Hair?

Check.

Make up?

Check.

School bag?

Check.

School uniform?

Grimacing, I tugged my at the hem of coal black skirt that was part of the school uniform. Together with a white blazer, a white under shirt, black loafers, and a black bow, the uniform portrayed the epitome of a fancy school. Honestly, I thought it made me look like a prat. I was too used to being able to wear anything I wanted to my old public school. Now that I was going to Chennault Academy, uniforms were a drastic change.

"Allie Cat, are you ready?"

Stepping out of the bathroom, I scowled at Paul. "Just because you're letting me live at your place, doesn't mean you have the right to call me that!"

He laughed, reaching his hands toward me. For a heart-stopping moment I thought he was going to choke me, but his hands went to the base of my throat, where my bow was. "You put that on wrong, Allie."

"Oh," I said with a blush. Inwardly, I cursed myself. Why was I stuck with my mom's stupid blushing habit? It was the worst!

"Ready to go then?" Paul asked, dropping his arms and smiling at me. "It's only about a three minute ride to the school. You could walk, but I figure since it's your first day I can drive you."

Nodding, I couldn't help but notice his attire. It was semi-casual, semi-formal. A black sweater vest covered his torso while his legs were clad in a pair of dark wash jeans. With him in front of me, I couldn't help but notice how good his jeans fit him. Realizing I was checking him out, I mentally slapped myself in the face. Paul was my guardian. It'd be weird if he caught me checking him out.

"Allie Cat?"

"Don't call me that!" I snapped at him.

He glanced over his shoulder at me, a bit taken aback. "Uh, sorry."

"No, I'm sorry," I murmured. "Sometimes I speak before I think."

"It's okay," he told me. "I do that too sometimes. But in school... I'd watch your tongue."

I tilted my head to the side. "Why?"

"You're going to a very competitive school, Allie. It'd be best if you were polite to everyone. Once you make enemies, you keep enemies."

"You seem to know a lot about this school..."

"I went there."

My eyes widened. "What? You did? Really? I didn't know that!"

"You didn't?" he responded skeptically, holding open the front door. "I'm the one who told your parents to tell you about it."

"They never mentioned that!"

Chuckling, he ushered me out of the doorway so he could shut and lock it. "Really? I wonder why."

My eyes squinted against the early morning sun. Judging by the blue sky, it was going to be a beautiful day. I clenched my fist, determined to make a great first impression on every one, including my teacher's. "Since it's a competitive school, does that means there's a lot of jealous bitches?" I blinked. "Er, excuse my language..."

"No swearing, Allie," Paul scolded me. "I have a swearing jar."

"You do?"

"I do. Every time you swear, you have to put twenty-five cents into it."

Figures. I'd have to thank my father for swearing around me from a young age. Now it was just a habit. "Okay, I'll remember that... Where's your car?"

"Around the corner," he responded, smiling and gesturing to the house. "I forgot to put it in the garage last night."

As we closed in to the corner of the house, my chest tightened. For some reason I was afraid to see what kind of car he drove. Maybe a Bentley? Or a Lamborghini? If he drove me to school in it, wouldn't it catch a lot of attention? With a grimace, I realized other students probably wouldn't even give it a second glance. Since it was a famous private school, all them were most likely rich and chances were they owned their own fancy cars.

Even though, I was prepared to come across an expensive ride, the sight still shocked me. "An Ashton Martin? Are you kidding me?"

"Um, yes?"

"Do you know how expensive these things are?"

"No, because it was given to me," Paul responded, a little bit sheepishly. "By the company..."

I shook my head in disbelief, running my hand over the sleek, shiny black hood. "Wow. This is crazy."

"Sorry?"

Laughing, I waved him off. "Don't apologize. I've always wanted one of these."

He offered me a smile. "Do you want to drive?"

"Can... Can I?" I nearly whispered, excitement wracking my body. Was he joking? He had to be joking. Who would let a seventeen year old who had only had her license for ten months drive their costly car?

