Finally, everyone was ready for school; even Karkat was wearing his uniform. They all piled into the car, with Rose driving. The ride to school was surprisingly quiet, most likely due to all of their first-day-of-school jitters. After about ten minutes, they reached the school, and Rose stopped before letting them out.
"Please behave yourselves. Especially the trolls. Listen to everything the adults tell you to do, and don't get into trouble or it's your own asses on the line!" Rose instructed.
They all nodded and got out. Heading towards the office, they stepped inside to speak with the secretary.
"Oh, you must be the new students! What a... lively looking bunch!" the secretary exclaimed, eyeing the trolls.
Rose coughed and stepped forward. "Yes, well. I am Rose Lalonde. Do you have our papers?"
The secretary handed over their schedules. "We also have a guide for you, just to get you through the first week, since you started so late in the year. Tyler?" She called the last part into the next room.
A boy stepped out of the office behind the counter. He looked to be the same age as them, with light brown hair and cyan blue eyes. He wore his uniform smartly, and had a confident air about him. He walked up to the kids and gave what he probably thought was a dazzling, inviting smile; it made Rose uneasy.
Tyler led them out of the office, then turned to talk to them. "Hey, I'm Tyler. What are your guys' names?" he asked.
They all introduced themselves to him, and he shook each of their hands in turn. "Great, let's get this show on the road. This area here is where the offices are, and up those stairs..."
Twenty minutes and a whole school tour later, Tyler led them to their respective first periods. Rose had English first period, which sounded great to her; she was such an avid reader, she was sure to get a lot out of the class.
The teacher, Mrs. Halloway, asked Rose to introduce herself, and to give some background on why she was coming to this school. "Hello. I am Rose Lalonde. Previously, I resided in New York, but I have now moved here with my friends and family. I enjoy reading, knitting, and playing the violin. Thank you." Rose sat down at a seat near the front of the class, where no one else would sit. This didn't bother her, however.
Ten minutes into the class, Rose realized that this wouldn't be as exciting as she had first hoped. She found that this Mrs. Halloway treated the class like pre-schoolers, having them read the simplest materials, like Charles Dickens. She had nothing against Dickens, but it was ridiculously easy work. After a while she just stopped paying attention, and start writing in her journal.
"Ahem."
Rose looked up to find the teacher standing at her desk, tapping her foot. "Please refrain from writing during my class, unless you are either taking notes or doing an assignment, which I can clearly tell you are doing neither."
Rose sighed. "I wouldn't have to amuse myself in other ways if your class wasn't so ridiculously obtuse."
The classroom was utterly silent, as most of the class tried to figure out what the word 'obtuse' meant, and the few who did understand were shocked. Finally, the teacher had recovered even to burst out, "Well! If you find my teaching methods to be so obtuse, then I suggest you take that up with the principal!"
Rose stood without another word, gathering her things. Out of everyone, she hadn't expected herself to be sent to the office, but she supposed this was better than sitting for another minute in this dull place of "learning;" maybe she could transfer to a more advanced class.
She left the room quietly and headed back towards the offices where she and the other kids had met with the secretary. She looked up when Rose walked in, surprise clearly written on her face, although after a moment it flashed to- annoyance?
"Another one? My, you are a troublesome bunch," she muttered. "The principal should will see you in a moment, after he finishes speaking with your friend." She went back to her work, signaling that the conversation is closed.
Rose was too stunned to reply anyway. She sat in a chair to wait for whoever was in the office.
Ten minutes later, the door to Principal Paterson's office finally opened, and Karkat walked out. Of course. Rose sighed, and Karkat looked at her, his face turning red with surprise.
"I would ask what you have done, Karkat, but I'm really in no position to ask at the moment," Rose said. Karkat just scowled, and left the office hurriedly.
The secretary indicates that it was now Rose's turn to speak with the principal. Rose stood and entered the office, quietly shutting the door behind her. The principal turned around.
"Hello, and who's this?" he asked.
"I am Rose Lalonde, sir. I find my English class to be rather... dry, if you will. Is there any hope of transfer to a higher level class?"
The principal started. "Oh, well, it isn't exactly regulation to do so without a reccomendation from a teacher, or at least a test..."
"Please, sir, I assure you that I am more than capable of passing any test expected."
The principal coughed and shifted in his seat, but complied. "Alright. I will have Cheri prepare a test for you immediately."
45 minutes and one test later, the principal stared at the test results, a puzzled expression configuring his features.
"Miss Lalonde..." the principal started, then paused a moment. "Err, well, it seems that your test results have indicated that your intelligence level in the areas of reading and comprehension far exceed those of a high school student. In fact... I daresay your intelligence would surpass even the average college student. I don't believe we can place you in a class here... the only thing I can offer you is an extra elective or a free period," he finished, putting the test down and looking at Rose in quite an apologetic manner.
Rose nodded slowly. "Thank you, sir. I apologize for this not being apparent sooner, as previously I was homeschooled. I will take a free period."
The principal smiled, although it looked forced. "Right then. This period is almost over anyway, but you may go ahead and do as you wish. You are dismissed."
Rose left the room, wondering what in the world she would do during this free period of hers. Perhaps she could work on a novel? Perhaps...

