Fic: Boarding School (3?)

Author: nodoubtwywh

Disclaimer: None of the characters of Once and Again belong to me. But if they were on ebay - watch out!

Summary: Jessie goes to boarding school not knowing that her life will never be the same. (haha sorry, I suck at this whole summary thing)

Feedback: Yes, please! If you want me to continue this story, please let me know!

Jessie had been staring at the cieling noticing the off-white color of the tiles for sometime before she decided to roll over and check the time on her alarm clock. "9:55"

"Grace, we should probably head to the common room" Showing up late was a good way to draw attention to yourself, and Jessie didn't want that to happen.

The common room was right in front of the elevators, and it took maybe 10 seconds to walk to. When they got there they weren't alone. A group of people were already gathered around; sprawling on the floor and a few in chairs. Grace and Jessie decided to sit on the couch towards the back. They sat there awkwardly silent for only a few minutes before a girl with dark hair and blue eyes came and told everyone to move the chairs and sit in a circle.

"Oh, great" Jessie though silently "we're going to have to get to know everyone."

As if the dark haired girl was reading her mind, she said "I'm Sarah and don't worry, we're not going to be doing any icebreakers tonight. I just want to make sure everyone's here and gets a copy of all the stuff I'm handing out."

A sigh of relief went through Jessie's body, but she still wasn't sure who this Sarah was.

"Well, I'm a senior prefect for those of you who don't know me. I live at the single at the end of the hall, and I'm here incase you guys need anything." Sarah looked around and then added while staring a blonde haired girl, "I'm also here to make sure no one breaks curfew"

"Hey now! I resent that glare!" replied the blonde girl defensively.

"I wasn't glaring," Sarah answered "Maybe you just have a guilty conscience"

That got everyone to laugh a little bit and made loosened the tension a little bit. Sarah passed out a bunch of papers with things like dorm rules about curfew, boys, etc. She also handed out campus maps. Jessie was glad she gave them to everyone, so it didn't bring attention to the people who were sure to get lost.

"Well, that's basically everything, don't forget to buy all your books tomorrow" Sarah finished "Oh yeah, we are the lucky floor to have the three new female upperclassmen, so make sure to be nice."

A few heads turned to stare at Jessie and Grace, and Jessie couldn't help but turn red.

Jessie and Grace started to get up and walk back to their room, but they were soon stopped.

"Hey, Grace, I think I have the room across from you," Katie said as she blocked the way out for Jessie.

"Cool," said Grace grateful to have a familiar face nearby. "Oh, hey Katie I don't know if you've ever met my stepsister. This is Jessie."

"Nope, we've never met, but I've heard my friend Tad mention you once or twice," Katie said smiling mischievously "Nice to meet you"

Jessie knew who Tad was, but she didn't know that he'd noticed her.

"Uh, yeah, nice to meet you, too," Jessie replied hesitantly.

"Hey, you guys wanna see my room?" Katie asked as they started down the hallway.

"Sure," Grace replied "Do you like your roommate?"

"Love her," Katie replied laughingly "She decided not to come to school this year, so I have a single"

Grace laughed and thought maybe Katie would be better off in a room of her own.

"Well, welcome to my place," Katie said as she opened the door.

Katie's room looked lopsided because her side of the room was decorated nicely, and looked like someone was living there. The other half; however, was still empty.

"I didn't know my roommate wasn't coming until, like, an hour ago, so I didn't know I could use the whole room." Katie explained

"Well, that makes sense, do you know what you're going to do with the other side?" Grace asked

"I think I'm just going to put some sheets on it, and decorate it like I do have a roommate"

Jessie hadn't said a word at this point, and Grace was actually a little worried about her. She knew Jessie was shy, but c'mon. This girl was from their hometown and their high school.

"So, you guys know where the bookstore is?" Katie asked trying to lend the one piece of information she had.

"Yeah," Grace said "I have to meet with my advisor at his house and then I'm going to get my books in the morning"

"What!" Jessie thought to herself suddenly alert "How does Grace know she has to meet with her advisor? And what was she going to do?"

"I went to my advisor's house this afternoon," Katie said knowingly "He's a cool guy with satellite television that he said I could come over and watch whenever."

"Not too bad" Grace said hoping her advisor was just as nice.

They chatted a little bit longer before they decided they should all get some sleep. Jessie finally spoke up to say goodnight to Katie, but that was it.

Jessie threw on some pajamas and turned off the overhead light before climbing into bed.

"Grace?"

"What?"

"When do you have to go to your advisor's?"

"I set my alarm for nine, why?"

"I don't know who my advisor is"

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll find out who it is. And I'll come back to the dorm before I get my books, so we can go together."

"Thanks," Jessie replied gratefully as she shut off the lamp on her end table.

The next morning Jessie woke up to the sound of Grace's alarm. At first she forgot where she was, but it soon came back to her. She must have fallen back to sleep because the next she knew Grace was completely dressed and ready to go.

"Hey Jess," Grace said tapping her gently "I'm headed out, but when I get back I figure we can get lunch and then get our books. And if you're hungry now, my mom put some fruit in the fridge"

"Kay" Jessie mumbled as she sat up groggily "Have fun"

"I just hope I don't get lost," Grace said as she left

Jessie climbed out of bed and decided to take a quick shower. This was going to be her first time using community bathrooms, and that didn't thrill her at all. She grabbed her robe and her shower caddy and took as quick a shower as possible.

She made it back to her door before running into anyone, and Jessie gave a silent thanks. However she thought too soon because Katie suddenly came out of her room.

"Hey Jess," Katie said brightly.

"Hey" Jess said awkwardly with her wrapped and a towel on

"Is Grace gone already to her advisor's?"

"Yeah, she left a little bit ago"

"Well, I'm meeting Tad for some breakfast in a few minutes, you want to come?"

"Crap," Jessie thought anxiously "what can I say as an excuse?"

"Um, no thanks, I'm not really that hungry" Jessie said trying to be nonchalant about it.

"Aw, c'mon, the cafeteria can't really screw up breakfast that badly, can they? And besides I know Tad would love to see you." Katie continued not taking 'no' for an answer "I'll wait. Just knock on my door when you're ready"

"OK" Jessie said reluctantly as she headed back into her room to get dressed.