A New Beginning

Gerard sighed miserably as he looked out the car window. His mother had been driving around for hours, constantly stopping at random gas stations in order to ask for directions. They were going to a far away place. And by 'they', it was actually just Gerard. The truth was, he was currently being sent to a boarding school.

Why?... Well it all started with a group of students in science class, curiously wondering what it would be like to start a fire with a bunsen burner. And, of course, when the classroom erupted into flames, the majority of the class decided to blame it on Gerard. He shuddered at the horrific memory, sitting in the principal's office, trying to tell him about hid evil classmates, but he wouldn't listen. Instead he felt threatened by his gothic appearance. And so he ended up holding a meeting with her mother and decided to enroll him at another school. He said it was 'to ensure that he was living in a safer environment', but Gerard already knew that he was only doing this to improve his 'psychotic' behavior.

Gerard was glad to be away from those demons, but this new school was a three hour drive. In other words, he wouldn't be able to feel relieved to go home at the end of a school day. Instead, he would now be forced to hang out in his prison cell and associate with the rich narcissists. Gerard thought he'd be lucky if he spoke to his mother and brother at least once a month now, but he knew that wasn't possible.

Whenever Gerard heard the words 'boarding school' in the past, the first things that would come to his head were the preppy uniforms, snobby students, marble-floored classrooms, and the never-ending list on how to become the perfect person. Gerard already knew this was going to be a disaster, but as long as he had a room to himself then he would be fine. The idea of having roommates made him feel horrified. Gerard could already image their haughty faces, snickering at the fact that they would have to share their room with a complete outsider.

As soon as their journey came to an end, Gerard stepped out of the car and contemplated his surroundings. Instead of looking at the large white palace which was displayed on the school brochure, Gerard instead came face to face with an old Victorian building which somewhat resembled a jail. Looking down at the brochure, Gerard noticed this was false advertisement. Either that, or his mother had driven them to the wrong place. But aside from all the nasty thoughts, Gerard started to feel more comfortable.

'Don't judge a book by it's cover just yet... It could be totally nasty inside...' he thought.

"Well, I'll admit it does look a whole lot different from the brochure... Surely we can't be at the right place..." Donna, his mother, said, opening the boot of the car.

"It's not too late to turn around and go back home," Gerard offered.

Gerard's mother looked at him slyly. She already knew that Gerard didn't want to be here, but this was for the best. And this arrangement was only going to happen for a while anyway; maybe a year at most.

"Listen, Gerard, there's nothing I can do about the situation. It was either this or going to juvenile hall."

Gerard scoffed at his mother's remark. "You're making it sound like I actually did start that fire."

"Honey, you know I believe you, but as I said before, there's nothing I can do."

"Yes, you tried your very best.."

Gerard's mother didn't seem to notice the sarcasm "I'm glad you understand. Would you like me to go inside with you?"

"Please don't."

"Well, okay then.. Now all that is left is a hug and you're free to go."

As Gerard was pulled into a tight embrace, he couldn't believe that this was the last time he was going to see his mom. Well, for a while, anyway. It was like a sudden bombshell he couldn't stand to face. When they finally pulled away from the hug, Gerard grabbed his suitcases and said his goodbyes.

"I'm going to miss you."

"Me too, Gee. I just hope your room isn't black!"

Gerard rolled his eyes, "I hope not! But, seriously, when am I supposed to call you and check up on everyone?"

"When I spoke to your headmaster on the phone, he said that you can call home once a week, so I'm not really sure... But what I do know is that you're supposed to go to the office. Apparently the brochure states that the office is on the left as soon as you walk in."

"All right. I'll talk you later then," Gerard said, walking up the steps. As Gerard reached the top, he decided to watch his mother drive off for the last time. The moment she was gone Gerard sighed miserably and headed inside, expecting the worst.

Surprisingly, the inside of the school looked modern. It had a slight Victorian touch to it, but it wasn't over-classed. Gerard thought this was weird, but he didn't have the nerve to complain. After all, he liked weird things... As he headed down the hallway, Gerard could see the main office at his left.

