*Rowan's P.O.V*

It's been a couple of weeks since mine and Steph's shopping trip. When Steph got back from work that night, we got started on my room and I've got to say, it looks pretty cool. Two walls were painted turquoise and the other two walls had light pink wallpaper with a paisley pattern. My bed sheets were white, but my pillows were pink and blue with fun patterns on, and I also had a blue blanket at the foot of my bed, matching the colours of my walls. Next to my bed was a set of three white square bedside tables, with a lamp and small plants on. There was also a white fluffy rug on my floor.

The last couple of weeks have been good and dandy, however today was my dreaded first day at Weatherfield High. To say I was nervous would be an ultimate understatement. I was currently stood in my room, getting dressed and I could barely do up the buttons on my blouse because my hands were shaking so much. I finally got myself into my school uniform and threw my hair into a ponytail.

I went downstairs, my nerves getting stronger as the time got closer.

"Morning." Steph smiled. I was so busy trying to push all the negative thoughts about school out of my head that I almost didn't realise she was talking to me.

"Huh? Oh, good morning." I greeted both my brother and his girlfriend, trying to sound like I wasn't going out of my mind.

"Stop freaking out." Andy said, walking over to me and placing his hands on my shoulders.

"I can't help it." I muttered, looking up at my 5"11 brother.

"You'll be fine once you get there. Maybe you'll make some new friends." He said.

"Yeah, because I'm just such a social butterfly, aren't I?" I scoffed sarcastically.

"Look, I wish I could let you stay home and we could watch movies all day, but you have to go to school otherwise I'll get into trouble." Andy told me.

"I know, Andy. I'm not trying to get out of going, I'm just really nervous. What if no one likes me? What if I end up spending every lunchtime sat in the bathroom cubicles, sat on the toilet seat eating all by myself?" I went on.

"Did you just make a Mean Girls reference?" Andy asked me with a chuckle.

"Maybe." I shrugged, smiling slightly.

"You just need to power through the day, then you can have fish and chips when you get home." Andy bribed.

"Bribing me with food... You know me too well, brother." I smirked. Andy laughed.

"Come on, I'll drive you there." He said. I said goodbye to Steph, grabbed my navy blue floral school bag and followed Andy out of the house.

Unfortunately, the journey to the school wasn't as long as I'd have liked and Andy was soon parking the car.

"Call me if you need anything." Andy told me.

"Are you encouraging me to use my phone is class?!" I fake gasped, putting my hand over my heart, pretending to be shocked. Andy chuckled.

"I'll see you later. Love you." He gave me a hug and kissed my forehead.

"Love you too. Bye." I hugged back before getting out of the car. I took a deep breath before walking into the courtyard. I made my way into the school and went to the office. I was given a timetable and my locker key and then the headteacher took me to my tutor group, which I hated because all eyes would be on me. To my surprise, as we walked into the classroom, I saw Bethany sat two tables away from the door. She saw me and grinned, making me smile back.

"Good morning, Mr. Barnes." The tutor greeted. (Idk the name of the headteacher in Corrie so I made it up. I'm probably going to make all the teachers' names up).

"Good morning, Mr. Downs. I'm just here to drop off our new student, Rowan Carver." Mr. Barnes explained.

"Welcome to Weatherfield High, you can sit next to Joshua." Mr. Downs smiled, pointing to an empty seat next to a boy with messy brown hair. I hesitantly took the seat, not making eye contact with anyone. The headteacher soon left and Mr. Downs continued with whatever he was doing before I arrived. Joshua tried to talk to me, but I was too shy and awkward and my responses just came out as pathetic squeaks. Tutor time was soon over and everyone was on their way to our first class; English. I wanted to talk to Bethany, but I didn't get a chance as the halls were so busy. I didn't get a chance to talk to her all morning and before I knew it, it was break time and I was at my locker.

"Hey stranger." I familiar voice startled me and I spun around to find a smiling Bethany stood there.

"Hi." I smiled.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming here?" She asked me.

"Well, I didn't know you went here for a start, and I guess it just never came up in conversation." I shrugged. Bethany and I had spent a lot of time over the past couple of weeks and I guess I would consider her my best friend here in Weatherfield. I'm a lot more comfortable around her now and I feel like I can talk to her about anything. Well, almost anything. I haven't told her about my dad, and hopefully I'll never have to.

"Well, I'm glad you are here." She said, making me smile wide. We spent the whole break together until we had to go back to class. Luckily, lunch soon rolled around and we went to the canteen together. We got our food and found an empty table, where we happily ate and chatted, until a group of girls walked over.

"You're not friends with her, are you?" One of them asked in disgust. She had brown hair pulled into a bun and wore way too much makeup.

"Yeah, why?" I frowned.

"Let's just say, once you really get to know her you'll want to ditch her. She's a right loser, and I mean, look at her, I'm surprise you even spoke to an ugly cow like her in the first place." The girl said, her friends snickering at the insults she threw at Bethany. Usually, I would've been too scared to speak up and kept my mouth shut, but Bethany was a really good friend and somehow, I plucked up the courage to stand up for her.

"Well, actually, I met Bethany at least two weeks ago and she doesn't seem like a loser to me. In fact, she's really cool and I'm glad that she's become my best friend. And how can you say she's ugly? She's one of the most beautiful girls I've ever met, and at least she doesn't have to cake on piles of makeup to look pretty, unlike some people." The rush of adrenaline I felt as I stood up for my friend was incredible. I'd never done anything like this, nor had I ever spoken to anyone like that, but it felt great. The snobby girl was shocked at what I'd said and stormed off with her friends, while Bethany looked just as shocked.

"Wow, thanks, Rowan. I can't believe you just did that for me. I know how shy you are, that was really brave of you." She gushed. I smiled bashfully.

"It was nothing, really. I guess I was just upset that they'd said something like that about my best friend." I shrugged.

"Best friend?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah... I-I mean, if you don't want to be best friends, that's fine, I just-"

"Rowan," Bethany cut off my anxious ramble with a smile, "Of course I want to be best friends, especially after what you just did for me." She said. A smile appeared on my face once again.

"Who were those girls, anyway?" I wondered.

"The main girl's name is Lauren and one of the others is called Shelley. I don't really know the rest of them, they're kind of just minions." Bethany joked. I giggled.

"Well, I'm glad you're my friend instead of them." I said. Maybe with Bethany by my side, being at a new school won't be that bad.