Having to go back to school after the summer break had always been the most dreaded part of the year for Reece. But transferring to a new high school on the other side of town in his Junior year was on another level of awful.

Just when he thought he would be able to settle down 2 years ago, when his family finally stopped living like nomads traveling all over the country, that hope of his got ripped apart when Mom announced that she got a new job offer in Waterford; the rich part of the town they were living in, Bellmaire. Even though Eastview High- his previous school- was barely 15 minutes away from Waterford Academy, his mom insisted on changing schools because apparently, she can afford it now.

Before Reece even got to set foot into the school, he already recognized his first mistake of the new year.

All around him, students drove in their cars; parking sloppily as if the yellow borders weren't there, leaning against the doors as they chatted with a Starbucks in their hands. Meanwhile, Reece was the only one around that actually cycled to school. He didn't want to think of how ridiculous he looked as he struggled to lock up his bicycle to the metal bar that stood alone by the sidewalk. His mom may have been able to afford to move him here, but he was still going to look like that poor underdog in the school.

Waterford Academy was the elite school in Bellmaire, sort of. Not so much because of the quality, but just because it's the only private school available around which also means that it's the least crappy place to go. Reece couldn't really deny that; as much as he got used to Eastview, he couldn't walk 10 feet into the school before smelling the sweet, sweet smell of burnt weed. Although he had registered at Waterford High last week, he hadn't really been attending until today.

And Waterford looked much better than the other schools too, though that again wasn't a very high standard to compete with. Seeing the building reminded him of sunshine and he couldn't decide if that was good or bad. The bright yellow exterior of the school traveled into the halls as well, though the walls looked more faded. Lockers aligned both sides of the halls, the checkered floors were not dirty but they didn't look like they had been cleaned recently. Students were busy chatting away, and much to his relief, hardly any of them noticed Reece as he walked through the hall as quietly as possible. They seemed normal enough, he had half-expected to be wearing designer clothes and speaking with a posh accent.

It didn't take long for him to find his assigned locker, which looked slightly darker than the others and was bent around the edges as if the door had been slammed too many times.

He unlocked it, pulling out his schedule that he had slipped into one of the yellow notebooks he had bought. Reece made a mental note to paste that piece of paper somewhere obvious before he forgot where he put it.

Of course, he'd probably forget that mental note, too.

Looking at the schedule, he felt a slight drop in his heart when he saw that he had Biology first. Great, one of the subjects that he was terrible at.

For a moment there, Reece was seriously considering skipping his first class at Waterford. Starting off the new year being completely dumb in class wasn't what he had in mind. Maybe if he just hid in the bathrooms-

"What the hell?" A voice- a very loud one- behind him made Reece jump, causing him to hit his head against the locker door. He groaned in pain; the back of his head was throbbing. "Oh, shit! You alright?"

"Yeah." Reece nodded before looking at the person standing in front of him. A boy, quite a few inches shorter than himself, with brown hair that reminded himself of the bark of an oak tree; rough and bristling with strands of hair with greyish tips. His eyes were small in comparison to the rest of his features and almost brought an imbalance to his face.

"What were you doing with that locker? He'll kill you if he sees it, y'know." Reece could hear a slight accent to the boy's words, but he couldn't really pinpoint what it was.

"Who the hell is 'he'?" Reece asked.

The boy looked surprised, blinking at Reece like he had grown three heads. Then he peered over his shoulder, having to stand on his toes to see the locker. A smile came to his face, and he beamed at Reece, "Wait, did he change schools?"

"I don't know who 'he' is, but if that's the guy that used this locker before I did, then I guess so."

"I never thought this day would come!" Then his eye narrowed, and a frown began to form on his face. "Is this a dream?"

"Yes," Reece dead-panned. "It surely is."

The frown on the boy's face turned into a smile. "Well, let this be a good one then." Then he held out his hand, "I'm Eddie."

"I'm Reece," he said, quirking an eyebrow as he shook the hand. Been a long time since somebody did that. A small part at the back of his brain irked as he realized how sweaty his own hands were. "So, who's the guy that used this locker? He sounds great."