'Great. One thing the brochure hasn't lied about...' Gerard thought as he entered the room.

The office was neat and somehow perfect. The carpet was deep blue and the walls were pure white, so it was a decent color combination. There was a receptionist at the counter. Gerard would have approached her if it wasn't for another woman already speaking to her. When the other woman turned around to look at Gerard, she immediately looked disgusted... Dismissing her conversation with the receptionist, the woman approached Gerard.

"I'm guessing you're Gerard?" she asked. There was no hint of welcome with her tone.

"Yeah... Are you the headmistress?"

The woman pouted in annoyance. "No. I'm the coordinator for the students; you can call me Lindsey... You do realise that you were supposed to arrive here about an hour ago?"

"There was traffic," Gerard answered. "Nothing I can do about that."

"Okay then, Mister Attitude. First of all, this boarding school is not like most. We have five classes per weekday. Your first class starts at 8:30am, and your last class ends at 4:00pm. You will also have two lunch breaks in between, yadda yadda..." Lindsey explained. From the looks of it, Lindsey didn't seem to take her job seriously.

"Oh, so it's basically like an ordinary high school..."

Lindsey laughed at Gerard's response. "Absolutely not. After your classes you're allowed to hang around the campus, catch up on your studies, or whatever it is you teenagers do nowadays... And lastly, you need to be back in your room by 8:30pm."

Gerard arched a brow. "What happens if I'm not in my room by then?"

"Then you'll earn a strike... Strikes are given to you for any type of bad behavior. This includes fighting, defacing property... basically any kind of trouble. If you get five strikes, then you're out of here,"

"Okay..." Gerard said, not really understanding what Lindsey meant.

"Also..." Lindsey continued, holding a few strands of Gerard's teal and black hair. "This hair isn't exceptional! But then again... you're not the only person with abnormally dyed hair."

"Right..." Gerard said. In all honesty, he just wanted to lie down and die.

Just as Gerard thought he was able to leave, Lindsey called him back.

"Where do you think you're going?!"

"Uh.. To my room?..."

"Not yet!" Lindsey scolded. "I've organised a student to show you around first... Hayley!"

A teenage girl wearing a blue blazer and bright orange hair suddenly appeared by the sound of her name. Something told Gerard that this girl was intimidated by Lindsey.

"Okay, Hayley, this is Gerard. All you need to do is show him around the school and help pack his things in his room. This is a really simple task, so I'm hoping you can do it correctly for once..." And with that, Lindsey proceeded to walk away, leaving Gerard and Hayley absolutely dumbfounded.

As soon asLindsey was out of sight, Hayley immediately gained her courage and pulled a warm smile. Something about her seemed down-to-earth now.

"Hey, I'm Hayley," she said, extending her hand.

"Gerard," he said, shaking Hayley's hand.

"Okay, let's get this tour started..." Hayley said as they exited the office. "But before we begin, I have to thank you for getting me out of Math class. I hope we can get to know each other and become friends," she said, now holding onto one of Gerard's suitcases.

"Thanks. Isn't this place supposed to be... different?"

"If you mean high class and fairy tale palace different, then the brochure fooled you big time."

"Meh, I think I prefer this better..." Gerard smirked. "What about my uniform?"

"Usually you're uniform is folded on your bed when you first arrive... If not, I guess you can just ask Lindsey."

"Oh, okay... So where are we going first?" Gerard asked.

"To your room, of course," Hayley smiled.

"Speaking of of our rooms... Do I have one to myself?"

Hayley frowned at Gerard's question. "Sadly, no. Every room has three roommates, and, luckily, you get to share with my friends Vic and Brendon."

"I guess that sounds good," Gerard said. He felt slightly lucky for once. At least he'd be bunking with people who were nice.

