"Excuse me! Um, can you tell me where room 38 is?". Summer was lost in the huge highschool on her first morning there. She was supposed to be in room 38 already so she was late.

The guy she had asked smiled at her. "Sure babe, it's just up this corridor and to the left. Hey, are you new?"

Summer smiled sweetly at the guy. "Yup, I moved here from New York. What's Ruskin like?".

The guy gave her a sexy grin. "OK, I guess. But there aren't many hot girls around. Well, there are now..!"

Summer blushed. She was so happy that things were turning out well! She hoped she could keep the acting cool up and make more friends, and hopefully get a cute boyfriend! "Oh, thanks!" she replied, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

The hot guy shrugged. "Glad to help! See you around... what's your name?".

"Summer".

"Well see you around, Summer!". He winked then was off. Summer grinned to herself and walked quickly towards her classroom. On the way, she got her little mirror out of her pocket and examined her make up. It was fine. She had to make a good impression on everybody.

Summer found room 38 and opened the door nervously. She was normally shy, but was determined to act cool. She looked at the kids as she walked in. There were some very hot guys!

A lady who was her teacher frowned as Summer walked in. "You're late!" she barked. "Take a seat at the front!".

Summer bit her lip and nodded. "Sorry miss, I got lost...".

The teacher's expression softened. "Ah, you're the new girl! Well sorry about that! Welcome to Ruskin. You're Summer, aren't you?".

Summer nodded. "Yes, that's right". She took her seat at the front and got out her fluffy pink pencil case and notebooks.

"OK, class. Today we finish off the topic on rocks. We will continue filling in the sheets I gave out on the rock cycle...".

Summer looked around and saw kids getting out sheets and starting to write. She had no idea what to do!

"Um, here I have a spare. You can have mine,".

Summer turned to her left and saw who had spoken to her. It was a guy, who looked really shy and slightly scared of her. He was tall and had light reddish brown hair that hung slightly in his eyes and he wore a football jersey and blue jeans. What Summer noticed most about him was his eyes. They were of the most beautiful blue she had ever seen!

Summer smiled back at the guy. "Oh, thanks! That's so kind of you! So, um, what's Ruskin like???".

The guy blushed shyly. "Um, it's OK. The ocean is nearby, I love to go to the beach and watch the waves... and the people are OK, I guess." He frowned a little.

Summer took the sheet off him and wrote her name on it. "Sounds cool," she replied. "So, who do you hang with?".

The guy looked down at the desk. "Um, well...".

"OK, has everybody finished the sheet?" the teacher said. "I want to move on to the next topic,".

Summer looked up at the teacher. She would have to catch up soon. "Hey, can I see what you put?" she said to the guy.

He smiled at her. "Sure," he replied, passing her his sheet.

Summer scribbled down what he had written then returned the sheet to the guy, thanking him. Summer had to admit, he was pretty cute! Maybe she should ask him on a date, he did seem pretty keen on her...

The lesson soon ended, most of it the teacher had talked through so Summer didn't get another chance to talk to the guy.

The bell went and Summer made her way out of the room to go to her next lesson, which was math

"Hey, are you the new kid?".

Summer, sat at her desk in the math room, looked up. A group of four girls stood, looking down expectingly at her. They looked a bit scary, Summer hoped they wouldn't start on her.

"Yup, I moved here from New York,"

The girls looked impressed. "The Big Apple, huh," the blond one said.

Summer nodded. "My name's Summer, how about you guys?".

The tall redhead smiled at Summer. "I'm Jen, this here..." she pointed to the blond "...is Mandy...".

Another of them- a pretty, tall dark girl- spoke up "I'm Rosita and this..." she pointed at a beautiful petite girl with blond curls and bright blue eyes "...is Sapphire,".

Summer smiled at the guys. "Hi! So, are there any hot guys in Ruskin?".

Rosita shook her head. "Nope! You have to go to Tampa Bay to find any talent! You should see the surfers!".

Sapphire butted in. "Yeah, the guys here are OK, but, well, they don't quite reach our standards,".

Summer nodded. "I've seen some OK guys here, but you'll have to show me the hot surfer guys sometime!"

The girls laughed. "We're going to the beach tonight if you wanna hang with us," Mandy offered. Sapphire shot Mandy a look, Summer wondered why.

