CHAPTER ONE

Boy Meets Girl

'Breathe, Juliette. It'll all be over after six hours."

Juliette Summers not-so-confidently straightened her back and took a large breath before she 'boldly' stepped into the campus of East Silver Rose Academy. It was definitely the common first-day-in-school-jitters. It was an ending from her life in Chicago and a fresh beginning to her life here. She felt her stomach somersaulted in her gut when she looked around in the school compound. The very front of the Academy was its black iron gates, the guardhouse and the pavement that stretched right into the school.

There were picnic tables and seats placed at random spots in the campus, a large fountain placed right in the centre of the campus and a circle of flowers neatly before the porch of the three-storey school building. The fountain was a sculpture of a beautiful mermaid holding a vase above her head where the sparkling clear water was flowing out. There were tall trees that doubled Juliette's size with small barred fence circling around them and there were puddles of dry brown leaves scattered on the floor that had never been swept since last fall.

The walls were purely white; the windows were double-door shutters with their clear glasses showing glimpses of the classrooms. She could see their whiteboards scribbled with the teacher's notes and formulas with students sitting facing it while they jotted those notes in their notebooks. The roof was like a large plate of maroon bricks being laid out extremely neatly at the top.

'Hmm, nothing out of the ordinary. This might be a good start,' She looked at the front entrance hopefully.

The front door was a mahogany double-door entrance that reminded her of the entrances at grand hotels. There were teal and crystal blue benches arranged next to visible pots of flowers them. There was also the notice board that was as wide as a window. She could see colorful posters about recent events, notices to certain clubs or societies and announcements from the Principle or the teachers pinned onto it. She looked up, noticing there was a long brick arch formed above the gate.

There was a green plastic sign attached to it with gold writings written on it. It said: 'Shoot the moon. Even if you miss it, you'll land among of the stars.' Those were motivational words, indeed. This was probably really a good start, considering that her previous life in Chicago was horrible and bitter. Memories flooded back into her mind and her nails dug deep into her palms, ready to pierce through her skin until . . .

PLOMP!

The impact was so strong against her back that she landed on her knees and palms, rubbing against the rough surface of the concrete. She winced at the pain, feeling the small particles of the soil pushing her skin inwards. She lifted her head, catching the sight of a figure walking away from her. That must've been the person who 'accidentally' bumped into her. She pushed herself up even though her palms still stung badly.

"Excuse me!" She shouted.

The stranger froze in his tracks at the call of her voice. His shoulders slumped as if he had just sighed and glanced at her over his shoulder that she could see his face already. She nearly gaped at the young man before she realized that it wasn't a good time to gawk at how handsome he was. Though she couldn't help but notice how tall he was. He had jet black spiky hair that was tousled as though he had just woke up, a pair of sharp green eyes, strong cheekbones and a nicely curved chin.

Juliette mentally kicked herself. It wasn't a perfect time to be gawking at someone.

"What do you want?" He asked rudely.

Juliette's jaw dropped again, surprised. Boy, he was an asshole. "I'm afraid you know what it is I want." She said, placing her hands on her hips.

The young man clearly looked very annoyed being confronted by her. He merely raised a thin eyebrow at her. "Sorry, I'm rather…clueless of what you want from me." He said, feigning innocence.

Before she could apprehend what he had just said and meant, he quickly turned his heel and marched towards the entrance. He looked as if he was in a real hurry. What was to hurry for? It was only 6. 55 AM! School activities would not start until 7. 30 AM! She marched behind him, gripping onto his shoulder to make him face her. He glared at her threateningly with his green eyes that were as green as emeralds. She would've drowned right into them.

"What's your problem, little girl?" He shouted at her.

Her eyes widened slightly at his remarks. Wow, how rude could this guy be? "Do you have a problem, little boy?" She said irritated.

"Do I look like I have a problem?" He challenged, glaring at her.

She furrowed her eyebrows, glaring back at him. "Evidently, you have an attitude problem, I'd say."

He rolled his eyes, growing more irritated. "What are you? A shrink?"

"Sadly, no." She crossed her arms. "Besides, you owe me an apology for bumping into me."

