Hey Romeo, Don't You Think You're Just a Tad Overrated?

I was going to be living with David and Rachel, in the McAllister house. It was just like any normal house in my old neighborhood back in Maine, except it looked fancier and it was slightly bigger. Oh, and on the school campus. Which apparently appears to be the school I will be attending in September. Joy. Did I mention we have an extremely strict dress code? That's right, not uniforms, but dress code. Girls have to wear a skirt, (two inches above the knees is the shortest it can go, but it seems that no one listens to that rule) collared blouse, sweater for the winter, and black shoes. The boys have to wear slacks with collared shirts and shoes too. Oh, and we all need blazers too. Huh, go figure.

Anyways, after I got all my things settled down in my room, David took me on the grand tour of the campus. I confirmed the indoor swimming pool. And the technology in the school…let's just not even go there. It was a bit too intimidating to be true. My old school was so crappy and poor, my poor math teacher lacked a ceiling in his classroom. And the roof always leaked when it rained. And we had no air conditioning. Wow. McAllister Academy was like…school paradise, which is just an oxymoron.

And the creepiest thing is, David is the headmaster. So my new Daddy is the headmaster. Can someone say awkward? David told me school started in a week. Everyone would be coming back pretty soon, so I used the next few days to explore the campus and find my way around the buildings.

I probably also forgot to mention my new name. Aurelie Chevalier-McAllister. It's a bit weird, but I think I'll go by Aurelie Chevalier most of the time. Rachel and I went shopping yesterday in this huge mall and she bought me a whole new wardrobe set so I'd be ready next week. And let's just say that one of my skirts cost $358 alone. Yikes! That's more than how much I saved up babysitting last year!

And so, that week flew by pretty quickly. I was kind of afraid, because I've never been to such a preppy boarding school before. Hell, I've never been to boarding school before. What if the people there were like, all snobs? I guess I'd have to deal. And sure soon enough, the big fearful day had arrived. My first day of school. Oh joy.

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It's really quite amazing how I got lost on the first day of school. I mean, I freaking live on the campus! Well, I guess all the boarding students live on campus too, but that's not the point. So there I was, perspiring in my new uniform, no excuse me, dress code appropriate outfit, with my messenger bag over my shoulder, and completely lost. Well, at least I knew I was in the right building. The bell rang. Now I was officially late for class. I started running and I quickly turned a corner, crashing into someone and dropping all my books.

"Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean to, I mean, I'm just—" I broke off as the mysterious person I ran into handed me all my books. "Thanks," I said gratefully, standing up.

"Detention," a deep male voice said.

I looked up. Wow. I didn't know preppy boarding school guys were all this hot. This guy had short, dark hair, chocolate colored eyes and a perpetually tanned skin. He was at least seven inches taller than my pathetic 5''4, and his shirt sleeves were rolled up, showing off his strong forearm muscles.

But then, this hot guy had just given me detention. "Excuse me?" I said, incredulous. "I don't believe you have the right to dish out detentions randomly!"

The hot guy scowled, making him look, well, even hotter. "You must be a newbie here then. Not only are teachers allowed to give detentions, but all the prefects have the right as well," he said, pointing to the shiny, gold badge pinned on his chest that I had not noticed before. I gulped. "And as the junior class prefect and hall monitor, I'm giving you a detention. Tonight, five-thirty, classroom A-17, Phillips Hall. If you're a minute late, make that a double detention."

My jaw dropped. "Wh-what? That's completely unfair!"

He grinned, his straight, white, teeth contrasting against his tanned skin. "McAllister Academy is a very strict operating school. Get used to it, newbie." And with that, he handed me a pink detention slip and walked away, leaving me standing in the hallway, clutching my books and staring after him like a lost puppy.

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I managed to go through my morning classes without another slip up. When the lunch bell rang, everyone piled out of the classrooms, making their way over to the Mess Hall. I sighed, hitching my bag higher up on my shoulder as I moved down the lunch line.

"Girl, don't you know, you never wear Chanel flats with Brooks Brothers shirts?" a voice behind me said.

I turned, facing a very well dressed lanky boy with black rimmed glasses. His blonde hair was styled so perfectly that his bangs looked permanently windswept and his aquamarine eyes were wide and just so…blue.

"Um, I'm sorry?" I said hesitantly, reaching for a chocolate milk.

The boy rolled his eyes. "Oh no, you are not drinking that." He reached over my tray and placed the chocolate milk back, picking up a skim milk. "Here, you should drink this. I mean, if you want to keep that stomach of yours flat, you'll never touch the chocolate milk again." He shook his head as if I'd done something scandalous.

"Uh, I'm sorry, but who are you?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm so sorry; I totally forgot to introduce myself. I'm Will Harrison," He extended his hand. "You're new here, right? You should come sit with us then! Oh, I love your necklace, by the way."

"Um. Hi, I'm Aurelie Chevalier. And thanks, my mom got it for me for my twelfth birthday," I said hesitantly.

I followed Will as he chattered on through the tables. Finally he came to a stop at a small round table in the corner of the room where two other girls sat.

"Girls, this is Aurelie Chevalier, she's new here," Will announced as he slid into a chair. "Come on, sit," he beckoned.

I sat slowly.

"Oh, hey! You must be that new girl, the headmaster's daughter, right?" The red-head spoke up. She smiled at me. "I'm Alyssa Cromwell, it's nice to meet you."

The brunette next to her also smiled. "Hey, I'm Bethany Ross," she introduced.

Will suddenly stood up again. "I forgot to get a fork!" he exclaimed. "I'll be right back."

It was silent for a few seconds. "Um, I'm really sorry to ask, but is Will like…" I trailed off.

"Gay?" Alyssa offered with a giggle. "Yeah, he's as gay as gay can be. But he's an amazing friend. We've all been best friends ever since freshman year. Hey do you wanna hang out with us after classes? We're going over to the Café," she offered.

I made a face. "I can't," I said, "I have detention."

"You already got detention on your first day?" Will, who had come back, interrupted. "You're a naughty girl. What did you do?"

I sighed. "I was late to class, and some prefect gave me detention."

Alyssa leaned in. "Ooh, who was it?"

I looked around the lunch room. "Um, I don't really know his name…oh, it's that guy sitting over there," I nodded in the direction where the hot jerk was sitting.

Will raised his eyebrows. "Cam Gallagher gave you detention?" he asked suggestively.

Beth snickered. "He's such a jackass," she laughed.

"A hot jackass," Alyssa cut in, joining in the laughter.

Will rolled his eyes. "Sure, he's hot and all, but don't get on his bad side, okay, Aurelie? Once you're a prefect, you have basically all the power in the school."

The lunch bell rang, signaling the start of classes again.

"We'll see you at dinner then," Beth said, standing up. "We're always at this table, kay?"

I nodded as I threw out my trash, bidding goodbye to my new friends. Maybe boarding school won't be so bad after all…