Disclaimer: I do not own The Simpsons characters; only the original characters listed in this fic.

I accept constructive criticism. c:

~•~•~•~

After an eleven-minute drive, interspersed with a few more pick ups, the bus reached the front of Springfield High School. Otto opened the door to let the kids off and promptly shut the doors after the last one, cranking up the volume on the radio and bobbing his head before peeling off, nearly hitting a couple of cars on the road.

"Guess some things never change, eh Lise?"

Lisa tore her gaze away from the bus to look up at her brother, shaking her head. "They really don't."

Readjusting the straps of her backpack, she looked up at the brown-bricked building. Taking in the familiar building, she noted how the sign housing 'Springfield High School' had been replaced for a less tarnished one, now saying 'New Springfield High School'.

"Now why the hell did they put 'new' in front of the name? It's the same damn building!"

Lisa rolled her eyes in response to her brother's question. "You really think the Springfield School District is synonymous with smart choices, Bart? These are the same people who tried to reuse textbooks that said Jebediah Springfield was the one who wanted to marry his cousins. For people with such town pride, you'd think they would remedy such a gaffe."

Bart sighed and shook his head. "Might as well just spit on the man's grave, huh?"

The siblings' conversation was interrupted as more buses began to pull up behind them, unloading a plethora of students with familiar and unfamiliar faces. Bart whistled lowly. "Looks like we've got more fresh meat this year than the last."

"Wow…I guess that documentary last year really helped our image a bit."

Students of all shapes, sizes and color passed the Simpson kids, a majority of them waving or greeting Bart while a handful gave smiles and hellos to Lisa. Usually this would bug the Simpson girl but she had a solid group who she planned to reunite with today. Speaking of which…

She tugged on her brother's sleeve. "Come on Bart, you can say hi to everyone later, we have to go find our homerooms before it's too late." Giving a couple more waves, the Simpson boy motioned his sister to lead the way, following behind her as they walked up the steps and entered into the high school. Immediately, the duo inhaled the pine-scented air and took in their old stomping grounds. SHS had the same light blue walls as the elementary school, minus the holes and peeling paint; the linoleum tiles were a light green and were a bit worse for wear from being trampled on over the years. The lockers were gray and lined up along both walls, spacious and only sporting a few dents from hallway fights and mischievous teens. The hallways themselves were also more open, accommodating the larger bodies and period switches; further down, a group of students could be seen crowding in front of some signs hanging on the wall.

Walking over to the group, Lisa was about to wait her turn until Bart grabbed her wrist and gently shoved some students aside to reach the front; the blonde gave sheepish smiles and apologies to those who gave them dirty looks. Once they were close up, the duo saw the signs were lists of every student's homeroom, organized by grades and alphabetical order. Lisa looked for the tenth grade section and found the list labeled 'P-S'; she then found her homeroom, numbered 213.

Bart did the same with the twelfth grade section and found his name under the same letter spots, groaning out loud at his number. "407? Of course they'd put us on the highest floor!"

"Bart, they put each grade on their own floor, you should know this."

He scowled at his sister. "Alright, but it's garbage. 'Let's baby the freshmans and torture the seniors, maybe it'll get them out of our school faster!'" The younger teen just shook her head and sighed. Typical Bart Simpson. The act was cleaned up but the views were still there.

Ready to give a rebuttal, Lisa's paused as she felt her MyPhone vibrate in her back pocket. Pulling it out, she saw two new text messages on her screen; the senders and the content of them put a grin on her face.

Alex: Hey girl, first day of school today, totes excited to see you and the girls again! My homeroom is 213, what's yours? :*

Allison: Morning Lisa! Our new lives as tenth graders begins ^_^ I'm going to be in 213 for homeroom, what's your number?

Pocketing her phone, she looked up at the other. "Look Bart, you can complain to Milhouse and the others, I have to go catch up with Allison and Alex before classes start."

"Ugh, you girls and your 'catching up'. You were on the phone with them for hours yesterday!" Not wanting to hear more of her brother's nonsense, Lisa had already turned and started making her way to the nearest staircase. Bart groaned in annoyance when he realized he had been ignored. 'Welp, guess it's time for me to head on up.'

~•~•~•~

After one flight of stairs and a couple of corner turns, Lisa ended up in front of room 213. Peeking through the window inlaid in the wooden door, she scanned the room to look for her friends. Her eyes lightened up as she saw the two sitting against the middle window, Allison sitting in the chair of one desk while Alex sat in the one in front of it, her chair turned so she could converse with the other.