"No, I don't." He deadpanned. Her jaw fell from the third time, utterly dumbfounded by his rudeness. 'Seriously, how rude is this asshole?'

"Oh, stop looking so astonished 'cause it makes you look like a goldfish." He said with a snarky tone. "If you're bothered of being bumped by other people, that's clearly your pathetic problem. Not mine." He bellowed at her. "Besides you were the one who was standing like a pole!"

She gritted her teeth together. "But it couldn't have been too hard to notice me standing there, right? I was standing like a pole." She replied, beginning to grow impatient.

"Notice you?" He scoffed as if it was a joke. "Only the blind would never notice how ugly you are."

Her jaw dropped open again. The young man smirked triumphantly at her dumbfounded reaction. He turned his heel, satisfied and ready to walk away. However, Juliette was not done. "Well, only the children cannot tell how stupid you are."

He snapped back his head at her, instantly glaring his eyes at her. She had her hands on her hips, her head titled to the right with an equally victorious smirk like his earlier. He approached her again with a serious face with his fist clenched. However, her smirk did not slide from her face. He was standing at least a foot away from her, towering above her five and six feet frame.

"Do you know that the word 'stupid' is too horrendously common?" He hissed with disdain.

She narrowed her dull brown at her. "Do you know the arrogant asshole act is so overdone?"

He frowned harder. She grinded her teeth against each other, her fists clenched as though she ready to punch him. But he was a guy! He had certain advantages against her like his height. She can't possibly punch someone who was at least five inches taller than her.

"May I suggest therapy? Or are you too arrogant and self-centered to go to one?" She asked sarcastically, her fists balled against her waist.

He didn't seem to react much to it. Instead, he fired one back. "Do you need a psychiatrist? Or are you too delusional to see one by yourself?"

"Boy, aren't you psychotic…" She commented dryly.

"Boy, aren't you pathetic…" He smirked cockily.

Juliette bit her lip. There was no way she was going to let this bastard win. It would hurt her ego too much to see him walk away with the Nobel Prize. She grinned sickeningly sweet at him and said nothing for a while. Damn her ego.

"What? Out of remarks?" He said. "Do you need a teacher? It'd be better if you learned how to speak again."

She grinned. "Do you need a monk? I think you need to be castrated."

She didn't know how those words could have escaped from her mouth. But it didn't matter. She didn't even thought of what she had just said before it left her lips. She could feel her golden ticket to winning this battle was shining brightly like she had just won a lottery. She stifled her chuckles with amusement.

"Satisfied?" He demanded.

Juliette chuckled a bit. "You think?" She cupped her mouth to stifle her chuckles again.

He raised his fist up to her forehead level. He leaned the nail of his third finger against his thumb in a flickering motion. She raised both of her brows in confusion of his actions. He flicked his third finger onto the surface of her forehead.

"Ouch!" She cried, holding her forehead that was starting to sting in pain. "Damn you!"

He chuckled heartily. She guessed that her forehead was already reddening fast. She pouted, sticking out her bottom lip at him as she rubbed her forehead to ease the pain. He watched her with an impish grin tugging on his lips until they both heard a voice calling behind him . . .

"Romeo!"

They both turned to the source of the voice. A blonde guy sprinted towards Romeo as if he was in a race. His short platinum blonde hair was bizarrely disheveled; the books in his grip were ready to slip out from his arm. His uniform was clearly crippled and messy but in a fashionable way. His vest was unbuttoned, his tie was hanging loosely around his neck and his sleeves were rolled up to expose his elbows. It was obvious to see that he looked charming in a 'Bad Boy' way.

"Romeo, where on Earth have you been, man?" He patted the young man on his shoulder. "C'mon, Mister Fat-Mounds is going throw a fit soon!" He told his friend desperately.

Juliette had chuckled when the word 'Mister Fat-Mounds' was mentioned. 'That's a pretty interesting name…'

However, both of them seemed to have forgotten her existence.

The young man rolled his eyes. "Sure, Stephen, let's go before his stomach explodes." He turned his heel and headed for the entrance.

