Author Note: Once again I want to warn everyone that Amy will be OOC for the first 2 or 3 chapters. She is in the 'I hate the world' stage of her depression, so she will be a bit snappy. She gets over this soon enough as she makes friends and things start to happen, so bear with me here.

Note: This is AU, like all my stories.

Disclaimer: No, I don't own it. But I do own any character not featured in the Heartland books and John Adams Academy...unless that exists, then I don't own it. Also I own some of the plot.

Chapter One- Arrival

Sunday, August 31st- John Adam's Academy

I glared out the passenger side window as Lou drove silently along the highway. My breath began to fog a section of window and lazily I lifted my right hand and wrote along the dampness, letters forming beneath my fingers as I kept breathing on the glass.

This sucks!

I smiled at the outcome and glanced at Lou, wondering if she had noticed my fogged message. She was staring straight ahead, a forlorn expression adorning her features as she drove. I started to rhythmically click my tongue to the low key beat pulsing out of the speakers. She glanced at me and then zoned back onto the road, ignoring my attempts at annoyance. I narrowed my eyes at her and then started to dig through the glove compartment, smirking as I pulled from it a blue pen and a withered pencil.

"We will, we will, rock you!" I sang under my breath, using the writing utensils as drumsticks and beating them against the door and window. I started to beat louder and let my head bob to the rhythm, waiting.

"Amy!" I smiled and stopped drumming, looking at Lou innocently.

"Yes sister?" I made my eyes wide and vulnerable.

"What do you want that you had to annoy the hell out of me first?" she was straight forward which made me laugh.

"Are we there yet?" I managed, as I still chuckled slightly. I had asked her this many times over the course of an hour, hoping a positive answer would soon come my way.

"Yes," I nearly dropped my drumsticks.

"Really?" I asked, stunned.

"Really. Look there," she pointed through the windshield and I followed her finger. About a mile away, poking through the trees that were dense along the highway, was John Adam's Academy. It looked like an abandoned castle, covered in ivy. As we drew nearer it became clear that, indeed, it was a school. A football field, a soccer field, and a track circle came into view. Lou turned into a long, unpaved, driveway and we drove through an arch of blue spruces. As we neared the school Lou veered to the right, circling a large square of grass in front of the school. The square held a sign reading:

John Adam's Academy

Home of the Dragons

I snorted at the name of their teams. The Dragons. Back home we were the Bobcats...maybe Dragons were better. I sighed as Lou parked in front of large mahogany doors and stepped out of the car. I followed suit and then looked up, shaking my head at the mere enormity of the school. It was at least four stories high with large towers jutting out from the corners. I sighed once again and went to the trunk to pull out all of my baggage. Just as I was lugging two rather large traveling trunks up the stairs to the doors, they burst open and a large women who waddled stepped out clutching her heart,

"Oh, deary me, you're here!" she clucked, bounding down the stairs, teetering dangerously from her weight.

"Deary me," I glanced around, "Your right!" her eyes dropped to the floor and her face fell in hurt. I groaned and wouldn't look at Lou, "I'm sorry, my name is Amy Fleming." Just like that she was up and cheery again, shaking my hand and taking a trunk from my left hand, pulling it through the doors.

"Everyone is outside for lunch at the moment, in the courtyard. Classes don't start till tomorrow, so everyone has free reign until then. Feel free to wear whatever you like until then also, your uniform hasn't arrived anyhow," she smiled as she led us down a hall off of the Grand Hall we had stepped into. She walked pass many doors until the last one on the right. "This is Head Mistress Clancy's office. She is expecting you. I shall bring your luggage to your room if you don't mind, then show you later." she took the other trunk and headed back down the hall, leaving Lou and I standing there.

"Well then," Lou watched her leave then knocked on the door.

"Come in," a women called from within the door. Lou turned the silver doorknob, opening the door slowly, "Oh, hello! You must be Lou and Amy." a thin women sat behind a large desk cluttered with knick knacks and piles of paper.

"Yes, I'm Lou and this is Amy," Lou smiled kindly and pushed me forward into a chair. I lifted my legs into my chest and started to study my fingernails as Lou glared and then sat and started to talk.

