1

I walked up the stairs to find my new dorm. Although I had a map in my hands, I had no idea where I was going. I was room 102. I entered a hallway and started looking at the doors, trying to find out which one was 102.

"Hey, do you need some help?" I turned around. A girl with short blonde hair and chocolate eyes was looking at me, her lips forming a smile. I tried smiling back. Although I'm not what most people would call "friendly", I tried to be nice. I didn't want the same reputation as I did at my old school. Ugh, public school. I wondered if boarding school would be any different. . .

"Er...yes. I need to find room 102," I told her. The girl smiled again, a little too much. Maybe she had noticed my heavy eyeliner and black lips. I mean, who wouldn't?

"I now where dorm 102 is. I'll show you," the girl said, beckoning me to follow her. I did. As she lead me through the hallway, she started talking to me.

"I'm Zoey," she said. "What's your name?"

"April," I stated simply.

"Nice to meet you," she said. I just nodded.

Zoey led me to a white door with the numbers "102" printed in black ink.

"Here you go," she said.

"Thanks," I answered gruffly. She smiled again and walked away. I opened the door to my dorm. It was pretty sweet, I'll give it that. It was a big room. A mattress stood near one of the walls. It was bear, so it must have been mine. I slouched over to it and collapsed on it.

An hour later, I woke up from my nap. A girl with short red hair was doing her homework on her bed. She didn't even seem to notice me. I didn't care.

I unpacked all my clothes and stored them in an empty drawer. I unloaded my makeup and placed it along with the other girl's makeup. I wrinkled my nose at the pink blush and the skin-toned eye shadow.

Next came my posters. I didn't have much. Just a couple of Avril Lavigne posters and some Amy Lee pictures. I turned around and came face to face with a Hilary Duff poster.

"Arrgghh!" I yelped. The girl looked up. She frowned and walked over to me.

"What is your problem?" she asked, somewhat rudely.

"My problem? I don't have a problem. What's your problem, eh? Been brainwashed by bubble gum pop fanatics?" I challenged. The girl narrowed her eyes.

"So you're the new roomie? I was hoping for someone a little more mature," she snapped, crossing her arms.

"Oh really? I was hoping for someone a little less retarded," I barked. Uh, oh. Bad reputation, here I come.

The girl gaped at me and turned around, pouting. I rolled my eyes and flipped my black-streaked brown hair.

I walked back to my bed. I was not doing so well with my new room mate. Why can't I ever control my temper? I always have to say the worse things at the worse time. Why can't I be like everyone else?

I strode into the student lounge. I saw happy little children, playing happy little games. Zoey and this other kid with bushy brown hair were playing football (not the real kind. That thing that is on a board. Sorry, I forgot what it's called). I smudged my black lipstick a little, hoping it would be less noticeable.

"Hey, April!" called Zoey. I walked over to her.

"April, this is Chase. Chase, this April, the new arrival," introduced Zoey. I smiled, or rather twitched my lips, at Chase. He smiled and waved.

"Do you play football?" Chase asked, waving his hand over the table.

"No," I stated simply, but firmly.

"Oh...uh...okay," he answered. I looked down. Maybe I should have been a little nicer. . .

"April, this is Nicole, Dana, and Michael," said Zoey, moving over to a couch where three kids were sitting. One was checking her hair in a mirror. Another had a skateboard in her arms. The boy had a remote in his hands. They all smiled and waved. Nicole did a double take when she saw me.

Oh, my gawd! Black lipstick? That is like, so, five minutes ago. I mocked in my head. I opened my mouth to say something rude, but I stopped myself just in time.

"Do you like to skateboard?" asked Dana.

"No," I said. Then I softened up a bit. "But I could learn," I said, a little sweeter.

"Cool. Maybe I could teach you," replied Dana. I fake-smiled. Skateboarding could be cool, if lessons were not involved.

A boy with brown hair walked up to us.

"Hey. Who's the new girl?" he asked. I glared at him.

"Logan, this is April," said Zoey. Logan didn't respond. He just looked me up and down. I glared and crossed my arms. There was something I didn't like about this guy. . .