Stephen ran his hand through his platinum blonde hair and stole a glance at Juliette before following his best friend, hot at his heels. Juliette stood there and blinked, slightly surprised that her confrontation with the young man had ended. She sighed, remembering the pain in her knees and palms. She checked her knees, finding several red dots on them. That was really going to bruise. She breathed in, rolling up her sleeves. 'So much for a good beginning to start the first day,' she thought, looking at her reddened palms.

She looked at the entrance where the two young men had disappeared to.

'His name was Romeo . . . how ironic for a guy like him to have such a name.' She thought before walking up to the entrance to go to office.

Romeo yawned tiredly, stretching his arms over his head as he walked down in the corridor. Mister Harland—who was commonly nicknamed as 'Mr. Fat-Mounds due to his large size—had forced him to come early to school for extra Calculus classes. Romeo hated that man so much. He didn't understood why Mister Harland couldn't ask him to stay back in school instead since there could've been enough time for them to go over Romeo's mistakes.

Whatever, he thought. He yawned again, rubbing his eyes drowsily. Thankfully he had homeroom first so he had enough time to fall asleep in class without being bothered. Suddenly, he heard footsteps rapidly tapping at the corner of the corridor until they grew louder and louder until…

PLOMP! He groaned with annoyance, unmoved by the impact that crashed onto him. He heard a meek squeak and—wait! A squeak? He looked down at the person, amused to see it was the girl who had confronted him today. She had books piled in her hands and her outrageously thick bangs had covered her eyes, making it impossible for her to see him. He gazed at her from head to toe, realizing that she was probably a new student because of her missing nametag.

"Be careful next time, kid." He said, grinning slyly.

She bobbed her head, shyly. "Uh, could you tell me where to find Mister Holland's classroom?"

'Sweet.' He thought, eyes twinkling with mischief. "What period are you supposed to have now?"

"Homeroom." She said with a strained voice, adjusting her books again. "Could you direct me to the classroom, please?"

The corner of his lip curled maliciously and he gave her the directions. She listened and nodded at his directions, carefully making sure her new textbooks would not topple out of her hands. With that, she thanked him before she took off in a run. Romeo watched her, grinning broadly to see that she was running in the wrong direction. He turned his heel, shaking off the thought that what he did was wrong. But heh, she deserved it. 'Let's see how this newbie will last in East Silver Rose Academy.' He thought.

"Okay, okay, class, calm down! This is not a circus class." The homeroom teacher, Mister Holland, said over the loud noise.

Stephen's eyes were so heavy and well, he wished he had slept earlier the night before. However, high school had been the same thing throughout every year since Stephen could remember. There was hardly anything extraordinary that ran through every corner of the school, except for the common gossips about who was with whom, what was the hot topic and etcetera. Nevertheless, East Silver Rose High was a perfectly common school—only they had the nosiest student population that probably existed.

'Heh, I think it'd be cool if I slept in.' He glanced at his best friend Romeo who was already dozing off at his table. The corner of his lip curled. 'I don't see the harm of it.' He laid his crossed arms on his table before he stifled a yawn and lazily placed his head. However…

SHTACK! The door flew open abruptly that it nearly startled Stephen from his slumber. His gaze diverted to the front door drowsily, mildly surprised to see a foreign girl standing underneath the doorframe. She was panting heavily and there were books at her feet with sweat trailing down her face. He figured that she must've been a new student. He watched her scrambling hastily and clumsily to pick her books with her cheeks reddening with embarrassment. Wait, she looked very familiar.

"You're a new student." Mister Holland began. It was clearly not a question.

The girl looked up, trying to catch her breath. "Yeah. Sorry that I'm late. Someone gave me the wrong direction."

Ah, he remembered her. It was that brunette who apparently had been arguing with Romeo earlier. He stole a glance at his sleeping best friend, figuring that it was him who gave her the wrong directions. He shook his head slightly with mild amusement.

"Well, you're a little late for class, aren't you?" Mister Holland said, causing Juliette's face to grow redder. "But first days are rough. Just don't be tardy again, okay?"

