The morning of the first day of school I put on my uniform skirt and blouse and then slip on my pair of white trainers that have become part of my school uniform over the years. I decide to bypass makeup but I do blow dry my hair to make it look neat. I then grab my already packed backpack from my desk chair and head downstairs for breakfast.

Mom and dad are already at the outdoor breakfast table but Sebastian in nowhere in sight.

I say good morning and take my seat. I'm helping myself to my second buttered toast when Sebastian joins us. He's wearing Rushmore Academy's uniform too, a white shirt over navy blue pants and a navy blue tie and blazer.

When it's time for us to leave for school, mom makes sure that she gets a first day of school picture outside the house front. Mom is big on special moments and their pictures. And I agree with her, there is something special about pictures. I have my first day of school picture on my bedside table, the one that has mom, dad and me.

While mom and dad get into their respective cars and head off for work, Sebastian and I get into the back of the waiting black Mercedes and the driver starts driving towards school. When we get there, we drive past the primary school and middle school entrance and circle around the massive school property until we get to the high school parking lot.

The driver drops us off there and I take the lead towards the admissions office. All seniors were emailed their timetables so I already have mine but Seb has to get his so I decide to tag along because I have twenty minutes before my first class of the day begins.

You can tell who the freshmen are just by the lost and somewhat dazed looks on their faces. I push the admissions office door open and step inside. There's a long que of students getting their timetables. I step to one side while Seb gets his. Five minutes later we leave the office.

"Where is room 4?" Sebastian asks.

"That's what the map is for." I tap the paper he's holding beneath the timetable, "But come on, it's on my way to room 10. I'll drop you off."

We enter the main school building and I walk Sebastian to his classroom.

"Good luck." I say and give him a hug before starting towards my own classroom.

"Hazel!" I hear Ben call out and I slow down to let him catch up with me.

"We're seniors." He states as he walks with me.

"Doesn't feel like it yet." I sigh and look at him.

"Just wait till the first senior gets punished for ragging some freshman and then you'll get all the right feels." He says.

"Ragging is bullying." I say and Ben nods, "Agreed."

By now we've reached room 10 so I ask Ben, "Do you have first period English too?"

"No, I have Math." He groans and I laugh.

"Have fun." I playfully nudge his arm with my shoulder and walk into the classroom.

There are several students already in the room and I head over to sit at the desk next to Angelina's who's sitting in the third row to the right of the classroom, next to the huge windows.

When the bell rings, the remaining students pour in and then the teacher arrives. I had her for English last year too so I'm already familiar with her teaching style and her work requirement. She introduces herself nonetheless and then hands us our syllabus for the year.

When class ends I head out with Angelina and stop on my way to Chemistry to chat with some more classmates. Angelina and I part ways and I head to the Chemistry Laboratory. There's a ten minute break between every two periods so I'm the first one to arrive in the lab and say hello to the lab assistant as I take my usual seat at the front lab counter.

Soon other students begin to trickle in and those that I'm friends with say hi as they walk past me to their seats. Ash and Ben walk in, deep in conversation and without breaking their talk, sit down on either side of me since each counter holds three students.

I sigh and get up from my seat and push Ben off his and onto the middle on as I take his next to the aisle.

They stop talking when the teacher finally walks in and calls the class to order. We start with some basic revision of concepts from last year. While I may not have enough interest in Chemistry to pursue it in college, I am good at it. So, I answer almost half the questions that the teacher asks and by the end of class I can tell he's happy to have me as a student.

"What were you two talking about before class?" I ask as I close my notebook and put it in my bag.

"Soccer trials are tomorrow." Ben says.

"Oh." I nod in understanding.

"Have you put up the signup sheets?" I ask Ben who shakes his head. "I completely forgot to print them and I have a third consecutive class now."

"I'm free now, I can print them out at the library." I offer and Ben gratefully takes me up on the offer.

As we head towards his next class he hands me a printed list of ten notice boards around the high school campus where the signup sheets need to be put up.

