell of fresh hay hit Chelsea like a weight. "I can never get Natalie to ever put her hair into pigtails."

Ace seemed to noticed the smell as well and smiled in bliss. "Smells like home, as usual, Jules." Ace complimented as she greeted Natalie. "Morning, Nat!"

Natalie was one to wear a longer skirt with her tee, one that came to a little lower her knees. It suited her better than the mid thigh and knee length skirts the other girls were wearing.

Natalie waved, having just tied her hair up into a neat ponytail. "Yo guys. How was your first night at the academy, Chelsea?"

Chelsea scratched her neck sheepishly. "A little rough getting used to the new mattress, but pretty comfortable for the most part."

Ace laughed. "No wonder you were so tired this morning. When I think about it, I'm sure I heard you rolling and turning. I don't think you got any sleep at all, did you?."

"I got enough sleep! That's all that matters! Let me change the subject!" Chelsea exclaimed in embarrassment, flailing her hands around in front of her face.

Ace pointed out Chelsea's bare feet. "Oh, yes! Gotta borrow some slippers for Chelsea here."

"Do you not have any loafers? Or even brown or black flats?" Julia asked as she rummaged for some slippers.

"Ace pulled me out of the room before I could get any shoes on!"

Ace pursed her lips. "I wanted to hang out with my girls before breakfast and time was running out!"

"No harm done," Julia said as she handed Chelsea a pair of light pink fluffy slippers with small bunny ears.

Chelsea slipped them on. "So I guess they're pretty com- Hey! Wouldn't it be a lot easier for me to borrow some shoes or even run back to my room to get mine? Why are you giving me slippers?!"

Natalie put her hand on Chelsea's shoulder. "Now, now. There's only ten minutes left until breakfast."

"That's plenty of time, Natalie!"

The redhead shrugged. "And besides, Julia so kindly looked for these slippers so that you wouldn't have to suffer walking barefoot everywhere. Show your appreciation!"

Chelsea sighed and looked up. "This is really silly, but okay. I have a feeling this is gonna bite me later."

"Now that that's settled, how about we head to the cafeteria? It's almost seven and I'm starving!" Julia ushered the girls out of the dorm room and they walked to the cafeteria.

The smell of fresh bacon, eggs, and sausage filled the nostrils of Chelsea. 'Oh, this never gets old', Chelsea thought as she grabbed her tray and waited in line. She saw the other students enter the cafeteria with the same expression as hers, full of hunger.

"Good morning, Miss Halia!" Chelsea greeted the young blonde chef as she handed a plate of bacon, eggs, and sausage to Chelsea and placed it on her tray.

Halia smiled brightly. All the staff had seemed to just click with Chelsea. They loved her. "Morning to you, Chelsea. Tell me if you need anything."

"Thank you!" Chelsea called back as she moved to the fruit bar. She scooped some strawberries and orange slices onto a small plate. "Yum, yum, yum!" She hummed as she filled a glass with chocolate milk. She beamed at her healthy breakfast and sat down at the table.

"Hey, Chelsea!" A voice next to her popped out of nowhere and she dropped her fork onto her tray.

Chelsea turned to her left. "Hey Mark," she sighed out of relief. "I tend to get most of my surprises in the morning, then."

Mark chuckled and grinned. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you. Just wanted to say hi. Could I...uh...sit next to you?"

Chelsea nodded and made a 'mmm' sound. Her mouth was full of bacon and she felt her face heat up as Mark watched her eat. She swallowed. "I mean, yes! Of course, sure! Sit down."

"Are...are you wearing bunny slippers?" Mark asked, pointing to Chelsea's slippers with an amused expression on his face.

Chelsea put her hands up in defense. "It was not my decision."

Mark laughed, munching on some bacon. "Bunny slippers are pretty cute, especially on a girl like you, Chelsea." A moment of silence passed. Mark grew red. "Err, that's not what I meant! I'm not trying to hit on you or anything. I still think you look really cute! Wait, no! I mean your bunny slippers are really cute. Not saying that you're not looking really pretty today! You are! I..."

