....

HER BROTHER HAD TOLD her six different ways to knock someone out in under ten seconds before she even stepped out of the car.

Ella had said goodbye to her mother this morning, threats following her all the way until the car as she waved at her. Though she loved the woman to death, perhaps going away for a brief time and letting her cool off was the best option here. Not that she had much choice in the matter anyway.

"Sorry, Seb," Ella said," but I've turned over a new leaf. Violence is never the answer."

Her brother's eyes narrowed in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" he said," weren't you the one who always said violence was the answer to everything?"

"That was before I saw the light," Ella said," and with the light, I mean every god out there telling me to do everything I can to not land in a nunnery."

"Polytheism, huh?" Sebastian said with raised eyebrows.

"I don't have the luxury to be picky right now," Ella said," so whichever god decides to bless me, please go ahead."

Sebastian placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

"No god can help you once our mother unleashes her wrath," he said, wincing slightly as he thought of previous mistakes he had made himself.

Even though Sebastian was 6'2, twenty and a wall of muscle, formed by years of boxing, the only one who still succeeded in making him cower was their mother.

"Good luck, brat," Sebastian said as he ruffled his hand through Ella's hair," go and live a normal high school life this time, please."

"I'm going to a school that's only meant for delinquents," Ella said," what do you mean normal?"

Sebastian rolled his eyes, but stopped her one last time when she stepped out of the car.

"Listen," he said," if any of those fuckers gives you hell, I'll -"

"Yeah," Ella grinned as she waved him off," don't worry, Seb. I'll be fine."

She closed the door behind her then, shooing her brother off with a hand as his worried eyes followed her. He had always been overprotective, even though she could take care of herself just fine, but she supposed she couldn't blame him for that. A face flashed in front of her eyes then, with clear brown eyes reminiscent of her own, but she shook the image out of her head as soon as it came. Now was not the time to get lost in the past.

One glance around told her there would be no way to escape, her entire surroundings a vast expanse of trees, sand roads and blooming flowers. The drive to the address St Joseph had given had been long and the last sign of civilization Ella had seen had been more than an hour ago.

The place they had stopped was the only house for miles and it stood in the middle of a clearing. As soon as Ella turned around to it, the deafening sound of people talking hit her in the face.

Everywhere she looked were teenagers, chatting, sitting on the ground, smoking. She could see they were all her age, but that wasn't that big a surprise. Apparently St Joseph send all the years to a different location, because they were all too much to handle if they were at one place.

She didn't doubt it.

Wheeling her suitcase forward, the single bag the only luggage she had allowed to bring, she made her way to the crowd. Seconds after she reached the people in the last row, a loud voice cut through the noise, calling her attention.

In front of the house, standing on a log so he towered over everybody, stood a tall, Asian man. He reminded Ella more of a bodybuilder than a teacher, but despite his muscles and navy blue Adidas tracksuit he wore a chain around his neck, a pass hanging from it. On it his face grimaced at them, a name written in small letters above it.

From where Ella was standing, she couldn't read it, but she didn't care either way. Whomever it was, she doubted she would remember him.

"Listen up, you idiots," he boomed," I'm one of your supervisors during this trip. The name is Bas Clarkson. That's sir Clarkson for you all."

He paced across the log, his hands behind his back, slowly looking over the crowd as he spoke. Murmurs were still audible, but he silenced them when he spoke next.

"I was a trained army general," he said," and I tolerate zero bullshit. So unless you want to get your ass handed to you, I suggest you listen."

"Lovely Adidas tracksuit, Clarkson!"

"Did your mother buy that for you?"

Clarkson's eyes narrowed at the shouting crowd. Ella had to hand it to them, none of the teenagers looked even a bit intimidated by the gigantic man in front of them.

"Farrow, Tyler, cut the bullshit," he sneered and people booed.

A few more people shouted, but Clarkson ignored the chaos as he continued speaking.

"You all have received a group number a week ago," Clarkson said," so find your group now."

No one made a move to begin searching.

Clarkson cleared his throat, his voice threateningly low. "If you don't have one within three minutes, you'll sleep without a tent today."

