"Come on, Opal, you have to make a statement on the first day of your senior year!" Auntie begged while holding up one of her mini dresses.

"It's just not my style, Auntie," I said as kindly as I could while rummaging in my closet.

"Okay fine, but you're not allowed to wear a jacket!" Auntie huffed and I grinned.

"I'm not going to. It's way too hot for that!" I said, relishing the fact that I didn't have to hide my arms anymore.

I pulled out a pair of black leggings, a denim miniskirt, and a long shimmery white shirt with thick straps that had a pretty layer of lace on the top and bottom. "What about this?"

"Hmmm. I suppose it has its charm," Auntie said with a small smile before she knelt down and picked out some white wedges that she had bought for me over the summer. The heel was about three inches but they were surprisingly easy to walk in.

"Wear these with it and take my crystal necklace, then it'll be perfect."

"Are you sure?" I asked and Auntie smiled brightly at me.

"Of course! But I do have a condition for letting you borrow it."

"What's that?"

"Send me a picture of you with all of your friends," she said firmly. My eyes narrowed when I detected a hint of mischief in her expression.

"Ummmm sure. Iris and Violette will probably be fine with that."

"Oh no, not your girlfriends."

I felt the blood drain from my face as I realized what she was getting at. "Auntie! I can't just go up to the boys and ask for a picture with them!"

"Why not? Just snap a shot with your phone and text it to me. I'll go grab that necklace," she said with a confident grin and whisked out of my room before I could argue anymore.

I flopped onto my bed with a small moan and entertained the thought for a moment that Auntie might just be psychic. Honestly, I had been thinking I needed to stay away from the guys and I knew if Auntie had heard that thought she would have done anything she could to change my mind. But what Auntie didn't know was that I was terrified that I was going to be found out by them.

If Castiel figured out I was a mistake after only a day with me, what would happen if I got closer to Nathaniel or Lysander? Lysander was so observant; he was probably the most dangerous. But... Maybe... if Castiel didn't say anything and I made sure not to spend too much time with them... maybe it would be fine to get just a little closer to them. Just as friends, of course. I almost wished Kentin was still here. He had been so supportive of me and so blind to my faults, he would never have figured out I was a mistake.

"Here you go, Opal! Hurry up and get dressed or you'll be late!" Auntie urged me while laying her necklace on my dresser.

I watched her go, still not sure how I felt about this plan. Eventually I shrugged and got changed, putting a black headband in my hair and fastening the necklace around my neck for the finishing touches. Looking in the mirror, I gently touched the necklace Auntie was lending me and smiled. I'd never owned any jewelry before and I actually kind of liked the sparkle. Smiling one more time at the pretty crystal, I packed my backpack and walked into the living room where Auntie was waiting.

"Don't forget your cell phone!" she said brightly, handing it to me.

"Auntie, why are you doing this to me?" I groaned as I walked out the door. Auntie followed me, locking the door behind us.

"Because I haven't seen them in a month; I want to see if they've changed at all. Why do you think I'm doing it?" she asked sweetly, batting her eyes at me. I groaned again but couldn't keep from laughing.

When we reached the sidewalk we waved to each other as we walked in our separate directions. As I walked to school I took my phone out and put my headphones in. Shin Woo had given me a list of ten songs to listen to for 'homework' and they were all Korean songs by some new bands that had just debuted. He wanted me to choose the one that spoke to me most and then he would teach me the dance that went with it. I had to look up the translations to each of the songs, but I found that I really enjoyed the Korean version of pop.

I was humming along to one of the songs, not really paying attention to my surroundings, when a familiar weight rested on my head. With a grin, I looked up at Dajan and took my earphones out.

"Hey Dajan!" I greeted him happily.

"What about me?" I looked to my other side where Troy was grinning down at me and I blinked in surprise.

"Troy! You hit your growth spurt!"

Troy laughed happily as he puffed out his chest, seeming to revel in his new height. He was now only slightly shorter than Brandon who shoved him out of the way, taking his spot next to me.

"Don't stroke his ego, his head's already too big as it is," Brandon said while placing his arm around my shoulders

"No fair! I want to use Sato as an armrest too!" Troy pouted, coming over and trying to figure out where he could lean against. I laughed, dashing ahead and out from under Dajan and Brandon's arms then turned around, putting my hands on my hips.

"I am not an armrest, I'm your tutor, so be nice," I said in a mockingly serious tone.

"You're our friend, too," Dajan quipped with a grin and I smiled.

"Oh! That's right, Auntie wants me to take a photo with all of my friends and text them to her," I said while pulling out my cell phone.

"Awesome!" Troy exclaimed, coming up and standing next to me with his head close to mine. Brandon slipped one arm around my waist and leaned down next to the other side of my face, which made me slightly uncomfortable, but when Dajan placed his hands and then his chin on the top of my head I relaxed. I held up my phone and snapped the picture.