"I get Mark, don't worry." Chelsea assured, smiling. "And the school uniform isn't looking bad on you too. Wish you had some bunny slippers too so we could twin!"

Mark blushed, looking down at his button up, white tee, yellow tie, and navy trousers. "Oh, thanks."

Ace soon joined them. She eyed Mark and smirked. "Well, if it isn't my favorite blonde here so early and already flir-"

Mark cleared his throat. "Ehm, good morning, Ace!"

"I thought I was your favorite blonde!" Another voice sang, no other than Lanna. She pouted as she set her tray down.

Ace giggled and turned the tip of Lanna's mouth upside. "Oh, Lanna! Turn that frown upside down! You are my favorite blonde."

"Hey, what happened to me?" Mark complained, frowning.

Julia scoffed as she sat down. She crossed her arms. "Okay, Ace. I see how it is!"

Ace swallowed down a nervous laugh. "Julia! You know I don't play favorites. Aww, Julia!" Ace begged, tugging on the blonde's arm.

Pierre was quick to join the battle. "Why, Ace Puff! Where do I, the academy's most favorited culinary chef," -Halia burst out laughing and returned to the kitchen- "fit in all of this ruckus?"

Natalie super-glared, boring holes into Pierre's short stature. "I thought you only had foodie nicknames for me, Pierre! Why do you have one for Ace too?! Do you have one for all the girls?" She raged, clenching her fists in a tantrum.

Will stepped into the picture, his blonde hair fluffed for the occasion. "But of course, you have not forgotten about I, have you, Miss Goddess? For I, am one of the golden-haired!"

"Oh geez, Will. No, I have not forgotten about you."

Chelsea tried to speak up. "Err, Ace, I think-"

Natalie interrupted, a scornful look on her face. "And what's this all about anyways? Are only blondes your best friends?! Huh?!"

Ace stuttered. "That has nothing-nothing to do with this! Look-look guys! I was j-just saying that-that I love all my blonde fr-friends!"

"Is this what our friendship has become, Ace? Have you resorted to discriminating against all who have not a chance at obtaining golden locks? Is that what this is?!" Lily boomed, silencing the childish bickering.

Ace face-palmed. She sighed and tried to calm everyone down. "Okay, listen up-"

"No! You shall listen up, Goddess! I shall fight for any friendship no matter the cost! I shan't be discriminated against because of the shade of my hair!"

"Lily is correct! I've always been left out because of my hair color! It seems like a righteous protest."

"Alisa, you too?"

"Um...I think I...I...I agree with Alisa."

"No, not you too, Bri."

"Am I, am I, am I? Am I still your favorite blonde?"

"Be quiet, Lanna! I'm most definitely Ace's fave blonde!"

"Julia! That was not, no, not very nice!"

"Girls, this was not the original point of the conversation!"

"SHUT UP, DENNY!"

"Yo…"

"Girls, please calm down. Ace loves us all! Equally."

"Thank you, Elliot."

"No! I am really your favorite, aren't I?"

"Me!"

"You shan't dare say that I am not!"

"But, Ace!"

"Ladies, please. Noise this loud can only be a chick fight of two gals fighting over this handsome face!"

"Denny!"

"Guys. Guys. Guys! GUYS!" Chelsea looked around her. She hadn't gotten a single bite of food and all the students were clamoring. "STOP!" she shouted as loudly as she could, standing on her seat.

Everyone stopped for a moment, looked at each other, then sat down. For a few seconds, the students picked at their food or took a sip of their drinks. Then, they laughed.

Chelsea laid dumbstruck, a piece of egg still on her fork as she watched the once bickering students happily eat. "What just happened?"

She found Sabrina smiling next to her. "Breakfast." The girl said shyly.

"Okay. I think I should be weirded out, but I'm not. I have a feeling this happens a lot?"

Sabrina lifted her shoulders a bit. "Sometimes. We all bond over these unusual fits where we have these loud outbursts and then we all joke about a few minutes after we calm down."

