A/N Thanks for continuing to read :) I don't really have much to say so keep reading!

CHAPTER 2

The sunlight streams through the curtains of my bedroom, casting my room with a pink glow. The light illuminates the flower carpet laying in the center, with yesterday's footprints still visible. I yawn, checking my phone for the time.

6:50

I groan. I need to be at Foxfire by 7:30.

I hear a squeak coming from a cage on my desk. I smile and walk over to Iggy, my hamster. "I wish I could be like you, Iggy. At least then I won't need to go to a school and embarrass myself."

In response, Iggy lets out a huge fart. I cough. "Gross, I have got to start feeding you more vegetables," Iggy seems to give me a look.

I guess I should start getting ready. I have a long day ahead of me.

I trudge towards the bathroom and take a quick shower, throwing on the amber school uniform that arrived last week. I didn't think to try it on before, but thankfully, everything fits. The skirt and sock combination reminded me of those fancy private school uniforms I would see around my old town. The type of outfits that my friends and I used to make fun of. I sigh. This is gonna be a long year.

"Sophie, are you almost ready?" I hear Grady call from downstairs.

"Coming!"

I grab my brown backpack and hurry down the stairs. After a hurried breakfast of waffles (my favorite), courtesy of Edaline, we all got into the car.

"Ready?"

I am definitely not ready, but I nod anyway, and we start towards Foxfire.

15 minutes later

We pull up onto campus, and I gape at the huge school. It's almost three times as big as my old one. Grady and Edaline laugh after noticing my awe.

"Better get moving kiddo! Remember, just go to the center courtyard, that's where orientation is. Dex said he'll meet you there and show you to your locker."

I gulp, stepping out of the car. From every side of me, kids are laughing with their friends and heading towards the entrance.

I turn back to wave. "Bye mom and dad, see you later I guess!"

"Bye sweetie, have a great first day!" Edaline waves as they drive away.

I take a deep breath and follow a group of people who seem to know where they're going. After a few twists and turns, we end up in a huge room occupying SO MANY PEOPLE. I awkwardly sit at a bench and pull out my phone, checking the time.

7:35.

Grady and Edaline said the announcements would start at 7:40 and then classes begin at 8:00. I guess that gives me 5 minutes to relax. I fiddle with the key chain on my bag when I hear a couple of voices.

I look up to see a group of three people, two of which seem to be siblings, judging from their chocolate brown hair and teal eyes. One is a super pretty girl, whose little adjustments to her amber uniform scream "popular girl". She added a few beaded bracelets onto her wrists, paired with some studs on her ears and colorful hair clips, pinning her hair into an intricate braid that would've taken me hours to master.

The other one is wearing a green uniform, and he seems to be her brother. I can't get a good look at him until he faces my direction. I almost let out a gasp. His hair has a natural sweep to it, and all of his perfect teeth showed whenever he smiled. He looked like he came straight out of Hollywood. I immediately blush at my inner thoughts. Stop turning into one of those girls Sophie!

The third person was a tall guy with messy blonde hair, also wearing a green uniform. His ice blue eyes contradicted the rest of his face, which gave off a relaxed chill vibe. From the two minutes I've been looking at him, he'd smirked at least 5 times. Unexpectedly, he turns to me and catches me off guard. I quickly turned away, hoping he didn't catch me staring at him.

"Hey! You must be Sophie!" A voice says, making me jump.

I turn towards the source, finding a boy around my height, with strawberry blonde hair and periwinkle eyes. He's wearing an amber uniform like me. I notice his full smile, illuminating the dimples on each of his cheeks. I panic, not expecting to interact with anyone for at least the first week.

"I'm Dex Dizznee! It's great to finally meet you!"

Oh, this is Dex! I relax my tense shoulders.

"Hi Dex, I've heard a lot about you," I say, and then cringe. Why did I have to sound so stalkerish?

Dex laughs, "Yeah, me too! My mom told me all about how you moved here and how you're living with Aunt Edaline!"

He's about to say something else, but the loudspeakers cut him off.

"Good morning students! This is your Principal Alina. I hope you've all had a wonderful winter break, but now it's time to get our mindsets back into the school set. We have midterms coming up so I expect the best from each and every one of you!"

"BOO!" I hear a voice yell, not too surprised it's coming from the boy with ice blue eyes.

