This chapter was written/created in May 2007.
This chapter was added on May 21, 2007.
This chapter was edited on June 19, 2008.

One

I stood there in disbelief and amazement with what could only be described as a hillbilly expression on my face. I had just gotten out of our rented car in the parking lot of my new 'home', Sunview Boarding Academy. Joe Solomon, my brother of fifteen, got out next to me, just as amazed as I was. My stepbrother Derek was probably the only one who looked over the scenery with indifference and boredom. But of course, that was just the way he was. Or rather, the way he acted around us, his new family that neither of us had asked for.

My mom and his dad had gotten married at the beginning of this past summer, and after both Derek and myself had complained vigorously about their late night escapades, they decided they wanted to rid themselves of us. I guess they thought Derek's sister and Joe and I's brother wouldn't mind the noise as much considering they were still in the blissful and ignorant stages of life.

Originally, just Derek and I were going to go to the boarding school since we were freshmen. The other factor being that Joe took their marriage in stride, trying to make the most of it. He was far from the problem child. However, Joe had said that he wanted to go too, and it was all arranged. Tony, Derek's father and my mom's new hubby, was never low on money so that part was really no trouble at all. For them at least.

So here we were, leaving our home in California to go to a boarding school in Minnesota. What I wanted to know was why it was even called Sunview. Was Minnesota known for the sun? Not so much. California was the sunny state. Wait, or was that Florida? I couldn't remember.

Derek started walking down the path to the school immediately, not bothering to hang around with us. I knew he hated our mom for getting his dad to marry her, and I knew he hated us for having a gold-digger mom. I had grown used to it, though in the beginning our conversations weren't necessarily the friendliest.

Joe and I glanced at each other with that significant sibling look as Tony locked up the SUV and him and Mom set off after Derek. When we noticed their movement we followed suit.

“So, how do you feel? Homesick?” Joe asked, looking down at me. I continued to stare at the back of Derek's head in the distance. How did he suddenly know where to go?

“Psh, we still have our parents for another few hours,” I said finally, squinting my eyes in the brightness. Alright, it was rather sunny. “I really miss me some Arlen, and even Sarah. Sarah is so adorable, isn’t she? I wish I had a little sister.” I sighed wistfully, realizing I was rambling. Was I anxious, or sleep-deprived? I decided on the latter. It was two hours later here. Jet lag, you know.

“Don‘t worry, little sisters aren‘t that fantastic. Mine happens to be a snob,” my brother replied with a smirk. I grinned at him, and Derek glanced back at us with a scowl. He had finally slowed down to let the four of us catch up.

We walked into a large office-like building, complete with air-conditioning and families everywhere. Some students were taking it all in with enthusiasm, whereas others looked downright bored and others still were practically sobbing.

While our parents waited to register, I was stuck with looking at all the kids around us. There were some hott guys, some ugly ones, some normal ones, a couple stuck-up looking girls, one girl with a fake tan and dyed blonde hair, a couple nerds, and some jocks. I was finally starting to get anxious and jumpy when Joe nudged me and pointed to Derek, who was hanging out with a couple popular-looking guys. They were laughing and chatting. Derek was smiling.

It was disgusting.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said with a groan. “Derek’s already making friends?”

“He could just be talking to them,” Joe pointed out, “unlike us, two siblings sitting in the corner of the hall.”

I scoffed, staring at my brother. “You know as well as I do that I’m perfectly outgoing and have no problem making friends. I just don’t feel like it today,” I said, making my voice drone from boredom. Our parents still had to buy books, but I hadn’t even seen my schedule so I was pretty much relying on them. Hey, I was independent after this, going to a boarding school. Let them take care of the work for at least one more day.

After we registered and got our pictures taken for our IDs, I had to deal with a reception and a welcome speech from Headmaster Cleo Todd. My day was pretty much made right there.

But seriously, the word 'lunch' sounded like heaven bells to my ears after all that boring talk, and I practically shot out of my seat in the auditorium.

The Smith Dining Hall was in the biggest dorm building, also known as where the freshmen slept. This would be my home.

Which was weird, considering it was the opposite of homey.