Grabbing the knob and turning it, Lisa pushed the door open and froze as nearly everyone paused in their conversations to see who had entered the room. Once they saw that it wasn't the teacher, they quickly resumed. The pause in noise attracted the attention of the two girls she was eager to see as both waved to her with wide smiles; Alex was more frantic with hers. The teen quickly crossed over to them and was immediately bombarded with squeals of joy. "Hey guys!"

"Hey Lisa! You didn't tell us you were in the same homeroom!"

"Yeah, you never answered my text!"

Lisa smirked as she pulled away from the hug. "Well, I wanted to surprise you two." Alex scoffed at her answer, rolling her hazel eyes. "More like keep us in suspense! If I ended up in a homeroom away from you guys again this year, I was going to die!"

Allison gave her a deadpan look. "You say this like you didn't text us in class all of ninth grade."

"Well, I had to vent somehow, especially since that bitch Janey was getting on my last nerve!" At the mention of the girl, Lisa pressed her lips and nervously looked around the room. "Is she, uh…"

Alex placed a manicured hand on her shoulder. "DMY Lise, she's not here, thank God."

The Simpson girl let out the breath she had been holding. Her former best friend turned mean girl was deadset on taunting her and her friends every chance she got; Alex especially hated her as she was always making rude comments on her fashion. At least her lackeys Sherri and Terri were in a higher grade; the only time they had to deal with the three together was in the hallways or lunchtime. Lisa could never fathom what had made Janey so vicious over the past few years; it was like she flipped a switch one day and decided the blonde wasn't worth her time anymore.

"Okay, but enough about irrelevant people, it's outfit check time!" Both Lisa and Allison groaned before looking at each other with weariness; Alex had a tradition of examining everyone's outfits the first day of school and pointing out whether they've improved or made a fashion faux pas. It worked their nerves back in the third grade but come fifth grade, they accepted their friend's unusual custom. "Lisa, the honor is yours."

Lisa's eyes narrowed as she put her hands on her hips. "Allison, why me first?"

The redhead played coy and tapped her finger on her chin as she looked to the ceiling. "Um, let's see…because you're already standing? And you're the oldest? And-"

"Alright, alright, yeesh!"

Shaking her head as the younger teen gave her an innocent smile, Lisa put her backpack down and held her arms out to her sides in a T-pose. Alex stood up from her seat and walked around the girl in a full circle, making a few sounds of approval before stopping and clapping her hands. "Well done, Ms. Simpson! The sweater and pearls say 'I'm a straight-A student and care about higher education' but the fringe boots say 'I'm not a stuck-up girl and care about the environment'!" Lisa giggled at the fashionista's comment and bowed dramatically, shooting a grin at Allison.

"Your turn, Ms. Taylor." Sticking her tongue out, Allison stood up and swapped spots with the blonde, keeping her arms lower than the other. Alex performed the same examination while Lisa took in her outfit. The redhead's long hair was the same length and style as always and still held back with her classic black headband. Aside from some tinted lip gloss, her face was free of makeup as usual. Her outfit consisted of a light blue button down dress reaching to above her knees; the sleeves were rolled up neatly. A cranberry colored sweater vest laid over the dress, the V-neck was low enough to show her gold shell necklace from childhood. On her legs, she wore black knee-high socks, leaving her knees exposed. What surprised Lisa were the black T-strap heels on her feet; she only saw the redhead in heels on special occasions due to her parents' strict dress code.

"Alli, you've improved too! But I could've sworn the heels I showed you were higher than two inches…"

Allison sighed and rolled her green eyes at the quip. "Alex, you're lucky that you're getting these, okay? Mom nearly had a conniption when I showed her the first ones, especially with that dress you suggested. She said it made me look like a nightwalker!"

Alex's hand waved as she rolled her eyes just as hard. "Oh please, anything higher than two inches are not hooker shoes, how many times do I have to tell her that?! And excuse me, but that dress would've showed off those beautiful legs of yours and made your boyfriend salivate."

The youngest girl's cheeks flushed at the mention of her boyfriend while her eyes looked off to the side. "Ugh, thanks but no thanks. Hey, you didn't give me an overall compliment though!"

