I was thrown side to side up the mountain's steep drive. Rocks littered the already rocky road up to the school.

"Okay, so how do you feel." My mom asks while she tries to maneuver her old tan car.

"I'm fine mom, really" I try and assure her, but a frown curls at the edge of her mouth.

"Okay" but dough coasts her words "Remember, no drugs, no smoking, no speeding, no sneaking out after curfew-"

I laugh and stop her.

"Mom, I know, we went over this like ten seconds ago." I try to rest my head against the window pane but It's so bumpy, my head bangs violently against the glass.
She sighs "And-" I groan loudly in annoyance "no, boys."

"Mom!" I say quickly.

"Am I a clear young lady?" She mocks.

I sigh in response and look out the window for another ten minutes of dark green trees clumped together.

The trees give way to a cleared out passageway leading to an empty parking lot. The main building, called: The Great House, had tall pillars at the front guarded by a line of stairs. Peeling white paint dripped from its sides. Overgrown moss and vines gripped the building as well.

My mom parked the car and gave me a hard stare. She was going to cry, again.

"Okay, here we are, my baby girl-" I sigh again."Okay, lest go in." She says wiping baby tears from her cheeks.

When I step out of the car I feel small. My hand dances along the car door as I shut it and open up the trunk where I grab my things.

"You sure you don't need help?" I shake my head "Remember to call!" She yells as I give her a hug and walk away.

"Love you Danniella '' My mom waved back at me.

I nodded while waving back at her and stumbled off into the Courtyard of Morningstar Academy.

As I walked my short curls bounced around in my face.

Neatly trimmed bushes full of sprouting blue flowers lined the dusted brick walkways. Many buildings loomed over the yard tall and white.

Morningstar Academy was a boarding school for the most different selection of students.

It was for the utterly smart, and for the utterly stupid whose parents could not control them. And nor could the authorities.

I was sent because of my mix. I'm a smart girl, as my father says, but I'm also a bit of a troublesome girl. As my teachers call me.

Morningstar Academy was a school that was grand, some old Rich man built it for a courthouse, but he died and left it to his son who turned it into a school called Morningstar.

I carried my bags through to a set of stairs where I proceeded to sit and check off the things on my mental list.

Bags, check, food, check, friends...working on it.

At Morningstar you lived on campus for three years, It was my first, so It was a big step.

It was like a collage, except for when you're in your first year, you're still in high school.

In their memo online at morningstaracadamey/gifted.com, I read that the first and second years are in the same building, separated from the third years.

My eyes lingered in their large parking lot. Few people came this early but my mother, Jane Belle, insisted on being an early bird.

Morningstar Academy was a remote place up in the Crested Butte mountains of Colorado falls.​ They practically blew this mountain flat for building.

The doors lined in silver and gold with diamond encrusted knobs that were attached to the main entrance of Morningstar were locked. I pulled out my phone and sent a text to my mom.

Danniella: No one is here! And they locked the doors!

Mom: It's okay sweetie, I love you, but I need to go to work, Good luck!

Danniella: k love u bye

I slipped my phone in my pocket and waited. I began to read one of my favorite novels. Sherlock Holmes. I loved a good detective story, a part of me wants to go into law enforcement. But that would be a dream wasted as my dad says.

I thought of myself as a detective, I always wanted answered and hated when things went unsolved.

A soft breeze shook Morningstar late morning about an hour after I had arrived.

Finally a crowd started to grow. I stood up at the first sign of another person. I grabbed my things and saw the doors being opened.

A man in a crisp charcoal gray suit greeted me.
"Hello, I'm Mr.E" His deep voice lingers as I look at him and shake his hand. Dark skin, blue striking eyes, a bit of gray hair, late forties I conclude.

"Hi, I'm Danniella Belle, but call me Danny." I smile at Mr.E and walk into the Great Houses entrance.

Tall ceilings greet me as I walk in. Glass chandeliers glitter in the air while the staircase to the left of me towers and is covered in wine red carpet.

Well, they went lying when they said they had an old fashioned, but modern apeel.

A woman at the front Desk had short black hair, dark gray blue eyes and a tights black blouse.

The short woman greeted her with a brisk nod and looked me up and down. "Welcome to Morningstar, I'm Miss. Smith your headmasters assistant. Name and year?" Her long angled fingers clicked on the keyboard.

