Principle Halter, always early to the school, walked the halls.
"Well another school year, another graduating class. I wonder what sort of antics will happen this year?" He said to himself, walking into his office.


BEEP...BEEP...BE..
Jack woke slamming the alarm clock with the palm of his hand, slowly waking up. He threw his sheets off and swung his feet off his bed, wiping away the sleep from his eyes. He looked at his alarm clock, 7:00am. He got up and walked out his room, grabbing his towel on the way out. He showered, brushed his teeth and dressed himself. White button up shirt, pants, loose tie and blue and white Jacket. He always wore this on the first day of school. He walked to his little sisters room, opened the door to find a still sleeping Georgia, he looked at her clock 7:40am. He walked over and gently nudged her.
"Georgia, time to wake up for school." He whispered, Georgia woke and shot straight up, obvisously excited for her first day ever. She ran off not saying a word. Jack Shrugged then continued downstairs, his dad already sipping on his coffee.
"Good morning Jack, you ready for school?" he asked
"Yeah pretty much just gonna eat some breakfast real quick then head off." Jack replied pulling a bowl, cereal and milk out from their respective places. He sat down and slowly ate, looking at facebook on his phone, his dad placed his cup in the sink, when Georgia came down stairs with messy pigtails, but dressed pretty well.
"Come here Georgia, let me fix those pigtails." Jack said with a slight humorous tone. She sat in front of him and Jack fixed the pigtails with ease.
"Alright kiddos, I'm off see you both tonight. Have fun on your first day Georgia." He said kissing her forehead while carrying her to the door.
"Make sure she gets to and from school safely Jack." He said with a smile pulling his son into a side hug.
"Yeah no worries dad," Jack said smiling, "Come on Georgia." Locking the door behind them.


Jack stepped onto the school grounds for the first time that year. He walked along the newly renovated pathways, lined with different plants and art sculptures from last years graduating students, he looked over to the baseball field, always kept in perfect condition. The office building was refurbished to. He moved to where he and his friends normally sit and noticed more tables in that area, threw his bag onto the table pulled out his phone and waited for the rest of his friends to arrive.

Late to wake up at her appointed 5:00 AM to start breakfast. It was now reaching 6:00 AM, her father had gone to work and her mother was now waking her. "Riley, you are a disgrace." her mother lectured at the edge of her bed. The young woman had a sweatshirt hanging off her slender body, and her one leg sticking out from beneath a pale grey comforter. A displeased look spread across Riley's face as she looked her mother. If she'd have been less terrified of the woman she'd have told her to get out and never talk to her again- but she was indeed terrified of her mother and decided the best thing to do was oblige. "Yes mom." her tone was bland and nonchalant. "Your first day of eleventh grade is today, I'll leave some money here on your dresser for lunch. Eat something to help with a bright start for your future, okay?" A small smile formed on Riley's face. Her mother really did care for her, and wanted her to do well for herself even if it wasn't in the most loving and supporting way. "Thanks Mom." she said, as she watched her mother leave her room.

Heaving herself out of her bed to reveal herself pant-less, she moved over to the dresser and looked at the money. Counting it. It was enough for lunch and more. She grabbed the money and placed it into her bag that sat on the floor in a heap as she began gathering some clothes for herself to wear before she hopped into the shower and got ready to go. A red jacket and black leggings, with red high tops.

After about a half hour Riley was out the door, and in the bustle of the new and improved school area. She spotted Jack first, his back to her while he sat. She giggled, trying to quiet approach him. Her legs quiet and fast before she threw her hands over his unsuspecting eyes."Guess who?" she asked Jack, her voice quiet and hushed as she leaned into his back. "If you guess right, I owe you a treat and if you guess wrong, you owe ME a treat after school." she asked the boy again, a grin stretched across her face. She knew that he would know it was her, she just wanted to be able to treat her friend with the money she got from her mother this morning.

The house creaked every now and then as the town started to wake up. Small, yet well decorated and well maintained, the home of the Petersons is one place that Carmen could now call home, now that she had been forced out of New York in the past summer. She didn't like it at all, not that she hated her new home, it's just that she actually had people she cared about back in New York. And now all of that is being torn away from her, and now she's in a new place with people she barely even knows. Well, at the time, she knows them better now, and while she really likes her aunt and uncle as people, Carmen really hated living under the strict rules that her new guardians set for her. Her aunt, Maria, was her mother's sister, the more responsible one. Unlike Carmen's mother, Rosa, Maria was married to a white man named Jack Peterson, and while they were happily married, they didn't have much of a life outside of Crescent Peak. They happily accepted Carmen with open arms, and while they understand her plight and her disobedience, they stuck it out for her sake.

