The school is possibly bigger than my whole neighbourhood put together. Great stone walls stand around the building, protecting it with barbed wires. Rows and rows of windows form on several buildings, and it there are what looks like around 7 different sections that I have to crane my neck to see properly. If it wasn't for the fields of flowers and the fairytale-like tower looking out, I would think this is a prison.

When the taxi pulls up next to the gate, I pay the driver and watch as he drives away, feeling like a girl in a movie. Except I'm not, it's real life, and I have to endure this experience.

The gates are giant steel bars of metal, and an electronic box with a button on is stuck onto the wall next to them. I suddenly feel very small as I peer up and look out at the looming school in front of me.

Can't exactly go back now.

After pressing the button and stating my name, the gates swing open and I walk onto the gravel, hearing the sounds of stones against stones as my suitcases wheel behind me.

It takes me about two minutes to walk up to the steps, before heading into the building where a marble floor is gleaming back at me.

I forgot this is a private school. A very rich private school, at that. The only reason why we're allowed to come here for free is because we're associated with MI5. It also helps that the headteacher is apparently an old friend of my dads. It's a small world, huh?

When I find reception, a lady is sitting at the counter who grimaces when she sees me. "Mia Evans?"

I plaster a smile on my face to hide the nerves and nod silently.

She thrusts a piece of paper into my hands before pressing a button that makes a loud buzzing noise. "Would Madeline Arlington please head to reception. Madeline Arlington. Thank you."

I swallow, waiting for her to speak to me as the sounds of silence fill the room. "Should I go, or..."

The lady rolls her eyes behind her glasses, and I notice she's quite young, around her late twenties. "Wait for Madeline. She's in your dormitory, and therefore your helper to get settled in."

I nod, taking the opportunity to look around. There are small stone statues that are aligned neatly about the room, shelves filled with books and frames hanging from the walls that have numerous awards for the school.

It's around 5 minutes later that Madeline arrives, so I guess the school is big and takes a long time to walk around.

She is a reasonably tall girl with a high, brown ponytail, small green eyes and a jutting out chin. Her skin is pale and freckled, ears pointed at the top that remind me slightly of elves.

I feel bad for thinking that, but I guess she'll never know.

"Hi." She says loudly, putting out her hand for me to shake. When I finally do after a long hesitation, a huge smile fills her face. "Call me Maddy. Madeline is too long and boring for me. Only my grandparents call me that."

I purse my lips and nod. "Okay. I'm-"

"Mia, I know. I've been waiting ages for you to get here! I've had to move into a different dorm all by myself and it's gotten very lonely. It'll be great with two of us, though. I know my way about this school very well, considering my father is the head teacher."

My eyes widen. "Really? You must-"

"Be very rich, yes. I guess we are. But we give a lot to charity, you know. And it's nice having my father around."

I notice immediately that Maddy talks quite a lot.  As we walk up a large staircase, I silently hope she's not like this all the time.

She takes one of my bags from me and grins. "Sorry. I hope I'm not talking too much. Just a little overexcited. I'm missing school council for this, so it's a pretty good deal."

I laugh politely, trying to ignore the bundle of nerves knotting in my chest. What if if Will is close by? I wonder if he's got a nice roommate.

After another five minutes of Maddy chatting away, we walk up to a door, which I guess is ours. She turns the knob and it swings open, revealing two beds and a reasonably plain medium-sized room inside. There is a window however, so when I drop my bags on what Maddy says is my bed, I head to it and stare out, seeing half of the premises and flower fields surrounding us, stretching out for miles.

"Missing home yet?" Maddy says, standing next to me and also admiring the view. She smells faintly like play-dough and rose, which is a surprising combination.

I nod slowly. "Yeah. I live a long way away."

"Where are you from?" She asks, moving away and jumping onto her bed, where several photos and a poster are pinned up.

Here goes the back story. "I'm from Norfolk. It's a place around 2 hours from London, so quite far away."

"Oh woah, yeah." I can tell she believes it, because she sighs and doesn't ask anymore questions.

After rummaging through my bag, I change into my uniform, which consists of a black blazer, a grey jumper and red tie, and a thigh length black skirt that is so tight I can hardly breathe. I tie my hair up into a messy bun and sigh at myself in the bathroom mirror, once again struck by my blonde hair. My makeup is still on from what I applied earlier, but you can't see that much as it's only a little bit.