"You can, I don't mind," he replied, tossing the keys to me. "Just stick to the speed limit and don't crash."

"Oh my God! Thank you! I'll drive safely!" I cried, nearly running around the car to the driver's side. "Wow, wow, wow."

The car doors were unlocked and I slid onto the smooth leather seat, adoring the feel of the leather steering wheel. Paul climbed into the passenger seat and snapped his seatbelt, ordering for me to do the same. I did, and then turned on the car. The engine roaring to life was music to my ears. "You'll have to give me directions," I told Paul, nearly shaking in exhilaration.

"When you pull out of my driveway, take a left, and follow it to the end of the road. After that, take a right and follow that road to the end. The school is at the end of it. Simple, right?"

"Got it." With my hand on the gearshift, I slid it down to drive. The car started moving by itself, slowly rolling down the driveway. Like Paul instructed, I turned left, after making sure there were no cars coming. Luckily for me, the road seemed empty. When I was in my lane, I gently pushed on the gas.

My head hit the back of my seat as we jolted forward, going from five miles per hour to thirty in a matter of seconds. Immediately I yanked my foot away from the gas and slammed on the break, causing both Paul and myself to jerk forward now, our seatbelts catching and choking us both. With my heart pounding in my chest, I stared at my guardian with round eyes. "I see it's very sensitive."

He opened his mouth to respond, but instead, burst out laughing. "You should have seen your face!"

"This thing is a beast! I didn't know it went so fast!"

"It was priceless!"

"Shut up!"

"I wish I took a picture!"

"Shut up, shut up!" Determined to redeem myself, I pushed down on the gas pedal again, this time barely putting any pressure on it at all. This time I managed to keep steady control.

Paul pouted. "Aw, I was hoping you'd mess up again."

"Maybe next time," I replied, sitting a little straighter in my seat. It felt pretty badass to drive an Aston Martin. Unfortunately, my fun was short lived, because the school really was only a three-minute drive away. As soon as I turned onto the second street, the towering campus and school buildings met my vision.

"Allie, if you park in the side parking lot I'll show you to the office," Paul offered, directing me through the school gates— yes, the school had gates. It intimidated me to no end.

"Are you sure? I can probably find my own way."

"It's okay. We're early, anyway. I don't have to be to work for another twenty-minutes. I wouldn't mind saying hi to a few of my old teachers."

I glanced at him, curious. "Where do you work?"

He gave me a teasing smile. "I'm sure you'll find out in the near future."

"Are you the nurse or something?"

"No," he responded with a laugh. "You have to go to school for more than two years for that."

Well, then that ruled out a teacher too. Maybe he was a lunch lady. The thought made me giggle. How could such a well-off man be a lunch lady? Or rather, man?

"Park there," he instructed, pointing to a free parking spot near the back entrance of the school.

Doing as he ordered, I carefully eased into the parking space, making sure I didn't hit either of the surrounding cars. I wasn't sure what brand of vehicles they were, but I could tell they most likely were worth more than my life. With a deep sigh, I cut the engine. "Don't tell me it's an all you can eat buffet for lunch..."

"Only on Friday's. The other days you have to order off the menu."

They had a menu? Great. "I'm not going to fit in here, Paul. Everyone's going to realize I'm some commoner here on a scholarship and they'll hate me."

Paul frowned at me, his brilliant blue eyes holding concern. "Don't think like that, Allie Cat."

"What did I say—"

"Come on, come on! Let's go get your schedule!"

Glowering at him, I climbed out of the car, locking door behind me. After returning the keys to Paul, we headed to the entrance. My nerves were beginning to catch up to me, and I felt the sudden urge to be sick. Oblivious to my anxiousness, Paul held the door open for me and I entered, my eyes bulging at the elaborate interior. Never before had I heard of a school with a high ceiling, and yet here one was. The floors were made of white tiles, so clean I wouldn't think twice about eating off of them. Chandeliers covered the entire ceiling and I wouldn't have been surprised if someone told me they were made out of diamonds. Different, exotic plants lined the edges of the room, while expensive looking paintings were placed on the walls.