And now today was Carmen's first day at school. She was standing near the front door of the house, and her aunt was making sure that she was ready. Wearing a black polo shirt, white khaki shorts and a red backpack, Carmen couldn't be more embarassed to wear uniform trash like that.

"First day of school, are you excited?" Maria asked with a smile, fixing up Carmen's hair.

Carmen looked completely unamused. "Yeah. I'm fuckin' stoked." Carmen said with the most sarcastic tone known to mankind.

"Hey, what did I tell you about using that kind of language?" Aunt Maria scolded the teenager in front of her.

Carmen sighed and rolled her eyes. "Not in the home... don't disrespect it." She quoted. While she did know that her aunt and uncle were quite well-meaning, and she did love them so, it was incredibly frustrating having to live under all of these restrictions... she did take freedom for granted in New York, until now.

Aunt Maria nodded. "Now that's better. Now go out there and learn something new! Preferably something I don't already know, because... of course your aunt knows everything." Aunt Maria joked, to which Carmen gave a hint of a genuine smile at. "Bye, love you!"

Carmen said nothing, turning around and already heading out the door. She walked out begrudgingly onto the front lawn and towards the side of the house, where she parked her smaller black BMX bike. Putting in her earbuds, she played a song that reminded her a little more of where she used to live. From there, she set off for Cresent High.



Carmen had already seen all of the sights that the town had to offer. The bowling alley, the shopping center, all of the fast food restaraunts, all in the massive shopping plaza that lined up the center of the town. As she rode her bike through the town, it wouldn't have taken her long to get to the school. Once she arrived, she parked her bike near one of the bike racks, chaining her bike to it. She saw the school... it was quite a large, amazing and great looking school, but it was still school. There were kids all over the place... most of them white. It already told her what kind of place this was going to be for her... it was gonna be an academic hellhole. She's gonna flunk faster than she can say "midterms".

Once she entered the hallways, she was nearly mesmerized by the size and scope of the high school, and how well-built this was. Damn, the citizens of this place must've paid some insane amount of taxes in order to make this place! She looked around, having a little bit of second thoughts. Maybe she shouldn't be so mad that she was gonna go to school... this school just might take care of her. Once she entered the cafeteria, though, her hopes were dashed.

Many of the tables were already taken by students eating breakfast. She looked around for a table to sit at. The majority of the kids here were white... and it really bothered her. The school she used to go to used to be a school that consisted mainly of blacks and hispanics... this one kinda made her feel like the odd one out of the bunch. She looked around for a table that consisted mainly of minorities (because every school must have one), but much to her dismay, many of the minority kids that were in this school were integrated with all of the others. Well shit... Carmen thought to herself, before sitting down at an emptry table near Riley and Jack, chilling out with her music, waiting for the next class to start.

Cloe's mum burst into the room yelling
"CLOE GET UP YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR YOUR FIRST DAY!"
Cloe was nowhere to be seen, she was on the bathroom trying to get her hair perfect for the first day. Her long pink hair refused to stay in place.
"I'm in the bathroom, come help me quickly!" she yelled back, her mother entered her bathroom.
"Oh hunny, there is no way i'm sending you to school like that, quick hand me your hair clips, spray and hair ties."


"Done." Her mum said satisfied with her work.
"Thankyou so much mum, what time is it?" Cloe asked
"eight twenty, so get dressed and get a move on, breakfast is served at school so just eat there." Her mum replied, placing two twenty dollar bills on the counter.
"Don't spend all of it, I want change back."
"No worries Mum." Cloe said putting on a loose pink top and and black skinny jeans. She grabbed her bag, pre packed so she wouldn't forget anything, then placed the two twenty dollar bills in her wallet. She ran out the front door yelling back at her mum
"LOVE YOU! SEE YOU THIS ARVO!"


She took in the sight of her new school, it looked so modern that she thought she was in the city. She walked along the paths taking in the sights and sounds of the school. She couldn't help but notice a few cute boys around the school, but the most notable one was a blonde haired boy sitting down with a girl with red hair next to him.
"Oh bugger, looks like all the cute ones are taken." she whispered to herself. She sat underneath a tree in the courtyard and took out her journal and started to write down everything she sees. She felt awkward and felt like she was being stared at, the large amount of pink hair on her head was probably not helping. After she wrote an appropriate amount in her journal she put it away and pulled her phone out. Blasting the rock version of Taylor Swifts Blank Space.(If you wanna hear it)

Amelia Rose Thomas

❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣

7AM: Amelia's Bedroom

Amelia awoke with a jump. She was awoken as Tia barked and her phone was blaring her alarm tune. She sat up and stretched "oh.. Good Morning Tia. Today's the day to head back to School." She said before she edged out of her bed. She felt tired so she headed downstairs making herself a Mocha. She took it upstairs drinking it after her shower. She blow dried her hair before curling it and putting her makeup on. She then put on a pair of pale blue skinny jeans and a white loose cami top. She paired it with a white jacket which clung to her frame and a pair of white hi-top converse. She smiled as she headed downstairs to get her breakfast. She was looking forward to getting breakfast- but seeing him? Well that was another thing. She had a quick slice of bread and jam before taking Tia out with her Mom. They chatted about her breakup and how nervous she was to see him again. Her mother assured her that everything would be alright. Once they were back Amelia hugged her Mom.

