Life used to be simple for seventeen year old, Erica Atwood. She used to live up in Conrad, Montana until her mother moved her after splitting up from her father.

Now here she was, in a place that she couldn't have been less familiar with. The weather was a killer for a start. Growing up in such a cold climate, she wasn't used to the heat and moving there in the middle of summer definitely was not a good idea.

Then there was the size of the place. It was much bigger than where she had come from, and so much easier to get lost in. She hadn't quite yet learned her way around, but she hoped that she would with time. After all, they had only been there for two and a half days.

Tomorrow would be her first day at school, which she was dreading since she knew that all the other kids there would be wearing all their summer clothes and smelling of expensive perfumes, while she would be sat in the classrooms sweating away in her winter clothes.

Since she came from such a cold climate, she didn't currently own any clothes that were without long sleeves or fluffy interiors. It was something that she would have to fix when she could work out where the mall is in this town.

"Erica...lights out, you have school tomorrow." She heard her mother, Diane's, voice call from downstairs.

"Okay mom." She called back.

Not wanting to annoy her mother, she climbed into bed, pulling the covers only up to her waist, and turned off her bedside lamp.

************************************

Waking up to the scent of bacon and omelette wafting up her nose, she sat up in bed and checked the little alarm clock that was sat on her beside unit.

6:45am

Satisfied with the perfect timing, she stretched a little before getting out of bed and walking over to the unpacked boxes that were labelled 'Erica's Clothes', and opened them.

Digging through, she was trying to find the least fluffiest items that she could. After digging through two boxes, she finally found something decent enough to wear on her first day, in the top pile of the third box.

She pulled out the pair of blue denim flare jeans and a fairly thin long sleeved grey top.

Once she had finished finding clothes to wear, she decided to fix her hair. Going over to her vanity desk, which had little lights around the edge, she picked up her brush and began to run it through her hair, pulling out any knots that got caught. Then when she was done brushing she picked up her electric curling iron, plugged it in and began to put it to use.

It didn't take very long for the blonde hair to curl, and when she had finished, she set the curling iron down and unplugged it, before getting changed into the clothes that she had picked out.

Once she was completely ready for the day, she headed downstairs and into the kitchen just in time as her mom was serving up breakfast.

"Here you go sweetie. I made you a big breakfast for your big day." Her mom said with a smile, placing the plate and glass in front of her.

One omelette, four slices of bacon, three sausages and a glass of orange juice. It was your basic breakfast, often used to give you that extra boost of energy that you needed to get through long days.

By the time she had finished breakfast, it was gone half past seven and she was left with enough time to get her bag ready before she had to head off to school.

Getting up from the table, she grabbed her blue rucksack off the back of the chair and continued into the living room, where everything she needed was set on the coffee table. She picked them up one by one and packed them into the bag.

Pencil case; check

Markers; check

Notebook; check

Binder; check

Water bottle; check

Making sure she had everything she needed, she then joined her mom, who was waiting for her in the hallway.

"All set for your big day. I'm so proud of you honey, you're taking this all so well." Diane said, praising her daughter.

"Thank you mom." She replied, flinging the rucksack onto one shoulder.

They then headed outside to the car, a red and black station waggon, and started heading off for the school.

During the ride there, not much conversation happened. It wasn't that she was mad or anything, she was just feeling a little more quiet than usual this morning, due to her nerves.

It wasn't too long before they pulled up outside the school. With a deep breath, she opened the car door and stepped outside onto the warm pavement.

"Have a good day honey." Diane said before driving away.

Left to her own devices, Erica began walking towards the school, her boots making a clip clop sound on the pavement with every step she took.

Reaching the school campus, she looked  around at all the different groups of students that were stood around the yard.

In one area particularly close to the building, there was a group of students, who presumably were the nerds. This she could see from the amount of checkered shirts with books and folders pressed against.

Looking in the opposite direction, this time towards the playing field, she saw what could only be described as the jocks, tossing a football back and forth between each other.

Everywhere she looked were a different group of people, first the nerds, then the jocks, and the cheerleaders.

Anyone else, who didn't seem to fit into any of those categories, were in small groups of two or three.

Taking a few mental notes, she proceeded up the front steps of the building and through the doors.

The inside looked as though it had been designed by someone with OCD. Everything was colour coordinated. The walls were a latte brown colour, with grey lockers lined up against them.

As she walked the hall, she paid careful attention to the titles written on the doors, particularly looking for the one labelled principle.

Finally, right at the end of the hall, she found it. Straightening herself up, she worked up the courage to tap on the door.

When she heard the voice from the other side, giving her permission to enter, she twisted the door knob and stepped into the room, closing it again behind her.

"Now, how may I help you?" The man; a tall and slender man, asked sitting at his desk chair, his hands intertwined and resting atop of the desk.

"Excuse me Sir, but I'm new here. My name is Erica Atwood. I was wondering if I could get my class schedule." She introduced herself, her voice more mousey than she would have liked.

"Ah yes. Our new student. Very well then Erica, my name is Mr Briggeton, I am your principal. Now let me just get you that class schedule, and a map of the school." The man responded, getting up from his desk and walking over to the filing cabinet that was on his right.

He opened one of the drawers and began flipping through a few documents before pulling out two printed sheets and handing them to her.

"Here you are then." He said as he did so.

"Thank you Sir." She stammered shyly.

"If you wait here for a moment, we have arranged for someone to help you settle in and make sure you are okay." Mr Briggeton explained.

She did exactly what he told her. Besides, she was far too anxious to walk those halls alone while everyone else is walking in groups.

Without warning, the door swung open and brunette girl walked into the room.

Erica looked her up and down. This girl, who she assumed was the person that the principal had mentioned only a moment ago, had straight brown hair, and a matching eye colour.

Her sense of style was a little wild though, at least that was her opinion. The girl was wearing a pair of fishnet tights, along with a white rara skirt and a black crop top with some sort of band name splattered across it in bright colours.

"Mrs Bunns said you wanted to see me." The girl said, talking to the principal.

"Yes, yes but miss Leighton you are supposed to knock first. Never mind, this here is miss Erica Atwood, she is the student you will be helping to settle into the school. Is that clear Genevive?" Mr Briggeton explained sternly.

"Yes Sir." Came the girl's answer.

"Great. Now off you got to class then." He replied and encouraged them towards the door.

Once they were outside of the office, the door closed, leaving them stood in the hall.

"Hey, my name is Genevive, but most of my friends call me Gen, Ginny or even Viv." The girl introduced herself.

"It's uh...nice to meet you Gen, my name is Erica." She introduced, still feeling awkward and shy.

"I think you and I are going to get on swell." Genevive stated, and began walking down the hall.

Not quite knowing what to say or do, she followed along, trying to keep up.

This was going to be one long and interesting day.