Another year, another day. That was the feeling Daniel Calley had as he entered the front door of West Shaniff High School, ready for his sophomore year. West Shaniff High was like most public schools; no uniform, everyone in the town went there and of course, no high school would be complete without its cliques and popular kids. Daniel himself wasn't extremely popular, but he did know most of them and he was generally well liked. He was also in the social circle of most of the school, from jocks to nerds. He tried to be nice to everyone no matter the situation and as a result, he was known in the school as the 'Mediator'. He was given that title by the student body for his ability to resolve disputes between different groups in the school as well as being the bridge between the popular kids and the masses.

Daniel had received his school schedule a week earlier as well as all his logistical information. His locker was now located at the middle of the second floor, a floor up from his old locker, which had been located in the back of the first floor.

'Perfect, English with the beast first. Hell has never been kinder' Daniel bitterly thought as he blew a couple strands of hair out of his face. He was known in the school to be very good looking, from his handsome facial features with his short cut black and brown hair to with several strands in the front to his slim, well muscled athletic frame.

As he was putting his bag into his locker, he heard a voice that instantly made him happy.

"Oh my god! I got the locker next to you Danno!" Kayla Chan, Daniel's best friend exclaimed. Kayla was extremely hot, and she knew it. She just chose never to use it. She was a bit shorter then Daniel, about to his shoulders. She had long black hair that went up to her shoulder blades and had a very cute face. The only thing that didn't really mix with her face was her eyes, which were black as the night. Unfortunately for her, the first thing that boys tended to notice was her ass, which as Daniel had often noted, could make a man break into Fort Knox for her.

"And so goes my sanity," Daniel muttered as he turned to Kayla, "Hey Kayla. How was London?"

"Brilliant! Weather was pretty crap though," she explained. Kayla was originally from England and as such, spoke with a British accent after having lived there for five years of her life before moving to New York, where the school was located.

"Great, what class do you have first?" Daniel asked.

"English, with Ms. Williams. Why?"

"Homeroom?" Daniel said with increasing curiosity

"Apparently Mr. Derrickson."

"Awesome, let's go."

"Wait, you got him too? Sweet," Kayla said with a smile on her face.

September 7th, 8:30 AM, Room 218

"Good morning students. I'm Mr. Derrickson, and I'll be your homeroom teacher as well as your possible history teacher. I only have three ground rules in my room, when I'm speaking, I request that you listen and not speak, not do anything to harass, harm or sabotage other students and as for rule number three, don't do anything so brain dead retarded that you get called to the Dragon's Den, A.K.A, the principal's office."

Daniel liked him instantly. It was the way he spoke and handled himself that made everyone in the room enjoy being here. He looked thin and was probably only in his early thirties, by Daniel's guess.

The room was arranged in three rows with each row having a column of four desks. The desks themselves were arranged with two people in each set of desks, so Daniel and Kayla were able to grab a seat in the middle row. The back of the room was covered in historical posters and artifacts from all periods of time, but mostly from the 20th Century. At the center of all of those things was an actual rifle used in the Second World War.

"Where's William?" Kayla whispered.

"He got placed in Ms. Hunter's class with Jake," Daniel replied.

"Haha, he deserves it after that stunt he pulled on me last month," Kayla remarked slyly. The stunt she was talking about was when they were at the beach for a weekend of sun and fun. William snuck up behind Kayla in the hotel corridor and pulled down her skirt in front of everyone else. Unfortunately for Kayla, she had run out of clean underwear and so was wearing her secret 'can't tap this' panties. Everyone got a huge laugh out of it, except for Kayla of course. She quickly pulled up her skirt and swore she would get him back someday.

"Since I need to know your names we're going to play a game. When I call your name from the attendance sheet I want you to say 'here' and tell the class where you came from and your interests or hobbies. Let's start. Jenna Ackerman," Mr. Derrickson said.

"Slut," Kayla bitterly said under her breath. Jenna and Kayla had never seen eye to eye. This was actually because Jenna was the most popular person in the school. Anything she said could give a person a social boost or death sentence. Jenna was also extremely disconnected from the rest of the school. She never ever cared about anything people said and it was always her way or the highway. Kayla had always wanted to bring her down a peg, but no one had ever found a way to do it yet.

"I'm from Manhattan, where I was raised living in 5th Avenue. Being from there I could say that my hobbies are shopping," Jenna said.

"Hobby number two, sleeping with boys." Kayla muttered. Daniel shot her a sideways glance.

"It's true," Kayla explained.

"Not saying it isn't," Daniel said.

This game went on for a while. When Mr. Derrickson came to Daniel, he replied that he was born in New Jersey and his hobbies were writing music and playing sports. Kayla said she was born in Birmingham and that her hobbies were painting and partying.

"OK, now that I've gotten that out of the way, I'll let you guys ask me anything you want. It can be about anything, although I do reserve the right to refuse certain questions," Mr. Derrickson said.

The standard fare of questions were thrown immediately like 'who are you dating?'(secret) or 'how old are you?'(32). Daniel asked a question, and it was one that everybody had on their minds.

"What's with the gun in the back?" Daniel asked.

"That gun belonged to my grandfather. He fought in World War Two, but not for the side you may think. He was a German resistance fighter, which explains why the rifle isn't a M1 Garand, the standard U.S service rifle during that time. It is actually a Kar 98K, which he stole from a guard outpost. He helped the Russians and Americans attack key strategic points and was actually part of the final assault against the Nazis in Berlin. I keep the gun here to remember all those who gave their lives for their country, no matter which side or affiliation. Anyway, that's all we have time for today, so off to first period you go," Mr. Derrickson explained.

9:00 AM, Lockers

"What do you think about Mr. Derrickson?" Kayla asked Daniel inquisitively.

"He seems good. At the very least, he's a nice person," Daniel answered.

"True. I like him. Anyway, let's get going, we've got Ms. Williams and you know what happens if we're late for her," Kayla shuddered as she said it.

"True that. Let's book."

Author's Note: Yes I realize the first chapter doesn't really move the plot along. That's because for this story I wanted to do something a bit different and lay the setting and characters down as groundwork before the plot moves on. If you see any of my other stories, you'll notice that they are very fast paced and plot heavy with a lot of character interaction not going towards building them as characters. I wanted to make the sure the characters were as fleshed out as possible. Anyway, I will be using some real songs so if you have any recommendations please tell me what the song is called and who made it. My only condition is that they be a rock band and no death metal where the whole song is just screams. For reference, that means no Suicide Silence but Black Veil Brides is allowed.