There's a knock. "I hate to rush you Mia, but first period is starting and we kinda have to get there. Like now."

Flashbacks of the pad incident return to me clearly when I arrive into first period, five minutes late. Everyone's eyes are so glued on to me that I have to turn around to check I didn't repeat the same mistake again, but all that's there is just the unfamiliar cotton that is my new school skirt.

The teacher, who is teaching English, smiles up at me when I glance at her for help. "Mia Evans, right?" She asks, her voice ringing loud and clear over the sounds of faint whispers.

I clear my throat. "Yes. That's me."

She directs me to a seat near the back of the room and continues with her teaching. On my desk is a new exercise book, so I take out a pen from my case and scrawl my name on the front.

The lesson is much harder to keep up with than my previous ones at school, and by the time the it's over I can feel a headache coming on.

The teacher, called Mrs Harrison, tells me not to worry as I leave the room. "It'll get easier. You'll be a pro by the end of this term."

I nod and smile, but feel uncertain.

Maddy is waiting for me outside, smiling and waving at a few people who walk by. "How was your first class?" She asks, guiding me to my next one, holding books in her arms.

"It was hard." I tell her truthfully, biting on my lip. Strangely, I haven't actually seen Will yet. He's probably off gawking at some rich girls.

"It will be at first." She says, flashing me a sympathetic smile. "But you'll get the hang of it."

After what feels like days going from one side of the school to the other, we arrive in art, where Maddy tells me she'll be when the class ends.

I walk in and again people stare, but luckily because I'm not late, not everyone has arrived. The teacher, who is more chirpy than the last, shows me to a seat at the front and hands me a massive sketch book.

"The class are carrying on with their projects today. You can draw me something so I know what you can do. I'm Ms Addison, by the way."

I nod at her, unsure about her wacky sense of style: a patterned scarf with a white shirt, embroidered jeans and heeled boots.

I enjoy the next hour, painting soft strokes on a rose that I decided to draw. A few girls in the corner are chatting away, turning around to stare at me several times.

Ms Addison tuts at them. "Quiet down girls, please. Sydney, Be civil."

My heart thumps.

Sydney. Sydney Moreau. It's got to be her.

River's voice rings clear in my head: "Find a way to get into Sydney's life."

From what I can see, she's got long, glossy dark hair and a pretty face. Her eyebrows are thick but in perfect angles, drawn low as she gossips with the several girls around her.

I don't know how I'm going to befriend her, but I guess I've got to try.

Ms Addison tells me my painting is really good at the end of the lesson, drawling on so I don't get to speak to Sydney. When she's finished, they've all long gone, and Maddy is waiting impatiently at the door.

"Hurry! You've got psychology next, and you're late again!"

We run down the hallway and up several flights of stairs, before we reach a class full of students all staring in one particular direction.

At the boy in the centre of the room: Will.

Or should I say: Jake.

Maddy waves a quick goodbye before heading off, leaving me to knock on the door by myself.

Now the eyes migrate to me again, including Will's, who's smile pulls into a smirk.

Our eyes lock, and I struggle to breathe.

I wonder if he can tell how nervous I am.

"You're Mia. Right?" The teacher says in a gruff voice.

"Yep." I croak out, swallowing to try and get my voice louder. "Yes I am."

"I'm putting the newbies together." He says, plopping me next to Will, who grins even more.

I can already see all the girls around us sigh and glare at me.

Wow, is this incredibly cliche, or what? I feel like a high school girl in a teen chick flick.

"Hi." I hear Will's low voice rumble next to me as the teacher drones on. "I'm Jake."

It takes me a great deal not to break my seriousness and giggle at how weird this is, but it's a show for everyone else, and we've got to stick to the rules. "I'm Mia. Nice to meet you."

Everyone is still staring at us, but the teacher seemingly hasn't noticed yet.

Will glances at him to check if the coast is clear, and leans in closer, but speaks loud enough so everyone around can hear. "So you're new?"

I nod, scribbling down something the teacher has just put on the board. "Yup. And you are too? That's weird."

"Yeah, really weird. Really, really weird."

I kick him before it looks suspicious.
"Ow!" He hisses, but nobody hears.
I plaster on a deliberately sarcastic smile that only he can tell is, but snap through my teeth, "Stop making it look obvious, dumbass."