"Bye, Mom. I love you."
"Bye Tink. See you tonight. Remember just be friendly with him. I love you."

Amelia got into her Black Honda CRV. It wasn't much but it was still her car. She drove to work listening to her music on full blast. She parked and headed into School.

8.30AM: Crescent High

Amelia walked into school nervously and looked about for her friends. She just couldn't shake off the feeling of dread. She was excited to see her friends but, she was also nervous about seeing him. She arrived and walked into where she would usually greet her friends. She couldn't help but have memories flood through her mind when she saw him but she carried on anyway. She walked up placing her hand on her friends shoulder. Despite her friends mother's disapproval they had been best friends since Kindergarten. "Hello." She said before wrapping her arms around Riley. "Hi." She said shyly to Jack. Her heart was thumping in her chest and her stomach was filled with butterflies.

FLASHBACK

It was about a year ago now. Last Summer Holidays when it all had started. They had been hanging out like usual just laying there in a field. The only difference was they had stolen Liquor from Amelia's parents cupboard. They had drank it and then layed down on the grass talking about their true feelings. That was the start of the next 10 months. One day during the Summer though that had changed. He told her that he just wanted to be her friend. That had broken Amelia. Yes, she wanted to be his friend but she also wanted to be so much more. She had chased him for a while trying to get back together. He was her first love, and from what she saw he was her true love. She still missed him but now she had stopped chasing him. She had accepted him as a friend and nothing more. No matter how hard that was.

Jack Carver

Jack felt hands cover his eyes, totally blocking his vision of the person behind him.
"Guess who?" The girl asked with a hushed tone trying to disguise her voice, "If you guess right, I owe you a treat and if you guess wrong, you owe ME a treat after school."
Jack knew who the voice belonged to, and decided to act all suprised about it.
"Hmmmmm... is it David? Nooo, is it Kevin from Algebra? nooo again... I know its you Riley." He said with a sarcastic tone. He removed her hands from his eyes to find the red haired girl smiling at him.
"Ready for another year? I sure am. I think it's time we made the friend circle a little bigger." He looked around to find a few people who he's never seen before, like a girl sitting under the tree who had a quite large amount of pink hair all tied up, and a girl who looked spanish or at least mexican. They both sat alone, so Jack turned in his seat so that he could go great them properly but before he could he saw the familiar blonde hair of his ex girlfriend Amelia. Jack still had feelings for Amelia, hard to forget and hard to keep control feelings. He still thinks that there may be a chance of them getting back together but not right now at least, he still feels bad about that day during the summer.


Jack asked Amelia on a date back in Sophomore year, the two always had a certain connection. They did the usual date things and they were inseperate since. However last summer Jack was having second thoughts, he liked Amelia alot, so much to the point he would say loved her, he still does. But he felt that if they continued dating and something bad was to happen to them, the group might fall apart and they would no longer be friends anymore. Not wanting that to happen he broke it off with Amelia, just wanting to be friends, one of the hardest things Jack had to do in a long time. He did it properly, not over text or on the phone, but he took her out to dinner and explained why he did it. He could tell that she was heartbroken the second he said it. He spent the rest of that week preoccupying himself with work, avoiding her for a long while.


Jack waved at Amelia, calling her over to where they sat. He hoped that there wouldn't be any awkwardness between the two of them. He siked himself up, putting on the happy face that usually occupys him.
"Amelia, hey... Havn't seen you in a while." failing at trying to be cool about it.

Letting out a laugh as Jack made obvious wrong guesses, Riley gave a shove against his back gently after he removed her hands from across his eyes. "I guess I owe you a treat after school then." she boasted. Nodding to both his question and statement, she agreed. She was ready for this year, they were getting so close to graduation and that new found freedom was something Riley had been seeking after for years. "I wouldn't mind expanding our group a little bit." Riley agreed as arms were wrapped around her tight.

"Amelia!" Riley exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around her best friend in return with a friendly hug. She gave her a wide grin stepping back as both Jack and Amelia greeted one another. It had been a little tense in the group since the two of them had broken up. Riley was thankful they had been friends since then, but the air could be cut with a knife. She hoped that feeling could pass over time.