I walked straight in since we didn’t need to use our student IDs just yet. Derek had completely vanished, and I lost track of Joe in the crowd. Mom appeared beside me just as I was looking for a familiar face, and I exhaled in relief. “How do you like it so far, honey?” she asked, pushing my blonde bangs away from my left eye.

I shrugged. “It’s modern, which I like, with tons of trees and stuff, so I guess I’ll live,” I said, avoiding her gaze. I wasn't necessarily lying, because it's not like I would die from being unhappy at a boarding school. Mom grinned at me and I gave her a small smile in return.

We came up to a salad bar and I immediately attacked it, filling a whole plate with lettuce and putting Italian dressing on it. A few carrots, and I was set to go. It turned out to be a good thing I wasn’t that hungry because there was a ginormous line for hot food. I immediately wished the line would disappear though, for the delicious aroma of French fries filled my nostrils. I looked to my left where there was a cereal bar, drink bar, and…ice cream bar? Oh. My. God. Ice cream! I grinned, but I decided to eat my salad first. I went with my mom to the table where Tony and Derek were sitting. Derek looked like he really didn’t want to be sitting with his family.

Typical.

“Where’s Joey?” I asked, looking around.

“He decided to be a dumbass and go in the line for hot dogs and fries,” Derek said, rolling his eyes for emphasis. All he was having was ice cream. So healthy.

“Language,” Mom scolded, and Derek simply rolled his eyes again and gave his ice cream a significant look. He probably meant for me to see it.

Well, it was good to know he continued to get what he wanted.

I decided to use my faux-sisterly charm, leaning towards him. “Aw, come on, bro. Cheer up. You get to spend the whole year with me! Isn’t that great?” I said, giving him a crooked grin with sarcasm oozing from my words.

Derek let out a little choke like a fake-cry and slammed his head against the table softly. After everyone was settled down and eating, the cafeteria quieted down a bit, enough for me to realize that there was music playing in the background. The Killers? Oh yes. I was definitely not going to have a problem with this caf. Except for the huge line, but I used the Solomon optimism to guess that that was simply the parents that made the line longer.

Once I was finished with my salad, Mom handed me a folder filled with all my information from registration. It held my student ID, my student handbook, my schedule, my book list, and my room information. I looked at the name for my new roomie: Cassidy Guira. Seemed harmless enough.

It was dorms after lunch. Joe went with Mom and all of the new upperclassmen to the scattered dorms around campus. The upperclassmen dorms had as little as five people in them, with a range of two to six Houseparents. Only the freshmen were bundled up together in one dorm, Green Hall, though at least we were in close range with the cafeteria. Of course, we had our own Dean living on the first floor. What happened to the partying and college life boarding schools were known for? I wasn't seeing it.

We all had to bring our bags to the common room on the first floor, and then the Dean and Houseparents went over the guidelines for the dorms. I wasn't planning on doing anything scandalous during my stay, so for the most part I simply tuned it out.

After they finished we got an hour to wander around with our parents before they had to go to more meetings. I ignored Tony and Derek, calling my mom's cell phone to try and find out where Joe and her were.

"We're actually coming to your dorm," Mom had replied when I asked, "so stay put."

When they arrived, the three of us mostly just sat on the front lawn, looking up at the sky and talking random nonsense. We didn't want it to seem like a permanent goodbye, so we kept it casual. However, when Mom finally said she had to leave, I began to feel nostalgic.

“Bye Mom, I’ll miss you,” I said, hugging her.

“Don’t kill your brothers,” she replied, and I grinned.

“I’ll try not to,” I replied mischievously.

“Make sure to email and call every Sunday!” she said. “Always do your homework and try not to get detention in the first week.”

“I would never,” I said, sarcastically amazed at my mother. I hugged Tony once him and Derek reunited with us, as did Joe, and the three of us watched our parents go back into the main building. I felt myself getting teary-eyed. Joe glanced at me and nudged my arm with his elbow.

“So, did you get a big dorm or a small dorm?” I asked, changing the subject to something more lighthearted.

“Lucky for me I got one of the dorms in the back, not where your dorm is. It’s called Lockwell, and it’s about medium, I'd guess. Fifteen people,” he replied. “There are only four supervisors.” I nodded.

“So, I’m gonna go to my dorm and sleep,” Derek said suddenly, walking away from the fountain. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him back.

