"Acquaintance Ball"

(April 7, 2010)

12th of September 2005: First day of school in Hamburg, Germany…

A young girl framed with long black hair and accented her dazzling brown eyes sat in a grey sports car. Her mood was far from being ecstatic and truth be told, she didn't think about leaving the car even for a minute.

"Lizzie!" her dad exclaimed then calmly asked, "Aren't you going, yet?"

"You promised me that I'm going to stay in England and pursue my singing talent!" Lizzie angrily said in her well-defined British accent. "You told me I might get famous if I record my songs… I want to stay in England, Dad!"

"Well, you had to move here in Germany. No one's going to look after you if you stayed in England." He explained as a matter-of-factly.

"No one's going to look after me here, too! You'll be leaving me at your son's house!" she retorted.

"Lizzie…" he paused. "Please."

"Fine!" she went out of the car in a hurry and slammed the door behind her not caring at the noise she made and how shocked her father was at her behavior.

He opened the window and sighed, "Oh, Liz…"

"Save it, dad!" she interjected and walked towards the door of the campus in a much grumpier mood.

The moment she entered, she saw four young lads running─ they were pretty much in a hurry. This made her wonder.

"Excuse me!" she said.

"Yes?" a guy in baggy clothes stopped and asked.

"Tom!" a guy with a gothic look gestured his hand to come towards the stairs.

"Just a minute!" He exclaimed; facing the gothic guy.

"Why are you in a hurry?"

"We have this general assembly and no one…"

"Yup! No one!" the guy with long brownish hair emphasized.

"…is allowed to be late." The hip-hop guy continued and smiled.

"Tom!" the gothic guy went close to him and pulled his loose shirt.

"Take it easy! My hotness fades when you're being too bossy!" he complained.

"You should come with us." A guy with glasses said to Lizzie. "Hurry!"

The five of them ran up the stairs to get to the conference room. They were all exhausted and breathless as they opened the door.

"Water?" Tom handed Lizzie a bottle of mineral water.

"No, thanks I have my own." She answered.

"Your accent…" the gothic guy noticed. "Is it British?"

"Yes." She answered. "I think I'd rather stay there." She pointed at a darker part of the conference room.

"Are you sure?" Tom reached for her wrist when she stood up."

"Yes, I am!" She answered as she pulled her hand away. "Don't ever do that again." She raised an eyebrow and left the row.

The principal of the school stood at the podium before his students. He spoke; welcoming Hamburg High's pupils. He kept his speech long enough to make each one fall asleep unintentionally.

"Man! That guy has always been boring!" The guy with the long brownish hair yawned.

Tom laughed and said, "Nice one, Georg! I would agree on that!"

"He is the most boring principal ever!" the gothic guy exclaimed.

"Oh, Bill…" the guy with glasses chuckled.

"Hey, Gusti!" Bill said. "Did you bring your sticks?'

"Nope." He shook his head.

"Dude!" Bill slapped his forehead. "We're going to perform on stage after his speech."

"I was kidding." Gustav sounded so serious as he fixed his glasses.

"Oh…"

Tom and Georg laughed at Bill.

"You should keep it down. Our principal might hear us." Gustav said as he opened his backpack. This made the two cover their mouths.

"Let's call on our school's own band from the senior year, Tokio Hotel!" The principal had finally finished his speech and the students clapped their hands during the introduction of the four.

Tom looked over to the corner of the room to get a glimpse of Lizzie but she wasn't there anymore. He was shocked and felt a little sad knowing she wasn't around to watch them.

"She's gone." He murmured. "I haven't even asked her name."

Tokio Hotel went on stage, and started checking and fixing their set.

"Our first song is Durch den Monsun." Bill uttered on the microphone and they began performing.

After the general assembly, all students, except Tom went to their classrooms. He wondered where she could find this amazing British girl. He peeked into the first four classrooms on the ground floor.

"Mr. Kaulitz!" Mr. Luxe (the principal) caught him.

"Oh, sheiβe!" he murmured as he closed his eyes.

"Wandering around the school grounds while classes are ongoing… Tsk, tsk, tsk." He scolded as he fixed his tie. "To my office… now!"

"Yes, Mr. Luxe." He said.

They silently walked the hall way, went up to second floor and entered the realms of the dark court.

Tom sat before the principal's table and said, "I really, really have a good explanation, Mr. Luxe."

"Mr. Kaulitz… when it comes to you, I don't need an explanation."