That got them moving.

Ella made her way through the crowd, ignoring the chaos around her. People were shouting different numbers, others were just walking randomly, seeming just as lost as she was. A suitcase got thrown through the air then and she ducked, missing it by a hair's breadth.

At her previous schools, events like this always went without a hitch. People quietly found their groups and were ready within a minute.

Here however...

She hadn't moved five steps yet and she had already learned a couple new curse words, more creative than she had thought possible. During her search she passed a few fights, but she ignored them, eyes focused on the path in front of her. Be a model student, she repeated in her head, like a mantra, as if the thought alone would make her less inclined to violence.

Thankfully she found her group surprisingly quick, but it was mostly thanks to the shouting around it.

"You're eighteen, Alex?" a girl's voice said," can't someone switch with me so I can join your group?"

"Who do you want to switch with?" a low voice said," Will?"

Eight people were gathered around a tree stump and Ella quickly recognized two of the three boys sitting on it. They had been the ones shouting before, devilish grins on their handsome faces.

She quietly cursed under her breath. Just when she was about to turn over a new leaf she was grouped with the loudest, most troublesome guys in the crowd?

It didn't take her long to assess the dynamic of the group.

The blonde-haired boy was happily chatting away with his friend and a few girls, each avid move he made to enhance his story watched closely by the swooning girls. His friend had a charming smirk on as he enjoyed the attention he got from his enamoured crowd, his voice like sweet honey.

One of them wasn't participating in the conversation at all, his face bored as he watched them. His broody eyes and confident posture were spelling out trouble, his lean, muscular frame the result of many years of fighting or training. People kept glancing in his direction, but he just stretched himself out leisurely. His shirt raked up, revealing his toned stomach, and she had to remind herself of the nunnery again to let any other thoughts vanish.

As soon as she reached the group, a few people had already wandered off to their own. A girl with fiery red hair gave one of the boys a lingering look as she winked, before walking away too.

It was just the four of them now. And as Ella looked around, she noticed all three were boys.

Three boys she had to sleep with in a small tent.

This school was either very progressive or they had made a mistake. She was betting on the latter.

"Is this group eighteen?" she said as she reassured herself she was probably just wrong.

"Yeah," the blonde-haired boy smiled," are you lost? What's your group number?"

Before she could even reply, the brown-skinned boy beside him looked up, interest coloring his coffee eyes when he saw her.

"Are you new?" he said," I've never seen you before."

"Yeah," Ella said," my first St Joseph camp, unfortunately." She glanced at the first guy then. "And my group number is eighteen."

"This is group eighteen," the blonde-haired boy frowned, confusion coloring his eyes.

"Yeah," Ella said slowly as her suspicions got confirmed," I'm in this group."

Their eyes widened and the dark-haired boy, who had ignored the conversation until now, finally looked at her, his eyebrows raised.

"What?" the blonde-haired boy said," but you're a girl. Are you sure you're right?"

"A hundred percent," Ella said.

"Well," the coffee-eyed guy drawled as he looked her over," I can't say I mind."

Before she could even think of how she had landed in a weird group of delinquents, Clarkson's voice cut through the noise again.

"You should all take a good look at your team. Those will be the people you'll be stuck with to survive this following week. Now gather round!"

"Well, babe," he said as he looked back at her, a smirk playing on his lips," seems we're a team now."

"Seems so," the blonde-haired boy smiled," I'm Will by the way."

"Ella."

"Ella," the other guy repeated," it's a nice name."

She raised her brows as she looked at him, waiting until he gave his own name.

"Alex," he said, before gesturing at his silent friend with a jerk of his head," this is Levi. He doesn't like people in general, so don't mind it if he glares at first."

Their names were somewhat familiar, but she couldn't place them just yet. With a shake of her head she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind then. Whatever it was, she shouldn't get too involved; it would probably only mean trouble anyway.

So she just nodded in reply, not caring too much as she walked towards the house. When the rest didn't follow, she frowned and turned around.

"What are you waiting for?" she said," we have a damn tent to build."