"Have you got everything, Laura?"

"Yes, Dad, for the thousandth time!"Laura answered back exasperatedly. Then she said softly, "Look, Dad, I'll be fine. Okay?"

"I know, Sweetie. It’s just…it is your first day at a new school, in a new place. I just want you to be comfortable. Let's not mention the fact that it's an overnight school."

"Dad! It's an all girls overnight school." Laura corrected him. "I'll be just fine."

Laura's dad sighed and started the car. "Alright, Sweetie. I'll come visit on the weekends and you have my number if anything goes wrong?"

"Yes, Dad."

"You also know our new address?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then. Have a great year, Laura. Love you."

"Love you, too, Dad."

Her dad smiled and slowly pulled out of the long drive. Laura waved at him until he could no longer be seen. Once her dad was out of sight, her smile slowly slid off her face and she lowered her arm with a sigh.

"Have a great year, Laura." Echoed in her mind. She didn't really think her year would be all that great.

Laura turned to face the prestigious school that she had been accepted to- Cherrydale Girls Academy. It was the second highest rated high school in the state, but she was not excited. Her excitement had died, ever since- no, it wasn't good to think such awful thoughts. Laura adjusted her school uniform- a navy skirt, white knee-socks, and a white blouse concealed by a navy sweater.

"You're a picture for excitement, aren't you?" Laura was snatched out of her thoughts by a cool female voice. "Cheer up, this school ain't that bad."

"Huh?" Laura said. The girl who had spoke to her was about sixteen or seventeen with long, brown hair and crystal blue eyes. "I'm sorry, I was just…"

"Daydreaming?" The girl grinned. Her smile seemed to give her pale skin a welcoming glow.

"Uh, yea." Laura replied, grinning sheepishly.

"That's okay, everyone around here needs to daydream sometime. It keeps you sane in this place." The girl began to walk up the never-ending stairs to the school. She beckoned Laura to follow.

Laura grabbed her suitcase and headed after her.

"My name's Lavender, by the way. Lavender Douglas." The girl said extending her hand to Laura.

"I'm Laura Nalen. I just transferred here this year."

"I could kind of tell from the suitcase and the lost look. Not even the freshman look like that." Lavender pointed out.

"Gee, thanks." Laura breathed sarcastically. "I'm a junior."

"Oh, me too! Look, I'm your first official buddy!" Lavender exclaimed. "I feel so special."

Laura looked at Lavender as she bounced ahead. Were all the girls in this school as outgoing as her? If they were, then she wasn't going to fit in very well. She didn’t think of herself as outgoing or anything like that.

"Come on, slow poke!" Lavender called. "The Flower Ceremony is about to start."

"The Flower Ceremony?" Laura said confusedly. She ran to catch up with Lavender. "What's that?"

"The Flower Ceremony is only the best part of the beginning of the year! You see, all the girls in this school are separated into three dorm houses- Rose, Marigold, and Tulip. The dorm house you get is the one you remain with for the rest of your high school years."

"How do they determine which dorm house you go in?" Laura asked.

"If you're thinking a magical hat, you're wrong. They just pick a random dorm house and voila! You're stuck with it."

"That simple?"

"Simple?" Lavender said incredulously. "Laura, nothing about the dorm houses is remotely simple."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there is a bit of inter-dorm house rivalry between Rose and Tulip."

"Inter-dorm house rivalry?" Laura raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, you're still thinking about wizards aren't you?"

"Yea, pretty much."

"Well, stop! This school is too plain to be in a fantasy." They reached the doors to the auditorium.

"Wow, this school is huge." Laura breathed. The auditorium was the size of a small field.

"Yea, I got lost in it a couple of times. But you'll get used too it." Lavender said at the look on Laura's face.

"Hey, Lavender? What house are you in anyway?"

"Oh me? I'm in Marigold. Yep, Lavender the Marigold." She giggled.

Laura and Lavender took their seats and waited for the ceremony to start. After a few minutes an older woman with shoulder-length black hair stood up to the podium on the stage.

"Quiet down," She snapped. The hall was immediately thrown into silence.

"That's Headmistress Quinn. She's an anti-Christ, I'm telling you. Don't get on her bad side." Lavender whispered. Laura gulped.

"Today is the beginning of a new school year at Cherrydale Academy. Hopefully, this year will be as splendid as the past ones and everyone can start this year fresh and new." Headmistress Quinn's words were meant for comfort, unfortunately her voice sounded like she was going to strangle the first person that crossed her. "Now, let's not waste anytime. Let us begin the Flower Ceremony." Applause resounded around the room.