Eddie snorted. "He is. Broke the school's records for most detention and suspensions! I guess he got expelled, too."

"What did he do?"

"It'll be easier to tell you what he didn't do, which is to say, anything nice. He got arrested once or twice, but you know what? There are much better things to talk about," he said before poking Reece's arm, "like you. Are you new in town?"

Small talk really wasn't his forte, but it wasn't a very smart move to push away people on the first day of school. "No, I'm not. I just transferred from Eastview." He turned to face his locker again. Maybe, if he didn't look at the boy in the eyes, he'll be ignored.

But like everything else he hoped for, it fell flat.

"Oh! I've heard about that school before. Heard it was full of crack heads." Eddie was so casual about it that Reece couldn't feel offended at the statement.

"Not surprised," he muttered back. "The people there thought that Waterford is only full of stuck-up wussies." Reece gathered the books that he needed, holding the small stack on his left forearm before closing the locker door.

When he turned around, Eddie was still there, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the wall on the opposite side of the hall. When he saw that Reece was done, his eyes lighted up, and he crossed over to him, peering at the textbook he was carrying.

"Oh, you're having Biology?" Eddie asked. The smile on his face wasn't exactly comforting.

"Yeah. With Mr. Winchester." A sinking feeling laid in his heart. "Let me guess, that's-"

"-That's my class, too!"

Reece sighed, he got a feeling that this was going to be a long day.

----

Remember those movies that show high school students just chilling around, walking in the hall like they have all the time in the world, at the same time, chatting with their friends and spreading around juicy gossips or just being an overall nuisance to people?

Yeah, that didn't happen at Waterford High.

Or any of the schools that Reece had gone to. But this school was worse: the teachers immediately dived into the lesson as soon as they set foot in the class.

They spoke way too fast for any of the students to lose concentration and slip out of focus. Every minute, they sprouted new information that was nowhere to be found in the textbooks, forcing the students to write them down instead. Reece wasn't used to actually paying attention, but it didn't seem like he had much of a choice other than to do that or fall behind and fail for the semester.

Only a 5-minute break was given between each lesson and seeing that he had no idea where any of the other classrooms were, there wasn't enough time for him to even freak out. And Biology along with Physics already messed up his brain enough.

Thankfully, someone kept him company. Probably the only time he'd be thankful for it anyway.

"What do you have next?" The shorter brunette was peering over Reece's shoulder, stretching out his legs as he did so, to look at his schedule. "History? Oh, this is going to be fun!"

"You have this class too?" Reece asked. The odds that they both shared 3 classes in a row mildly horrified him.

"No! But I can show you the way."

"Now? Won't you be late for your class?"

"It's alright! We get merits for helping out new students."

Reece frowned. "You get what?"

But Eddie was already moving and Reece had to quickly gather his books and close his locker before rushing off to catch up with him.

He barely paid attention to where he was going, he was already busy trying to follow Eddie around the crooks and corners of the school. It felt like he had been walking for ages when the boy in front of him finally stopped.

"Where are we?" Reece asked, eyes widening in surprise as he looked around him and realized that they were somewhere that he didn't recognize at all. It was as though it was an entirely separate building.

The walls were unpainted instead of the usual yellow, baring its red bricks proudly. It was a nice contrast to the floor that was made of wood, the surface glistening and reflecting the lights from the ceiling. There were no windows nearby, only large square gaps in the middle of the walls. The hallway wasn't much wider than the previous ones, but the absence of lockers lining up the whole path made it look spacious. The place reminded Reece of castles, like those ones in Harry Potter movies.

Eddie seemed to have been expecting that kind of response because he smirked at him. "This is the part that we call 'The Ramparts'. There's no really any reason to it, it just sounds cool. Anyways, History and Drama classes are held here."

"Wow," Reece said, eyes still wandering around the place. "They really outdid themselves, the school builders. Or whoever they are."