"Oh thanks! That'll be cool! Hey, where do you guys go at lunchtimes? I only started today and I'm so clueless!".

"We go behind the science labs. Lunch begins after this lesson so we'll take you there," Jen offered. She smiled slyly. "The cafeteria is kinda dorky, we have more, um, fun, behind the labs!". The girls giggled.

Summer was about to ask what they meant, but then the teacher asked for quiet. "Hey, sit at the back with us," Rosita whispered to Summer.

Summer stood up and went to the back of the classroom. She watched as Sapphire whispered to a girl sitting at a desk; the girl nodded and stood up looking scared and took her things and moved to the front of the room.

Mandy smiled at Summer. "Sapphire got Linda to move just so you could sit with us!" she said sweetly.

Summer felt honoured. "Did she mind?" she said, feeling happy that she was being accepted by this gang of cool girls.

Rosita laughed. "Oh no! Linda loves doing favors for us!". Jen laughed too.

Summer sat down and the other four girls at at desks in the back row too. The teacher, an old guy called Mr Passy, addressed the class and gave them their work.

Jen turned to Summer. "We like to have a bit of fun in this class," she said. "Hey Sapphire! Got the marbles?".

Summer was confused. Fun? Marbles? What could her new friends be up to? She soon found out. As Mr Passy walked round to the back of the room, he slipped and fell on his butt. The whole class roared with laughter and Sapphire smiled smugly. Summer looked and saw some marbles on the floor. Was that Sapphire's doing..? She asked Mandy.

"Yes," the blond whispered back. "Mr Passy is an idiot, everybody messes him about,".

Summer looked and saw that many good looking guys were smiling and giving Sapphire the eye. Summer guessed that Sapphire must be popular... just like she wanted to be. Summer didn't think messing about was right, but if she stuck with the crowd, she could get popular, what she'd always wanted.

The class got back to work. Summer watched as Sapphire and Rosita swapped notes all lesson, and Jen wrote something which was not math work. Summer turned to Mandy. "So, do you like any bands?". She was hoping that the girls would like the BSB, as she was mad on them herself!

Mandy nodded. "Oh yeah, I love that new band, the Backstreet Boys! But don't mention that to Sapphire, she hates boybands!".

Summer's eyes lit up. "I love them too! All four guys are so cute and they sing so well!".

Mandy grinned. "Yup! I agree. Brian's my favourite. But the girls prefer alternative music, so don't mention the BSB to them, they wouldn't be impressed!".

Summer nodded but felt sad. She would love to show her Backstreet pride and tell people she was a fan, but if she was to get into the in-crowd she better not.

The lesson ended and Jen lead the girls out to the science labs. On the way, Summer noticed the guy she had sat next to in her first lesson. He was alone and he walked along slowly, looking sad. Summer felt sorry for him and wondered if she should go speak to him.

"Come on girls!" Rosita said, smoothing down her sleek black locks. She looked around to make sure no teachers were about, then she nipped around the back of the labs and sat down on the grass under a shady weeping willow tree. "Coast is clear girls!".

Summer and the others sat on the grass. Summer noticed a red line painted along the ground.

Jen noticed what Summer was looking at. "It's OK, Summer. We may be off limits but we wouldn't get caught. We come here every day,".

Summer nodded uneasily. "Uh-huh?".

Sapphire unzipped her bag and produced an apple juice bottle, but the liquid inside was not apple juice color. "Drinks on me girls," she said, unscrewing the lid and taking a swig. The other girls also had some.

Mandy passed the bottle to Summer last. "Have some," she offered.

Summer sniffed the bottle. It smelt like alcohol, but they were too young to drink! "Um, I'm OK thanks," she said nervously.

Sapphire looked at Summer. "Hey, you wanted to come to the beach with us tonight, it's quite a distance so you'll be wanting a ride..." she raised her pencilled eyebrow at Summer.<p>Mandy quickly jumped in. "Uh, Sapphire really wants to share her drink with you, Summer...".

Summer reluctantly took a swig. It didn't taste that good, but she would have to join in if she wanted to be cool and popular. "Um, thanks," she said as she passed the bottle back to Sapphire.

"So who'll be joining us tonight?" Jen asked Sapphire.

Sapphire smiled. "The usual crowd. Oh, and a certain special guy will be there too, I want you girls to help me, um, catch him...".

Rosita nodded. "You can count on us, Sapphire!".