…...What Happened to Karkat...

Karkat stalked into his first period, American history. Slamming into a chair, he glared at any student who looked his way. It took a moment for the teacher to even notice his new student.
"Why, hello there! You must be one of our new students," the teacher, Mr. Ryan, said to Karkat, sauntering over to Karkat's desk. "Your name?"
Karkat doesn't answer at first, giving only a glower. Seeing no way out of answering, however, he said, "Karkat Vantas."
Mr. Ryan grins. "Well, Mr. Vantas, I assure you it is a pleasure to have you in our class. Currently, we are learning about the James Madison papers. Do you have any previous knowledge on this subject?"
Karkat saw that the whole class was now looking at him expectantly. Irritated, he spat out, "How the hell am I supposed to know who James Madison is? What kind of name is that anyway? Let me guess, he was some kind of grubfisted douchebag who is in dire need of a piping hot nutrition plateau of fuck you."
Mr. Ryan looked taken aback. "Excuse me, but we do not use that kind of language in this classroom."
This only made Karkat even more wound up. "Yeah?! Well I'm sorry for not being an ignorant sack of shit who is intent on sucking out the few brain cells the human race has left!"
The teacher was practically livid by then. "Mr. Vantas! You will get your ass down to the principal's office this instant, and you better hurry, because I have half a mind to suspend you for your use of such foul language!"
Karkat stormed out the room, not even sure where he was going. He was seriously pissed off, because obviously Mr. Ryan had those insults coming badly. I mean, come on; who the hell wants to learn about James Madison and his stupid fucking papers? Whatever.
Karkat stopped after a while, finally looking around. He had no idea where he was. Now he was even more pissed off than before, if that's even possible; he kicked the wall. Immediately, his foot started radiating with pain and he let out a string of profanities. Just then a teacher came out of a nearby classroom, obviously wondering what all the commotion was.
"Excuse me, but we do not allow that sort of language at this school!" she berated him.
Karkat just glared at her. He knew that Rose had told everyone to be good, but frankly he didn't care anymore.
"Well, fuck you, too," he growled.
The teacher looked taken aback. "Young man! Foul language directed at a teacher is even worse than foul language in general!"
Karkat decided that the teacher must have an entire stick shoved up her ass.
"Does it look like I care?" he asked her.
Her face entirely red, the teacher grabbed Karkat by the wrist and started dragging him down the hallway. "You are coming to principal's office right this minute!"
Karkat just rolls his eyes. Oh well, at least he wasn't lost anymore.

…...

Jade sat up first period, shaken out of a bout of sleeping. She glanced around, hoping that no one had noticed her snooze. Suddenly, she got a strange feeling. It seemed to her that something was... off. She just couldn't shake the feeling. It was like... the school felt different somehow. She looked out the window, startled to see that instead of the green lawns and fountain of the the schoolyard, there was... the tower of Pisa?! Wait a minute... she had just been dreaming of Italy. Oh no... her Witch of Space powers were in action again; she had accidentally teleported the school to Italy.
She tried to look around surreptitiously, hoping no one else had noticed the change of scenery. It didn't seem like it, yet, but she probably only had seconds before someone realized they were no longer in America. She closed her eyes, attempting to bring the school back to its original location. A new feeling swept over her, and she snapped her eyes open. She let out a breath of relief. The school was back. And no one had noticed.
Jade sunk down in her seat, feeling suddenly exhausted. School was hard. And it was only first period.