"Maggie will you please come down and help me with the groceries?" My mom yelled from downstairs. I sighed, as I closed my computer and grabbed my bag before walking out of my room. It had been three days since I moved in and I still hadn't stepped outside the house, not even once.

"I'm coming now, mom!" I yelled, as I walked down the stairs. I jumped over the last to steps and swung around the corner that led to the kitchen. I had a lot of energy today, probably because I had been drinking four red bulls, and I felt like doing something but I wasn't sure what to do. It was Sunday and I would be starting on my new school tomorrow, so it was pretty limited what I could do.

"You seem happy today." My mom said, as she placed the grocery bags on the kitchen desk. Her hair was neatly tied in a ponytail and her lips were painted in a pretty red tone. Her brown eyes scanned the kitchen to check if she had everything with her, as she started taking the food out from the bags.

"Uh huh, I am," I just smiled. "I feel like doing something, but it's a little hard to find something to do, considering a have literally no friends here." I gave her a smile that might as well say ‘fuck you.’ Yeah, I was pretty much still mad at my mum, for I missed my friends a lot and in only three days I had felt incredibly lonely.

"Well that's new." My mom laughed and ignored my sarcastic smile, as she opened the fridge. I shrugged as an answer while I put the ice cream in the freezer. My mum continued to put the things in the fridge and I basically took my time, because I was just too lazy and I still wasn't sure where all the things belonged in this house.

"Have you heard from your father?" my mum asked me. They got divorced when I was 8 and now I lived at my mums -something I decided by myself. My mum always referred my dad as 'father,' and he just said 'Helen' about my mum. He had re-married when I was 10 and I guess that was partly the reason why I stopped coming there, well except for this summer break, but I was hardly even there anyways.

"No I haven't, why?" I asked as I hopped op on the kitchen island that was now clear from grocery bags.

"He just wanted to tell me, that I should tell you, that your grandmother is celebrating her birthday in three weeks and it'll be a big birthday party since she's turning 70." she said and gasped for air after her fast explanation. My mum always talked fast when it was about something that involved my dad; like she wanted it to be gone as soon as possible -not that you could blame her.

"Uhm, okay.." I said, dragging the 'y' a little. My mum just gave me a quick nod and starting going towards the backdoor. Right as she opened the door and stepping outside, she turned around on her heels.

"Oh, he also wanted you to stop dodging his calls and grow up." she shrugged, not really pleased with the last part. I rolled my eyes at the comment and gave my mum a smile; making sure she wouldn’t think that she had done anything wrong.

"I'll call him tomorrow or something!" I called over my shoulder, before I went upstairs again. My new colored hair bounced as I ran up the stairs, doing my best not to fall. I had bad habits like dying my hair and also falling, tripping, stumbling over my own feet, etc. My hair had just been colored in a nice dark brown chocolate-ish color and I really liked it, it did something good for my stupid hazel eyes.

I grabbed my laptop and fell down onto the bed, nuzzling into the pillows. I went on skype to see if anyone was on and before I could even count to three, my best friend Val was calling.

"Sup bitch?" was the first thing she said to me when I accepted the call. I shrugged at her greeting, which made her shrug too -it was a bad habit of ours. Val had short blonde hair and dark brown eyes. I had always been jealous of her looks also her personality, since she just got on so well with everyone, unlike me.

"Not much what about you? Have you banged your boyfriend recently or?" I smirked at her, as she began to blush.

"You're disgusting, I hope you know that." She told me, even though I knew she didn't mean it in a bad way. Val had been dating a guy for the last six months and about two weeks ago she had lost her virginity. She had always made a big deal about her not wanting to lose it to the wrong guy and I understood her. Besides, I really did like her boyfriend and the fact that he hadn't rushed her into having sex with her, even though he was older than her.

"Just because we had sex eleven days ago, doesn't mean that we're bunnies now." She huffed, trying to hide the growing smile on her face. I just shrugged at her comment and whispered a comment about her knowing the amount of days since they had sex. She slapped my thigh before driving away from my house.