Glancing over at the other girls that sat next to them, Riley decided it was better now than later to introduce them and branch out to find out who would be joining their group of friends this year. She first set her eyes on a Latina woman who she had never seen before, and then her gaze followed to the girl with pink hair blasting music. Not wanting to interrupt the jam session yet, Riley walked the few steps over to the Latina.

"Are you new here?" Riley asked, a soft smile upon her lips as she looked back to Jack and Amelia urging them to come over and introduce themselves as well. Riley never ate breakfast at school so the cafeteria at this time was strictly for talking with friends and waking up.

Carmen was sitting alone, playing around with one of her pens. She was chewing a little bit on the end of it, bored and a little agonized. She stared at all of the other kids in the area... she still felt like the odd one out. Was she going to be mistreated like the others? Ousted because of her race, or her lifestyle? She didn't know, and she really didn't want to find out. She was still quite anxious... she was to begin Environmental Science in the next twenty minutes... and she doesn't even know where the classroom is at. She knows the number, she wrote it down... not like it matters anyway. The teacher will probably let her off the hook for being late.

She was zoned out at the moment, staring off completely into space. The culture shock might just come back for her. Her thoughts were scattered once she heard a voice addressing her, however. She looked up and over to a ruby-haired teen that stood across the table. Hearing her ask if she was new here, Carmen tilted her head slightly. "Yeah, what's it to ya?" She asked, a little under the impression that Riley had hostile intent... and the fact that she was gesturing to the others sort of gave her the impression that Riley was summoning her cronies. What are they gonna do? Are they gonna corner her, provoke her into a fight? Are they gonna destroy her new school supplies? Carmen's heart raced, with flashbacks from her previous experiences from when she went to school in her freshman and sophomore years in Gangland New York.

Carmen grew just a little more apprehensive at the moment, but she was listening.

Amelia Rose Thomas

❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣

Amelia smiled and followed Riley. It would be a good distraction to make new friends. Things were difficult trying to get over the relationship with Jack was difficult and even more so when she was back to being just friends. She walked over and stood next to Riley. "Hi there, I'm Amelia. What's your name?" She asked giving the girl a smile. She looked at the girl and couldn't help but notice how nervous the girl looked. It must be nerve wracking being the new kid when everyone else had already formed their own groups. She was lucky never to have experienced that, she had always had Riley. She wanted to make new students feel welcome though as it couldn't be nice to be the new girl. Amelia took a look around checking out the new students and the groups of first year students who were nervously forming around the place. She remembered that all too well. She had been terrified to start school but she had been lucky. She had quickly formed a nice group of friends.

As much as her and Jack were broken up she couldn't help but find herself hoping that a new girl wouldn't get together with him. She would find that really hard to deal with. Amelia couldn't help but keep looking over at Jack. It was clear that he had gotten over her whereas she wasn't even close. She loved him, something which she was finding hard to deal with

Jack Carver

Jack was relieved that the conversation was moved to the new student sitting by herself, it was obvious Amelia was still getting over the breakup, in truth Jack was as well, if he could have it any other way he would of swooped her up in his arms the second he saw her. However he knew this is what was right.
He walked over, monitoring the situation he could tell that the latino girl was on the defensive. He walked up, noticing slight subtle signs of where she might of lived before moving to Cresent Peaks.
"Hey there, I'm Jack, I'm with the student council here at Cresent high, so if you need anything don't be afraid to ask ok?. Sorry about Riley, she's very quick to notice new people around here. I'm guessing you just moved here from..." Jack took a second noticing a very New York vibe from her, his novice detective skills coming in handy,"New York City, am I right?" Jack looked around not helping but noticing David, the only other guy in their little circle wasn't at school yet, he was usually punctual and not at all late. His gaze focused on the girl with pink hair, she to was alone and couldn't help himself but introduce himself to her aswell. Being part of the student council, Jack had to make an example of greeting new comers to the school.
"If you'll excuse me for a second guys," He said to Riley and Amelia, walking to the girl with pink hair."Hey there, I'm Jack, student council member. I noticed you're new and just came to say hi and let you know that if you need anything at all let me know." he said with a friendly smile, holding out his hand to shake the new girls hand.