The boys moved away and passed the phone between them, making sure they looked okay. I laughed and took my phone back, sending the picture to Auntie. Almost immediately I got a text back saying:

What handsome boys! You and Dajan look so adorable together! He's got my vote so far! Keep them coming though!

I groaned and stuffed the phone into my backpack, praying that I wouldn't blush. I had figured this was Auntie's not-so-subtle way of telling me to start dating, but that was impossible. Being a mistake and having friends was fine. There was a certain boundary that I could keep up while being someone's friend... but I couldn't let someone think they love me when I would just ruin their life eventually. Pushing those depressing thoughts out of my mind for now, I walked with the basketball boys into the school.

"Did everyone get their schedules?" I asked, pulling mine out along with my new locker number and combination.

"Yah, what's yours look like?" Dajan asked.

"Well, I have Government, College Statistics, AP Literature, AP Psychology, AP Biology, Economics, and Advanced Watercolors," I read off my schedule. I looked up and realized that all three boys were staring at me.

"What?"

"You know, Sato... sometimes I forget you're a nerd," Troy said and Brandon nodded.

"Why do you say that?" I asked in surprise.

"You're too pretty to be a nerd," Brandon replied automatically. I rolled my eyes while Dajan shoved Brandon lightly.

"Miss Opal!" I turned around to see the Principal standing behind me, smiling broadly. "Welcome back to Sweet Amoris."

"Ah, thank you, Principal Shermansky," I said, puzzled as to why she had singled me out.

"You got your report card over the summer, did you not?" she asked with an intense smile.

"Y-yes..."

"Well, congratulations! You are Sweet Amoris's top student! I'm so glad you transferred here, Miss Opal. Will you please come to my office after school? Thank you!"

Before I could respond she bustled off back to her office and closed the door with a resounding thud. I blinked my eyes several times, wondering what on earth had just happened, and glanced back at the boys. Dajan and Brandon were grinning and Troy seemed stunned.

"You're the Valedictorian?" he asked in awe and I blushed.

"I'm sure Nathaniel will pass me before long," I mumbled. "I'm going to go find my locker. I'll see you later," I said while walking away quickly.

What on earth was that all about? I wondered curiously as I watched the numbers until I came to #386 and I grinned broadly at the person next to me.

"Good morning, Iris."

"Opal! We're locker buddies," Iris said with a grin and I nodded happily. "What's your first class?"

"Government with Mr. Schiess," I told her and she frowned.

"Aww, I have Calculus first," she said and wrinkled her nose with distaste. I giggled and Iris grinned. "But at least I have you to help me if I get lost."

"For sure. It really wasn't that bad," I said encouragingly and Iris sighed dramatically.

We walked upstairs together, talking about her summer vacation, and when we parted ways we promised to eat lunch together. I walked into Mr. Schiess' room and stopped in my tracks, stunned. Nathaniel was sitting in the middle of the first row with Lysander right behind him.

"Opal."

I jumped and whirled around, coming face to face with Castiel. My heart leaped into my throat and I tried to keep my panic from showing. Is this it? Is he going to expose me in front of everyone?

My thoughts flitted through all of the possible scenarios and what I could do if he actually did tell everyone. I didn't want to lie... but I didn't want to lose my friends either. My heart was beating a mile a minute when I realized that Castiel had folded his arms and raised one eyebrow at me.

"Are you going to move, or what?" I blinked, not understanding the question. Castiel smirked like he always did and leaned toward me. "What? Did I scare you stiff?"

I opened my mouth but no sound came out. Is he teasing me? Why isn't he telling everyone that I am a mistake? I wondered in shocked confusion.

Suddenly Castiel put his hands on my arms and moved me over, stepping into the classroom and walking over to sit with Lysander while completely ignoring Nathaniel who was engrossed in a book. Is Castiel just biding his time? Or did I maybe overanalyze things? Slowly I followed him, taking the open seat next to Nathaniel.

"Hello, Kate." I looked behind me and smiled at Lysander. His eyes seemed to be sparkling and I slowly lost my train of thought as I stared into them.

"Why do you keep calling her Kate?" Castiel asked gruffly, which pulled me out of my trance.

"It reminds me of the first time I met her," Lysander stated matter-of-factly and I smiled.

"I don't mind being called Kate," I said and suddenly Nathaniel's head snapped up and turned towards me.

"Opal? When did you get here?"

I blinked in surprise and then laughed. "I just sat down. I thought you were absorbed in your book."

"I was but I heard you... uh... I mean..." Nathaniel looked down at his book again and I wondered if he was okay.

"Hey, Opal, come to the courtyard after you eat," Castiel said suddenly and I looked at him warily.

"Why?"

Castiel looked away and put his arms behind his head. "No reason, just do it."

"Leave her alone, Castiel," Nathaniel huffed in an irritated tone. Castiel sneered at Nathaniel and I was worried they were going to start fighting when the bell rang, signaling the start of the day.