Chelsea tittered. "Loving family, I take it?"

"Yes, just in a very abnormal way."

Chelsea heard the doors of the cafeteria open. In walked Trent and Elli, both holding the hands. The brunette waved to the students cheerfully. "Morning everyone! Hope you all slept well!"

Choruses of 'Hey, Elli!', 'Morning to you too, Ms. Elli!', and 'Sup, Trent?' echoed through the cafeteria.

Trent straightened his jacket. "Good morning, students. I hope you're all eating healthy breakfasts. Remember to have all-"

"Your five food groups! We know, sir!" Ace said loudly, giving a thumbs-up to Trent.

Elli nudged her husband on the ribs."Exactly why you shouldn't obsess over every little thing they do, honey. They can take care of themselves."

Trent grabbed a bright red apple. "Sure, sure. Homeroom starts in twenty minutes. Finish your breakfast, freshen up, and get to library!"

"Yes, sir." The students obeyed. One by one, they finished their breakfasts and ran back to their dorm rooms to gather all their supplies for the day.

Ace grabbed her lavender tote bag and filled it with notebooks, binders, and a small pencil pouch. "Tote bags are so in, don't you think?"

Chelsea shoved a thin binder and two spiral notebooks into her book bag. "I guess. Yours is really nice." She complimented, admiring the pretty designs on Ace's bag.

"Thank you!" Ace gushed, petting the bag. "It's a Marielse! It's actually not designer and it's really cheap, but that's why I like it! It shows that I'm not some rich, spoiled brat who goes to a private academy and rules the school like a tyrant!"

Chelsea blinked. "It does look designer, though. And Marielse? Sounds designer too!"

Ace settled the bag on her right shoulder and grinned. "Oh, Marielse isn't all that popular. Lots of people say that the brand is a copy of Versol but it isn't! The designs are totally different."

Chelsea put a folder in her book bag and zipped it up. She and Ace headed for the door. "Versol, huh? My Aunt Molly always talked about that. She said that in the city, where she lived, they were all the rage. Expensive too, so it never made sense to me."

Ace laughed, remembering what her mother had told her. "Richies in the big cities like expensive things because it flaunts their wealth. Money is power, after all."

"True. That's why I liked it back at home." Chelsea sighed, memories pleasantly returning to her. "Life was simple and easy, smooth. Everyone on Castanet was a big, loving family. I really miss them."

Ace smiled sympathetically. "Family Reunion Day is in a few weeks. I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Yeah. I'm...not homesick or anything. I just remember how sweet it was back home."

A look a devastation rushed across Ace's face like a sweeping wind. In a split second, the look disappeared. "Yes, back home." She repeated, opening the door for Chelsea once the had reached the library.

The bell rung after that. Chelsea and Ace rushed to where the other students were hanging out.

"Hey guys!" Denny called, waving to the girls. He was joined by the rest of the students, with the exception of Dakota, Witch, and Alisa. The latter and Witch were sitting at another table.

Felicia appeared at the doors with a small binder. "Calm down, everyone. Everyone take a seat so that I may take attendance. Then, you may all go along to first period."

Chelsea tapped Ace on the shoulder lightly. "So," she said, "does she call everyones' names or something?" The brunette only wanted to know Witch's true name.

Ace shook her head. "Nope. She goes down the list of attendees and if you're sick, they usually send Trent and Elli to your room."

Mark joined the conversation. "That's why you can't ever skip. It's just a high school campus." He leaned in and narrowed his eyebrows. "Somehow, they will find you."

Ace swatted him away. "Stop being so dramatic."

Mark tilted his head back and laughed. "It's what I do, ma'am."

Felicia piped up from where she was sitting, pencil in hand. "Has anyone seen Dakota?" She asked hesitantly. The students quietly murmured amongst one another, looking every direction to see if the girl was in sight.

"I don't think she's here, Felicia." Julia answered, after everyone had quieted down.

Chelsea saw Felicia sigh and massage her temples. "Okay. Thank you, dear." She felt a little sorry for the woman based on what she had heard from Dakota a few days earlier.

