Disclaimer: The characters you recognize from Ella Enchanted are not mine, duh; they all belong to the wonderful lady, Gail Carson Levine who wrote Ella. Other than that, it's all mine, hehe.

A/N: Okay, I live in Washington, but I'm homeschooled and have been all my life, so I don't know the names of any of the junior highs, because I've only done dance recitals at the high schools. So I'm going to call my school Kentland Junior High. Lame, I know, but I can't use Kentlake or Kentwood because there ARE such high schools in Washington. I also know nothing at all about what its actually like at school, so if you have any suggestions for changes, let me know! Thanks.

A/N: Okay, I really need Beta Readers for ALL of my stories. I'm good with grammar and spelling and stuff, but I need people to tell me what they really like or don't like and what they think I should change before I post my chapters on If you'd like to Beta Read any of my stories, email me or post it in your review (yes, that means you're supposed to review, lol!). Thanks to everyone who already has given me such great feedback!

Chapter Six: A New Life

The next day, Kaetlin woke me early.

"Come on, we've gotta go to school!" She hissed, trying to wake me up. I was so tired I could just barely understand her.

"I didn't do it, Mother! I would never pull off the Duke's wig!" I muttered before I realized it wasn't my mother. I jerked up and smashed foreheads with Kaetlin. She sat back and we both nursed our aching heads.

"What do you mean?" I finally asked. Luckily, I was used to getting up early, so I'm usually not grumpy in the mornings.

"We've got to go to school. Come on, Shean'll be down eating breakfast already and you've got to go into his grade, so you have to be ready in time!" She jumped up and pulled some clothes out of her closet. She tossed them to me and I caught them and hurriedly dressed, then pulled my hair back into a high ponytail.

I rushed downstairs to find Shean eating a bowl of what looked remarkably like oats. I wasn't sure what school was, but I understood that we had to hurry.

"Mornin', Shean!" I said as I pulled up a stool to the bar and sat down. He grinned at me.

"Well, well, aren't you in a hurry. Want some breakfast?"

I nodded. He went and got a bowl and poured something out, poured what looked like milk into the bowl and set it in front of me with a spoon. I stared at it. There were little pieces of some puffy thing and little colored†things floating around in with the puffy things. There sure were a lot of 'things' that I was discovering in this new place.

"What, aren't you going to eat it?" Shean asked, looking at me curiously.

I looked up at him with a perplexed expression. "I'm supposed to eat this?"

"Well, yeah! There's nothing wrong with it. Its just cereal," he laughed. "Come on, you better hurry or we'll be late for school! We've got to scooter, so we have to leave early."

I took a tentative spoonful, accidentally getting some of the colored pieces too. I crunched down on it and found that it actually tasted really good! I shoveled in another bite and then another and another. Shean grinned.

"Lucky Charms sure taste good, huh?"

I nodded enthusiastically, unable to speak around a big mouthful.

When I finished, Kaetlin and Shean and I rushed out to the 'garage'. When Kaet turned on the light, I saw two big things sitting there. I started and began backing out when Shean grabbed my arm.

"Wait here and I'll get the scooters and Kaetlin can get the helmets."

I nodded and gulped. This world had some of the strangest things I'd ever encountered, and I thought I'd seen them all!

Shean and Kaetlin quickly came back. Kaetlin had three blue and black round things and Shean had three long silver shiny pieces of metal.

Kaetlin reached me first and placed a round thing on my head, buckling a strap.

"There, perfect fit!" She declared, placing another one on her own head and snapping it securely shut.

"What are these?" I asked, reaching up to feel it. It felt hard, a little tiny bit like wood, but it was hollow like some of the suits of armor I've seen.

Shean laughed, handing me one of the metal strips. "They're helmets. They'll keep your head safe in case you fall off the scooters on the way to school." He unfolded his piece of metal and I saw that it had wheels of some sort of clear, hard material and a long stick of metal coming out of one end where it had folded together and that stick had a cross hilt at the opposite end. Shean called it the 'handlebar'.

We took them outside and Shean showed me how to unfold the thing, which he called a 'scooter'. Then he quickly taught me to scooter. Luckily, I have rather good balance and reflexes, and scootering is rather easy (for me, anyways). Soon, I pushed away with my foot and called out as I whizzed past the other two.

"Which way?"

Shean came after me and quickly caught up. "Right," he replied and I easily kept up with he and Kaetlin until we got to school.

Shean took something out of his pocket and hooked it under the handlebars and locked it onto a big metal thing.

"What's that for?" I asked as Shean folded my scooter up and locked it up as well.

"To make sure no one steals them," he replied, motioning for my helmet. I unclipped it and handed it to him.

