Chapter Two (Brooklyn) “Good morning, Starshine. The Earth says hello!” Mrs. Berry chirps, leaning over her daughter’s bed. The lump under the blanket doesn’t move and Mrs. Berry pulls the blanket off. She gasps seeing that her daughter isn’t there, instead their Siberian husky, Snow, looks up at her. “Brooklyn? Brooklyn! Where are you?” Mrs. Berry calls walking around the small townhouse. “Brooke?” She turns the corner into the living room where she sees her only daughter sitting at the piano. Brooklyn looks up at her mother, nodding once, and then continuing with her playing. The music is so soft and yet so sad. Brooklyn’s long, pale fingers glide up and down the piano releasing the haunting melody of “Moonlight Sonata” by Beethoven. Her mother backs away and goes back to cooking breakfast as quietly as possible in the kitchen. About 5 minutes later, Brooklyn stands abruptly and slides her backpack onto her lean shoulders. She already sent her luggage to the school. “Later.” She calls over her shoulder to her mother whose hopeful look slowly melts. She watches as her stoic, emotionless daughter drifts down the sidewalk and up the street to her school. She knows she won’t be seeing her for a year, and yet Brooklyn doesn’t seem to care. Gentle Pines is the only school in Hoover, Colorado that doesn’t have uniforms. Brooklyn is thankful of this, she stares at her converse as she makes her way to the gray, harsh building they call a school. Her black skinny jeans outline her slim figure and her simple black shirt contrasts with her ashen skin. Her wide eyes are rimmed in black eyeliner and her lips are a dark pink. She pushes her long straight black hair back behind her ears. Soon, she is in the crowded hallways of Gentle Pines. She ignores the jostling crowd, loud voices, and the smell of too many teenagers in one area as she makes her way to homeroom. She’s the first student there, and she takes a seat in the back by the window. As she’s pulling out her notebook, she thinks of her mother. It’s been about a year since her father was murdered and so much has changed for her. Brooklyn and her mother have grown apart and Brooke hasn’t spoken more than a sentence at a time to her since. It had been an awful murder. She shivers at the memories of the blood on the floor and blocks it out once more. “What’s your name?” The tentative voice comes from next to her and she looks up slightly to see a boy sitting there. He has a small smile on as he nervously taps his pencil. She does a scan of him, noticing nothing out of the ordinary. He’s wearing sweat pants, a plaid shirt tightly buttoned, and some dirty sneakers. His thick rimmed glasses reflect the light and lips are extremely chapped. The bottom one is even bleeding. She shrugs and pulls out some chap-stick, passing it over to him. He blushes and takes it, saying thanks in an awkward tone. She nods and turns her attention back to her notebook. This is the kind of relationship she had with people. They talk and she listened. They weren’t friends, not enemies, and nothing in between. They simply sit near her and she deals with them. “I’m Evan. Are you excited for school? I am. I love school. Isn’t Gentle Pines the best? Wait… You’re probably new here. You’re going to love it. You learn so much.” He continued to ramble on, but Brooklyn tuned out. She didn’t even bother nodding or smiling at anything he said. After while he shut up, realizing she wasn’t listening. With a downcast look in his eyes, he turned his attention to the other students entering the room. There are so many of them, an equal amount of girls and boys. The girls look like they belong in Hollywood; the boys are all obvious jocks. In that instance, Brooke realized that Evan was probably the school nerd. For a moment she felt sorry for him. “Good morning class, have a good summer?” The teacher calls from the front to the sleepy group of teenagers. Brooklyn wonders why her mother thinks the morning is so good. Just then, the door opens and a tall blonde girl casually walks in. She pauses and then says, “Am I late?” A poised brunette replies, “I didn’t know that blind kids came here as well” She and her friends laugh and she just looks away. Awkward moments and Brooke don’t do well together. Evan shifts in his seat and she knows he’s thinking the same thing. “Good day to you too b***h.” The blonde snaps, slamming the door behind her. She looks like a younger version of Britney Spears. The Brunette rises to her feet and approaches Clone Britney, “Don’t you know who you’re talking to, wh**e?” Brooklyn had to admit that the blonde did dress very provocatively, but it was something that seemed natural with her attitude. “I don’t care, a-hole.” She growled getting in the popular girl’s face. “Girls! To the office now. I will not have that language in my classroom.” Good old teacher jumped in, interrupting the potential fight. Brooklyn watched them leave, both with haughty expressions and straight backs. The brunette led the way and the blonde ignored her completely. Brooklyn couldn’t explain it, but somehow she knew she was going to be seeing more of these girls. They had also triggered something inside of her, and she had no idea why. She felt as if there was something she needed to say to them. As if they were destined to be friends. As the teacher started roll call, she shook of the feeling. She didn’t have friends, she wouldn’t allow friends. Her blue eyes fell to her notebook as she soaked in the lesson, ignoring her peers’ whispers.