“Not so fast,” I said. “We have New Student Orientation until 5.”

“God damn it,” Derek muttered, pulling his shirt out of my grip.

By the time dinner came around, I was starving. I took out my student ID and had the pleasure of sliding it through the scanner at the front. The man behind the small counter let me in, and I immediately went to the salad bar. When I had my salad made to my fancy, I looked at the table arrangement of the cafeteria.

While all the upperclassmen could move between the round tables because their dorm numbers varied so much, the freshmen were stuck in the long table that went through the middle of the area. I sat at the end, glaring at a boy who tried to talk to me and becoming increasingly annoyed at a girl who was chatting about her new shoes to her equally stupid friend.

As I was finishing up my salad, a tray plopped down in front of me and I looked up to see Joe wave in my direction.

Thank you, bro. I knew we were going to be separate for a while, since the freshmen were the newbies of Sunview and didn’t have anything to do with the other three grades. Hopefully it would be something I got used to. Joe and I were each other's best friends, because we had never had any time to make friends with anyone in the many towns we had lived in. Even Arlen wasn't as close to us, considering he was only our half-brother.

We had to go to another meeting after dinner, for which Derek was mysteriously absent, and finally we had Dorm Meetings. We got introduced to our Houseparents again, and Derek got in trouble publically for skipping out on the chapel. All-in-all, it was a very eventful meeting that I had to say was probably my favorite of the day.

Not that that was saying much.

To end the meeting, we got paired up with our roommates to talk with them and learn more about them. Really, it was something I had been looking forward to all day.

When I met my roommate, I realized I had expected no more than what I got.

She was perky. That was the only way to describe her. Her curly brown hair was perky, her clothes were perky, and her personality was perky. I guessed she was a cheerleader. Or a gymnast. "Hi, I'm Cassidy Guira," she said cheerfully with a wave.

“I know,” I replied with an uninterested tone to my voice, looking at everyone else in the room. Finally, I looked back at her. “They just said it, and I got your name on a card.”

“What’s your name?” she asked me politely, ignoring my comment.

“You know it; it’s on the card,” I replied. I was annoyed now.

“How do you pronounce it?” Cassie asked. She looked so innocent, I noticed. She had her hair in a ponytail, with chin-length side-bangs like my own and bright green eyes. She was relatively thin and tall, with at least six inches on me. Of course, I was only four foot eleven inches, so everyone was tall to me. Yeah, I was pretty petite, but at least I wasn't a skeleton. That would have just been creepy. I probably would have screamed every time I looked in the mirror.

Of course, I distinctly remembered Derek saying that he was surprised I didn't do that with the way I looked now.

“Bridget Solomon,” I said, folding my arms. I didn't want Cassie to think I was friendly. This body language should have been a clear-cut sign. Anyone could see that.

“Can I see your schedule?” she asked, persistent as hell. I realized I hadn’t even looked at it, and I looked inside the folder I held in my hands. I handed the schedule to her once I found it, and she skimmed it with her smile quickly becoming a frown. “We only have Biology Honors together, and no lunch.” She sighed loudly, obviously disappointed.

I snapped my fingers. “Aw, shucks. That’s too bad." She handed my schedule back, and I glanced at it before putting it back in the folder.

First Period. 7:50 to 8:50. Geometry Honors.
Second Period. 8:55 to 9:55. Biology Honors.
Third period. 10:00 to 11:00. Physical Education 1.
Fourth period. 11:05 to 11:45. Lunch A.
Fifth period. 11:50 to 12:50. English 1 Honors.
Sixth period. 12:55 to 1:55. Study Hall.
Seventh period. 2:00 to 3:00. Spanish 1.

“That’s just for your first semester, though,” Cassie said suddenly, her freaky smile returning, “so we might get more classes next semester.”

“Great!” I said, mimicking the smile. Cassie grinned even wider. She must not have understood the concept of sarcasm.

“Now that you’ve all gotten aquainted,” said Dean Galegos, interrupting our poor excuse for a conversation, “you are free to go to your dorms. Lights go out at 10 PM, and you must check in at the Houseparents dorm before you retire to your own.”