"Come on, we better go get to class." Shean shouldered his backpack and grabbed my hand, pulling me after him into the big building.

I followed Shean – well, was pulled along behind Shean is more accurate – all the way to a room. He pulled me inside and had me sit down at a desk while he went to the front to give the teacher a piece of paper. The teacher nodded and Shean came back to sit at the desk to the left of mine. There were still about ten minutes until school started, Shean told me, and that was why only a little more than half the seats were occupied.

Soon enough, though, the seats filled. The teacher rapped on his desk for attention.

"All right now, class, settle down." The talking stopped with just a few papers rustling to break the silence. "All right now. We have a new student here today. I hope that you will make her welcome and be kind and courteous to her. No making fun of her or Shean will clobber you." Everyone laughed at the little joke. "Will you please come up here and introduce yourself?" He asked.

I stood up and walked to the front. I turned to face the class.

"Please tell us your name and where you come from."

I took a deep breath. "I am Princess Avalla Shirra Fealla Charlla of Kyrria." There was silence for a moment and then a few twitters. Soon there were more twitters and giggles that quickly turned into outright laughter. I felt my face burning and I realized how dumb that was. They didn't even have princesses or kingdoms here! I unwillingly caught a few unspoken thoughts.

Hah! Princess indeed! Stupid little twit probably thinks she's better than everyone else in the world

Oh brother, what a dork. Does she really expect us to believe that?

The only thing that made it all right as I ran back to my seat, face as red as my mother's crimson dress, was the fact that Shean and a couple of other kids weren't laughing at me. I slipped into my seat and buried my head in my arms, letting them drop to the desk. I didn't want anyone to see the few little tears that fell from my eyes.

Shean put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Hey, its okay, Val. That wasn't a total disaster," he whispered. I turned my face sideways just enough to see him clearly.

"Yeah? How do you figure that?" I hissed.

Shean looked down at his desk and I immediately regretted my words.

"Sorry," I whispered. He looked up and nodded.

"All right now." The teacher cleared his throat and rapped for silence. The twitters and whispers stopped. He called out names and he marked them off on a sheet as kids raised their hands in response to the names.

The class seemed to go on forever before Shean whisked me out of the room, running down the hall hauling his bag of books behind him. We went into another room and sat down in another pair of seats. This time there were only a few kids that had been in the first room. Once again, the teacher announced there was a new student and called me up. This time, I vowed, I wouldn't be so stupid.

"I am Avalla O'Connor of Kyrria." I had already asked Shean if I was his 'cousin'. He'd said I was.

"Oh, is Kyrria in Ireland?" The teacher asked, sounding curious. I stumbled for just a moment before replying.

"Uh†yes! I'm Shean O'Connor's cousin. I'll be staying with them for a while."

The teacher smiled. "Oh, how nice! I hope everyone will give Avalla a nice welcome later." She looked around the class as if making sure they would. I went to sit back down in the seat. Shean gave me a grin and made a fist with his thumb sticking out and pointing up. I wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean, but I grinned and copied his hand posture.

"Now, today we will be studying American history. We'll be reviewing the founding of our great country. I'm sure you all remember it"

Everyone nodded and a few groaned.

"Good. Then can anyone tell me how many votes George Washington received to elect him President?"

She called on one of the boys whose hand had shot up and he answered correctly.

"Correct, Sam. Who was the first secretary of the Department of State?"

There was a pause and I almost groaned as I heard someone's thought.

I think it was Alexander Hamilton. It was, wasn't it? Hm

I decided to take a risk and raised my hand. The teacher looked a little surprised.

"Yes, Avalla."

"Um, Val. The first secretary of the Department of State was Alexander Hamilton?" I hadn't meant to phrase it as a question, but I wasn't sure it was right.

The teacher looked even more surprised. "Well†yes! Good job, Val." She smiled at me and I smiled shyly back. I hadn't really wanted to steal the answer, but if I had risked it and been right. I promised myself I would only do that for a few questions throughout the day so it might seem like Shean had given me a brush-up on school. Then he would look a bit better too, in the teacher's eyes. I sighed inwardly. I didn't like thoughts anymore.

This would be a long day.

The rest of the day went rather like that: running to the next room, the teacher having me say my name, sitting back down, accidentally answering a few questions, finishing the class, then repeating it. Some of the teachers seemed interested in if I came from Ireland too, or some other little tidbit that I let them assume was true.

At one point, Shean led me into a rather large room that was packed with tables and chattering kids eating food. He led me into a long line and handed me a tray. He advised which food I should take. At the end of the line, we stood in front of some sort of machine and Shean gave the lady standing behind the thing some green pieces of parchment and some coins and then led me to one of the empty tables.

