I don't like this chapter as much. There, I said it.

There will be a song for every chapter save for the prologue. Yay.

Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
And I feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me

-Mad World, Tears For Fears

If Coraline thought the town of Ashland was boring in general, she quickly changed her mind as soon as she saw the school, Ashland Academy. This place looked about as boring and dingy as it could be. The very small school had been separated into smaller buildings that probably held three or four classrooms each. Each of the buildings was marked with a letter, from A to J, save for a building at the front that was slightly larger than the rest. Coraline assumed this was the front office.

"Coraline," her mother's voice interrupted her thoughts, "you have to get out sometime."

"That remains to be seen," Coraline muttered, pulling up the hood of her raincoat and putting her gloves on as slowly as possible. She didn't want to leave the heated car when all the outside world had to offer was more rain.

"Coraline," Coraline winced as her mother used that "mom-tone" for: "if you don't get out of this car right now, I'll kick you out and change the locks before you get home".

Okay, maybe not quite that extreme, but Coraline didn't feel like taking the chance.

"Have a good day," Coraline's mother called before her daughter closed the door, "I'll see you at three-thirty!"

"If I survive," Coraline murmured to herself.

Trudging through the downpour that was not rare in Ashland, Coraline entered the front office and shook her blue hair, as it had somehow managed to get wet even with her hood on. Looking around, she discovered that on the inside, the office looked almost like a normal school office. But then again, most school offices were boring on their own, anyway.

Coraline glanced towards the only secretary there and walked over, waiting impatiently as the woman finished her phone call. Fidgeting quietly as she often did, Coraline rapped her fingers on the desk idly, a habit she had picked up from her mother. Her thoughts wandered slightly on that subject; she knew where she got her eyes from, and her odd habits, but sometimes wondered how she got stuck with blue hair.

Only when the secretary cleared her throat did Coraline realize that the lady had said something and was waiting for a reply.

"Uh…what?" She asked, inwardly slapping herself for sounding so dumb.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked.

"Uh…yeah," Coraline went over what she was supposed to say, "I'm a transfer student and I need to get my schedule."

"Name?"

"Coraline Jones," as an afterthought, she added, "that's Coraline, by the way."

"Right," the secretary sounded indifferent, "Jones…" She muttered as she flipped through a big wad of files, "right here."

"Thanks…" Coraline sounded indifferent too, if only to counter the secretary's apathy.

"Class starts at eight forty-five," the woman called after her as she left the office. Coraline didn't look back.

Glancing over her schedule, Coraline groaned. First was math, then science, then English and then…gym.

As if this day couldn't get any more depressing.

Glaring down at her dingy gray uniform, Coraline's eye twitched. There had to be a law against forcing girls to wear skirts against their will; she'd look it up in the constitution if the thing didn't bore her to tears.

A tap on the shoulder jolted Coraline out of her inner griping, and she turned around to see…nothing. She sighed and turned back around, only to come face to face with a grinning Wybie.

"Gotcha, didn't I? Admit it, Jonesy, you had no idea." He snickered. Before she replied, she got a good look at him. It was so weird to see Wybie without his mask or striped coat.

"Jerk!" Coraline tried to keep the laugh out of her voice as she punched him in the arm. "Don't do that!"

"But I'm so good at it," Wybie smirked, "like a ninja."

"A ninja? Come on." Coraline rolled her eyes, "I've seen elephants that can sneak up on people better than you."

"How could you have seen them if they're so sneaky?"

Coraline paused, "there are things I know that you will never comprehend," she told him smugly.

"Oh well gee," Wybie said, sarcasm dripping from his words, "forgive me for insulting your greatness, Caroline." That earned him another punch in the arm.

"Shut up, you know my name," She smirked, "do you want me to hit you again?"

"What does it matter?" Wybie asked, "you'll hit me whether or not I say it right."

Coraline put her hand to her chin in thought, "yeah. You're right."

"I often am."

Before the bell rang that morning, Wybie had been the recipient of three punches to his left arm. As he and Coraline headed to class, he rubbed his arm once more and muttered to her, "do you think you could use the other arm sometime? I'm getting a bruise."

"The day is still young," Coraline smirked, "we'll see."

"Sean Jacobs?"

"Here!"

"Nicole Jefferies?"

"Present."

"Caroline Jones?"

Coraline bit back an angry groan, "It's Coraline."

"My apologies, Ms. Jones," Mr. Hawthorne didn't sound all that sorry, but Coraline just sat back in her chair with a sigh, not paying attention to the rest of the names.

"Wybourne Lovat?"

"Here," Wybie said from next to her. He didn't sound too excited about math class, and Coraline wasn't surprised. Wybie was more interested in mechanics, and other sciencey stuff like that. She knew this because he took every opportunity he could to talk to her about it, whether she liked it or not.

Coraline zoned out as Hawthorne called the very last name on the list. Only when Wybie elbowed her did she realize that the man was actually starting to be a teacher and, you know, teaching.

"Well, as your first teacher of the day, it is my job to inform you new sixth graders of the rules and policies of our school. This will be nothing like your elementary school, children; this school is grades six through twelve, and you as, the bottom of the proverbial food chain, will need to, as you say, "get with the program" as soon as possible if you want to pass the sixth grade and up the school ladder."

Coraline and Wybie exchanged a dumbfounded glance before turning back to Mr. Hawthorne.

"Now, it is my happy duty to inform you that you will not get by in this class without doing the work, and doing it well. Mathematics is a skill you will use all your life. Far be it from me to deprive you of such a skill."

"Perish the thought," Coraline muttered quietly.

"But, as procedure dictates, I should do the usual exercise of letting you all get to know each other."

"Mr. Hawthorne, there's only one elementary school in town. Everyone already knows everybody." Said a boy from the back.

"Now, now, we mustn't make assumptions, Mr. Gordon. I know there are a couple of new students this year."

Coraline tried to slump as far down in her chair as she could without making it too obvious.

'Don't call on me don't call on me don't call on me.'

"Ms. Jones," Darn it darn it darn it, "I recall seeing your name on the transfer list."

"Really now?" Coraline said, slowly sliding herself back up into her chair, "what a coincidence."

"Would you like to tell us about yourself?"

"Not really," she answered cheekily.

Coraline could have sworn she saw the man roll his eyes before going back to the board to write down some fairly simple problems. As bad at math Coraline was, even she thought they were easy. Wybie wasn't done when she finished, but it was clear that he was purposely doing it slowly, for reasons she wasn't aware of.

Peering over his shoulder, she saw that he was about to write down a number and smirked.

"Wrong," she whispered.

Wybie shoved her playfully, "shut up."

"Telling me to shut up doesn't make it any less wrong," Coraline teased.

"Because it's already right," Wybie countered.

"What do you know about math, Wybourne?"

"More than you, Coraline."

"Wanna bet?"

"Jones, Lovat," Mr. Hawthorn called from his desk, "forgive me if I'm wrong but that doesn't seem like work."

"Sorry," both kids said in unison. Coraline turned back to her paper and decided to doodle a bit. Only moments later, Wybie looked over shoulder.

"You got number five wrong." he whispered.

Obliging to his previous request, Coraline punched his right arm this time.

After math, Coraline had science, the only class she did not share with Wybie, as he apparently got in to some advanced class. Science was basically the same boring stuff she had learned in fifth grade, so she once again zoned out. She wondered how many times she would have to correct people about her name until they finally got it right. She hoped it wouldn't be more than a week, unlike her last school. Because she was off in her own little world, Coraline did not notice the boy across from her staring at her intently, his unblinking not wavering once until the lunch bell rang.