David Copperfield

Davids Alarm clock was silence as quickly as David heard it, always being a light sleeper he would wake to the sound of his dads car opening in the garage. He hopped off his bed and quicky readied himself for the first day of school. However things were not working in his favour, his siblings were all awake before him and already lined up at the shower door, reserving their place for next shower. David was baffled at the punctuality of his siblings, but accepted that he was late and instead went to get breakfast downstairs. His parents were already having their morning coffee and toast. David opened the bread cupboard, which was empty.
"Where did all the bread go?" asked David a mild hint of annoyance in his voice
"It got eaten, and the other loaf was stale and a little mouldy so i threw it out." His mother replied, groaning David grabbed a glass of milk and decided to get breakfast at school. He waited until his siblings were done with the shower then had his own, he quickly got dressed in black skinny jeans, a grey button up shirt, his beanie and black and white vans. He grabbed his bag and keys and made for his Mitsubishi Lancer (), he won this car in a photography contest online and has loved it since. But before he hit the door his mother stopped him.
"Keys now." her voice stern, she had a look that made the siblings walk out of the room, David stood firm and replied with a stare equal to that of hers,
"Why? You have your own car, why do you need mine?"
"My battery is flat and we're waiting on the battery guy to come replace it, and i need to drop your siblings off at school."
"Can't they walk?"
"NO THEY CANNOT DAVID, HAND ME THE KEYS NOW BEFORE I GROUND YOU! YOU CAN WALK TO SCHOOL FOR BEING DISOBEDIENT!" she yelled obviously annoyed at her sons defiance. David reluctantly handed over the keys. He opened the front door and slammed it behind him, pissed that he had to run to school to be on time now.


David jogged to the school gates, sweating and puffed, he looked at the time and was glad that he made it in time. He walked along the newly renovated school and made his way to the courtyard where his friends usually sit. He looked around and saw that Amelia and Riley were talking to a new Latina girl, and Jack was holding his hand out to a new girl with pink hair. He ran over to Jack and rested on his shoulder.
"Hey Jack... sorry my b*#ch of a mom took my car and refused to take me to school... why aren't you at the table, are you and Amelia on bad terms?" David heard both sides of the story with Jack and Amelia, he was so happy for them both when they both got together, and when he heard Jack broke it off with her he hounded Jack about it saying it was the stupidest thing he's done. He tried helping Amelia win Jack back but to no avail. He could tell that they had feelings still, and is dumbfounded at why they aren't in each others arms at the moment but didn't do anyhting about, because he knew the time would eventually come. He focused on the new girl and introduced himself.
"David Copperfield, i'm friends with Jack." He said before snapping a photo of her.
"Sorry about the random photo but its for the Junior yearbook." he quickly followed up.

Courtyard/cafeteria

As the clock ticked down to that dredded first bell, Cloe was just head deap in her phone, music full blast. She hoped this would repel anyone who wanted to talk to her. She noticed a blonde haired girl walk over to where the blonde boy and red head where. She swore she could hear the silent tension in the air when they greeted each other. She ignored the group, when they walked over to the Hispanic girl was and started talking to her. 'Must know her...' She continued on her phone till a shadow appeared over her. She unplugged her headphones and looked at the towering blonde boy.
"Hey there, I'm Jack, student council member. I noticed you're new and just came to say hi and let you know that if you need anything at all let me know." the boy said to her, smile and all, extending his hand towards her. She grabbed the hand and instead of shaking it she used him to pull herself up.
"I'm Cloe, Cloe Smith. A pleasure to meet you." Her accent was definitely noticable, "I'm in Junior year i think, still not sure how the American school system works." she was lying, she just wanted to act cute in front of the handsome teen in front of her. She showed him her timetable and asked where to go, it was pretty simple but she did this to flirt. Then suddenly a boy in a beanie ran up to Jack announcing his presence calling his mother a bitch.
"You really shouldn't disrespect your mother you know," she said oblivious to the camera in her face, she was blinded by the flash a little but shook it off and angrily said, "Whats the big deal, shoving a camera in my face without my permission!" This caught the boy known as David off gaurd and her hastily replied that he was with the yearbook.
"Still, you should of asked first." she said pouting, she looked back at Jack and asked,
"So where am i going first today?"

"Yeah, what's it to ya?"

The strong New Yorker accent fell from the girl's lips and smacked into Riley's face as she threw her hands up, palms out. She waved them back and forth. "Woah!" Riley exclaimed feeling a wave of nerves fall over her. She didn't want to get beat up by the new girl! She just wanted to introduce herself and make friends. Amelia was a savor as she introduced herself to the girl in her usual cheerful manner. Riley piped in as well, "I'm Riley." she introduced herself as she lowered her hands. Giving the girl a gentle smile, hoping she knew they meant no harm.

Jack came by later and apologized for her behavior, though Riley doubt she needed an excuse for anything she had done. Jack was always first to tell people he was in student council which usually encouraged people to trust and talk to him. Though his ability to guess where people were from and what they had for breakfast in the morning raised an eyebrow or two. He was very intuitive, sometimes overly.

Riley glanced over as Jack made his way over to the pink haired girl, and was joined by David. She hadn't heard much from him in the days coming up to school, but she hoped he hand't planned on taking a billion pictures of her as usual. The flashing of lights in the corner of her eye determined that wasn't going to be the case.