"I will call a name and then a flower, the flower will be your housing facility for the duration of your high school years." The headmistress said in a calm tone.

Laura barely registered the other name's being called out, her name was going to be practically last anyway. As she waited, her mind started to drift.

"Laura Nalen." Headmistress Quinn calling her name snapped Laura out of her reverie. "Rose."

"Way to go, girl!" Lavender whispered excitedly next to her. "Of course, it's not Marigold but it's pretty good, too."

"Thanks." Laura smiled slightly. For some reason, she could tell she wouldn't like her dorm.

After dinner, everyone left to settle in.

"Okay, this is where I leave you for tonight." Lavender said, turning to her after they left dinner. "But the Rose dorms are just down that path and they should have your dorm room on the sign up sheet in the main entrance. So, I'll see you tomorrow in classes." Lavender quickly hugged her and set off, in what Laura guessed, was the direction of the Marigold dorms.

"Bye, Lavender." Laura called. She then made her way towards the Rose Dorms.

Upon reaching the Rose Dorm, Laura imagined her mouth was practically touching the ground from awe. The Rose Dorm House was a large, redbrick building that loomed over the surrounding trees. In front of the house was, in gold lettering, Rose House- it seemed absolutely incredible.

"Stop drooling." Snapped a voice from behind her. Laura turned to face three girls. The girl in front with long, black hair and light brown eyes was the one who had spoken.

"Sorry." Laura apologized, blushing. "The building is really nice, I was just-

"Whatever." The girl snapped. "Let's go, ladies." The girl gave her one last penetrating look before walking off. Laura could've sworn she heard her mumble something about "freshman…"

Laura sighed and slumped into the building.

"Name, Dear?" asked an older lady at a small table in the main hall.

"Laura Nalen." Laura answered.

"Ah, yes, Miss Nalen. You're in room twenty-one, that's on the fourth floor." The lady answered back politely. "You're suitcase has already been brought up."

"Oh, thank you." Laura said, just noticing she was lugging around her heavy bag.

The woman nodded and turned to help out the next person in line.

Laura slowly made her way up the long flight of stairs, all the while, admiring the scenery. The walls were a deep red, as was the carpet, the staircase banister was deep blue.

"This dorm is like a palace." She thought.

Faster than Laura anticipated, she was standing in front of room twenty-one. She slowly turned the doorknob, feeling as if she was in some kind of dramatic movie. The door swung open- problem was, Laura hadn't opened it.

"What are you doing here, freshman?" It was the snobby girl from outside the Rose House.

"I, I…um…" Laura stuttered. She wasn't a person for intimidating confrontations.

"Well?" The girl tapped her foot.

"This is my room." Laura finished lamely.

"I didn't sign up to share a room with a freshman."

"I'm a junior." Laura replied.

"You're a junior?" The girl said, looking Laura up and down. Laura nodded, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. The girl walked back into the room, Laura took that as a sign to enter.

"I'm Laura Nalen, I didn't catch your name." Laura said, sitting gracefully on her full-size bed.

"I didn't give it." The girl replied simply.

"Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot. I don't want to be on any bad grounds with my roommate." Laura said timidly.

"You're right." The girl answered, smiling. "I'm sorry. My name's Rachel."

"So, we're okay now?" Laura asked.

"I think so." Rachel replied. There was a knock on the door. Rachel got up to answer it.

"Hey, Rach, you coming or not?" It was one of Rachel's friends. She had shoulder-length blond hair and hazel green eyes.

"Hey, Stephannie. Yea, I'm ready." Rachel grabbed her jacket and headed out.

"Who's that?" Stephannie asked, pointing to Laura.

"Oh, her?" Rachel grinned. "Some loser freshman." Rachel closed the door on Stephannie's high-pitched giggles.

Laura's smile melted off.

"Great, first day and I've got an enemy- for a roommate." She murmured. Laura unpacked her clothes and hung them in the closet. She then went to unpack her last and most prized possession.

Laura unwrapped the beautiful glass rose from the newspaper she had tied around it. She placed it on her bedside table, next to her alarm clock.

"Oh, Mum." She whispered, staring through the red-stained petals. "I miss you."

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A/N: Next chapter will be up in a jiffy! Don't worry, this chapter was to provide a little exposition or background. Hope you like! Review please!