"You're not gonna be any better when you lose yours!" she protested, and pointed at the camera on her computer. It was weird not having her next to me, but this was as good as it could get and I was just thankful that she still wanted to be my friend, even though I had moved to this shitplace. Australia just wasn't America, it wasn't as cool, didn't have a nice temperature like Cali, and I could go on. Besides, people spoke weird here, not a fun kind of funny, but an annoying kind of funny. It was going to drive me insane.

"Yeah right, like I'll ever even get a boyfriend that would want to take my virginity." I scoffed, picking at my black nail polish that I should probably clean away before tomorrow. Somehow the angry boy who had caught me staring at him, slipped into my mind and I tried to hide the blush that was spreading all over my face. Before Val noticed I asked her if she wanted to help me find an outfit for tomorrow, which she of course said yes to.

(~•~)

So here I was; standing in front of my mirror, looking at my outfit. I was basically the same as I always wore when it was cold; black skinny jeans that I had ripped up on both my knees, a black shirt with a triangle print that was quite faded now and my good friend James flannel, that he had given to me so I wouldn't forget him, aww. I had done a little extra with my makeup, giving it some darker shades and I had straightened out my hair, so it now went to the middle of my ribs. I grabbed some low cut converse in black that said 'mag' on the left and 'pie' on the right, something they used to call me back home.

I sighed as I thought about home, where I actually had friends and a life and Cali. Oh god, I felt like California wasn't even a state but a person. You can literally be just the person you are there and you would just have the best times and I swear to god, the guys who walked around shirtless at the beach. I felt like my throat was closing and I realized I had tears in my eyes. I quickly blinked them away, telling myself to cut the sensitive shit and just get it over with. I mean.. it couldn't be that bad, could it?

Yes.

Go away.

I gave myself a slap on the cheek that actually hurt before I grabbed my bag that only had a notebook and my tiny black pencil bag. I took my iPhone 5s (which Phil had given me as an ‘oh-im-sorry-for-making-your-marry-me-and-make-you-leave-America’ present) out of the charger and hurried down the stairs. I found a bowl, a spoon, milk and my coco pops and starting eating it as fast I could so I could brush out my teeth and get out so I didn't showed up late the first day.

Phil had insisted on driving me since he had a meeting and hour after I needed to go to school and it was on his way. I figured it would be a good idea since I didn't know where the school was and it might be nice to have some ‘bonding time’ with Phil in ten minutes. It was needless to say that neither of us said anything until he dropped me off and wished me good first school day here 'down under' as he joked. It wasn't fun.

My hands clutched tightly around the hem of my bag and I gulped before I started walking up to relatively big high school. I had honestly thought it would be a lot smaller, how judgmental of me. I walked into a big hall and looked to both the left and the right, completely lost. I nervously bit down on my bottom lip and swore before I took my chances and turned to the right. They always walked to the right in movies, so I just did the same.

I wasn't sure if it was just a feeling, but it sure felt like a lot like every single person on this school was looking at me. Okay, maybe not every single person but a lot of the people I walked past. I saw an office sign and drastically turned on my heel so I could just get this over with. I slowly made my way over to an elderly lady who looked like she was in her sixties with small round glasses on and a neat little bun. I wished she was as sweet and she looked like, so I wouldn't have to deal some bitch.

I felt so weird; normally I wouldn't be all nervous and awkward, but ballsy and I usually just said my opinion which caused a little trouble sometimes.

Oh get your shit together, Maggie.

"Excuse me?" I said, and the lady looked up and gave me a smile. I smiled back at her, after she didn't really said anything back, so I just figured she was waiting for me to continue.

"Uhm, I'm new here and I don't really know what to do, or well I'm here for school but I just don't know where to go, I don't even know my schedule and-" the lady interrupted me with a giggle and placed her hand on top of mine before speaking up.

"Oh sweetie, calm down." She laughed and clicked a little around on the computer in front of her. "Are you the new student, Maggie Carter?" she asked, I could hear an American accent coming out from her. I gave her a nod and she smiled at me before she pulled out some papers that she handed to me. "You just need to get the teachers you have today, to fill these papers out. They know what it's about.” She assured me. I pursed my lips together before saying "thank you."