Turning back to the other girl Riley gave a soft smile. "Are you a junior? We probably have some classes together." she mentioned, putting her backpack down on the ground so she could enter it. She squatted down behind it, opened the zipper and proceeded into a folder to find her printed out class schedule. Handing it to the girl, she waited for an answer.

Once Riley reacted to Carmen's choice of words like that, her fears of being ganged up on or bullied were all assuaged. Riley's surprise, as well as a little tinge of fear, made it clear to Carmen that Riley had no hostile intent. At that, Carmen chuckled a little. "Relax." She said with a soft smile. "I don't bite. Yet." She joked, her nerves smoothing out.

However, as the other folks showed up to introduce themselves, Carmen felt just a tiny bit overwhelmed. While they were all quite friendly, and while she did appreciate that, it isn't what she was used to. Yep, that's culture shock for ya. Once Amelia came over and introduced herself, as well as Riley presenting her name, Carmen had a small smile that hid her slight nervousness. "Oh, sup? I'm Carmen Chavana... back in my hood they used to call me Little Blade but you girls can call me whatever you like. As long as it isn't bitch or hoodrat, I'm cool with anything." She said with a soft joking grin. Carmen wasn't used to being friendly to strangers, most of the time, she had to keep her hands in her pockets, or clench her fists to be ready for a surprise attack. So when she tries to introduce herself, she may come off in a bit on the... "aggressive" or "tough" side. This friendly small town atmosphere is gonna take a lot for her to adjust to.

It wasn't long before the pretty boy of the school showed up to put everything around him on the spotlight. Once he showed up and introduced himself, Carmen looked from Riley and Amelia to him. "Hm? Oh, uh... yeah, it's no big deal, it's... just that I'm not... used to places... like this." She said, a little shyly to Jack. "And thanks... it's nice to meet you. I'm Carmen." Once he guessed that she was from New York, she raised an eyebrow. "Hm? I didn't think we'd be that easy to spot. Figured white kids couldn't tell us apart from L.A. thugs. Nice catch." She said, clearly a little impressed. Once he left, she turned back to Riley and Amelia.

Once Riley asked if Carmen if she was a Junior, Carmen nodded. "I believe so..." She thought for a moment. Once Riley offered her schedule, Carmen nodded. "Un momento." She then took off her backpack and reached into it, pulling out a totally organized binder with her schedule at the front of it. She pulled out the schedule and placed it on the table. Once Riley handed her schedule, she compared the two together. "Huh... how about that..." She looked at the two. "Looks like we have Spanish together." She said with a soft smile. "I could help you out if you're having trouble... it's my mother tongue." She said with a soft grin, indicating her cheating genius. "Just don't tell the teachers... I'm already having enough trouble with FASFA as it is."

Jack Carver

First thing Jack noticed about Cloe was her accent, it had a heavy british affliction, he was a bit intrigued by this new girl. When she said she didn't know how the school system works Jack immediately noticed she was lying, ignoring it he grabbed her timetable, but before he said anything David finally arrived complaining about his mother again. Jack felt sorry for David sometimes but had to keep reminding him that at least he has a mother, but before Jack could say anything David snapped a photo of Cloe, as usual. When Cloe retaliated the way she did Jack let off a slight laugh.
"Sorry about David, he has this whole philosophy about pictures it can get quite annoying at times." David hit jacks arm after he said that calling him an ass. When Cloe asked about her first lesson Jack looked at her timetable, noticing she was in the same English class as him.
"Well, you have journalism first in class... D23, that is over in the english buildings which is that way. Just look for building D and then room 23." He said, pointing in the general direction of the classroom, "Luckily you have English next, that's in the same building room D12, look for me we're in the same english class." he finished with a smile. But before he could continue the announcement bell went off.

Principle Halter

The Principle placed his hand on the mic button activating the same chime again. He moved closer to the mic and made his announcement.
"Good morning students of Cresent High, ready for another year i hope? So as usual we need all students to come to hall for a school wide assembly. This includes all new students whether your freshmen, or senior. So if see someone new please make them feel welcome and help them to the assembly hall. Once again students need to come to the hall for assembly. That's all." happy with the announcement he rose from his chair and made his own way to the hall.

Jack Carver

When Jack heard the announcement he rushed over to his bag and picked it up, waving his friends and the two new girls over.
"Come with us to hall, we'll be more than happy to show you the way, it is on the other side of school but we have plenty of time to get there, so feel free to tell us something about yourselves." he said with a smile, knowing that they could of just followed the massive wave of students heading towards the hall.
"We can sit all sit together as well, to make it more comfortable."

