CHAPTER 1: I'M NOT SURE I UNDERSTAND

The heiress to the Berlitz family of scholars stepped out of the limousine, threw back her mid-length navy hair, and held her bag tightly in her hands.

"My lady, are you sure you'll be okay?" her butler, Sebastian, asked for the umpteenth time since leaving the mansion. "You do know how high schools are. They're rather rowdy and filled with commoners compared to you… You won't get hurt or anything, will you?"

"I'll be fine, Sebastian," the girl replied, a small smile upon her lips. "I've told you this already. I can handle it." With that, she turned towards the front entrance and made her way inside.

It was rather loud now that she thought about it, but that made the experience much more exciting! She had been homeschooled for the three years she was supposed to attend middle school, so being new in a completely new environment… It was rather thrilling, but she wouldn't admit that.

Lady Platinum Berlitz thought this, perhaps, was a very good experience for her. The start of being independent, without Sebastian watching over her! Not that she disliked him, but it felt good to be by her lonesome sometimes.

"Oh, that's her! It has to be!"

Platinum's eyes focused in on two boys, around the same age as her, each wearing a red and green scarf respectively. Both of them were whispering among themselves, nodding, pointing, and waving. She didn't know either of them, but it was incredibly strange. The pair walked up to her, which was even more strange.

"Pla- I mean, Lady," the boy in the red scarf started. "That's what you wanted us to call you in grade school, right?" Platinum blinked once and tilted her head. "Who...are you?"

"Let's try that again with a sketch," the boy in the green scarf started and coughed. "It's important to stay hydrated! Drinking plenty of water is good for your body!" The boy in the red scarf nodded. "I haven't been doing that lately," he replied. "Maybe that's why my ideas have been so dry …"

That was a horrible pun.

Platinum giggled, took a second to process that, and gasped. "You're… Diamond and Pearl! From before I was homeschooled, right?" The two boys, Diamond and Pearl, shared a high five. "You got it!" Pearl said, patting her on the shoulder. "It's real great to know you're also a freshman, Plat!"

"Man, I hope high school won't be hard," Diamond added. "If it is, I'll just rely on both of you for some help." Pearl reprimanded him, starting a small friendly argument between the two. Platinum could not help but smile, knowing that her former classmates were with her. Maybe, she wouldn't be as lonely.

"It sure is nice to have friends you know around, isn't it?"

Platinum looked down to see a rather short boy, long blond hair draping over his small body, who seemed to be talking to her. "I'm the same. I have friends who also go to this school. They're sophomores, though, so you wouldn't know them. I don't think you want to know them."

The young heiress's curiosity was focused on that last sentence. "Why not?" she asked innocently. "They can't be that bad, right?"

"Well, depends on who. One of them's kind of loud, and starts fights, but is nice otherwise," the short boy replied. "The other, well… You really, really don't want to get involved with him. President of the Theatre Club, an image of solid steel, and even has a fan club… You'll find yourself with a good deal of popular kids drama."

Platinum gulped. Though she knew the appeal of getting involved with drama at this age, she'd most certainly lose her mind if she herself were to be involved in it.

She decided it was best if she stuck to her friendship with Diamond and Pearl.

It was an incredibly nice day out.

"I'm kinda sleepy in this weather," Sapphire mumbled, covering her mouth to yawn. "Hey, Ruby, here's a question. Ya interested in anyone?"

Ruby, the boy with the fleece hat and stylish clothing, jumped. "That's an awkward transition," he stuttered, before regaining his composure with a prideful smirk. "No. There's no way I'd fall for anyone. I already have you. Why would you ask such a silly question?" The brown-haired girl to his left blinked once, twice, and widened her eyes. "Sorry, what?" she asked, mouth half-gaping. "What'd ya say?"

"I already have you. And Emerald," he replied. "In terms of friendship, for people to keep me company, that's enough for me. Not that you'd understand. You're far from civilized." That aura of I'm-so-much-better-than-you was evident in his smile and that condescending gleam in his eyes. Sapphire, knowing him since grade school, knew Ruby was merely teasing her. She still wanted to smack that smug smile off his face. You know, like 80% of the people who knew him in person.