A gentle push on my shoulders sent me stumbling forwards. "You're drooling," Paul murmured in my ear.

"I am not!" I cried, my voice echoing off the high ceiling. For a second, it was all too much and I felt dizzy.

Paul immediately grabbed my shoulders. "Whoa, Allie. Are you okay?"

"I've died and gone to rich land."

Chuckling, he guided me down the extravagant main hall, our feet tapping against the tiles. "I wish I could see your reaction to every room."

"I want to go home," I said flatly.

He patted me on the shoulder. "You'll get used to it."

"You think?"

"I know. Take a left, the office is right at the end of the hallway."

I grabbed the sleeve of his sweatshirt, suddenly feeling panicky. "You're not coming with me?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "Did I say I wasn't?"

"Um, no..."

"I'm coming with you," he informed me with a grin. "You can let go of me, Allie Cat."

I yanked my hand away with him, fighting the blush threatening my cheeks. "Well, I would've been fine without you anyway."

"Is that so? I guess I'll just leave then..."

"No!"

"Say please."

"Please."

"Please what?"

I shot a glower at him. "Please come with me."

"Why of course," he replied, winking. "If you're that desperate."

Grinding my teeth together, I resisted the urge to punch him. It was scaring me how much he was acting like my dad at the moment.

Before we entered the office, I changed my expression to one of polite friendliness. Paul opened the door for me and pushed me inside, greeting the secretary by name. I found it amusing her name was Paula while his was Paul.

"Paul!" Paula, the plump, middle-aged lady greeted him enthusiastically. "It's been such a long time! How are you? How was your summer?"

"Since I finished college, it was refreshing. And I've been good," he said cheerfully. "I brought a new student. Her name is Allie Heywood."

Paula's gaze shifted to me and a warm smile spread across her face. "Ah, Allie. Welcome, welcome! I have your schedule right here! The principal isn't here today, but I'm sure he'll introduce himself at some point."

"Um, okay," I responded awkwardly, glancing at Paul.

He just grinned at me.

Paula sifted through a few papers on her desk before her face lit up and she pulled out a small packet of paper. "Here you are, darling. There's your schedule, a map of the school, the lunch menu, and a nurse form for your parents to fill out."

"Thanks," I thanked her, taking the sheet from her hands.

Paul hovered over my shoulder as I looked over my schedule. I already knew what classes I'd signed up for, so nothing was a surprise. English was the only required class, so I'd been able to fill up the others with whatever I wanted. However, since this was a music school, the subjects were limited. I'd ended up taking a piano lab, a music theory class, a painting class, a home ec class, and an anatomy class because I needed another lab science for college. All of the courses except music theory and painting were yearlong. Those two were semester courses.

"Does everything seem okay?" Paula inquired.

"Yeah, it's just what I wanted," I replied, smiling happily. "When is lunch?"

"For you, you have an hour long lunch break between fourth and fifth period," she informed me. "I'm sure someone will show you around. Paul, if you don't mind, could you show her to her homeroom?"

Paul nodded. "Sure, no problem. Has her lunch card come in yet?"

"Not yet," Paula apologized with a regretful face. "I thought we called. She'll need money for today."

My heart sunk in my chest. I needed money? I didn't bring any... And there was no way I was asking Paul. "Oh, that's okay. I have some on me."

"That's good to hear," she responded, a look of relief crossing her face. "Well, Paul, you might as well show her to her homeroom before all the other students arrive."

"Oh, right, okay. Come on, Allie."

"Have a good day, Ms. Heywood!"

I gave her a quick wave before leaving the office with Paul. "I'll never be able to find my classes," I confessed to him, staring down at the map, feeling anxious. The campus was way too big. "I won't be able to make friends—"

"Hey, don't be a negative Nelly," he interjected, bopping me on the head with his fist. "You'll be fine. You're a nice person."

"You only know my six-year old self," I pointed out irritably.

He seemed a little hurt by my comment. "But..."