The two siblings laugh and other students join them. I turn to Dex, seeing him scowl. "Those are the Vackers. They come from a rich and important family. I was hoping I could get at least past lunch before having to see all the girls drool over Wonderboy."

I look around the room, and sure enough, half of the girls were staring at "Wonderboy" and whispering to their friends.

"Did you see his muscles! I think he's been working out over break," I hear a girl say. Unconsciously, my fists tense up. I immediately release them. This is so unlike me.

"-And the cafeteria will be serving chili with cornbread today." Groans are heard throughout the school.

"That is all from me today. Remember students, going to this school is an opportunity many children don't get, so make sure to do well in all your classes!" The loudspeakers turn off and everyone goes back to chatting.

I turn to Dex. "Um, do you happen to know where I can find my locker?"

Dex turns back from glaring at Wonderboy. "Oh yeah, sure! Do you have your schedule?"

I handed him the slip of paper that arrived in the mail last week. We start walking as he goes through my schedule, commenting on all the teachers.

"Yikes, you have chemistry with Ms. Galvin! Good luck with that, I heard she got stricter over break."

I shudder, not wanting to think about all the teachers I'm going to have to introduce myself to. We arrive in a big foyer with a bunch of people also wearing amber uniforms. We head over to a corner and he pats one of the lockers.

"Looks like this one's yours. Hey, only three away from mine!" He says with glee.

I smile, grateful that he seems to like me. I look down at my combination, and start entering it, when a loud voice coming from my left interrupts me.

"Hey, who are you?" A blonde girl with tiny braids in her hair asks.

"Umm," I fumble for a second, forgetting every detail about myself.

Thankfully, Dex saves me. "This is Sophie Foster, she's new."

"Oh, my name is Marella Redek," the girl says, and offers a handshake.

I cautiously take her hand, and shake it.

This is weird. Already two friends when I was expecting none. Well, at least I THINK they're my friends.

I'm about to ask when an unfamiliar voice reaches my ears.

"Hey Dexy, who's this?"

I turn and find myself face-to-face with the guy with ice blue eyes. Well, actually it's more like face-to-chest cause he's at least a head taller than me.

Dex rolls his eyes at the nickname, but answers him. "This is Sophie Foster, she's new to Foxfire."

The guy looks at me and smiles. "Pleasure to meet you, Foster. I'm Keefe Sencen, but you can call me Lord Hunkyhair," he smirks.

I roll my eyes. What's with this guy and smirking?

The teal eyed girl coughs behind him, and playfully shoves him aside to get in front of me.

"Move, Keefe! Hi, I'm Biana Vacker. This is my brother, Fitz Vacker," she gestures to the guy that Dex called "Wonderboy". Fitz gives me a movie star smile and says "Nice to meet you."

Biana notices me staring and pushes him aside. "So, why'd you move here?"

I blush, not really wanting to explain my life story to some people I barely know. Thankfully, Marella comes to my rescue.

"Hey, maybe we should give Sophie some space to, you know, breathe?"

Biana rolls her eyes but steps back. "Sorry, didn't mean to overwhelm you."

"No, it's fine! I actually moved here cause my family died in a fire, so I had to be adopted. Dex's aunt and uncle adopted me so I moved here and I guess I go to Foxfire now!"

Hard to think that the worst thing that has ever happened in my life could be summed up in two sentences, but here we are.

Biana gasps as soon as I finish. She grabs my hands "I'm so sorry! My great-grandmother died when I was young, so I know how you feel."

I internally rolled my eyes, but nodded so she could see that I was grateful for her sympathy.

"I'm ok now, don't worry! I just need to find my classes."

Dex immediately coughs. "Yes I can help you Sophie!"

Biana side-eyes him. "OK, I guess we'll catch you guys at lunch then!"

She, Keefe and Fitz all head in different directions to their classes.

"Typical princess perfectness, always making the rest of us feel useless," Marella sighs.

"Welp, I better get back to class, see y'all at lunch then." She walks in the opposite direction.

Dex peeks at my schedule. "OK, looks like you have history first, then PE with me! Then we have lunch and study hall together as well! That's perfect, now I can catch you up on everything you've missed this year!"

He grabs my hand and drags me towards one of the hallways. I laugh and walk with him.