Cassie and I made our way to the staircase with everyone else, and I groaned inwardly with a sudden realization that I had to endure nine months of this bullshit. “I think I’m going to kill myself,” I hissed to Derek as we passed each other on the stairs.

“Do I know you?” he replied, glancing at me. I glared at him and went up to my room on the fourth floor with Cassidy. The building was in a U shape, so there were three halls on each floor. We were in the left wing, near the end.

There were only locks on the doors leading from the staircase to the halls, which we opened by scanning our student IDs. None of the actual dorm rooms had locks. I found it strange, but I guessed this was considered a safe school. When we entered our room after checking in, I found a bunk bed on the wall to the left, perpendicular to the wall with the door with two desks facing each other on the wall opposite it, and two closets on either side of the door. There were bulletin boards as well. Cassie immediately suggested I take the top bunk, to which I happily accepted.

They had pre-made sheets, but we had to add our own comforters and pillow cases. I added my home-made poster right next to my bed, which had pictures of my favorite bands, actors, and television shows. Cassie glanced at the poster and looked at me with a blank look, like I was an alien. Or unusually obsessed. Of course, Cassie put up pictures of her precious Corbin Bleu and an abnormally big poster of Jesse McCartney that made me afraid for Cassie's health.

I tried to ignore her for the most part, plugging in my MacBook and setting it on my desk; she plugged in her Dell. I put a ton of DVDs up on the shelves above my desk, like Veronica Mars and The Office; she put up DVDs of One Tree Hill and Gilmore Girls above hers.

Once my laptop was on, I ased Cassie if she minded that I listen to music.

“Sure, what?” she asked.

“Linkin Park?” I suggested.

“I don’t really like rock,” said Cassie, twirling her hair nervously. “Do you have Fergie?”

I nearly gagged. “No.” I attempted to think of something in the middle. A rock band, but popular and more prepped up. “What about Fall Out Boy?”

“I love them!” Cassie exclaimed cheerfully.

So, I turned it on, at an appropriate volume, of course. We both broke out into full-out singing when 'Dance, Dance' came on, which was probably the first bonding moment we had ever had.

While continuing to sing, I hung up all my clothes in my closet. I ranged from legwarmers to goth-looking clothes to bright pink preppy shirts in my style, since I definitely dressed to suit my mood. By about 9:45, I was conveniently finished.

Cassie went into the bathroom to take a shower at 9:30, so I changed into my pajamas in the room. I pulled my short blonde hair into a small ponytail and put on a headband to get my bangs out of my face. Then I grabbed my bathroom bag and went into the hallway. Down the hall was the shower, right next to the window looking out at all the buildings deeper into the Sunview campus. I brushed and flossed my teeth, brushed my hair, and washed my face. By the time I was done, Cassie was out of the shower. She went straight to brushing her teeth and combing her hair just as I left to go back to the room. A lot of people who had decided to walk around campus were coming back around now, so I was glad I was done with the bathroom.

Just as Cassie appeared, a horn sounded. “Lights out!” one of our Houseparents Hilda said. The hallway light was turned out, and Cassidy closed the door quickly and ran to her bed. She turned the light off, and I climbed onto the top bunk.

“Goodnight, roomie!” she whispered.

“Goodnight Cassidy,” I replied in a deadpan.

AUTHOR NOTE: Well, here’s my story. I’m not even finished introducing the characters, obviously. Just so you know, I’m going to try and keep the boarding experience realistic. I went on a tour of a boarding school once, but all I remember vividly was the cafeteria with the music and the delicious food. I know the basics of the dorm, with the Houseparents and how many buildings there are, but about the actual rules and stuff, I’m going on a whim. Plus, I'm using an actual boarding school website to reference for the schedule, like for lunch and when dinner is, etc.

I’m going to try and update every Monday and Thursday, but it might just end up being every Monday. Especially when I start high school and tennis in August. Ugh, homework galore. I'll probably end up updating monthly, which would suck immensely.

EDIT NOTE: Yeah, I'm editing this bad boy. In fact, I might be adding a character, though it WON'T be major. I'm not going to add this note to all of them, though, because that'd be boring. After an anonymous review, I finally got fired up to edit this thing considering I have three books in this series left and I won't feel proud of it if I know they have to trudge through the first book to understand the other three.