Chapter Three
(Cassidy)

The office was a place of horror, of dread. Cassidy had never been there, despite her three years at Gentle Pines. She was a senior now and still wanted to keep her record clear. It wasn’t that she was a good girl, far from it. It’s just that the adults in this school believed her every word.
Being the most popular girl at a Boarding School was so much harder than people thought. She had to be the smartest, the prettiest, the best dressed all the time. She had to define what styles were cool, what hairstyles were out, and what boys were sexy. Add in homework and studying and you’ve got the hardest job on Earth.
Cassidy refused to sit in one of the dirty, office chairs. She knew it would only leave dark marks on her perfect, crisp white miniskirt. She tightened her high ponytail, preparing herself for battle with the new girl.
The blonde was leaning against the opposite wall, her head tilted down, and the pink and black fedora on her head covering her face. Her pink shirt exposed her right shoulder; it was a golden tan color. Black skinny jeans illuminated her lithe legs and on her feet were pink and black flats. Cassidy remembered her eyes being a warm brown with long dark lashes lining them.
The large door opened and Principal Thomas waved them into his room in silence. Cassidy padded casually into his office, happily taking a seat on the plush, velvet chair. She heard the new girl follow and sit down, but didn’t look over at her. Principal Thomas sat down across from them and eyed the new girl.
“Madyson Reynolds?” He asked. The new girl nodded and leaned back casually in her seat.
“Who are you?” Her voice was as warm as her eyes, and yet it held so much sarcasm even Cassidy struggled not to giggle. The principal pushed his glasses further up his nose and read a few notes on his desk.
“You’re new here, fresh from California. Do you know why you were accepted into a Boarding School as prestigious as Gentle Pines?” He asked, resting his chin on his hands. Cassidy turned in her seat, also staring at Madyson. She wanted to know more about this mysterious intruder as well.
“Um… Because my mom paid you lots of money?” She answered, fake sincerity in her voice. She pushed a strand of hair off her face, and her eyes glinted in the dim fluorescent lights.
“No. You were accepted here because of your dance talents. We have been in search for dancers for many years now, and we believed you would be able to interest other students in the arts. But if you’re going to continue your attitude, we may have to reconsider.” He glared at her, his thin fingers tapping his desk.
Her happy appearance hardened and she met my gaze for minute. I blushed and looked away, embarrassed. She sighed and replied, “Yes, sir.” Principal nodded and pushed the notes aside.
“Now, let’s discuss the matter of this morning.” He looked at Cassidy and she looked down, acting ashamed. His voice softened instantly, “Listen, I know the first day can be hard for a lot of people. I understand that you, Cassidy, were surprised by the arrival of a new student. After all you are President of Student Council. I will excuse you both, but just this once. In fact, I’d like you to show Madyson around the campus. How does that sound?”
Madyson opened her mouth to object, but Cassidy interrupted saying, “I’d love to. That’d be wonderful, right Maddy?” Cassidy looked over at Madyson with an overly sweet smile and Madyson responded with a nod and a smile of her own.
Principal Thomas smiled and ran a hand through some nonexistent hair. “Good. Now you too get along. It’s almost time for second period.” Cassidy nodded and rose to her full height of 5 feet and 3 inches. She felt Madyson stand up beside her, towering over her at 5’11. They both walked out, Cassidy waving goodbye to her principal.
As soon as they were alone, Madyson pulled her hat off and stopped walking. “That was some move you pulled on him.” She said with an admiring smile on her face. She ran a hand through her hair and then bent over, standing up quickly, flipping it over her head. It glistened in the light and landed perfectly on her back. She put her hat back on.
Madyson reminded Cassidy of one of those Pantene models. She naturally smiled at the blonde’s beauty and charm. Then she remembered how this new girl wasn’t popular. “Yeah, practice makes perfect.” She said and continued walking. Madyson didn’t follow, realizing how she wasn’t wanted as a friend.
Madyson walked off in the opposite direction, not saying a word. Cassidy looked over shoulder as she continued on to her math class. She wanted to apologize for what she had said earlier, she wanted to become friends with this new girl. But that wasn’t possible at a school like this. She wanted Madyson to be here friend… more than her friend…
As she continued walking, closer to the door of Statistics, she shook her head, clearing her thoughts and wondering what was wrong with her. Up ahead, her boyfriend waited, arms open and a smile on his face. They kissed and entered the class together, but somehow… All of it didn’t feel right.