She nodded mutely. Mister Holland grinned at her before turning back to the classroom in front of him. "Well, then… Class, here's our new transfer student." Mister Holland said eagerly. "Introductions will begin later. I've got news and rules to lay out now first."

Even though she was relieved that she didn't have to introduce herself at this untimely moment, Juliette did not dare to glance around the classroom.

"Juliette, how about if you take that empty seat next to Yuri?" Mister Holland asked, gesturing at one particular student.

She followed to the direction where he was gesturing. The first thing she noticed about the student was the pink highlights in her black long hair. She eyed the girl curiously. She had Asian-like features, her hair was brought up in a messy bun with a black butterfly hairpin, her long-sleeved vest was tied around her waist and her school uniform's maroon skirt was exchanged with a checkered one instead.

"Okay…" She muttered hesitantly.

Somehow, she felt as though everyone was staring at her. She quickly headed towards the seat, happy that she didn't have to do introductions. She dropped into the seat next to her new classmate.

"Hi, I'm Yuri." She offered her hand.

Juliette merely grinned at first. "I'm Juliette." She took Yuri's hand and they exchanged a formal handshake.

Yuri grinned broadly. "Cool yet cliché name."

But what Juliette was surprised to see the color of her pink irises. She was surprised how bright the color was (even though she knew those were contact lens). Juliette placed a strand of her light brown hair behind her ear before flashing a grin to her. They both dropped their hands to their sides. 'At least I've made a new friend,' Juliette thought reassuringly.

"You're Japanese?" She asked, dropping into the seat next to her.

"No, actually. It's just my nickname. I really don't like my real name." Yuri answered.

Juliette nodded understandingly and faced towards the front of the class, noticing that Mister Holland had already started the lesson. She took out her pencil box and a newly-bought exercise book.

"Then, what's your real name?" Juliette asked, flipping open the book. "It can't be that bad."

Yuri chuckled nervously. "Well, you have no idea. Seeing that you're my new friend, I might as well keep it a secret."

"Oh, will you girls, just shut up."

Juliette jumped in her seat. The source of the voice had come from the person behind her, whom was previously sleeping. She glanced at her shoulder, facing a familiar annoyed face. "Oh, hell no."

"No way." The guy mumbled, surprised.

"Not you." They both said simultaneously.

Yuri stared at both of them from Juliette and Romeo. "Umm…" She scratched her head. "You guys know each other?"

"What on Earth are you doing here?" Romeo asked, glaring at her.

Juliette scowled back at him. "I should be asking you the same thing."

"I'll take that as a 'yes'." Yuri shrugged.

Juliette grunted with irritation, cursing for her bad luck. Suddenly, she felt the back of her chair received a kick and she heard a small snicker. She gritted her teeth together. 'Some fresh beginning.' She thought sardonically. Stephen had been watching her since she entered the classroom, smiling to himself when Romeo briefly kicked her chair. In his opinion, she looked witty and . . . well, he can't put his finger on it but he later shrugged it off. However, he made a mental note that he should watch out because she gave him a feeling that this year was going to be . . . thrilling.

'Oh, thank God!'

The recess bell rang loudly, its loud earsplitting ring echoed throughout the corridors in the academy. She immediately rose from her desk and dashed out of the classroom, not caring that her U.S. History textbook and her black pencil box were still on her desk, prone to the danger of being stolen. She felt so claustrophobic when the corridors were now being filled with students from other classroom. But the one thing mattered was her stomach that was aching with hunger.

She hastily descended the half-empty staircase, rushing down into the cafeteria before the stampede ran over her. She walked out of the school building and walked straight across the courtyard, noticing that prefects were already doing their duties or were still eating. She saw a wide open one-storey building at the right side of the building next to the building that where Grade 7 to Grade 9 and the school gym was placed.

She rushed into the cafeteria, queuing up at the counter and scanned throughout the choices of food they had. She decided to buy a plate of strawberry tarts, a piece of pizza with a can of Sprite. She paid the lunch lady at the counter before dashing out of the line. Her eyes scanned around the entire cafeteria, desperate to find a place where she could eat alone with Yuri until . . .

Puffsh!