I turned to face the front when two boys walked through the door followed by a short older man. He was a little overweight with half-moon glasses and was mostly bald, but his smile was warm and the wrinkles around his eyes were deep, showing that he smiled more than frowned. I found myself smiling at him.

"Hello, you've all made it to your senior year. Congratulations," he said cheerfully. "My name is Mr. Schiess. If you can't say it you're free to call me Mr. Cheese."

A few students giggled and he smiled broadly before reaching up to place a hand on each of the boy's shoulders.

"This is Armin and Alexy. They've moved in recently and I happened to find them wandering around the office so I brought them here. If it's not too much trouble, see that they find their way to their next classes, please," he said with a smile.

I studied the two boys who were obviously twins. My eyes were immediately drawn to the colorful twin. He had dyed his hair a vibrant blue which showed off his beautiful purple eyes and had a large pair of headphones hanging around his neck, which made me wonder what kind of music he listened to. I took in his blue shirt, the same color as his hair, with an orange neutron symbol on the front and an orange jacket over the top of it. He had two belts, one hot pink and one turquoise, around his waist and dark green pants completed his ensemble.

Auntie would approve, I thought with a smile. The boy met my eyes and he smiled broadly. I blinked and then smiled, waving slightly.

"Ah, I knew someone would volunteer. Thank you, miss," Mr. Schiess said, narrowing in on me. My eyes widened in surprise, but then I smiled.

"Sure, I'll make sure they know how to get to their classes," I said, feeling almost excited to meet someone who reminded me of Auntie.

The blue-haired boy smiled brightly but his twin only glanced up at me furtively before looking away. He had black hair that he styled exactly like his brother with long bangs that fell into his eyes which, to my surprise, were a clear blue (unlike his brother's). He was wearing an olive green undershirt with a long-sleeved cream shirt with rolled-up sleeves and a dark purple vest. Light skinny jeans and a black scarf completed his look. Both boys walked down the aisle into one of the back rows and sat down.

Mr. Schiess handed out the syllabus and spent the period explaining his routine. One thing that was very interesting was that he believed that to study properly students needed to have blood running through their brains and not their feet. So, halfway through the period, he had us all stand up and stretch to a silly song. Everyone seemed to know it and I played along but I'd never heard of "I'm a Little Teapot" before. Castiel had refused to do the actions, but Mr. Schiess said as long as he stood up he didn't need to do it with the rest of us. When the class was over I was thoroughly excited about Government, even though I had taken six months of AP Government last year before I had switched schools.

"Opal, would you like me to help you direct the new students?" Nathaniel asked as we gathered our things together.

"Sure, if you want to. They'd probably be happy to meet the student council president," I said and glanced back at the twins who were walking toward us.

"Hello. My name is Opal Sato, and this is Nathaniel Anderson. He's the student council president here at Sweet Amoris," I explained, smiling up at Nathaniel. He smiled back and shook the blue-haired boy's hand.

"He's a stickler for the rules so you better watch it," Castiel's gruff voice came from right behind me and I couldn't help but flinch in surprise.

"Leave them alone, Castiel," Lysander said calmly and then fixed me with his bewitching eyes. "I'm sure we'll see more of each other, Kate." I nodded breathlessly as the two friends left.

"So, who were they?" I turned to see the blue-haired boy watching the two go with interest.

"The redhead is Castiel and his friend is Lysander. They're both nice and love music," I said. Nathaniel gave me an incredulous look and I giggled. "Well... Castiel has his own form of nice," I added as I felt a weight begin to lift off of me. I was beginning to suspect that Castiel didn't know my secret, after all.

"Anyways, can I see your schedules?" They both handed me their schedules and I looked over them quickly. "You have the same schedules?" I asked in surprise and the blue-haired boy grinned, hooking an arm around his brother's neck.

"Armin is lost without me," he said exuberantly and Armin rolled his eyes. I made a mental note that Armin had black hair and Alexy was the blue, but their personalities seemed pretty different so I didn't think I'd be relying on their hair color for long.

"Well, it looks like you've got English 12 next. Oh, you have Mr. Tremont! He's awesome, you'll love him."

"I have AP Composition next, I can take them," Nathaniel offered. "We should probably get going so we're not late."

I nodded my understanding and we all walked out together. As we walked I explained to the twins how to get to all of their classes and what I knew about their teachers. We stayed as a group until we got to the stairway but I said my goodbyes there since my next class was still upstairs.

"If you have any questions just ask Nathaniel or me," I said and Nathaniel smiled at me.

"I'll see you later, Opal."

"Bye!" Alexy called as he followed Nathaniel downstairs.

I turned and made my way to College Statistics with a smile. It was a little early, but I was already excited for my senior year.

A/N School has started again and we have some new characters to meet :D The picture above is what Alexy and Armin look like :)