"Danniella Belle, year one." I ran my fingernails along the chestnut desk.

"You will be in Metha House." She says handing me an ID pass.

"This will get you into all the buildings around campus, information will be in this packet." She hands me a few sheets of paper.

I smile and grab the paper from her manicured hands."Rules are important, her at Morningstar." I look at her and feel a cold breeze creep down my back.

"Come back tomorrow for your schedule." She gives me a small grim smile and I leave.

As I navigate my way through the crowds of students and parents saying goodbye. Few people catch my eye. Back in Vermont at my old school you could tell people apart based on their look.

Once I reached Metha House I saw a letter mumbling on about house rules. Once I entered A large room with high ceilings and wood walls greeted me. A few couches were in a square surrounding a coffee table and a T.V was mounted on the wall. A big wooden table was at the entrance where stacks of books laid. It was like a big cabin up in the woods.

A kitchen was in the back of the large room. The smell of coffee and steam lingered in the air. A woman in shorts and a baby blue blazer with tan skin and a blond pixie cut said "Hey, welcome to Morningstar, this is the Metha house!" Her voice was deeper and her eyes and figures sharp.

A muscular arm was extended out to me. I shook it and said hello.

"I'm Danny Belle '' My voice trembled a bit, I was scared.

"I'm Genive Blue, call me Blue, In your house manager and anatomy teacher." I nod and follow Blue up a set of stairs.

"Here is your room, bathroom is that way, '' she points to a doorway marked 'Bathroom' In big bold letters.

"I see Smith gave you the paper of all the rules and curfew, I'm more laid back than Smith so don't stress about it, nice to meet you Danny!" Blue walked away.

I opened the brown scruffy door, and set all my stuff on the floor. A long mirror leaned up against the wall. I looked at myself. My curled brown hair was short at my shoulders. I adjusted my baggy vintage yellow sweater and tried to look normal.

"Hi, my name is Danny, what yours?" I talk to the random person in my mirror. Ugg... what am I doing?

I set up my room in order. Bed sheets, pillows, covers, check. Computer, books, papers, check. Shower caddy, shoes, clothes, check. I'm ready for today.

Raw sunlight flowed in through the window in her room as a rumbling hunger lingered in my stomach.

I walked to the door and opened it up. Many people my age were walking about entering and leaving their rooms.

I glanced into the room next to mine to find a girl with long blonde hair in two loose braids. Come on Danny, just say hello. The words choked in my throat, so I continued my search for food. Moving past a crowd of people, I found Blue greeting a few more People at the door.

"Hey!" A perky voice spoke up behind me. Startled I turned around and saw a girl with pink hair in many braided buns around her head.

"H-Hi?" I am confused.

She wore a very holey, ripped, and cropped Adidas sweatshirt and high wasted leggings. She smelled like rosewater and lemons. With a faint hint of some Alcohol

"I'm Kiki, there's a party tonight, you're invited, there will be drinks!" Her voice ascends at the end.

"And don't be bitchy and snitch, hope to see you there!" She leaves me baffled with a small piece of paper in my hand. In messy smeared ink it read; Party tonight, second floor Metha house, Drinks!

I shoved it in my pocket at a party? Should I go? Well, I'll consider it.

I looked around the back kitchen to find a banana, satisfied I waited out the blizzard of people while reading the rule book. My eyes darted around the page looking for a part labeled rules, found it!

They are in order like bullet points.

1. No smoking

2. No drugs, pot, marijuana, etc.

3. No intimacy on campus

4. No drinking, wine, gin, etc.

5. Curfew is 11:30 PM

More rules line the page left to right. The soft knock on my door brings me back to reality.

"Come in." I say lightly expecting Kiki to come in. But It's the girl next door.

"Oh, Hey!" I smile at her. Don't be awkward, be normal, wait, what does normal look like?

"Hey, hope I'm not bothering you, it's just I wanted to get to know you." She spoke lightly It was soft but had an energetic tone. The girl sits in my hanging chair and sits cross legged.

"So I'm Daisy, what's your name?" She smiles at me batting her long eyelashes, a shiny gold eye shadow coats her eyelids.

"I'm Danny, Belle," I added clumsily. "Are you in your first year?" I ask tentatively. "Yeah, you?" I nod

"So what's your story?" She asks me. She leans back into the chair and plays with the tips of her hair.

