Chapter 1

Sansa Stark POV

I was able to pass my driver's test, so I finally have my license now. This puts less burden on my parents because I can take Arya to school with me, and my parents only have to take Bran and Rickon to school. They go to the same school now, so it's only one trip.

Today is the first day of school, and Arya is waiting in the car for me to finish getting ready. I remember how long I took to get ready on my first day of high school, but she doesn't seem to care much about that. I'm not surprised honestly, it's admirable that she doesn't put that much stock into her appearance.

"Are you excited?" I ask, getting into the car and starting it.

"I guess," she says. "It just feels like another day to me."

"You're not nervous at all?" We start to drive off in the direction of school.

"I thought I would be," she says. "It just doesn't seem like high school is as big of a deal as you made it out to be."

"I hope that's true for you," I say. We pull up to school. "I'll see you at lunch?"

"Yeah," she says. "See you later."

"Good luck today," I say. "I love you."

"Love you too." We get out of the car and go our separate ways. I really hope Arya has a better experience in high school than I have.

…

It's lunchtime, and I'm going to find Myrcella. She and I texted earlier, so I know she's here. We also have cheer practice after school. I'm really glad she's here, it'll be nice to have a friend now that most of my other friends have graduated.

"Hey," she says when she sees me as she's walking down the hallway. "You ready to go eat lunch?"

"Yeah," I say. "Let's find my sister first, she's a freshman."

"I hope she's doing okay today," Myrcella says. "Starting high school can be really tough."

"She seems to be doing much better than I ever did," I say. "She's always been so much more chill. She's never worried about fitting in or molding herself to what people want her to be."

"I admire that," Myrcella says. "If only we could be more like that."

I pull out my phone after hearing it buzz. "Arya just told me she'll be here soon, so we should go sit down."

We go and sit down at a lunch table. "So how are you liking Winterfell so far?" I ask Myrcella.

"It's okay," she says. "I didn't think I'd miss my old school, but I do."

"At least you have family here," I say. "That's good, right?"

"It is," she says. "I love Gendry and Renly, so it's nice to get to see them more often."

"Do they know about your situation with treatment?"

"No," Myrcella says. "No one really does except you. I assume Arya knows, too?"

"Yeah," I say. "My whole family knows, but they know not to talk about it too much because it's a sensitive issue for me."

I look at Myrcella, and she looks nervous. I figured she's still nervous about starting a new school, but I see her looking in the direction of another boy.

"Are you okay?" I ask her. "What are you looking at?"

"That's my brother over there," she says. "It looks like he already found some friends."

"Should I go introduce myself since we'll be hanging out more now?" I ask.

"No," she says suddenly. "He's awful. You'll have to meet him eventually, and I want to spare you of that for as long as possible."

"What's so bad about him?" I ask. "You've told me some stuff, but it seems like even just seeing him makes you nervous."

"He'll find any excuse he can to torture me," she says. "It's beyond anything with normal siblings. I think he gets some sort of sadistic pleasure from hurting me and my other siblings."

"Now I'm scared to meet him if he's so bad."

"He might try to drive you away from me," she says. "He likes to keep me from having friends if he can."

"Well it won't work," I say. "I'll be your friend no matter what."

She smiles at me. I don't understand how anyone could be mean to Myrcella, even her brother. She's one of the sweetest people I've ever met.

Arya Stark POV

Today is my first day of high school. I thought I would be more excited, but I'm mostly just nervous. I don't think this will be a good experience for me, I've never fit in with people my age. I told Sansa I wasn't nervous, but I just didn't want her to get all big sister-y and try to give me more advice.

It's lunch time, and I told Sansa and Myrcella to grab a table in the cafeteria since I'm using this time to find all my classes. This is a longer lunch than I'm used to, so I figured this would be a good way to use my time.

I walk into my art classroom and see someone sitting in there, eating lunch. "Oh, sorry," I say. "Didn't mean to disturb you."

"You're fine," he says. "I'm HP. Well, everybody calls me Hot Pie, but I prefer HP."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Arya," I say. "I'm just trying to find all my classes since I'm a freshman. This is my class right after lunch."

"No way, me too," he says. "I love art."

"Why are you eating in here?" I ask him.

"People tend to make fun of me or laugh at me while I'm eating," he says. "I'm usually alone anyway, so this is a better option."

