Susan sprang awake, nearly falling off the couch in the process. Her mother flinched at the sudden movement, stirring from her slumber. Ger eyes squinted from the bright sunlight streaming through the window but flew open in a panic as she checked the time,

"7:45." Maria said in a hurry. "You have to be at school in 20 minutes."

Kicking away the blanket, Susan stood up and proceeded to trip over the empty tub of ice cream that was left over from last night. Biting back a string of curses, she moved the tub out of her way with her foot and ran off to her room, a hundred times grateful that she changed into her pajamas last night.

She couldn't be late on her second day. That practically equals to being labeled as 'the late girl' for the rest of her high school life. As if her reputation wasn't bad enough already.

"What do you want for breakfast, sweetie?" Her mother's voice came from somewhere else in the house.

Susan buttoned the rest of her white shirt and tied a dark pink sweater around her waist. "Do we still have that yogurt you got last week?"

"Banana or strawberry?"

"Strawberry!" She threw on a pair of shoes, stopping in front of her mirror to look herself over. and raced to the kitchen. After a quick debate over what to do with her hair she decided to leave it loose, dark brown curls cascading down her back. Satisfied, she raced to the kitchen.

Her mother was fully dressed, a fresh coat of light makeup on her face. Susan always wondered how her mother managed to look so perfect in the mornings, though she guessed it was due to years of practice.

"Please tell me you did all of your homework." Maria said, placing a yogurt carton in front of Susan, who eagerly opened it.

"Of course I did." The girl nodded, barely having time to speak between spoonfuls of yogurt. The carton was emptied in a matter of minutes and Maria was already waiting by the door, nervously wringing her hands.

In her haste, Susan threw the empty carton in the sink and the spoon in the trash can, not noticing her mistake until the two Reynolds women were in the car on the way to school. Well, too late to go back and fix it now.

As Maria pulled up to the school, the time read 8:00. There were five minutes left until the register bell. Susan silently cursed the size of the school, knowing she would have to run in order to make it to her form class in time for the register.

The car stopped only long enough for Susan to jump out and, slinging her bag over her shoulder and running off towards the building.

The hallways were empty, which felt odd for a public school. Though Susan guessed it made sense considering that the other students were already in their form classes. She flew into her form class mere seconds before the register bell rang. Breathing heavily, she gave an apologetic smile to her form tutor.

"Right on time." Miss Peggy said, raising her eyebrow in question.

"I'm sorry, Miss." Susan mumbled. "I overslept."

Miss Peggy marked her name down on the register. "Try not to come so close to the tardy mark next time. Take a seat."

Susan plopped down next to Fanny, ducking her head to avoid the stare of Alexander Hamilton Junior. The blonde girl tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention.

"I texted you last night."

The brunette checked her phone. Sure enough, there were a few unread messages from Fanny from last night. Her eyes widened slightly.

"I'm sorry."

Fanny tilted her head in confusion. "For what?"

"I'm sorry that I didn't text you back." Susan explained slowly, the statement sounding more like a question.

"Susan, it's fine. It's an unread message, not the end of the world." Fanny chuckled nervously, concern evident in her voice.

The Reynolds girl felt the need to explain herself. "My dad used to get really mad if I din't text him back immediately. He was very...overprotective."

Fanny looked a little skeptic, but shrugged and gave Susan a small smile. "Fair enough."

Pulling out and checking her schedule, Susan groaned and fought the urge to drop her head back onto the desk. "Science, first thing in the morning!"

"This is gonna be a loooong day." Fanny sighed.

Four periods of Maths and Science later, Susan and Fanny sat down in the cafeteria opposite Frances, Philip and Theodosia. After a few minutes of small talk, a girl with brown hair that Susan didn't know bounded over and rested her chin in Philip's head, smiling brightly.

"Hey, Pip, you won't believe what happened in French today! Marie's dad pulled out a giant baguette and gave everyone a piece. He tried to convince us that it was 'natural French bread' but we all know it came from the bakery across the road." The girl rattled off before noticing Susan's presence. "Who are you?"

Philip tugged at one of the girl's brown strands that fell across his face. "Don't be rude!"

"You're one to talk." Theodosia mumbled, elbowing her boyfriend in the side.

The Hamilton boy rolled his eyes. "This is Susan, Theo's friend. Susan, this is my sister, Angelica."

The now-named girl made a face at her brother's words. "Call me Angie. Angelica is our aunt."

"Nice to meet you." Susan nodded.

"Heeeeyyyy." No one at the table even noticed the arrival of Marie de Lafayette. The French girl slid into the chair next to Frances and dropped her head on the taller girl's shoulder.

"I'm still mad you got detention yesterday." Frances reached over and twirled one of Marie's curly black strands.

Marie laughed. "I missed you too, ma chérie."

"Oh, um, can I ask something?" Susan interjected. "Are you two…"

"Dating? Yep!" Marie smiled. "Seven months next week."

Frances raised an eyebrow. "That's not a problem, is it?"

"No, of course not." Susan assured them. "You make a cute couple."

"Hey, Susan," Fanny poked her shoulder. "How come you're not eating?"

Susan shrugged. "My mum and I overslept this morning. She didn't have time to make anything."

"You can have some of mine if you want." The blonde girl offered.

"It's fine, it's fine. I'll get something once I'm back home."

"Your mum works in the school." Philip started slowly. "You won't get home until five. That's six hours."

"Everything's fine, really. I'm used to it." Susan snapped her mouth shut the second the words came out."

"Used to it…?" Marie's eyebrows creased in questions.

"THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!" The conversation got interrupted by a screech from the lunch line. The group looked over, startled, to see what the commotion was all about.

"Jefferson, you were the one who decided to make the lunch menu healthier." The lunch lady spoke calmly, rolling her eyes.

"I DIDN'T KNOW THAT GOING HEALTHER MEANT GETTING RID OF THE ONLY GOOD THING ON THE DARN MENU."

"Oh lord." Theo dropped her head into her hands. "Not him again."

"Who is that?" Susan asked, happy that the attention was taken off of her.

"Vice principal Thomas Jefferson. He always starts one drama or another every single week." Angie explained. "The lunch lady is Martha Washington, the principal's wife. She's also the school nurse."

"For the last time, Jefferson, we are not putting Mac n' Cheese back onto the menu!"

"BUT IT HAS PLENTY OF NUTRIENTS! IT HAS CARBS AND PROTEIN!"

"We're trying to cut down on carbs. Go back to your office, Jefferson, don't make me call my husband."

The vice principal groaned and pouted, speed walking away. His purple coat flared behind him dramatically, making most students in the cafeteria laugh.

Susan shook her head with laughter. Public school was even more ridiculous that she imagined. And, with all the people she met these past two days, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

A/N: To clear up any confusion, Fanny is Frances Antill and Frances is Frances Laurens. I know it's confusing because they have the same name but I haven't found a better way to differentiate them.

Oh, by the way: Susan, Fanny and Alex Jr are freshmen; Marie, Angie and Theo are sophomores; Philip, Frances and Georges are juniors and Anastasie de Lafayette is a senior.