We sat down and started to eat in silence. Soon another girl who I recognized from being in a couple of the classes earlier came by.

"Hi, I'm Jenny. You're Val, right?" I nodded. "Kaetlin told me about you. I thought that was really mean of the kids to laugh at you when you had to introduce yourself in English. They must remember how hard it is to be the new kid." I must have looked confused, because she gave me a friendly smile. "It's okay. I'm gonna be coming over to your house with Kaetlin today after school, so I guess I'll see you then." I nodded again. "Well, see you then." She walked over to another table with her tray. I saw her sit down next to Kaetlin and her other friends.

I glanced at Shean. "That was†interesting," I remarked, not sure what to say.

Shean grinned. "Oh, it's okay. Jenny's just a little odd." He chuckled. "Well, girls are anyways." He must have realized what he'd just said because he turned red and looked chagrined. "I – I didn't mean you†I mean, I meant†I" I cut him off with a laugh.

"Hey, it's okay," I said, copying his first sentence. "I know what you mean."

Just then, Tourney came over. "Oh, hey, Princess," he said sarcastically. He obviously didn't believe me, but that was fine. I didn't want to be teased about it anymore than I already was. I smiled sweetly.

"It's Val. I didn't think you were that slow." His face turned pink at my implication that his wheels needed greasing.

"Hey, I've got a brain, even if you don't."

"Hey, Tourney, do you know why your head is the heaviest part of your body?" Shean asked matter-of-factly, but I could tell this was going to turn into a joke.

"Of course, it's because there's brain up there." He looked very proud of the fact.

I pretended to be surprised. "Really? And here I thought it was hollow!" Out of the corner of my eye I could see Shean smothering a grin and I had to do the same when I saw Tourney's expression. With a huff, he stood and picked up his tray.

"Well, if your girlfriend can't be more courteous, Shean, I'll go sit somewhere else!" He emphasized a few too many words to make it seem as emphatic as he wanted. Shean got up and grabbed his arm, trying not to laugh.

"Hey, we were just playing and you know it," he said, laughing just a little. Then he got a bit more serious. "And she's not my girlfriend."

Tourney smirked. "Yeah? Well then, what is she?"

"My cousin from Ireland."

Tourney snorted. "Yeah, right. So that's why she's a princess!" I rolled my eyes.

"Let's just eat, okay?" Shean asked. Tourney rolled his eyes.

"Fine."

We ate the rest of our meal in silence.

After lunch, Shean dragged me off to a few more classes and then we went outside and unlocked the 'scooters' from the rack, put on our helmets and rode home with Kaetlin and Jenny.

We sat around and talked for a while, then decided we were bored. After trying to think of something to do (they all had to explain to me what quite a lot of their suggestions were), Kaetlin had an idea that the others liked and that I was willing to try.

"Lets ask Mum if she'll drive us over to the skate rink for the evening session and we can teach Val how to skate so she'll be ready for Saturday's lesson." I didn't know anything about a lesson on Saturday, but I was ready to try. Sylva agreed to drive us to the 'rink'. I expected her to go and get the carriage ready, but instead, we went back into the 'garage'.

Shean and Kaetlin led me up to one of the big metal rectangles and pulled a piece off the side. I jumped, then realized the piece was still attached and the inside was hollow. Kaetlin motioned me inside, then climbed in after me. Jenny went around to the other side and pulled off another piece and climbed in. Both girls pulled the pieces back on with a slam. I decided they must be doors, like on a carriage. I just hadn't expected them to stay on like on a carriage. Shean pulled open another door in front of us and climbed into another seat, with Sylva on the other side.

"Where are the horses?" I asked.

"Oh, it's got some good horsepower," Shean replied, patting the door.

"But where are they?"

Shean looked confused, then recognition dawned on him. "No, that's kind of a measurement, I guess, not actual horses. Oh, you might want to-"

I jumped and yelped a little as he was cut off by a soft roar, then a cranking of what sounded like gears in a mill.

"That."

"What is it?" I asked with trepidation.

Shean laughed. "Just the car starting. You've got to get used to it or you won't survive in this place." He gave me a wink, but I still wasn't reassured completely. I had to spend three years in this new world and I wasn't sure I could cope with all of these strange new things that kept turning up.

A/N: Do you think you know what happens next? Tell me! Since I write this freehand (no outline), I don't know what's going to happen next either. So if you think that so-and-so's going to do this, or this-and-such is going to happen, post it in your review or email me. There's a good enough chance I might put it into the story or rewrite a chapter to include it!