You can tell a lot about a school by its administrative offices. Sure, on the surface they all look similar with the same beige walls and outdated technology, but if you looked deeper you could see them as a reflection on the school at large. For example, it's pretty easy to judge the strictness of the staff by the number of students in the office area that didn't look happy to be there or, if you listened to what the aids and secretaries were talking about you could get a pretty good feel for what was going on in the school. After all, if anyone was going to know something in a school, it would be the ones who sat just outside the bigshot offices and answered all the phones.

It was with this in mind and an appraising eye that Emily approached the secretaries desk. While the secretaries prepared her class schedule and relevant information, she let her eyes roam over the office, which was much more decorated than it probably needed to be. There were a number of national flags hanging from the walls including the UK, Brazil, Russia, China, and many, many more. There were also numerous shelves lined with trophies and awards from both academic and athletic events and photographs of what Emily assumed were the teams that won them.

The sound of yelling pulled Emily from her observations as her head snapped in the direction of the sound. It was coming muffled through a closed office door, though through the glass she could make out a girl with spiky hair sitting ramrod straight with her eyes cast downward. It was clear enough to Emily that she wasn't used to the situation and thus probably not a delinquent, but the level of harshness the principal was yelling with was interesting. Some golden child being scared off the wrong path perhaps? It was hard to make out everything through the closed door and from so far away, but Emily managed to pick up little bits and pieces.

"Reflects on the school… funding for your team… this early into the season… I know he was your friend but…" Whatever came next must have struck a nerve with the girl, because she quickly shot to her feet, any thoughts she had of weathering the lecture like a storm clearly gone from her mind. Emily noted with no small amount of respect that the little girl was giving as good as she got, firing off her argument like a pistol and startling the principal enough to make him take a step back before regaining his composure. With the shouting match having turned against him, the principal offered his final words on the subject which Emily couldn't make out before waving her off.

"Lena, could you come over here for a moment?" As the girl, Lena, walked out of the office the secretary who had been putting together Emily's papers while pretending to not be listening in on the shouting match waved her down. Now that Emily could finally get a good look at Lena, she noticed her right eye was slightly swollen and there was a bit of discoloration that appeared to be partially covered up with a hasty application of concealer. The slight frown on Lena's face blossomed into an easy smirk. Easy enough that Emily couldn't help but wonder how genuine it was.

"Lena here is our liaison for newer students," the secretary explained for Emily's benefit, "She'll help walk you through your schedule and get you situated. Lena, this is Emily, she's a new transfer from… Emily, where did you say you were from dear?"

"Indiana originally, but New York most recently," Emily thought back to her previous homes, "and plenty of places in between." That was an understatement. Her dad was constantly being shuffled from base to outpost and back again. She'd spent time on the east coast, the west coast, in Europe, even a couple of months in South Korea.

"Well you'll fit right in here then," Lena chirped, she had a delightful British accent and a musical cadence to her voice that Emily found pulling her attention back to the moment, "With the foreign exchange program and MacNeal being so close by we have people from all over. Come on, I'll show you to your locker and you can stash your stuff. Not much point standing about here." Students were already in the full swing of their morning routines by the time Lena and Emily made their way to the common area. Lena walked quickly, leading Emily to a line of lockers against a far wall, stopping occasionally to wave or say hello to other students she recognized.

"You're clearly popular," Emily said as they reached the locker and Lena began fiddling with the lock, "Makes me wonder who you pissed off to get that black eye you're trying to cover up." Lena's smile broke for a moment before easily sliding back into place. The locker clicked open and she stepped back to let Emily begin putting her things in the locker.

"That's a bit of a personal question innit?" Lena asked without any real heat to her voice, "According to your schedule the first class you have is finance. That's in the computer lab, down this hall. C'mon, I'll show you." Emily stammered for a moment, still on her knees putting things from her bag into the locker.

"Hold on, I'm not done here!"

"No time like the present!" Lena called over her shoulder without breaking stride. What kind of student liaison just walks off in such a rush? Emily quickly shoved what she had in her hands into the locker, slammed it shut, and jogged to catch up with the brit. Maybe she struck a nerve asking about the black eye. The two girls stopped at an open door leading into a room with dimmed light, a number of computer monitors were illuminated casting a shadow over eight silhouettes each of them speaking quickly relaying information, advice, and commands between each other without ever looking up from their monitors.