"But…Mr. Luxe…. I was just looking for this British girl and…"

"Detention on the first day of school." He interrupted and signed this green piece of paper. He handed it to Tom and said, "Go!"

Tom sadly grabbed the detention slip and walked his way to the detention room. "Darn!" he exclaimed as he threw his cap towards the floor.

In English class: Bill, Georg, and Gustav started to worry because Tom wasn't with them.

"Don't tell me he got detention today." Bill whispered to Gustav.

"Maybe…"

"For what offense?" Bill was really worried.

"I don't know." Gustav shrugged.

"This is the fifth time he got detention in his entire life." Georg counted. "But his first time on the opening of classes."

"First time for this school year." Bill shook his head.

Bill pouted his lips as his brown met and he supported his chin with his knuckles. He thought of possible reasons why his brother would get detention.

At the middle of the class discussion, a guy from the back row threw a crumpled paper at Bill.

"HEY!" he shouted.

"Yes, Mr. Kaulitz? Anything wrong?" Their English teacher asked.

"Sorry to interrupt the discussion. It is just that someone threw a crumpled paper at me." He apologized.

"Hmm…" she scanned the room with her eyes. "Whoever that person may be…" she paused and looked at Bill. "He probably hates you."

"Ouch!" Gustav bit his lower lip upon hearing so.

"Oh…" Bill felt humiliated while most students laughed at him.

"Not again!" Georg looked at his friend with pity.

"Don't you think it's because of your make-up, MR. Kaulitz?" she asked and the students started teasing him: 'gay'. "Real men don't wear make up, my dear."

"I've been told…" Bill said. "But this is who I am."

"I don't care!" she exclaimed. "Your hairstyle, your make-up… you are just too loud for these students. They don't want that."

Bill started to pack his books back into his bag.

"I think it's better for you to stay in detention." She said as she opened the table drawer.

"Now, that's his first time ever." Georg murmured.

"Ma'am!" Gustav raised his hand. "Our past professors never gave him detention for looking… like… what he is right now."

"Well, let's change things for the better." She signed the slip and handed it to Bill.

"She can't just do this to him… She's weird." Georg whispered to Gustav.

"She just did."

Bill went to detention and found Tom playing with his cap.

"Tommi!" he felt enlightened to see his brother.

Tom was surprised. "What made you enter the realms of the unwanted?"

"Our English teacher hated me…" Bill sat beside him. He was sad.

"It's the make-up, huh?" Tom guessed and Bill nodded. "I told you not to wear 'em!" he shook his head and pulled out his handkerchief from his pocket. "Clean your face."

"Nein!" he blurted. "I don't want to do that."

Then, their gym teacher went inside to watch them.

"Would you look at that!" he was surprised, too. "The gay and the flirty one are in." He tittered. "Detention slips." He opened his hand.

Tom and Bill approached him and handed him their slips. He read Bill's slip first.

"Finally, someone gave you detention for wearing make-up! I've been waiting for this since four years ago." He had a heart-felt laughter.

"Could you stop insulting my twin?" Tom clenched his fist.

"Calm down, Tom. It's okay." He tapped his shoulder.

"Take your sits, twins." He kept the papers in a clear book.

Tom looked out the window. His eyes were glaring with anger and frustration. He tried calming his senses by watching the birds flying─ passing by─ and the trees dancing to the breeze.

Bill kept his head down, reading the lyrics of his songs. He felt embarrassed and upset with what had occurred that morning.

"To be honest with you…" The professor broke the silence. "You should be looking for a new lead singer… and change the name of your band. It sucks!"

The twins closed their eyes and pretended they didn't hear anything.

Almost two and a half hour have past since their stay in detention, it seemed that time just passed in a breeze for others yet the twins grumbled at the apparent punishment they got. Who would ever want to stay in detention anyway? In spite of it all, the twins decided to just forget the whole ordeal and grab some snacks at the cafeteria.

"I hate this day." Bill grumbled as they walked past a number of classrooms.

"Who wouldn't?" Tom voiced out a few seconds later.

In the meantime, Lizzie was also on her way to the cafeteria. A few moments later she finally arrived and proceeded to look for an empty table to occupy. The twins who arrived beforehand spotted her.

"There she is!" Tom murmured the moment Lizzie entered the canteen. He smiled and wet his lips. "She is so gorgeous!"

"Oh, Tom!" Bill pulled his twin's shirt. "Get over it!"