"Here let me just see who you have now," she said as she looked on her computer. "You have English with Mr. Morris, so that's in class 49. You can pick all of your books up at the library at the end of the day." She chirped and smiled at me. "You'll be alright kiddo, don't let these kangaroos get to you, okay." She said, but it felt more like a statement.

"Irwin!" She yelled which gave me a shock. A young boy jumped up from his seat and practically stumbled over to the desk. "Yes Mrs. Kendler?" he asked, looking very confused. I wasn't sure if he had actually noticed my existence or if he was ignoring the fact the stood inches away from me. Don't these Aussies know anything about personal space?

"Since you have history in the same class as Miss Carter here, you are going to show her around the school for the day instead of getting a detention." Mrs. Kendler said. "But don't you dare let this lovely girl get into trouble, you understand?" She asked with a stern voice.

The boy, who I so far only knew as Irwin, shrugged and smirked at the old and sweet lady. "I wouldn't dare to." He snickered before turning to me. "Let's go Miss America." He smirked and grabbed a hold on my arm and before I realized what was actually happening he had dragged me out the room.

"I can walk fine by myself," I huffed before brushing the boy's hands off of me. He chuckled and let a little sorry slip out.

"I'm Ashton, Ashton Irwin," he said and offered me a hand. "You can just call me Ash, Ashton or Irwin, I pretty much respond to them all." He shrugged and I swear, never in my life had I heard an Australian accent like his. I mean this was, like, really Australian.

"I'm Maggie, Maggie Carter." I introduced myself, and I shook hands with Ashton. He reminded me of James, so I hoped he and I could get along and that he wouldn't just ignore me after this day.

"So, Maggie," he said, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Why are you starting in high school on the middle of the year?" He asked and actually looked at me with an interested look on his face.

"Well, uhm my mum got engaged with her co-worker while he was in America and they decided that we should all move here since he's Australian and was actually only supposed to stay in the states for six months." I explained, not going to details since I hardly knew this Ashton.

He hummed at my answer. "Well.. Do you like it so far?" He asked, as he continued to walk through the halls.

"I mean it’s, okay. I haven't really seen much yet." I shrugged. "I haven't even stepped outside my house door before this morning, to be honest." I laughed. Ashton giggled along and his upper arm hit my shoulder, which caused me to stumble a little. He was about 6 feet tall and well, I was 5'3 so there was quite the difference in heights between us.

"Oh, you should totally hang out with my group and then we can show you around." He chirped and I smiled at him. "That'd be cool." I blurped out.

They could be total jerks.

I’m trying to make friends, so please leave me alone.

In the back of my mind Mrs. Kendlers voice continued to say the word 'trouble,' but I just pushed it aside. He offered to bring me into his group, and sometimes you just have to take what's being offered.

"It’s right here." Ashton said, but grabbed me by my shoulders before I walked right in. "Okay so if anyone is whispering and stuff then just ignore it, okay? Good." He said, answering himself. "Oh, and just sit next to me." He ordered, before he walked in. I quickly followed him but stopped at the desk where a man who I figured was Mr. Morris sat.

"Hello," I said. He looked up at me and crooked a tiny smile out. "Uh I'm new here and I have these papers that I was told to give to you?" I asked, suddenly becoming very aware of all the eyes that were directed at me.

"Sure, just come up to my desk when the class ends and then I'll have it filled out." He told me, sounding done with the conversation. I took that as a sign that I should just sit down now. I looked around the room and noticed Ashton sitting in the back with a free spot next to him. I walked over and sat down, trying to ignore all the stares.

"Well, we might as well put you in a cage and ship you off to a zoo." He scoffed, saying it loud enough so most of the students heard it and turned around.

"Thanks." I whispered, giving him a smile. I really appreciated how well he took care of me, even though we had just met.