David Copperfield

David was a bit taken back at what Cloe said, at first he was suprised by the british accent, then annoyed at how she said not to disrespect his mother.
"I'll handle my relationships the way i want, thankyou very much." he said with a slight hint of anger, only his friends knew how terribly he got on with his mother, although he believed Riley had a much worse situation, even though it was getting better for her.
"Well i'm going to go take a few pictures to start the day real quick, i'll catch up in a bit." he said walking off.
He looked at the photos on his camera, he was annoyed at the fact that he still only had one photo to start the day so he started taking photos of all the different changes to the school, the new students, the old students, his friends.

He walked over to Riley and Amelia, who were talking to a new student.
"Riley, Amelia smile for the camera!" he yelled at them, he made sure not to include the latina in case she didn't want her picture taken. Amelia smiled almost immediately looking in his direction, Riley on the other hand gave a disapproving frown, she always was annoyed at him for taking so many pictures. He took the picture showing them both afterwards, he looked back at the latina.
"Hi I'm David, I'm with the school yearbook club, I wasn't sure if you wanted your picture taken or not but..." he was interrupted by the school announcement.
"Well, i'll have to get it another time then." he continued, disappointed at the timing of the announcement. He looked at the table where Jack called them all over, asking them all to show the way to the hall with the new students. As they started walking he noticed Amelia standing a fair bit away from Jack, he went over walked over to her and asked,
"Hey, are you ok? I've noticed your distance from Jack." his tone caring and worried.

Listening to Carmen, Riley felt the tension disappear. Carmen was just new to the small town life and new to the school. She wasn't looking for a fight. "I think I'll stick with Carmen." the girl commented, a smile spread across her lips as Carmen talked to the group. Riley understood the initial thought of all these small town white people thinking the same. Being Asian often had it's stereotypes and remarks that weren't always nice. As a Hmong girl, many people didn't understand their culture or how here family structure differed from some of the more typical ones. Nodding, she felt a connection to Carmen instantly. Definitely something that could be a bonding factor in a friendship. Though she hoped that their were other things that they could bond over.

When Carmen looked over her schedule and said the two had Spanish class together, Riley beamed. "Oh good." she replied, taking back her schedule and putting it back into her folder inside her backpack. "I will need all the help I can get, English is hard enough as it is." she laughed, placing her backpack back on her back. "I can teach you some Hmong in return, barely any other kids in the school know it at all, so we can have our own secret language. Then we can say whatever we want." she teased. Her hands went back as she tightened her pony tail on top of her head.

"Riley, Amelia smile for the camera!"

The voice of David came as Riley turned around with a scowl. She knew she couldn't get away from his photo taking. He was probably teasing her or trying to make a joke of her she felt. Always asking for photos, or worst yet taking them when she wasn't quite ready. With her hands on her hips she wanted to tell him to knock if off but was replaced by the sound coming over the intercom announcing that they were to report to the assembly hall for the welcoming assembly.

"Come sit with us Carmen." Riley encouraged, making a beckoning motion with her hand.

Courtyard/cafeteria

Knowing where Cloe had to go made her feel a bit relaxed, she was hoping some sort of committee or school council would show new students where she was going. When Jack told her that they had the same english class together she giggled a little, hoping that this would be the start of something. When the announcement went off she hoped Jack and David would take her there and was slightly releived when Jack called her over to where he was. She noticed the red haired girl from before as well as the blonde who hugged her. She assumed they were all friends and that the latina was also friends with them. When Jack offered to take them to the hall she smiled and followed them all.

Jack asked to say something about her self so she quietly spoke up to everyone.
"Well, i'm Cloe, i come from England nice to meet you all." Her tone was quite shy around new girls. You could say that Cloe was more interested in having guys as friends than girls, when in primary school she was bullied by all the girls in her grade for having short orange-red hair, she never trusted another girl again except her mother. she grabbed a single lock of her hair and started twirling it in her hand. She stood a good distance from the others and closer to Jack. She felt off and unwelcome as they walked.

"Lou! Come on, it's time to get up," his father, Mark, yelled shaking his son.
Louis groaned but sat up and rubbed his eyes. Looking at the clock he cursed and jumped out of bed. He didn't want to be late on his first day. He was already going to be an outcast, his only core class being with seniors and all his other classes being the music ones. He shook his head and jumped in to the shower while Mark went downstairs to make Lou a quick breakfast he could eat while driving. Lou decided to treat himself a bit in the shower and use his Lush products. He absolutely adored using his shampoo and conditioner bars, they always left his hair smelling of roses and he adored it. He scrubbed his face with his Dark Angels, hoping the water would wash away the blackish-gray residue it would sometimes leave behind unless you scrubbed, and used his shower jelly, Whoosh, on his body. After a quick towel dry he got dressed in a pair of black super skinny jeans (they might have been from the woman's section, but who would ever know, right?), a black button up dress shirt, maroon vans, and a maroon tie. He wanted to impress on his first day. He decided to blow dry his hair and style it into a quiff, something he did so often he didn't need to look in a mirror. If he'd look in one he'd notice that he had the blackish-gray residue from his face wash in streaks all over his face and neck.