"Dumbass?" He raises one eyebrow, amused smirk on his face. "New name, I like it."

When the class ends, I have to run to get free from him. Only, he follows me like a lost puppy, trailing behind.
Maddy is waiting where she said she'd be, texting on her phone, her hair falling over her face.

"So, it's break now, I was wondering..." Her voice fades off when she sees us, eyes migrating from Will to me.

"Uhh...hi?"

Will flashes a charming smile. "Hey.  Mia here just thought we should stick together, seeing as we're newbies."

"Well, you're welcome to come and sit at our table...who's your roommate?" Maddy asks, and I notice her eyes are transfixed onto him as if she's never seen a boy before.

It hadn't even occurred to me that all the girls would find him attractive, but of course. He's practically a model.

"He's called Ash? Uh, I dunno his surname-"

"Ohh, that makes sense."

Both me and Will frown in confusion. "How?" He asks.

She leads us into the canteen, pushing the doors wide open so her ponytail flies out behind. "Ash is very forgetful."

As if on cue, a boy with soft blonde hair and brown eyes speeds up to us on his lanky legs, a pained expression on his face. "Sorry, man!" He says to Will, who shakes it off, clearly not bothered. "I completely forgot! How did you get around?"

Will's angelic face pulls into a familiar smirk. "Oh, you know. There were lots of girls willing to help me."

I roll my eyes, but only Will notices, as Ash is too busy clapping him on the back.

Maddy waves me over to her table, where Ash happens to sit anyway, so Will plops down in the seat next to me, sitting deliberately close, to my annoyance.

On the table sits a girl called Amie, who has a big toothy grin, soft brown skin and long eyelashes to compliment the turquoise of her eyes, two twins, one called Fred and the other called Zach, (who I can't tell apart if you ask) another girl called Emily, whos red hair is in two long french braids, a curly brown haired boy called Callum and of course, Ash.

"So, two newbies in one day?" Ash says, breaking the silence on the table.

"And they're both hot." Callum says, staring at the two of us as if we're really difficult puzzles to understand.

One of the twins raises his eyebrows. "Didn't know you bat for the other team, Cal."

"I don't, Fred. We all know he's fit." I make a mental note that Fred is the one who has a mole on his cheek and Zach has just put on his glasses, which were on the table previously. Callum continues, and turns his stare on me. "But you're spicy hot. Is that a ladder in your tights-"

"Or a stairway to heaven? Yeah, it is, actually." I sigh. Pickup lines are the worst.

After pouting, Callum laughs. "Feisty, I like it."

I roll my eyes, but catch Will frowning in my peripheral vision. As if sensing my stare, his expression changes into something more neutral, and he starts listening in on something Ash is saying.

"Mia? Miaaa?" My eyes snap to Maddy, who is calling my name. "Emily's talking to you."

I blush, embarrassed that I was daydreaming, staring in the particular direction of Will. "Sorry! Yeah?"

Emily grins at me. "So do you have dibs on him, or what?"

"Dibs on who?"

"Jake, silly." She whispers, and it takes me a couple of seconds to realise she's talking about Will.

I frown. "No, why?"

"Well for starters, he clearly has the hots for you. You've barley known each other two minutes and he's already staring at you like I would with Sephora makeup!"

A deep blush heats up my face, and I attempt to push it down, but it's only making it worse. Emily has read his expression wrong. He's clearly looking like that because he wants to see how I'm adjusting, like I do with him.

Nothing more, nothing less.

"No, he doesn't like me. He's too arrogant and annoying." I tell her, watching him laugh loudly at something Fred said, his whole face lighting up, making his piercing blue eyes sparkle in the light.

Emily looks seemingly unconvinced. "Right. But how do you know that? You just met him, he could turn out to be really nice."

Well you don't know Will like I do, I think to myself.

"Yeah. True."

In fact, she doesn't know him at all, and she never will. That's the strange thing about this whole experience. All these people I'm befriending are based on a fake friendship. Even if it seems real, I'll never have anything that I can keep forever, no matter what.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Authors note: Told you this would be longer! It's still not great, but hey ho.

Hang in there - it'll get better, I promise!!

Which character do you prefer the most? I like Ash and Amie. Maddy is a little too talkative for my liking.

Vote, comment, recommend, do your thang!

Love you all,