"It's because a rich-ass historian sponsored this. So any historic expedition in this town will be made in the Throne Room along with any plays."

"The Throne Room?"

"A hall, sort of. The entrance is there-" Eddie pointed his fingers to the end of the hallway, where a huge set of double wooden doors stood proudly, truly finishing off the medieval theme. "But that's not where your class is. It's upstairs, come on," he said before walking off, with Reece following suit.

They turned to the side where there were two flights of staircases and climbed it up. The second floor looked the same as the first one, but there were three wooden doors with ledges on them that lined up the hallway.

"Who's your teacher again?" Eddie asked. Reece pulled out his schedule from one of the books he was carrying and read it quickly, tracing his fingers along the slip of paper.

"Uh... it's Mr. Glastonbury?" he read out, raising his eyebrows at the name. "That's...really historic."

"Oh, yeah! He's British."

"...an English man, teaching American History?"

"Who the hell said it was American history? That's an elective course."

"Why?"

Eddie frowned, tilting his head as he stared at Reece with a weird look on his face. "This school is not really focused on academics-"

"Say what now?" Reece found that hard to believe, considering the intense session with Biology earlier.

"-but we're more focused on arts. Waterford isn't an official Arts Academy, but we try to focus on the more artistic aspect of it all. And this school's motto is 'Art is Universal', so what we learn in History are events or topics that have caused a major impact and legacy on today's society." Eddie looked like he wanted to say more but decided against otherwise. But Reece picked it up immediately.

"You're a History geek." he stared blankly. The boy sounded like he had memorised the whole Waterford brochure.

Eddie shook his head fervently. "I'm not! I'm just... familiar with the subject. Here anyways. It's one of the only ones I get an 'A' for in the exams. God forbid I get a pass on anything related to Maths and Science."

"You're still a geek."

"Whatever, you're probably like, 15 minutes late. Let's go." Eddie stalked off. His walk was choppy and his steps were louder, more forceful.

Reece followed him down to the last door at the end of the hall. From a distance, however, he could already hear music playing: melodious and full of spirit. As he got closer, the sounds gradually became louder and it was obvious that there were more than just some recorders being played around.

Eddie knocked the door, before opening it and stepping in, with Reece following close.

The classroom was unique, to say the least. The first thing he noticed was the fact that that the tables were round and made of wood. The two tables at the back were crowded, while the ones at the front only had 3 or 4. The social hierarchy was strong and obvious in this class but to be honest, he was a bit glad.

At least something was familiar.

The whole classroom was decorated with scriptures that he clearly did not understand, portraits of whom he did not recognize and what appeared to be relics, the kind that would probably be cursed the first moment you touched it. The music that was being played through a couple of giant speakers at the front sounded festive, but the students were anything but that, as they were all busy scribbling down some notes in their books. At least, most of them were.

Everybody here apparently has amazing work ethics because none of them offered even a glance at the two of them barging in.

The teacher, however, was a different case. Reece didn't even notice that the huge chair behind the desk was facing backwards.

"Well!" The voice interrupted the music and boomed through the speakers so suddenly that Reece could've sworn he was close to getting a heart attack. "Who do we have here? Edgar Cresswell-" Reece couldn't hold back the snort when he heard that name, "-and... a boy I have not seen before- Wait! I have!"

"...you have?" Reece asked, trying to recall any familiar voices in his head. But seeing that he can't even remember what he ate last night, he doubts he'd come up with anything relevant

"Yes! You worked at Target last summer, right?"

"Oh." That wasn't a nice memory. "Yeah."

"How's the job now?"

"I... got fired," he admitted.

"Alas, you should. You were horrible at it." The voice said, quite indifferent to his rather brutal statement. "But nonetheless, take a seat. Edgar, you may go to your class now."

"May I get some merits, sir?" Eddie asked, putting on a rather unnaturally polite smile that is both unsettling and convincing.

The chair turned around, revealing a man that looked youthful, but features that ousted him unmistakeably as in his 40's. The prominent feature that struck out the most was the nose. Crooked, it reminded Reece of the Wicked Witch of The West or someone that's experienced way too many nose jobs.