(~•~)

Ashton had the exact same classes as I had until after lunch break that we had now reached. We walked out from History which had been extremely boring, and were now making our way towards the cafeteria where Ashton had told me the rest of his group would be. He led me to a round table that was right next to a big glass window, where there was sitting 4 other people; two girls and two boys. They turned around as Ashton loudly said hi.

"Irwin!" They cheered out loud, not noticing me standing awkwardly in the background. I wasn't really sure what to do with myself, like, should I approach Ashton or should I just stand here? Maybe I should just go, yeah that would probably be the best id- "Guys this is Maggie, Maggie Carton. She's new." He 'introduced' me to the group and I awkwardly smiled at them.

To the right there was a guy who looked like he was Asian, but I was too afraid to ask if he might not be. He was pretty fit and hot, and I bet he could get away with just about anything, if he just blinked a little with his big brown puppy eyes. My gaze fell down to his arms, and saw a couple of tattoos. Was he eighteen already, or did he get them illegally made? A couple of my friends had done that back home, but this boy had several more than just one.  

Next to him was a girl with lilac hair and she had looked pretty cool. She looked like she was a sweet girl. She gave me a smile back and flashed her perfectly straight and white teeth. I felt really insecure about myself again because this girl seemed so cool and well, that used to be my place in my old group; the cool girl. She had a piercing in her nose and it actually looked pretty cool. I had asked my mum last fall if I could get a nose piercing, but she had just scoffed and told me I could get one when I turned eighteen. The girl also had a freckle just above the left side of her mouth and big blue eyes. Needless to say; she was really pretty.

To the left a green haired guy sat, and I honestly thought he was more into his pizza than anything else. He looked pretty cool too, like one of those kids who are dying their hair to piss off his parents. While one of his hands was holding the pizza slice, the other one was placed on a really pretty girl’s thigh that sat next to him. The green haired boy also had a couple of tattoos and I got a little more insecure of socializing myself   with these kinds of people. I usually didn’t judge people, but Mrs. Kendler’s voice was still in my mind, telling Ashton to not drag me into any sort of trouble.

The pretty girl was so different from the rest of us (including me) with her white clothes and dirty blonde hair. She looked like a saint or something, and I wasn't sure if it made her look more bad or pure, when she sat next to the green haired boy.

Usually I would've guessed the Asian one (I’m just assuming he's Asian) and the saint was a couple and then the lilac and green haired would be a couple. I'm not even sure any of them were even couples, it just looked a lot like it and I was confused.

"Carter, let me introduce you to the group," Ashton smiled. He pointed to the Asian one. "This is Calum, Calum Hood. He's not Asian by the way, and he will rip your head off if you say that," Ashton stopped to giggle. Oh, good thing I didn’t said the Asian thing out loud.                                                                                                     

"Cal is dating Holly," Ashton explained, pointing to the lilac haired girl. "Holly Lopen is the go to person if you want any gossip." He said, and everyone laughed which caused me to let a light chuckle out.

Ashton dramatically spun around so he was facing the green haired boy and the other girl.

"This is Michael Clifford. He dyes his hair often and he can fix you up with some pot, drugs, alcohol, you name it." He laughed and they winked at each other.

Michael had actually given me that vibe, but I wouldn't jump to conclusions; just because he could get it, then that didn't meant that he was addicted or anything else.

"And this is Bianca," Ashton said and pointed to the girl that sat next to Michael. "Bianca Forbs is trying to look like a saint, but we all know she's a wild animal in bed since Michael won't ever shut up about his sex-life." Ashton explained. "Oh and they're dating." He said, looking a little confused.

Everyone was now staring at me and I decided to just speak up and try to act like my normal self.

"Well, since y'all just got introduced to me by Ashton then it'll only be fair if I did the same." I said, and they just gave me a big smile.

Ashton put his hand on my back and led me towards a seat before we both slumped down and all eyes were still on me.

"Uhm my name is Maggie Carter," I started off. "I'm from California and I just moved to Australia four days ago. I don't really have any specialties, but I make really good pancakes." I laughed at the last part and it seemed to break the ice.

The others laughed as well and one by one I shake hands with them. They all seemed