Once they finally entered the outside campus,Gerard noticed that it looked like an ordinary mall. There was a large fountain in the middle, and many buildings seemed to surround the area. Most of the area was surrounded with benches where students were supposedly allowed to hang out.

"Okay, so to your left is the library- a lot of students go there after school to catch up on homework. And over there near the fountain is the cinema- everyone goes there to watch the latest films."

Gerard wasn't sure if he'd heard Hayley correctly. "Wait... You guys have a cinema here?"

"Like Lindsey said, this boarding school isn't like most. Also, at the far end over there is the volleyball court, and the cafeteria is next to the teacher's lounge, but of course that's inside and we'll check that out later."

Hayley was pointing at so many directions that Gerard was beginning to feel confused. However, as they made their way through the courtyard, he realised that something wasn't quite right.

"Is it just me or is this school empty?"

"That's because everyone is in class right now," Hayley answered. "But you're right, though. This school only has a couple hundred of students here... I don't know why, but apparently the headmaster only accepts students who feel like they would belong here, or something like that."

"Are you sure that's right? What about the classes?" Gerard asked.

"That's the good part. There's about ten people in each class... My class only has nine students now, so you're probably going to be with me."

Gerard honestly didn't know what to say, so he smiled. Seeing that Gerard didn't know how to respond,Hayley decided to continue:

"The classes are usually boring, but they're sometimes fun... What we usually do is look at the board, listen to the teacher, and copy everything that the teacher writes. The people at the back are lucky, though... They're able to sleep if they're careful."

As they continued walking towards the dorms, Gerard couldn't help but ask how someone as normal as Hayley ended up in a place like this.

"So what made you go to this school?"

Hayley shrugged. "After I was caught tagging a few times, a couple of family friends showed my parents the brochure and told them about the education at this place... Another thing the brochure lied about. I guess my parents thought it would keep me out of trouble. What about you?"

Gerard sighed. He was expecting this question to turn up someday. However, he decided to tell the truth. He was already here, so why should he lie to someone as nice as Hayley? Surely she'll be able to keep this information to herself.

"I was blamed for a school fire. I'm innocent, but no one believed me."

"Not even your friends?"

"What friends?..." Gerard asked.

"You mean you had no friends at your old school?"

"None at all."

"Well there's no need to worry, because you already have a friend at this school," Hayley said with a smile.

Gerard didn't know what was going on right now, but he suddenly felt happy. It was probably because somebody was willing to call Gerard their friend... It was truly a nice feeling and this made him secretly hope that there were more people like Hayley at this place.

Now that Hayley and Gerard were finally inside the dorms, he could already tell that it was coed. This was due to the amount of rubbish on the floor and lipstick marks on the walls.

"Don't tell me these dorms are co-ed..."

"They are, but don't worry. You see, our roommates can only be the same gender, so no one will be spying on you," Hayley explained

As Gerard and Hayley finally reached his door, Hayley stood in front of it with a smile and handed Gerard his key.

"Well... this is it!" she said, opening the door.

The room honestly wasn't that bad. It was pretty cosy. The space was quite average for three people to live in... Gerard could see three single mattresses, a small desk with a stack of magazines, a bookshelf, a few dressers, and a blue rug on the wooden floor. Gerard had to admit his room back at home was way better, but this seemed more fitting than the pictures in the brochure. He somehow found himself feeling more at home.

The first thing Gerard did was set his suitcase next to the door, and so did Hayley. He walked over to the wall and saw all the different types of posters covering the it... There were posters of rock bands, being most of which he enjoyed listening to himself.

"I know it's not much, but at least you have a fan on the ceiling," Hayley said, turning it on.

"Cool. And this is my bed?" Gerard said, referring to the sheetless bed.

"Yeah," Hayley smirked. "I hope you brought some sheets with you, because the school provides dirty linens."

"Yeah, I did," Gerard said, showing Bridgette his skull-covered sheet. "So, who was their other roommate before I came along?"

"Rage-a-holic Matt. He was always yelling in the middle of the night, so the teachers decided to move him to another room. He was also moved from my class, so that's why we have nine people."