"Hey," Natalie said as she sat down next to Chelsea, making the said brunette whip around to face the redhead. "Let's have a look at your schedule."

"Great idea, Nat!" Julia encouraged as she sat on the table.

"Um, sure." Chelsea took out her schedule from her book bag.

Lanna skipped to the table. "From what it looks like, to me, to me, it must be a schedgy time! Schedgy time! Yay!" She sang as she grabbed Chelsea's schedule from out of her hands and skimmed over it.

Chelsea reached for her schedule. "Lanna!"

"It is not very kind to steal," Lily scolded, snatching the schedule from Lanna's hands in irony.

"But Lil'," Lanna whined, not singing. "You just stole it from me! So technically-"

Ace put her hand up and silenced the girls. "Would you guys please stop making such a ruckus?! Let's look at her schedule."

Schedule for Evans, Chelsea, Grace

Grade: 11

Student ID Number: 0180

1st Period: 8:05-8:50

Course Name-English Language Arts

Teacher-Roberts, Carol

Building-Mystic

2nd Period: 8:55-9:40

Course Name-Common Core Mathematics

Teacher-Sanchez, Martin

Building-Mystic

3rd Period: 9:40-10:25

Course Name-Eleventh Science

Teacher-Waters, Kirk

Building-Mystic

4th Period: 10:30-11:15

Course Name-Eleventh Social Studies

Teacher-Coals, Slater

Building-Mystic

Midday Study Hall/Rest: 11:20-12:00

Location-Library

Lunch: 12:05-12:45

5th Period: 12:50-1:35

Course Name-Spanish

Teacher-Anderson, Ray

Building-Meadow

6th Period: 1:40-2:25

Course Name-Physical Education

Teacher-Rogers, Gannon

Building-Mushroom (gymnasium)

7th Period: 2:30-3:15

Course Name-Visual Art Enrichment

Teacher-Regison, Regis

Building-Volcano

Ace scanned Chelsea's paper with wide eyes. "Aww! You're in eleventh grade. I'll have no classes with you but lunch! And that doesn't even count!" The girl whined, pouting as she sat down.

Chelsea looked at all the girls. "Who else is in eleventh?"

Sabrina spoke up in a small voice. "Not many of us. Besides you and I, there's Dakota," -everyone shuddered- "Denny, Mark...and Vaughn."

"Who is-" Before Chelsea could ask who this mysterious 'Vaughn' was, the bell rang.

Everyone rushed out the library doors and down a hallway that led to another hallway surrounded by glass. The students exited through a door and outside, walking to the Mystic Building.

"We only transition inside during winter and late fall, when it's too cold to walk outside," Julia explained.

"And we are going to the...Mystic Building?"

Mark slid next to Chelsea. "Yep!"

"The education system is rather complex." Lily told Chelsea, brushing dust off her tee.

"The poor teachers teach four classes of different grades all in a row! It's why they're teaching at this academy anyway!" Julia laughed, dragging Chelsea into the Mystic Building.

"Come this way, Chelsea." Mark called for the girl, pulling her away from her blonde friend and into a room. "You're an eleventh grader, so you have Carol for first, right?"

As Sabrina silently followed, Chelsea nodded. They walked into Carol's room to see a middle-aged woman with dark brown braid with a very inviting aura.

"Sit down, everyone!" Carol gently ordered her eleventh graders. She glanced at Chelsea. "Great morning for your first day, isn't it, Miss Evans?"

"Yes," Chelsea smiled. "it is, Ms. Carol!"

"Let's see." Carol scanned the room. "We're always waiting on Dakota. But it seems that Vaughn isn't here yet. Do you know where he is, Mister Cooper?"

Mark perked up. "I think he's running late."

As if on cue, a boy dashed into the classroom right before the bell rang, a brown cowboy hat covering his face. Carol sighed and crossed her arms.

"Mister Taylor! You have been late every day for the past week. I will not mark you late today because you made it on time, but I expect better punctuality!" Carol scolded, ushering the boy to sit.