Mr. Glastonbury dressed casually, a simple striped shirt in a white accent that was tucked in black slacks. "And here I thought that you were doing this sincerely with no expectation of a reward. Very well, I'll kick in 20 merit points for you. Now move along, Edgar."

The brown-haired boy smiled, clearly satisfied with himself. "Thanks, Mr. Glast." On his way out, Eddie patted on Reece's shoulder, telling him to see him soon. Then he opened the door and left.

"Well, what are you standing there for?" Mr. Glastonbury said after he noticed Reece standing there awkwardly for the past few moments. "You look like you left your brain at home, didn't I tell you to sit down?"

"Uh..." Reece scanned the classroom, quickly judging in his mind where the best place to sit was. The two tables at the back were obvious no-no's: it was too crowded and people were annoying. The ones at the front-

"Oh for heaven's sake, just sit over there, kid." The teacher pointed wearily at the table with the least people, there were only two students.

Reece complied, quickly moving towards the roundtable. The two people there- both of them girls- seemed about as enthusiastic as he was. Which is to say, not at all.

They both offered small smiles to Reece, he returned the gesture, but after that, they continued to ignore him.

The boy didn't even bother to open up a book and instead spent the rest of the class just drifting into his own state of mind, thoughts dwelling in the music that had continued playing until the end of the class, while his eyes looked around, not focusing on anything.

----

Much to his surprise, Eddie was waiting downstairs. The brown-haired boy was, again, leaning against the walls with his arms crossed over his chest. Was that his signature pose?

The next class was English so they had to walk out of the medieval-looking part of the building and into the normal hallways, where the wall was the usual blanched out yellow color and the lockers aligned the busy path. It felt very surreal, like he had just gotten back from Narnia through the broom closet or something where he met the Evil Eye Of Sauron.

Or was that the wrong movie?

"So!" Eddie stopped walking in front of a blue door, and Reece recognized his locker just a few steps away. "This is the final period before the lunch break and the second to final one before the school's over."

Reece grimaced, the notion of two more classes might just make him barf.

Eddie however, mistook his despair for another thing. "Sucks, I know. Time goes by so fast, I swear- anyways, you wanna have lunch with me?"

Reece frowned. It was a bit suspicious after all. "Don't you have any friends?"

Eddie answered defensively. "Of course I do! But you don't, so I'm helping you out." Just then, the bell rang and the boy took his leave, waving Reece goodbye as he went off to class.

----

The teacher had not come yet, and Reece felt like a thousand pounds were lifted off his shoulders as he sat near a window and leaned back against the seat. He let out a small smile, feeling his exhaustion slowly slipping away. Until someone interrupted.

"What are you so happy about?" a snarky voice snapped him out of his trance. Reece blinked before looking to his side, where a girl was sitting at a table. She had a smile on her face, and he wasn't afraid to say that it was a pretty one. "Are you new here?"

Reece nodded. "Yeah. I'm just glad to see that people are..." he waved off to the direction of the group of students that were laughing at something, "normal."

"Ah, too bad. I would've thought that we sold off the Kryptonian image well." The girl said with a straight face. "Well, I guess we'll have to try harder." She stared at Reece for a moment, her eyes lingering at his face before a smile broke out of her lips. The girl held out her hand. "I'm Lizzy."

"My name's Reece," he shook her hand, returning a grin.

"Sounds like a fancy name."

"Well, I am a gentleman." he joked "I only eat McDonalds once in two weeks."

"Ah, yes." She nodded. "Perfectly classy."

Just before he could reply with anything else, the English teacher walked through the door and as the norm here apparently, started her lesson straight away, leaving Reece to barely even glance at Lizzy.

--------

-----

Eddie had been waiting outside the classroom yet again; it was becoming more of a mystery now how he popped out so fast. But this time he wasn't alone, there was a girl beside him that wore black from head to toe. She didn't look gothic but she made it a point to be