"I moved here a week ago, then came to Morningstar. I grew up in Pittsburgh, so Colorado is different." Daisy laughs.

"Is Danny your real name, my real name is Daisy, but all of my friends call me Day." She laughs a bit as she swings back and forth.

"You can call me Day, if you want," she adds.

"Nice," I replied, the awkwardness dripping off my words. So, that's all it took. A few questions and she accepts me. How do people do this? Extroverts scare me.

"Yeah, my real name is Danniella, but I've been Called Danny since I was Little."

She nods along then gasps playfully.

"Oh my god! It's time for the party, you meet Kiki right?"

"Yeah, she told me, but I'm not going, it seems weird." Day scoffs.

"Oh come on Danny, lets go!" She laughs grabbing my wrist.

She pulls me off the bed, down the hall, to the stairs, and too the 'Study Room.' Loud music blares as we enter. People dancing all around like animals.

"Come on!" Day says over the loudspeakers. She shakes her head around and dances off flirting with a second year later I would learn to be named Tommy. I mumble and sit in a chair by some boy who looks like he passed out.

Then I see her. Kiki was standing on top of a table in a crop top and the shortest skirt in the world passing out 'The Drinks' It was my first day and I had broken rule number one already.

Sweat and smoke fill the medium sized room. Hot breaths were everywhere. I looked around the room for Daisy's smile and golden hair. But I see nothing. All I see is a couple swallowing each other.

Why were humans wired this way? They want to be in love and experience it, but it made no sense.

Weaving through the crowd of people I finally see Daisy and the second year stumbling out of a spare room. They were laughing and in a hot sweat.

"Day!" I call out from across the room. She kisses him one more time before coming over to me.

"What the hell was that?" I ask as she giggles.

"Oh, we were just talking." But her messy hair, sweaty neck and unbuttoned pant bottoms tell me differently. Looks like Daisy broke rule number three.

I listen to Daisy ramble on about her vacation this summer to France. But someone in the crowd catches my eye.

A girl was in the middle of a crowd of boys. She had long wavy hair like Daisy and had sharp blue eyes. Her skin was glowing and tan. A popular girl? I guess. If you want to survive, know your surroundings and the predators.

"Who's she?" I interrupt.

"Oh, that's Vi, or Vicky Walker" Daisy sits next to me. "She's the most popular second year, she is a bitch."

Daisy's green eyes glare in her direction.

"For a first year you seem to know a lot, I mean about people here."

She smiles like she was waiting for me to ask that.

"I have a second year friend, she tells me everything." She Picks at her long nails painted a buttery yellow.

"Last year she was a legend, hooked up with five different guys in the first month here, and there is this place called 'The Hole', I'll take you there sometime." I keep my eyes on Vi, clothing is cropped and shows skin, she's brave, not self conscious and runs the school. Those are my conclusions about Vicky.

Day continues "Anyway she did it, in the hole, with Jack Fenn on her first night."

"Wow." I say in response.

"And who is that?" I point at a boy in a white tee and some ripped jeans. He takes a sip out of a vodka bottle and chats with Kiki.

"Oh god, that's David Love, a second year, he broke up with Vi last year, but we all know that they will get back together eventually." She smiled at the boy she made out with and told me to have fun as she walked over to him.

I sat there the rest of the night on the sofa drinking a can of soda. Kiki spoke to me once, but I focused mainly on Day so I wouldn't lose her again.

Daisy and Kiki were the life of the Party, I was more of the clock on the wall waiting for the time to pass by.

It was 11:20 when Kiki yelled "Hey!" The crowd cheered "Blue is coming up for a room check, party's over!" She collected cups and wine bottles. Say Say releases the boy from her grip. She hobbled over to me.

"Fun party right!" She laughs

"Yeah" I try to say cheerfully. I felt a pair of eyes watching me, turning around I saw David Love eyeing me up and down. I turn to see Vi glaring at him then at me.

I cast my glance to Day.

What was that? Was he looking at me?

I say goodnight to Day and flop on my bead tiredly. I drag my feet along the wood to my closet to change into the Morningstar silky white Pajamas. I run through a checklist in my head.

Friends, check, enemies, maybe? Rules broken, yes, funny feeling, yes, Who is David Love? I had no reply to that.

I let my tired eyes rest. The blaring noise that rang in my ear had faded. I guess you could say I was doing alright.