"I-I understand!" Sapphire spit out. "What, I ain't good enough for ya?!" Ruby sighed and placed his hand on her head. "Calm down, Sapph, jeez. It's a joke."

Sapphire sighed. Ruby was insufferable some days. Especially when he was working on some sewing project, he found human conversation intolerable. Always insufferable was a better estimate, but around some people he was reasonable. Like her and Emerald, and... well, that was about it.

"And what about you, huh?" he asked, leaning forward with that same prideful smirk. "Are you interested in anyone?" The ribbon girl flinched and struggled to come up with a response. "Absolutely not!" she finally sputtered, looking away from her childhood friend making a mockery out of her. " I wouldn't be interested in anyone! Not now, at least. If somethin' came up, I'd tell ya. Ya know that."

The boy smirked, and then it faded into a gentle smile. "I'll believe you," he mumbled under his breath, and kept walking. The air was awkward after that.

"I really like ya, though…"

Ruby's ears perked up, and that punchable smug smile came into view. "What'd you saaaay?" he asked in a teasing tone. "Sorry, I didn't hear you! Mind repeating that?"

The words Sapphire wanted to say were stuck in her throat, and all that came out were stutters of… incomprehensible something. "I- I, um, uh.. well- I didn't say nothin'!"

"Oh, darling, you don't need to say it twice though," her childhood friend replied, head held high up. "Who doesn't like me? Anyway, moving on, about Emerald's first year here..."

Oh, how she wanted to clobber him.

Maybe someday, she'll get her feelings through that thick skull of his and start a relationship with him. Or at least get him to know she had these feelings for him. Ruby was an enigma that way. Always saying everyone liked him-which was true because he had a fan club-but something about him made it seem like he was just playing dumb.

And now, the first day of the school year, she knew he'd have all the attention in the world. Sapphire wasn't that bothered by it, besides the fact that Ruby naturally won the hearts of others, including her. Charming, he was. She wouldn't admit that to him, because she'd never be able to look him in the eye ever again. He probably already believed that himself, anyway.

Why would he spend so much time with her, if he only considered her a friend? Could it be possible he liked her back? Even after knowing him for all these years, Sapphire couldn't figure him out. Whether he reciprocated her love for him, she'd never know.

Maybe, just maybe, that was for the better.

Yellow of Viridian Forest was lost, period.

She was a sophomore, and even after a year, could never figure out where in the school she was ever. Usually, it was Red, Green, or Blue helping her out, but on this first day, she was all alone in this field of new students. Granted, it was better than last year. Last year she was a mess of stumbling into classes that were not her own.

Ding!

A text from Blue.

Blue was pretty and popular, so it was a miracle she even talked to Yellow at all. However, they, plus Red and Green, had all known each other since middle school and were an inseparable quartet of best friends, so it wasn't that hard to believe. Yellow flipped open her phone to see the attachment Blue had sent her.

"got u a snap of ur best boy. thank me later uwu"

A picture of Red during class. His head's leaning on his hand, but that smile of his is still there.

Ah, yes, that. Yellow's little crush on him. He was really cool, and athletic, and kind, and- okay, maybe it wasn't a little crush. She was glad Blue had sent her this picture, and saved it-the latter implored her to save all pictures of Red she received-but why? Maybe just to tease her? It wouldn't be out of character. But, considering how Blue was the one trying to set Red and Yellow up numerous times, most ending in failure, she assumed there were no malicious intentions behind it.

"thanks, blue." Yellow responded. "anyway, can you help me? i'm kind of lost again and i have no idea where i am."

"npnp girl" came the reply at light speed. "ill send u a map of the whole place, one sec"

Then came the image of the school map on paper with classic yellow lighting, and Yellow looked at it for a second. It was so fast, Blue must've known she would've gotten lost on the first day. Was she that predictable? To be fair, growing up in the woods for much of her life, she did have a habit of getting lost in said woods…

"The second floor's where the English classes are," she said to herself, closed her phone, and stood up straight, fist to her chest. "Alright! This year, I'm going to do better than the last!"

Yellow carried her resolve to her first class of the year, with a skip and a spring in her step, unaware that she had said those words out loud and all eyes were on her.