Once downstairs he found Eggo waffles with Nutella spread on them with a note in his father's handwriting stating that he had to get to work and he'd see him tonight for dinner and they could go out to eat to celebrate his first day. Lou sighed and picked up the paper plate and his maroon Adidas back back before running out to his car, a 1967 Austin-Healey 3000. He carefully navigated his way to parking lot while eating his waffles, careful not to drip Nutella on himself. He found his parking spot and looked at the crowd of students all heading one way in a giant group. He thanked the heavens he wouldn't be running into a class room late and new. He popped in a piece of gum and rushed to join the group. He noticed some students that had fallen behind the group. They were probably the "cool" kids who were too cool to walk past them. He scoffed and tried to slip past them, but ended up getting shoved into the boy with a camera by a nerdy looking kid and knocked it out of the boy's hands. He caught the falling camera and carefully handed it back to him. "Shit man, I'm so sorry. I don't wanna cause any trouble, I'll be on my way now," he apologized and started to walk away.

Carmen smiled just a little at Riley's reply. "Okay, works for me." She said with a soft smile. Once Riley sat down, reclaimed her schedule and commented on them sharing Spanish, Carmen looked to Riley. "Oh... you're not from around here either, huh?" She frowned just a little, feeling a little bad for showing off such an attitude earlier. She knew not to do that with other kids that share struggles, while the hood may be rough on anyone, shared struggles is what keeps homies together. And Carmen knew that best of everyone. Once she was offered Hmong as a language, Carmen looked a little puzzled. "Hmong? Huh... maybe my school was shit, never heard of that." She chuckled a little. "And I do apologize... trust me, I'm not a dumbass, but... forgive my gaps." She requested. Hearing about the benefits of Hmong, she grinned. "Our own little code, huh? Nice. I like that." She said with a smile. "Hey, if I'm ever too rough, just let me know, okay? I could use a hermana like you. En un mar de luchas, tontos como nosotros no pueden nadar solos. In a sea of struggles, fools like us cannot swim alone." She said with a soft smile, patting Riley on the shoulder. Carmen can be a little brilliant and profound if she wanted to, she just needs a proper person and a proper environment to nurture her mind in.

And then some guy with a camera arrived, telling Riley and Amelia to smile for the camera. Once they got their pictures taken, and Riley looking pretty upset about it, Carmen was somewhat grateful that he didn't take hers yet. While she didn't mind pictures too much, she just hated it when it captured her at a terrible time, such as making an awful expression or the flash on the camera making her look ugly as sin. The photographer quickly revealed himself as David, who works with the school yearbook club. Wow, this school is incredibly white. As much as it might annoy her, it could be a nice change of pace, where kids are just about instagram posts and other extraneous activities, instead of peddling drugs and participating in gang violence... both of which Carmen was guilty of in New York. Carmen looked up to David. "Oh... no, it's cool, hermano." Carmen put up her hand in forgiveness. "Gracias... I really appreciate you asking first though. I'm Carmen, by the way."

Carmen listened to the announcement, and was a little confused. "I thought my first per... uh... fuck it." She chuckled, getting up. She looked to Jack as he came to them and the others, who beckoned all of them to follow him. While he briefed them on what's going down, Carmen nodded. "Alright, cool." She looked to Riley, who asked for her to join. "Of course, hermana. I never leave a homie behind." She said with a smile, nudging her a little. Once Chloe joined up with them, with the whole group walking down the hallway, she couldn't help but get that 80's movie vibe from this. It was almost as if they were all the cast of some remake of The Breakfast Club, and that she was the female latina version of the troublemaker that had a freezeframe shot in the credits. She couldn't remember his name for the life of her, though.

Once Chloe introduced herself as they walked down the halls, she listened. "Hm." She chuckled a little to herself. "Wow... looks like I'm not the only new kid on the block." She grinned. "Welcome to the struggle, chica." She mockingly gave a short and soft salute to Chloe. "Me, on the other hand, I'm Carmen, but folks in my hood called me Puñalito, or Little Blade. Came straight from the hoods of NYC, now I live in my aunt and uncle here. Don't worry, I don't bite. Yet." She clacked her teeth jokingly before turning to the kid behind her, who ended up running into David. "Woah man, slow down, you got plenty of time!" She looked to Louis, holding up both of her hands in an attempt to calm him down. She looked to Riley. "Know him?" She asked, quietly gesturing to Louis.