The platinum blonde pressed her tongue against her teeth for a few seconds before speaking. "While there's still room for improvement-" Allison groaned. "You look cute and modest as always; spitting image of the girl-next-door!" Satisfied with the critique, the redhead curtsied before raising her brow. "Now, I think it's time we give you your just desserts, Alex Whitney."

The smile on her face curled into a confident smirk as she channeled her inner Vogue model and struck a pose, allowing the other two to examine her outfit. "Look and be amazed, ladies."

Lisa and Allison pretended to study their best friend with scrutiny but both knew there was no need; Alex was as fashionable as ever. Her platinum blonde hair, falling to her shoulder blades, was teased and curled to perfection, only allowing one lock to fall over her left ear. As usual, her makeup was just enough to accentuate her features; cat-eye liner sharpened her hazel eyes, a light dusting of champagne-colored eyeshadow sat on her lids and black mascara coated her long lashes. She kept her lips simple with a shade of pink lipstick that was slightly darker than her natural color. Gold earrings with a pearl drop was hanging from both of her ears to match with the button on her green chiffon blouse; they recognized it as the Zendi one she had been obsessing over during the summer break. A ruby-colored miniskirt hugged her hips and ended an inch or two above the appropriate 'fingertip level'; to balance it out, black sheer tights adorned her long legs and hid underneath over the knee black leather boots, accented with a gold zipper on the sides. "Well?"

The Simpson girl crossed her arms and held her chin with her thumb and forefinger. "Hmm…colors complement each other…fit is exemplary, but…"

The redhead decided to join in, hands on her hips as her head tilted in confusion. "It just screams 'I'm a trust fund brat who doesn't know the difference between emphysema and a Zima but I can pick out a counterfeit Mucci bag in a heartbeat'."

Alex's jaw dropped open at their critique before it turned into a scowl as she saw smiles starting to creep onto the girls' faces that turned into full-blown laughter. "Ugh, screw the both of you. I was actually being serious, you know!"

"So were we!" It was hard for the fashionista to believe Lisa as her shoulders were shaking with laughs. Before she could chew them out, the door slammed open and a grumpy voice bellowed out.

"Alright, everyone get your butts into a chair, it's roll call time!"

Jumping at the sudden intrusion, along with many other students, the trio quickly sat down into their chairs, Lisa deciding to take the open one next to Allison. While she waited for the teacher to reach her name, she smiled to herself.

'Looks like tenth grade might not be so bad.'

~•~•~•~

Bart was happy that he decided to loiter around a bit before heading up the stairs; it turned out that there was a mishap with homeroom scheduling and many rooms were overfilled which led to some of the seniors having to sit in the cafeteria until the situation could be fixed. The PA system had listed 407 as one of the problem rooms and so Bart was walking through the open cafeteria doors, looking around for his own group of friends. Spotting a couple of them, specifically Richard and Lewis, he made a mental note to look for them later as they were occupied with other people. He continued to look until he saw a seated blue-haired figure, hunched over one of the tables, fiddling with something in his hands.

Smirking to himself, he started whistling casually and strolled over to the figure before lightly smacking him on the back, causing him to gasp and drop the object he was holding; an inhaler. "Hey Milhouse, air bags still struggling?"

Milhouse turned to face his best friend and glared at him. "Bart, quit doing that! You know my lungs are weak!"

Chuckling at how irritated the teen was, Bart held out a fist in front of him, tilting his head with an innocent smile. After staring at it for a few seconds, the blue-haired boy sighed and raised his own to bump against it. "Still a jackass, as always."

"Still a wimp, as always."

Sitting down next to his best friend, the blonde shrugged off his backpack onto the floor. "Guess they really screwed up with scheduling, huh?"

"Tell me about it. It looks like a lot of the new students are seniors too so they never accounted for them."

Bart whistled lowly. "Well damn, I guess that documentary really did work."

A shadow came up and loomed over the two teens, causing them to look up. "Hey dorks."

"Nelson, my man, what's shaking?" Holding his fist out once more, Bart received a hard bump from the brunet before he sat down across from them. "Not much, usual shit. Looks like I'm a lone ranger this year so I'll have to hang with you dweebs."

Milhouse rolled his eyes at the half-hearted insult. "No one's forcing you to, you know."

"I'm guessing Dolph is gone for good this time?"