Sighing, I shook my head. "No, sorry. I didn't mean that. I'm just really nervous."

"You'll be fine," he assured me for the hundredth time. "Now come on, your homeroom is on the third floor."

"Third floor?" I echoed. "So many stairs..."

Upon reaching my homeroom, I was ready to collapse. "My school was one floor," I told Paul when I caught his pitiful stare on me.

"You're so out of shape."

"Shut up!"

"Well, we can fix that! I like to go jogging every other day, so you can join me!"

I stared at him like he was crazy. "I'm not going to go jogging with you."

His expression fell the tiniest bit. "Oh. Well, here's your homeroom. Good luck."

"You're leaving?" I said quickly, feeling the panic returning. "I'm not ready to be alone yet."

"You'll be fine. I'm pretty sure Ms. Allen is already in there. She's the nicest teacher in this place— and all the teacher's are pretty nice."

"But, Paul..."

"If you make it through your first day, I'll take you out for ice cream, okay?" he offered, smiling.

After surveying his encouraging face for a few seconds, I nodded. "Okay. I can do this. I don't want to make you late for work."

He stepped forward and gave me a quick hug. "Do you're best, Allie Cat!"

"Don't call me that!"

Laughing, he turned his back on me and sauntered toward the stairs again. After scowling at his retreating body for a moment, I faced the door, preparing myself to enter. Just as I reached the door handle, it swung open, and someone came barreling in to me. Surprised, I inhaled sharply, the force of the body colliding into me knocking me flat to the floor.

"Elliot!" I heard an irritated voice shout. "Get back here!"

The young man who'd crashed into me glanced down at me for a brief second, his midnight blue eyes narrowing. For a moment they mesmerized me. What was up with everyone having such pretty blue eyes? I'd inherited my father's dull grey ones and it sucked. Judging by the man's uniform, which resembled mine if you replaced the skirt with black dress pants and the bow with a tie, I figured he was a student. Before I could speak, he spoke in a harsh voice. "Watch it."

My jaw nearly fell to the ground— not that it was a very far trip. Where did he come off using that tone with me even though he was the one that'd smashed into me? "You watch it!"

"Don't stand in front of doors!"

"Don't come racing out of them!"

"I'll do what I want!"

"Then I'll do what I want!"

"Fine!" he snapped, nearly treading on my hand as he stepped around my body so he could escape down the hallway.

Seconds later, a slender woman in a shin high, black skirt and white blouse appeared at the doorframe, calling after the rude man. "Elliot! Apologize! What a brat," she muttered after a second. When her eyes landed on me, they widened. "Oh, crap! Sorry, let me help you up."

Grasping her outstretched hand, the woman pulled me to my feet with unexpected strength. "Thanks," I responded, smiling tightly. My left wrist throbbed uncomfortably from my fall and I shook it out.

"Sorry about Elliot," she apologized, chewing her bottom lip. "If you couldn't tell, he's a bit upset."

"Really? I couldn't tell."

She grinned. "I've never seen you before, are you new here?"

"Yeah, I'm Allie Heywood," I informed her, holding out my hand once again. "And I'm in your homeroom."

"Well, welcome Allie. I'm Harley Allen, the home ec teacher." Retracting her hand, she gestured me into her classroom.

Even though I was expecting it, the amount of appliances in the home ec room staggered me. At my old school, we didn't even have the class. At each granite counter tops that made up the tables, there were two sinks, four gas burners, and two ovens. On the shelves surrounding the edge of the room there were blenders, and choppers, and many appliances I had no inkling to the name of. I could only imagine what was behind the closed oak cupboards.

"Fancy, huh?" Ms. Allen commented, grinning at my stupefied expression. "When I first started teaching here, I felt the same way."

"How long have you been here for?"

"For all of Elliot's high school career, so about three years. He's a senior this year." As she brushed some hair out of her face, I caught the glimmer of a gold band on her ring finger.

"Is he your husband?" I blurted out before I could stop myself. It would explain why he in her classroom so early. Maybe it was a surreptitious marriage. She seemed young enough...