"Sorry, Carol." Vaughn said in a low, hoarse whisper as he pulled his hat down lower so that Chelsea couldn't see an inch of his face. He slumped into his seat.

Carol put her attendance sheet down. "I believe Dakota will not attend class, as usual. Let's begin." She shut the door. "And Mister Taylor," She eyed Vaughn. "take off your hat, if you please."

School seemed to roll on for Chelsea. Her other teachers, Mr. Martin, Mr. Kirk, and Mr. Slater seemed to be just as kind as Ms. Carol. All of her core classes had only eleventh graders in them, so she got used to seeing the faces of Mark, Sabrina, and Denny.

She was awfully curious about Vaughn.

After Carol had told the boy to take off his hat, he did so reluctantly, frowning when Chelsea looked at him with wide eyes. She couldn't help but mesmerize at the gorgeous silver color his hair was. And his beautiful eyes added to his lovely features! A deep amethyst purple that had Chelsea lost until Mark snapped her out of her staring at Vaughn.

She shook her head. She wouldn't be thinking about how handsome Vaughn was at a time like this, right? She nodded to herself as she walked to the Meadow Building.

"Good afternoon, Mister Ray!" Chelsea greeted as she sat down. She could see about a third of all the students sitting in the same classroom as her.

"Hola, Chelsea." Ray responded with a grin. The bell rang and he shut the door. "Bienvenidos a Español II. Welcome to Spanish II, Chelsea. How about we get started, hmm?"

Chelsea looked around her. There were only two other students in class: Witch, Elliot.

Ray frowned and shrugged . "Dakota no está, hmm?"

"Um… I don't think Dakota will ever be in here, Señor Ray." Elliot answered.

Ray nodded in agreement before walking to his board and writing down the lesson. "Español, Elliot!" He warned the boy.

After Spanish was over, Chelsea walked to the Mushroom Building for PE. Lanna walked next to Chelsea. "So excited, excited, excited for PE now that Chelsea is on the team!" She sang, linking arms with the brunette.

"Oh yay! I guess I'm excited too? I'm not a big sports person." Chelsea said with her eyes looking down.

"You uh, shouldn't worry about it," a timid voice that was Elliot's spoke. "I'm not big on PE either, but you're not Natalie's brother, so she shouldn't do anything bad to you."

Chelsea shivered. "Oh, I feel sick about the knife thing and the balloons."

Julia laughed awkwardly. "Shame that Natalie's so talented in archery though…" The poor blonde didn't know what to say.

Luckily, Lanna broke the awkward silence and opened the door to the gym. Chelsea grinned at that vast, shiny floors of the gym. On one side where yellow painted bleachers and banners for some school spirit gleefully lined the walls.

Lanna pulled Chelsea and Julia into the locker room. "Come and change, Chel-Chel," she sang creepily, "before Coach Gannon shall have! Our! Heads!"

"Right! Where are our gym uniforms? I'm pretty sure I got mine yesterday."

"Here!" Julia pointed to a locker with Chelsea's name on it. "You get to choose between wearing sweats or shorts every week or so unless you want to wash them every Saturday. Laundry Day!"

Chelsea started to change into the shorts. "It's pretty warm right now, so I guess I'll wear these. They're pretty comfy. And speaking of comfy," She threw the bunny slippers she was wearing off. "I can finally get some sneakers on!"

Julia pouted and picked the slippers up. "Oh well. I'm surprised how long you survived with these on anyways!"

"Julia!"

"Kidding, kidding!"

"Okay then! Let's go play some games." Lanna called, not singing. She had just pulled up some shorts and was dragging the two girls into the gym. She grinned when she heard the doors open.

Mark, Shea, Will, and Denny, who were all playing some basketball, all stopped at the sound of the gym doors opening.

"Uh. Oh. Coach G is here!" A voice whispered into Chelsea's ear, revealing to be Ace.

Chelsea swallowed nervously. "Coach...G?"

"Good afternoon, students!" A frightening, loud voice rumbled through the gym. Chelsea stood like a statue. "I hope you're ready...to play some ball."