"Now I understand that this is a coed school is it not?" Lou asks, twisting her wedding ring around her finger.

"Yes. Classes are coed, except for physical education. They have separate teachers and classes. On occasion they may play together but not often. Also their dorm rooms are opposite each other in the school so there is no mingling after hours."

Lou nodded, "That's what I wanted to know...dorms I mean. So Amy will be sharing a room with how many other girls?" at this I looked up, wanting to hear the answer myself.

"Well normally rooms go two people per room, but seeing as Amy was an exception..." she paused "You see we normally only take a certain amount of freshman each year, so they replace the leaving seniors. But Amy is applying late and she is in her Junior year so we actually already filled all the rooms."

"What are you saying?" Lou inquired, confused.

"Well, that she will not have a roommate. We have a room near the other dorms that hasn't been occupied for years but we have fixed it up for her to use, hopefully it is accommodating," Lou had called around for weeks to get my into this school, contact after contact. No one had been able to pull any strings with the school until finally she offered an extra 500 dollars and found a rather influential man who got me in.

"So she is close to the other girls?" Lou asked, getting a little annoyed.

"Yes, only a mere fifty feet or so. Give or take." Lou nodded.

"Will she be safe by herself?" I was starting to feel bad for the women as Lou grilled her so I finally stepped in,

"For Christ's sake Lou, give the poor women a break. We wouldn't want to fry any brain cells she has left now would we?" I was referring to the hair that frizzed about her head in an unnatural way, but they didn't seem to get it. I took to picking at my nails again.

"Amy, that was very rude!" Lou screeched in a very unbecoming way.

"Was it?" I asked, looking at her and then at Head Clancy who was touching her head in confusion, "Hmm, didn't notice." I took my left hands index fingers nail and scraped beneath my right hands thumb nail, prying a bit of dirt out from under it.

Lou sighed and continued to talk. Almost twenty minutes later they stood and, startled, so did I. We walked back down the long hall and stopped in the Grand Hall.

"Well I have to leave, please be good." she hugged me and whispered in my ear, "I love you, Amy."

Through all my smart alack remarks, through my new thick skin, I felt a twinge in my chest, "I know. I love you too." She left and I was alone with the Head, scuffling my feet in discomfort.

"Come Amy, your room is this way." As we passed doors she pointed out my classes on the first floor, "On the first floor is History, Global, and Current Event. Also any Science classes. That is all the academics down here. Also there is the dorm rooms, kitchens, and offices. On the second floor are mathematics, English, foreign language, music, and art classes. There are also several others that you are not in. The third floor is the teachers quarters and the fourth floor is storage, which are both off limits. The gym isn't attached to the school, it is out near the soccer field, there is a pathway from the courtyard down to it. And here," she turned into a long hall filled with doors, "are the girls dorms." She led me all the way down, around three other bends into a smaller hallway full of doors. The hallways were lit well, but not too brightly. Near the end though the light began to dim almost into blackness.

"This is the deserted east wing. All these dorms are in use but where the lights are low, that is also storage rooms, filled with the empty trunks of all the girls. There is one dorm room down there because...well about a decade ago a girl got pregnant and needed to have a larger room so her parents paid for the room to be furnished. It hasn't been in use since because it is back here. It is actually one of the nicest rooms we have, but no girl wants to be in the dark part of the hall. I hope this doesn't bother you, an electrician is coming next week to see what he can do. Your room isn't very far back anyways..."

"It's fine. I don't mind." Loneliness wasn't new.

"Well," she led me into the dimly lit part of the hall, about fifteen feet in and then stopped, pushing open a door, "I guess I will leave you to get unpacked. Would you like me to send someone in the morning to help you get to your classes?"

I shook my head, "No thank you, I think I remember how to get there."

"Are you sure?" I nodded, "Ok, well classes start at 8:00 and teachers like you to be prompt, but I will inform them that you are new and therefore may be late for one day." I thanked her and she walked away. I reached into the door and ran my hand along the inside of the wall, finding the light switch I flicked it up and light flooded the room. I stepped in and shut the door. It was a large room and I fell in love with it on the spot. Against the far right wall was a four poster full bed, swathed in golden blankets. Across from it was a matching dresser. A large window was across from the door and hanging were white drapes. The room was a beige color and the rug was maroon. A mini fridge was situated near the closer that adorned the wall near the dresser.