"Are you a freshman?" I ask him.

"No," he says. "I'm a sophomore."

There's a pause. "I was going to go eat lunch with my sister," I say. "But I feel bad leaving you here alone."

"You just met me."

"I know, but you seem nice," I say. There's another pause. "I guess I'll see you after lunch." I start to walk out of the classroom.

"Wait," he says. "You can eat here if you want since you have this class after."

"Really?" I ask. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," he says. "Getting to class after lunch is a nightmare anyway with how crowded the hallways get."

I smile and sit next to him with my lunch. "It's okay to eat in here?" I ask. In middle school you couldn't eat anywhere but the cafeteria.

"Yeah," he says. "You can eat pretty much anywhere as long as you're not blocking an exit or being disruptive."

I pull out my phone and text Sansa. *I found someone to eat lunch with, can we touch base later?*

Ding. *Sure. See you after school.*

I'm glad I met HP, it'll be nice to have a friend that isn't Sansa. I love Sansa, but I'll definitely need other friends since I'm not interested in the same stuff she is.

Gendry Baratheon POV

I'm meeting Margaery today after the first day of school. I'm nervous, because I'm not sure where our relationship is going. I've thought about breaking up with her for a while, but I also feel bad about that. There's nothing really wrong with her, besides her being a little bitchy. It's fun to go on double dates with Renly and Loras, but I feel like she and I don't really have much in common.

"How was your first day of senior year?" Margaery asks me as we're sitting at a table at our favorite place to eat.

"It was okay," I say. "I did some tech stuff over the summer, but the rest of it doesn't start up again until next week."

"Oh," she says, her face falling. "You didn't tell me when you were doing summer tech stuff."

"I thought I did," I say. "I told you I had to do some stuff in the weeks before school started. I always do, and I'm going to have more responsibilities now that I'm a senior."

"Yeah, I bet that's why," she says under her breath.

"What's wrong, Marg? Is something up?"

"I'm just, still uncomfortable with you doing tech," she says. "I'm trying not to be, but I feel weirder about it now that I'm not in high school anymore."

"Why?" I ask her.

"You know why," she says. "How do I know you and Lady Mel aren't going to do something again?"

"Do you not trust me?"

"I do trust you, she's the one I don't trust."

"You knew I was going to keep doing tech," I say. "I really don't know where this is coming from."

"I've just been thinking more about it," she says. "I worry I can't measure up to an older woman with that much more experience."

"I've been with you for over a year," I say. "If you weren't enough, why would I still be here?"

"You still spend so much time with her," she says. "It makes me uncomfortable, I worry she'll try something again."

"You know what?" I say. "She has, and I always turn her down because I'm with you."

There's a pause. "Now you really need to stop doing tech," she says. "You didn't tell me any of that."

"Because I knew you would react like this, and I didn't want you to freak out," I say. "I'm not going to stop doing it, you don't have to worry about me and her."

"I don't know how I can put it more clearly," Margaery says. "I really need you to stop doing tech."

"Or what?" I don't want to sound rude, but I don't like that she suddenly is all over me about what I'm doing. I've always done tech, and it was never like this before.

"Or maybe we can't be together," she says after a pause. "I don't know if this is something I can deal with, especially now after I've graduated."

I pause. I didn't see this coming, but maybe she's right. I was already reconsidering our relationship, maybe this is what I needed to make the final decision.

"Maybe you're right," I say. "Maybe we should break up."

"What?" She asks me. "I didn't expect you to actually say yes."

"I've actually been reconsidering things," I say. "We don't have a lot in common, and you've already graduated. I don't want to hold you back."

"You're not," she says. "Gendry, be reasonable. I don't think this is the answer."

"I think it is," I say. "This relationship isn't productive for either of us, and I think it's best if we end it."

She pauses, just staring at me. She looks really angry. I don't blame her, but I do think this is for the best. It's not a real relationship if we just go through the motions and have sex when we're in the mood.

"Fuck you," she says, getting up. "I'd love to see you try and do better than me."

That's a better reaction than I was expecting. She drove me here, so I'll have to call Renly and ask him to pick me up. I actually feel better. This hurts, but I do think it's for the best.

A/N: And Part 3 is on the way, there is so much more to come! Thanks so much for reading, let me know what you think!