"Good afternoon, Coach Gannon!"

Chelsea looked down, being only able to see the large shadow of the man who she would call Coach. She swallowed her nervousness and looked up slowly. Gannon was towering over her, frowning. Two of his teeth stuck out. Chelsea swallowed again.

"G...good after-"

"You must be the new student!" Gannon interrupted, seemingly screaming in the poor brunette's face. Chelsea laughed nervously. "I heard about you, Evans, but I couldn't make the last meeting. Nice to meet ya!"

Chelsea shivered as she looked at the buff man. He was wearing the regular coach get-up, whistle around his neck and a clipboard clutched in his right hand. He was a huge guy with bulging muscles and gray sideburns to adorn his bald head.

Chelsea shook Gannon's hand. "Same, Coach." She replied hesitantly.

Gannon turned away and stood in front of the students. "Today, class, we're gonna play some ball."

"You said that already, Coach." Mark called out.

Gannon chuckled. "I know, Cooper. Today, we're gonna play some ball. And I mean," He pulled out an orange ball from behind him, "kickball! To the field, students!"

The students cheered and ran to the baseball field outside the gym. Gannon followed with an amused, but happy expression on his face as he checked students off for attendance.

"Looks like you're all here." He said. "And now that Evans has joined the class, we can play even teams!" He paused for cheering. "It came to me that I don't get to join one team to make the number even anymore."

"Yeah, that wasn't fair. Coach, you always crushed the other team!" Denny said, remembering past games.

"Yeah, yeah." Gannon replied with a grin. "I remember. But let's get to the good part. Team Sun! Y'all are kicking first. Consists of Cooper, Evans, Olsen, and Fay!"

Mark, Chelsea, Julia, and Shea headed to the kicking zone, all high-fiving each other with competitive smiles on their faces.

"Team Shine! Y'all are on field. Consists of everyone left, obviously."

Ace, Denny, Lanna, and Elliot all headed to different spaces on the field, mostly near the bases.

Gannon grinned widely as he settled in his spot to roll the ball. "You ready, Cooper? Ready for the ball?!"

Mark laughed. "Ready, Coach G!"

Gannon rolled the ball. Mark's foot kissed the ball and flew towards second base. Lanna ran around in panic, trying to catch the ball. Mark dashed to first base, then second, as Lanna ran after the orange ball. When the blonde finally caught it and threw it to Gannon, Mark was on third base.

"Good run, Cooper!" Gannon yelled, making the said boy give his coach a thumbs-up. "Ready for the ball, Evans? I wanna see you play well!"

"I'll try my best, Coach!" Chelsea shouted back.

Chelsea kicked the ball with all her might and sighed in relief when it headed toward third base. She raced towards first base and then second before Denny threw the ball to Gannon. She was happy to see Mark had reached home base.

The game continued, the students running and kicking, and repeating. Soon enough, it ended with a score of 6 to 7. Team Shine had won, but everyone was pretty content with the game. They headed back to locker rooms, changed, and headed to the last class of the day.

"Volcano Building….what a weird name." Chelsea murmured to herself as she slung her book bag around her shoulder. "At least it's the last class of the day. I'm so tired!"

Chelsea looked at the school map. She was in the transitional hallway, but she had no idea which hallway led to the Volcano Building. "Where am I? I can't be late for Mr. Regis!"

"No way. I'm one lucky guy, Chelsea!" A familiar voice brought a relieved smile to her face.

"Mark? Mark!"

"You're going to have a class with Regis for seventh too?! Heck yes!" The blonde grinned.

"Wow. We have every class together except for fifth period, when I have Spanish with Mr. Ray."

"And when I have Home Ec. with Chen!"

The two laughed as they walked down the hallway that led to Volcano Building.

"Regis is a cool guy," Mark started. "He's really chill and is a great, multi-talented artist. Not kidding, he's talented." Mark opened the door to the Volcano Building and Chelsea's eyes widened with excitement.