"Wow," I mouthed. I was surprised to find there was no bathroom, but knew that there was one right down the hall. For the rest of the night I hung pictures and posters, set up my stereo, put away all my clothes and shoes, went to the Main Office and found my uniform there, and then proceeded to try it on in front of my body length mirror I placed in a corner. It was a navy blue and gold plaid skirt that fell about three inches above my knees. Stockings weren't required but we were given skin colored ones just incase. There was a white button up shirt and a matching navy blue button up sweater with the schools initials, JA, embroidered in gold on the left side over my chest. The shoes were black dress up shoes, that looked kind of like penny loafers for women. All together the suit wasn't too bad, definitely bearable. As I twirled in front of my mirror I caught a glimpse of my clock, 10:45. Lights out had been 45 minutes ago but no one had come to tell me, the hall monitors must have forgotten I was down here. I quickly changed into a pair of short shorts and a tank top, comfy clothes for bed, and grabbed my toiletries bag. I opened my door, wincing as it creaked. I stuck my head out into the hall and looked down the now dimly lit hallway. No one. I shut my door quietly and tiptoed my way towards the brighter area of the hall when I heard a noise behind me, and I stopped.

"Hello?" I called softly into the dark void, my heart beating faster. I took a daring step forward and felt my way down the wall, "Is anyone there?" I was about to turn back when there was another noise, a creak of a door. I turned around, thoroughly scared, when a hand was placed over my mouth and an arm around my waist, pulling me into a dark room. I screamed against the hand, licking it and biting it as I tried to fight my way away from the person.

"Shhh, I'm a student here!" it was a male voice and I got calmer as the voice did sound young, around 16 or so, "I'll let you go if you promise not to scream." I nodded against his hand and he warily slid his hand away from my mouth.

"Who are you?" I squinted into the dark, and suddenly I noticed there were not one, but three bodily shapes in the dark room.

"My name is Mark Johnson," his voice was smooth and light.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered urgently, suddenly afraid we would be caught.

"Well," he seemed shy now, "My girlfriend and I got into a fight today and I wanted to come apologize..." he trailed off, embarrassed.

I tried to stifle it, I tried to tell him how absolutely sweet that was, I tried. Then I burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry," I gasped between laughs, "It's just that's so sweet, but I thought you were a kidnapper or rapist or something," I heard someone chuckle and I remembered he wasn't alone and stopped laughing, "Who else is with you?"

"Oh, my two friends," suddenly a light came on and I covered my eyes at the brightness. When my eyes adjusted I lifted them to find the source of light. Leaning against stacks and stacks of empty traveling trunks was a tall, muscular boy, string to the light dangling in front of him. He looked to be 17. He had dark brown hair that looked as though he hacked away at it himself, and looked unbrushed. On anyone else it would have looked dirty, wrong, ugly. But on him it somehow complimented his features and made him look better and one stray piece of hair fell over a startling emerald eye. He was leaning against the trunks, ankles and arms crossed, in a devil may care way, staring at his friend Mark.

I looked at Mark myself and studied him quickly. He had short, spiked, blonde hair and ice blue eyes. His features were full and kind, and his lean body towered over me at least seven inches. Next to him was a shorter, by a few inches, boy with brown hair and brown eyes. He was also thin, but more muscular than Mark. He smiled kindly at me and then looked me up and down appreciatively.

I admit I wasn't bad looking, but not enough for him to ogle me like that. I had long straight hair that fell half-way down my back. At the moment it was in a loose ponytail draped over my left shoulder. My eyes were a light gray and my skin was naturally tan. I was thin but had some muscle due to working the farm my whole life. And well, in the chest area, lets just say I was pretty decent. In that tank-top though, they were very noticeable. I glared at this forward boy until his eyes found mine and he realized I didn't want him studying me. Oh, I thought to myself, light bulb. He looked away. Good Boy.

"I'm Charlie Mathers," the forward boy held out his hand, I shook it warily and let go quickly.