She laughed loudly. "No! Of course not! I may look young, but I'm actually twenty-nine. He's my younger brother."

"Oh," I responded with an awkward laugh. "Well, I was way off."

"He's just upset because I put him in my girly home economics class," she explained, rolling her eyes. "Now he's just a brat."

The feeling I was getting from this teacher was one of a friend more than a teacher. It made me feel much more at ease. "Hey, if you don't mind, I have a map and I could use some help marking up some routes..."

A bright expression appeared on her face. "Sure! Drag a chair up to my desk."

For the next ten minutes we hunched over my school map, drawing lines for the best paths to take to each of my classes. The campus was larger than I could ever imagine. Soon students began filing in for homeroom. A few of them offered me a friendly smile, while others eyed me curiously. I wasn't sure how to respond, so I just kept my head down, focused on my map.

"They'll be nice to you until they find out what instrument you play," Ms. Allen whispered to me.

"Why's that?"

"Competitive school, remember?" she told me, echoing Paul's earlier words. "Now go take a seat."

Suddenly nervous again, I staggered over to the seat assigned to me, my legs feeling like jello. My hands clutched my map tightly, as if it was my lifelong. Already I could tell it was going to be a long day. Not too mention I was going to look like a complete loser with my nose in my map all day.

"Are you new?"

Glancing up from my desk, I realized a slender girl with auburn hair was staring down at me, her eyes wide with excitement. Forcing a smile onto my face, I nodded. "Nothing gets by you, huh?"

A grin spread across her face. "I guess not. What's your name?"

"Allie Heywood."

She held out her hand. "Nice to meet you, Allie. I'm Aspen DeVous. I'm a senior, and I'm in the violin section. What about you?"

"Piano... I think. I didn't realize there were sections."

"Your section is your music lab," she clarified. "Piano, huh? You're pretty lucky."

"Why's that?"

She gave me a secret smile. "Piano's the best."

"Okay..."

"What's your first period class?" she questioned, changing the topic.

I quickly peeked at my schedule. "Uhh... Anatomy."

Her eyes lit up. "Me too! I'll bring you to class!"

"Really?" I said excitedly.

"Really!"

I could've hugged her. "Thank you so much! I don't want to look stupid walking around with my nose in my map."

She waved me off, dragging the desk next to me closer before sitting on top of it. "No problem, no problem. My goal for this year is to make a new friend. You just helped me fulfill that goal."

"So we're friends already?"

"Yep. Count yourself lucky."

"Why?"

She gave me a smug look. "I'm student counsel president. You won't have to worry about being a loner here now."

"You think?"

"I know. You might not be popular—"

I laughed, cutting her off. "Whoa, I'm definitely not looking to be popular. I hate attention. I just don't want to have to eat lunch alone."

She smiled. "That's good. The vice-president is one of those people doing the job for popularity. It goes without saying she annoys me. But anyway, let me see your schedule..." Before I could reply, she snatched it off my desk. "Huh. We don't have lunch together, but we have our first three classes and sixth period together. That's good. I can find someone for you to sit with at lunch."

"And find someone to show me around?"

She nodded and chuckled. "And find someone to show you around."

"Thank you," I sighed, relaxing into my seat. "You just made me first day so much easier."

"Well, I'm the student counsel president for a reason," she responded. "I have to be nice to everyone. Don't think you're getting special treatment."

I grinned. "Okay, I won't."

Just then, a voice came over the loud speaker, giving a morning greeting. A sense of familiarity washed over me. At least the morning announcements were the same as my old school. Maybe it wasn't going to be such a long day after all.

__________________________

And chapter two! I just finished applying to all the colleges I'm applying to and decided to finish up this chapter and post it for you guys :D Enjoy!

And remember, the Watty Awards are ending reaaally soon so, if you haven't, you should go vote for "A Surreptitious Relationship"! The link is in the external link, so go to it! (Even if you're on your phone! It'll work!) Thank you very much :D