"Oh, my God! I'm sorry, I didn't see you!" A panicked voice apologized.

Juliette sighed with utter relief when her Sprite did not topple over her pizza and strawberry tarts. She turned to the tall boy who had bumped into her. He dusted his shirt and fixed his black thin-framed glasses on his nose. His eyes lifted from his shirt to Juliette's eyes, revealing his bright brown irises.

"It's okay… I should stop standing in the middle of the road." Juliette apologized nervously.

"Oh." The boy's mouth formed a perfect 'O'. "I… don't think I've seen you around here before. Are you new?" He asked, scratching the back of his jet black hair.

Juliette nodded. "In fact, I am." She stuck out her free hand while the other balanced her tray. "I'm Juliette Anne Summers."

The boy grinned broadly and took her hand, exchanging a formal handshake. "Wow, Shakespeare's character right out of the book." He grinned. Juliette rolled her eyes at that but let out a soft chuckle. "I'm Jason." He said, kindly.

"Juliette!" A voice called out.

They both turned to the source of the voice, seeing Yuri jogging towards them. "Boy, you were fast." She said, dropping her palms to her knees. "I see that you two have met."

"Just met, actually." Jason pointed out.

Juliette nodded in agreement. "Good then!" Yuri cheered. "Let's sit down now."

They both headed towards a nearby vacant table and immediately dropped into the vacant seats provided. Jason placed his can of Coca Cola onto the table, pulling a small packet of mentos from his pocket before placing one into his mouth. Yuri picked up one of Juliette's tart and took a bite of it. However, Juliette didn't mind about it.

"How did you two meet?" Jason asked, gesturing at Yuri and Juliette.

"We met in Homeroom." Yuri answered before taking another bite on the tart. "How about you?" She asked Jason.

"I bumped into her earlier." Jason answered, turning to Juliette apologetically. "Sorry." He apologized.

Juliette waved an airy hand at him. "It's okay, really… At least I'm not alone on my first day of school."

"Well, I'm honored that I'm the first." Yuri beamed at her cheerfully before looking at Jason. "Miss Summers here happens to know Romeo Williams."

Jason's eyebrows shot up amusedly. "The Ice Prince?"

Juliette scoffed and rolled her eyes in a bored manner. "That self-absorbed asshole deserved a title worse than that. He's no Ice Prince, that's for sure." She said, taking a bite on her tart.

"So I assume you have been socializing with Romeo, have you?" Jason asked, taking a sip of his Coca Cola.

"Socializing?" Juliette said as if it was a joke. She scoffed and picking up a tart from her plate. "I wouldn't describe our first impressions on each other was anything but disdainful."

Yuri raised a curious brow at her. "Pray tell, Juliette, I'd like to hear the details."

"The details were vague, Yuri." Juliette said, annoyed and took a large bite of her tart. "He purposely bumped into me, walked away and didn't really apologize for his mistake. Seriously, I was just the only one standing there. How can he not see me?"

"Well, he enjoys having a reputation of being a self-centered bastard." Jason said, rolling his eyes.

"You know him?" Juliette asked, munching on another tart.

He nodded. "Yep. We're on the same football team. He loves to act as the captain even though he isn't."

"Point proven." Juliette agreed.

"But…" Jason quickly added, pointing a cautious finger at her. "… Don't mess with him. If you mess with him big time, only God knows what your punishment is."

Juliette scoffed at that. "Oh, please. He's an asshole. He can't be that powerful or popular or anything."

"Sorry to tell you, babe." Yuri interrupted. "He is. He's Mister Popular in this school. He is the son of a wealthy and well-known businessman. Plus, his looks can make all the girls swoon."

Juliette clicked her tongue at that. "He doesn't make me swoon." She said.

Jason raised a high-five gesture at her. She returned the gesture, crossing her arms. "You go, girl." Jason said.

"But who knows, right?" Yuri said, leaning back on her chair. "Don't say that we didn't warn you."

Juliette rolled her eyes. Somehow, the caution note she was given by Yuri couldn't help but wander what she has to expect from Romeo.

Author's Note: This chapter was revised on 12th of February, 2010.