Volcano Building was sprouting with colors. Chelsea saw mostly red and brown painted walls with a contrast to the yellow walls around school. She could see yet another wide hallway with many doors on each side.

"I am thrilled to have you and our new student arrive on time, Mark."

Chelsea spun around to see Regis, who was nothing like she expected. He had very pale, white skin and hair a jet black like night in contrast. He also sported one of those refined, curly mustaches, which went well with his classy suit.

"Afternoon, Chelsea." Regis greeted with a faint smile and a nod.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Regis."

Regis beckoned for the brunette to follow him. "I should give you a tour of the building before we start exercising."

Chelsea stopped. "Exercising? I thought that this was the art building. Oh, um…"

Mark chuckled quietly. "By that, he means warm-ups. It's a more fancy word for it."

"That is very correct, Mark." Regis agreed, and the three continued to walk down the hallway. "This hallway contains the doors to the practice rooms. There's a room for almost every student's need to exercise their talent and enrich."

He pointed to the doors and the labels next to them. "These two right across from each other are the music rooms. The left, for Lanna to practice vocally. The right, for my daugher to practice instrumentally. Both are very talented, I should say."

"The next, down there, are the rooms for Julia and Mark. Julia dances in the left, and Mark improvises and writes scripts in the right. Interesting prodigies in my opinion."

"Well," Mark blushed sheepishly. "Thanks, sir!"

Regis raised his eyebrows. "Don't let it get to your head, boy."

"Yes...sir."

"As for you, Chelsea, there were two empty rooms before we decided to send you an application in hopes you'd be the new addition to our school. When you said yes, we spent the next few weeks gathering materials to suit your visual artistic needs." Regis opened a door.

Chelsea gasped, her eyes wandering around the room. There was a single table and chair lying on them many art materials. She immediately brightened at the cans of paint, brushes, canvases, paper, clay, and all the other materials she had always dreamed of.

"It's so professional." She breathed out, stumbling into the room.

Regis nodded. "Sunshine Academy always aims for the best for our students. You are prodigies, so we treat you like professionals."

"Thank you, Mr. Regis! This is wonderful!"

"Yes, yes. Now, go and settle yourself while I prepare an exercise for Mark." Regis and Mark eventually left the room.

Chelsea picked up a can of paint. "Acrylic, my favorite! And these colors are beautiful." She wandered to the left side of the room, where the 3-D materials laid.

"Everything I could ever need to sculpt! White clay! Even paper mache materials here!" She exclaimed to herself. "I am going to love it here."

"I hope you will." Regis strolled back into the room. Chelsea took a seat. "Now, Chelsea, having two students that clearly need to learn in different ways and places in one class period is often difficult, but that's why I have set time segments."

Chelsea nodded, trying to take it all in.

"Your exercises will be posted on your door. You will spend the first ten minutes getting settled and working on the exercise. I will spend fifteen minutes with both you and Mark refining your artistic skills. The fifteen minutes I spend with the other student, you will be working on other assignments I have created. How is it sounding?"

"I think I understand, sir."

Regis smiled a bit in approval. "Very well. I'll let you work on your exercise for today for the rest of the class period, just to get you settled." He handed a piece of paper to Chelsea. "Don't be afraid to use any materials. Call if you need assistance."

With that, Regis left the room. Chelsea looked at her paper to see what her first exercise was.

"An abstract painting of what I felt like on the first day of school? This should be fun!"

The brunette ran to the canvas after gathering a few paintbrushes and cans of paint. She smiled as she dipped her brush into the paint and set her feelings on the canvas. She painted to her heart's content, if that wasn't over-exaggerating it.

Once she was finished, she stepped back to admire her painting. It was a mix of swirls and twists of different colors she felt didn't even compliment each other. Blue, red, yellow, green, white, and black mixed and stood out.

"How I felt, huh?" Chelsea looked at the painting. "A mix of feelings, I guess: nervous, happy, excited, down. I don't know really!" She laughed to herself, taking one last look at her painting.

"You must talk to yourself a lot!" Mark said when he popped into the room. He took a huge whiff of the air. "Wow. Smells artsy, you know!"