Lena leaned over and whispered, "That's the school esports team. They practice here most mornings."

"Esports team? My last school barely had enough money for new textbooks."

"That's the beauty of Mondatta High, with all the genius grants, donations from Air Force generals from MacNeal, and foreign exchange stipends the school can afford pretty much any extracurriculars and renovations a student can convince the school board to approve. New science labs, athletic equipment, specialized computer software, you name it. If you can convince the school board it will bring enrichment to the students or donations to the school you can probably get it here."

Before Emily could respond, a number of the monitors flashed red followed by a chorus of groans from the gamers in their chairs. One of the gamers, a relatively short girl in a baggy hoodie, stood up from her chair and flipped a nearby light switch then turned to fix her teammates with a glare.

"That was awful guys!" She scolded, "Phoenix, you're the tank you need to be upfront tanking not using the DPS as a human shield. Eggman, your aim was terrible, you need to log more time on the aim trainers." One of the gamers, Eggman apparently, threw his arms up in the air in protest.

"You know it's hard to keep focused when I keep getting flanked Han-"

"Gamertags!" the girl interrupted, "when we're practicing or playing we go by gamertags, Eggman. Call me . I'm not Hana until that bell rings or I say so. Now get out of here. We'll end practice early this morning." The team began to file out, some with heads hung, but others with defiance in their eyes, ready to try again soon.

"Tracer!" Hana cried as jogged over to the two girls offering a fist bump which Lena quickly accepted, "It's been a few days! How was your suspension? Is it true you got it by breaking the Junkrat's nose?" Lena gave Emily a sideways glance and scratched the back of her head awkwardly. Suddenly the black eye on her face made a bit more sense. The names, less so.

"Tracer?" Emily asked, turning to Lena, "Junkrat?"

"Hana likes to give nicknames," Lena explained, "I think you'll find a lot of us use them from time to time, even the staff. There's a couple of track posters in the athletic department with 'Tracer' written on them." Lena said, happy to take the opportunity to shift the focus of the conversation. As if it were coming to rescue her, the first bell of the day rang at that moment.

"Well, that's my cue to leave," Lena stopped halfway to the door and turned back around, "Oh, by the way, Hana, that's Emily. She's new here so try and keep her out of trouble till I get back yeah? Emily, I'll stop by after class to show you where your next one is." Having said her piece, Lena offered a final wave before jogging out of the computer lab and down the hall to her own class. Once she was gone Hana led Emily to a nearby pair of computer stations while students began to file in.

"Alright new girl, I don't know you from a rando online, but Tracer seems to like you so we're cool." Emily rolled her eyes at that. Even if Esports teams aren't that common in high schools, people like Hana are. Always acting as though being around them was some great gift. Emily never understood how so many lackeys put up with it or how most people didn't see through it. Nine times out of ten when someone put up a wall like that it was because they were terrified of people actually knowing them well enough to judge them. The tenth usually meant whoever it was was just an asshole.

"Good to know," Emily replied, "I'd hate to not be cool with someone on my first day." The look Hana gave her made it clear she hadn't missed the admittedly thick sarcasm in that statement. Right, I promised Dad I'd keep an open mind.

"Sorry. That came out wrong. It's just hard, adjusting to a new school." Hana gave a nod of understanding though the look didn't quite fall from her face. Instead, she turned her attention away from Emily and to the front of the classroom where a middle-aged man with a button-down shirt and honest to god pocket protector with pens has begun setting up a projector for class.

A few moments later a PowerPoint presentation shone against the front wall of the classroom and the teacher began his monotonous lecture. Emily tuned it out easily, letting her attention rove around the classroom to her other classmates who all seemed to be paying about as much attention as her. When her eyes finally found their way back to Hana she felt a tinge of regret. Emily's first class at her new school had just started and she was already stepping on people's toes. At least Lena seemed to like her so far so that was a win. Plus she was kind of cute.