"See you in the cafeteria for lunch break?" I ask Ben.

"Yes." He nods as he heads to class and I start towards the library.

I leave the academic block and cross the soccer field to get to the library. It's empty since it's just the first day of classes. But I do spot a few freshmen looking around. I must admit the high school library seems massive after the single-story middle school one.

I log onto my email on a computer and send the email that Ben has sent me to the printer. I print ten copies of the signup sheet and then log out of my email before starting towards the first notice board which is at the school gate.

I grabbed thumb pins from the library before I left so I make my way around school, putting up the sheets and stopping to meet friends along the way. By the time I finish, the third period of the day and also the last class before lunch break is about to end.

I'm on my way to the cafeteria when I spot Adam walking up from the opposite end of the corridor.

"Adam!" I exclaim, delighted to see him.

He kisses me and then pulls me into an embrace.

"I left you a message asking for your timetable." I remind him and he looks guilty as he says, "I've been so lost all day, trying to look for my classrooms that I didn't get time to check my phone. I'm so sorry."

"You could've just called and asked me for help." I put a hand on his arm.

"I didn't want to keep you from settling in on the first day." He shrugs.

"You wouldn't have! I'll walk you to your class after lunch break." I promise him as I take his hand and steer him in the right direction towards the cafeteria.

"Is that the soccer trials signup sheet?" Adam asks, walking up to the notice board I just placed the sheet on a few minutes ago.

"Yes." I nod as he puts down his name and I'm surprised to see that four other people have already signed their names in the little time that I put it up.

In the cafeteria I sit down at our usual table to one side, near the doors that open into the outdoor courtyard which also has lunch tables. We're soon joined by Ash and Liam and a few minutes later Ben strolls in too talking to some boys who were on the soccer team with him last year.

Ben has just sat down when the laughter I've come to know too well over my years at Rushmore Academy reaches my ears. I groan and turn around in my seat to find the football team captain and his best friend walk in.

"Hazel!" Henry, the captain winks in my direction and I quickly look at Adam who noticed the behavior.

"Do you guys know each other from the past?" He asks, confused for obvious reasons.

Before I can say 'no', Liam guffaws and says, "Yes."

"No we don't." I tell Adam firmly, "He has asked me out on dates from time to time but dating was never my thing until I met you. And now he'll finally back off once he realizes that we're serious towards our relationship with each other."

"I believe you." Adam smiles at me and leans forward to kiss me.

"Stop please." Ash groans and I stick my tongue out at him.

"Yo! Freshman!" I hear Henry call out and look around to see who he's referring to. My heart sinks when I realize that he called out to Sebastian.

"Are you a freshman?" Henry asks Seb who is gobsmacked by the sudden call from a senior.

"Yes." He says.

"Fetch me my shoes from the locker room, you dummy." Henry spits out and that's when I lose it.

I stand up from my seat, evading Ben's hand as he tries to catch my arm and stalk to Henry's table.

"Do. Not. EVER. Call. My. Brother. A. Dummy. Again!" I bang the table loudly at the end.

"The soccer dude is your brother?" He asks, clearly surprised.

"His name is Sebastian Aaron and I expect you to respect him and all other freshmen. In case, you're forgetting a Rushmore Academy sport captain can file a report to have another's captaincy revoked. And while you may be the football captain, I'm the swim captain which gives me the right to file such a report about harassment of juniors and this entire cafeteria will be my witness."

I step back once I've finished and without looking back walk over to Sebastian.

"That was really cool." One of his friends from middle school smiles at me.

"Thanks." I smile back as they walk away to join the cafeteria line with much more confidence than what they entered the hall with.

Sebastian crosses his arms and turns to me, "I didn't know that I had such a strong willed sister."

This makes me laugh as I place a hand on his shoulder and say, "Henry can make me lose it even on the best of days."

"So I should steer clear of him?" Seb confirms.

"Run screaming in the opposite direction." I say, smiling, "Don't worry he won't bother anyone for another couple of weeks and then I'll give him another reminder him to keep him on good behavior."