Chelsea giggled shyly. "What are you doing here?"

Mark shrugged. He said, "Class is gonna end in five. Did you not keep track of time?"

"No!" Chelsea gasped, checking a clock. "I spent so much time on my exercise. I've gotta be faster next time."

"Hey, don't worry. I bet your exercise is-" He paused when he saw Chelsea's painting. He looked at her. "That's...pretty."

"...you hesitated."

"I didn't!"

"You hesitated! It's really bad, isn't it?!"

"No! I did not hesitate! It was just so pretty!"

"I agree." Regis said as he observed Chelsea's painting. "What an interesting painting for your exercise."

"Well," Chelsea started. "All the colors and their shapes represent feelings. Pretty cliche, but I think it was a decent way of expressing my emotions."

Regis wiped his hands on his suit and shooed the students out of the building. "Then a job well done. That should be enough for today. You can leave to your dorms now."

"Thanks, Mr. Regis! See you at dinner!"

"Goodbye, students."

"How was your day, Chelsea?"

Chelsea let out a sigh after she finished chowing down on some tasty pasta. "Pretty tiring, Sabrina. Your dad is pretty cool. All the teachers are really nice too!"

Sabrina laughed quietly. "I...I'm really glad we're in the same grade. You're so kind, Chelsea." The girl said bashfully.

Chelsea smiled back. "Oh, thanks! I'm glad too. You're really nice."

"I…" Sabrina began after she scooped some salad into her mouth, "I'm so sorry that you have to room with D-Dakota!"

Chelsea put her fork down and sighed again, more heavily this time. "Don't worry about it. It's my problem, so you don't have to be sorry."

"You really are so kind…"

"Thanks!"

The two were quiet for a few moments, until Ace popped out of nowhere with a silly grin. "Hey, girls! How was your first day of school at the academy?!"

"Haha, it was good." Chelsea said.

Julia joined the conversation. "See anyone who interests you? Hmm?" The blonde asked as she wiggled her eyebrows.

"Um, what? Like-"

"Any boys?!" Lanna sang, tugging on the brunette's sleeve.

"What?! No!"

Something sparkled dangerously in Ace's eye. "You know, a certain blonde has been spending a lot of time with you, if you know what I mean."

Chelsea's face heated up and she tried to push everyone away. "No, Ace. Geez, it's the first day of school and you guys think I already like someone! Half of the boys at this school are dating all of you guys!"

"True, but you and Mark do have lots of classes together. Not to mention you're in the same grade, so you already have core classes together." Julia said, nudging Chelsea with her elbow.

"Yeah," Chelsea breathed exasperatedly. "And I also have those core classes with Sabrina, Denny, I guess Dakota, and… Vaughn."

Lanna also wiggled her eyebrows, which started to creep Chelsea out. "Well duh! But that, that, that has nothing to do with-"

"Wait a second! Based on what I just heard, if Chelsea's interested in any boy, besides Mark I mean," Ace scooted toward the brunette with a smirk, "it's got to be Vaughn."

Chelsea gulped and a faint tint of rose showed up on her cheeks. "Well," she coughed. "I'm just curious about him, is all. C-come on, it's the first day of school!"

"Looks like someone is interested in the mystery prodigy!" Julia teased, making Chelsea cough again.

"Mystery prodigy?" Chelsea asked.

"Yes." Sabrina spoke up quietly, making all the girls hush as they listened to her speak. "Vaughn is called the mystery prodigy because no one knows what his talent is."

"You said it, Bri! Vaughn is Mr. Mysterious around these parts. Even I don't know what he's here for, and I usually know everything!" Ace announced, crossing her arms.

"And I bet the whole mystery thing makes you wanna know even more about him, right?" Julia nudged Chelsea again.

Chelsea pursed her lips. "You know what? I do wanna know more. I'm gonna find out what his talent is!" The brunette decided, causing mixed reactions from all the girls.

A/N: Thank you for all those who are reading! Please review to make this story the fabbest it could ever be!