"Amy Flemings," I glanced towards the other guy, waiting for a name but he didn't give one. After a second his eyes found mine and I sighed, frustrated that I had to ask, "And you are?"

"How do I know you won't go tell the Head all our names and that we were in the girls dorm," this boy was annoying me, and I was getting slightly angry after that accusation. So, in a slinky way, I walked right up to him until I was only a foot in front of him, staring him down.

"Do I look like a tattle-tale?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. I had resorted to the little kid phrase, hoping he knew I thought her was acting like a child.

He actually looked me up and down, studying my face for a few moments and then sighed, "I don't think so. But you can't be too careful,"

I shook my head and sighed also, walking back towards Mark and Charlie, "Well I'm not. But if you don't want me to know your name then suit yourself." I walked past the two waiting boys and picked up my bathroom necessities that I had dropped and opened the door, "You might want to hurry, it's getting late. I walked out of the room as the light was turned out and walked towards the bathroom, breathing a sigh of relief.

Monday, September 1st - Next Day

I walked into my first period class, Current Events, with a book bag full of new notebooks and pens weighing me down. I walked right up to the teacher and smiled tiredly,

"Hello, I'm Amy Flemings and I'm new. Can you tell me where I sit?" he nodded and pointed to a middle row, way back. I walked through the throng of students to my seat and sat down, rubbing my eyes with fatigue from the late night before. The bell rang and all the students fell into their seats, quieting down.

"Well, good morning class!" a few students cheerily called out a good morning, and then silence. "Welcome back. I recognize most of you," he smiled at a girl in the front row, "but there is one new face." he then waved and smiled at me, and I waved back, pencil in hand, as everyone turned to look at me. Wonderful.

"Well then, lets get right to it. Before we start on any specific subjects is there anything anyone has seen on the news or anywhere else that they are interested in?" a girl on the far left raised her hand, and the teacher nodded at her.

"Well lately the website MySpace has been on there a lot. The fact that it's very popular and people are making friends, but also offering sex, and adding people they don't know."

Mr. Harrison, as I learned the teachers name was, nodded. "Yes, MySpace. Many people think that it's just a place to make friends...is that correct?"

A guy in front of Mr. Harrison nodded, "I have one. It's just a place where you can talk to your friends and answer fun surveys and make a cool homepage. Nothing more. It's not a bad thing."

Then a familiar voice spoke up, "That's a bunch of bull s..." Mr. Harrison raised his eyebrows pointedly at the speaker. I turned to the right to find who spoke and did. In the last row, way back, only three seats away, was the guy from the night before. The one who wouldn't give his name. He was wearing the normal boy uniform, tan dress pants, brown belt, white button up shirt, and his navy blue crewneck sweater was laid across his lap. In the next second he corrected himself, "crap. MySpace isn't for friends. I mean it may have started out that way but people add people they don't even know. They post their picture on there, where they live, where they go to school. All of that stuff. Has anyone ever heard of pedophiles, rapists, kidnappers?" his voice was sharp and to the point.

The boy from before spoke up, "You can make it private there smarty," I sputtered a small laugh at his dumb comeback and I felt a pair of eyes on me. I turned and saw the boy from the night before looking at me. I was still laughing slightly but tried to stop by pursing my lips in a smile when I saw him looking. Suddenly he smiled too and shook his head, looking away.

"Yeah well, ever heard of hacking? People hack into the most protected data bases all the time, what's to keep them from getting into a measly MySpace. They can see your picture when it's private, so say they decide they like what they see, they hack in, get your school name, and come find you." he was sitting up in his seat now, leaning over the desk to look at the boy. His eyes daring.

"Ok, ok," Mr. Harrison smiled, stopping the debate, "Let's leave that for another time." He walked up to the chalk board and started to write something. I leaned down to pull out a notebook and pen from my book bag and when I went to sit up myeyes once again met the boys. He just gazed at me, not doing anything while I sat there pen and notebook in hand, staring back. Then he mouthed two words and smiled, turning away:

Ty Baldwin.

Author Note: So...? I plan on updating ASDSL tomorrow, and possibly this one too...since I'm still sick...So review:)