Summer looked around and saw that in the main playground, the guy from first lesson was still hanging around, alone. She was about to ask the girls what his name was, but then Mandy spoke.

"Want one?". She held out a box of cigarettes to Summer.

Summer was shocked. She knew that the school had banned smoking and that the girls would be in big trouble if they got caught. "Um, I'm OK, really,".

Rosita took one and lit it, them put it to her mouth. Jen glanced at Sapphire and raised her eyebrow.

"Oh, go on Summer!" Jen encouraged. "You'll never get caught, and if you did you could say that you didn't know that it was banned!".

Summer shook her head. She hated smoking and didn't want to get involved. "Well my mom would be able to smell it on me, and then I wouldn't be allowed to come out tonight..." Summer said, trying to come up with a good excuse.

Sapphire rolled her eyes and glanced at Rosita. Mandy shot them a look. "Um, sure. We really want you to come tonight so you better not take any risks!" Mandy said, smiling at Summer.

Summer could tell Sapphire wasn't pleased with Mandy for saying that, but Summer was very grateful. She quite liked Mandy, but the other three girls seemed too fake. They acted sweet but she could tell they weren't really as nice.

Jen opened her bag and got out a salad. "I'm on a diet," she informed the girls. "I'm hoping to look thin for the September ball,".

"What's the September ball?" Summer quizzed. "And Jen, you are thin already!". That was true, as Jen was wearing a lilac tank top and denim shorts and it showed off her extra slim body.

"It's the first dance of the school year," Mandy informed Summer. It's only a couple of weeks away, and we already have our dates fixed up,". Sapphire shot Mandy a look. "Oh, well most of us do...".

"Cool!" exclaimed Summer. "I saw this cute guy this morning and maybe I should ask him,".

"I'm going with Brian from the twelfth grade," Rosita said proudly. Summer almost laughed, she loved the name Brian, because of Brian Littrell of the BSB! Mandy also smiled at the name.

"Cool," said Jen. "Well I'm going with Sam from my English class. I stole him from that dweeby Elizabeth Stander!".

"You girls are going to help me get Danny Joyce, the new surf champion," Sapphire said.

All the girls turned and stared at her. "Danny Joyce?!?" Mandy exclaimed. But he's way too hard to get! His last girlfriend was a runway model!".

Sapphire smiled and shrugged. "I always get what I want,".

"I'm gonna go buy some chips, anyone coming?" Mandy said, standing up.

Summer stood up. "I'll come, I need to buy some food too,".

The other three stayed in their grassy spot behind the labs and Mandy and Summer went off to the cafeteria. "So who are you going to the dance with?" Summer asked.

"Him!" Mandy exclaimed, pointing to a hot blond guy playing soccer on the field. "Hey Dwayne!" she cried out to him.

The guy turned around and smiled back. "Mandy baby!" he called, blowing her a kiss.

"We've been dating for three months," Mandy informed Summer.

The girls went inside the cafeteria and joined the line for the food. Summer got a burger and fries, Mandy got her chips plus a soda. "I don't really like Sapphire's drinks," Mandy whispered. "She puts a bit of everything in it. She likes us to get, you know...".

Summer nodded. "But why do you do everything Sapphire says?". That question she had wanted to ask all along.

Mandy sighed. "She's so cool, if you hang with her, you're popular. And if you upset her, she'll get her, um, friends, on you,".

Summer didn't ask what Mandy meant. She had some idea what this Sapphire was like.

They went outside and made their way back to the science labs. On the way, Summer spotted the guy from first lesson. "Who's he?" Summer asked. Her heart raced, she was about to find out more about the cute guy!

Mandy rolled her eyes. "You don't wanna know that loser. He's Nick, the class dweeb. No one likes him. He's not into sports and stuff, he just does his work and goes home and plays video games with his kid brother. Don't waste your time on him!".

Summer's heart sunk. The one guy she had taken a fancy to was a loser! She was so disappointed...

"I'll introduce you to the hot surfer guys tonight," Mandy said, smiling at Summer. "You're sure to get one to go with you to the dance!".

Summer smiled back, pushing the loser Nick out of her mind and thinking about that night. "Cool, Mandy! You sure its OK I come with you girls tonight???".

Mandy nodded. "You're welcome! One word of warning though, don't upset Sapphire,".

>>>>>

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