Nelson nodded. "Yeah, guess Melbaum couldn't handle another of his 'quarterly graffitings', dude told me that he got the expulsion letter only last week." Bart shrugged, not too torn up over the bully's absence. Nelson was the remaining member of the quartet now; Jimbo had gotten sent to juvie for nearly drowning a student with a swirlie and Kearney had dropped out and worked at the Gulp N' Blow to provide for his kids. In a way, their absence had improved his relationship with the older boy, lessening the constant beatings to casual insults that Bart happily fired back. Milhouse was still a bit uneasy around him but that was to be expected.

"Eh, what are you gonna do? Hey van Houten, what's with the knockoff letterman jacket? Tryin' to become a temporary jock?"

The teen bristled at the unsolicited comment and scowled. "No! My aunt got me this jacket for my birthday from Abercrombie & Rich and I thought it'd be nice to wear today."

"Uh huh…you're sure you're not wearin' it to bag some chicks?"

"Wh- no! I-I only have eyes for one chick, thank you!" At this, Bart laughed and turned to look at the flustered boy. "Is that so? What makes you think that this is the outfit that's gonna make Lisa fall deep in love with you?"

"Oh come on, you can't tell me I don't look better than I did last year. Just look at me!"

Reluctantly complying with his plea, the Simpson boy scooted back to give him a once-over. His nerdy friend had taken to weightlifting last summer and had padded his once scrawny body with muscle; in Bart's personal opinion, he thought he should stop where he was lest he look like a roid monkey. His hair was combed in its usual style with gel but was now a bit longer on the back, clinging onto the back of his neck. Despite many attempts to get them changed, he was stuck with the same red bifocals as always; the blond comforted him by telling him that they were a trademark. Under the red and white letterman jacket was a pink t-shirt, similar to the one he always used to wear when they were younger. Simple dark jeans were on his legs and a rather clean- looking pair of red and white Adidas sneakers sat on his feet.

"Well, well, looks like our little Milhouse is growing up right before our very eyes. Good show, my man!" Bart topped off his compliment with dramatic applause, causing his best friend's cheeks to redden while he twiddled his thumbs. "H-Heh, thanks Bart…at least someone who knows how to dress themselves can appreciate my efforts."

Nelson scowled as the blue-haired boy looked directly at him while he emphasized that word. "Kiss my ass, I can dress myself just fine." Bart decided to humor the brunet by examining his attire. The mullet was as wild and shaggy as ever; he wouldn't be surprised if Nelson hadn't gotten a haircut since school let out. As he began growing, the former bully had to hang up his tattered vest in exchange for one in a bigger size; it had taken him only a few days of wear to get its condition to look similar to its predecessor. Layered underneath it was a green flannel shirt, left open to show the faded orange t-shirt sitting under. The jeans he was wearing were full of rips and holes, Bart wondered if they came like that or if the teen had taken to creating them himself. On his feet were his favorite pair of scuffed black Doc Martens; his mother had saved up a few paychecks back in tenth grade and gave them to him as a birthday present.

"Look, you both look dapper as hell, let's just leave it at that, yeah?" The two boys grumbled before nodding, not wanting to get into it this early in the morning. Shortly after the truce, the three began catching up with each other on what they were up to during the summer and what they were looking forward to and dreading in their final year. Their conversation was cut off a few minutes later when the PA system cut on.

'Attention seniors, thank you for your patience as we try to fix the homeroom scheduling issue. At this time, we would like the students in homerooms 401, 405 and 407 to begin making their way up to their classrooms. The remainder must stay in the cafeteria until further notice.'

Ears perking up as his room number was called, Bart grabbed his backpack and slung it over his right shoulder before standing up with his friends. "Oh yeah, what room are you guys in? I'm 407."

"Oh, me too!"

"Aw damn, I'm in 401. Looks like you guys will be keepin' each other company."

Bart's brow furrowed. "Damn…what about Richard and Lewis?"

Looking over to where the duo sat a few tables away, Nelson shook his head. "They're still sittin', guess they're in different ones than us."

"Well that sucks. Meh, at least I've got Milhouse with me." The trio began following the herd of students out of the cafeteria and into the hallway, heading to the nearest staircase before starting to climb up. As they began ascending, Bart's lips quirked a bit.

'Here we go. Time to take senior year by the balls!'

~•~•~•~

I plan to add a link in my bio on how everyone's outfits look (decided to use my Photoshop skills a bit, hehe) and I'm planning to draw everyone out as well!

As always, reviews, reviews, reviews!