"He sounds... crazy."
They talked for a little while more, mostly about who befriend and who to avoid.

"Is it time for another class?" Gerard asked.

"No, that would be lunch."

"Cool. So when do I start class? Tomorrow?"

"You're not going to be happy when I tell you this, but Lindsey said you start today. So I think we should go to the cafeteria. Hopefully, you'll be able to meet some of my friends," Hayley said, heading towards the door.

While Hayley and Gerard arrived at the outside campus once again, Hayley decided to give Gerard some more advice.

"Always remember to make friends with the right people, and the cafeteria food is revolting. Make sure to go for the most decent looking food."

"I'll make sure to remember that... So, who's the headmaster? Is he cool?"

"Our headmaster is Brian Schetcher. He checks up on us at rare occasions, and he has a soft spot for some students... There's also Chef. No one knows his real name, so we just call him Chef."

"Okay, so Brian Schetcher and Chef. Got it."

"And now that you know the main details, here we are..." Hayley said, opening the double doors of the cafeteria.

The sight in front of Gerard reminded him of his old high school. There were basically students in a long line, collecting food, and proceeding to sit down at many tables to eat. The line was ridiculous... Sure, there were probably a hundred students at this school in total, but it was still a long line. The worst part was that Gerard skipped his breakfast this morning, so he was extra hungry.

As Hayley and Gerard headed over to the end of the line, Gerard noticed that many people were turning their heads in his direction. Speaking of which, many people didn't seem too impressed with his appearance. As Hayley stood behind Gerard in the line, she took this opportunity to show him a couple of people.

"See that girl in front of you?... That's Jenna. She's nice, but she's as sharp as a frosted cupcake."

And from the looks of it, Gwen could also tell that Jenna was the school's bimbo.

"And that tall guy in front of Jenna is Ray. He's a cool guy and has a sick 'fro. It's cute, really."

"Do you like him?" Gerard asked.

"Nah, we're just friends," Hayley said.

"He seems nice."

"He really is. But don't get me wrong... not everyone at this school is nice," Hayley warned as she motioned for Gerard to turn around again.

As he did so, Gerard noticed a girl with raven hair shifting in between Gerard and Jenna. Honestly, Gerard couldn't care any less if this girl was the queen. She still had to go to the back of the line.

"Um, excuse me?"

There was no reply.

Gerard was already becoming irritated, so he shook her shoulder. "Excuse me!"

The girl then turned around and faced Gerard with an angry look on her face. Her distinct features immediately told him that she was of Asian descent.

"What?!" she asked rudely.

"You just cut in front of me, and I'm guessing that you can't do that around here."

"So what?!"

"So," Gerard mocked, "I think you should go to the back of the line."

"Well I'm not going to, and I can cut in whenever I want."

"Actually, Taylor... You can't," Jenna said, pointing at the sign behind Chef.

"Shut it, Jenna!"

Gerard would have liked to mock Taylor further, but Lindsey appeared before he could do so. After all, he didn't feel like earning a strike on his first day.

"What is going on here?" she asked.

"She cut in line, so I'm telling her to go to the back."

"Back of the line then, Taylor," Lindsey said.

Gerard was surprised as to how quick Lindsey took hus side. This made him think that Taylor probably did something like this once before. She gave Gerard a cold stare as she moved to the end of the line.

"Wow. You have some guts," Hayley said once Lindsey disappeared.

"Is that wench always like that?"

"Yeah. That's Taylor and it looks like you're her newest enemy... Jenna follows her around like a brainless trollop."

Once when Gerard and Hayley collected their tray of food, Hayley led Gerard over to a table with some people already at it. And for some reason, he was beginning to feel nervous.

"Hey, everyone, this is Gerard," Hayley said as she sat down.

Notes

sorry i deleted my other chapters, i really wanted to re-write these chapters bc the other ones were horrible tbh. anyways, do you guys like it?? love you guys xoxo