Before we begin, a few notes about our cast...

Millie: MikexLucy kid, 15
Spencer: AugustusxDaisy kid, also 15
Emily: PauloxSue kid, 16 (hey, not like fanfiction has to make sense, right?)

With that in mind, I hope you enjoy!

"Ready for your first day of high school, Millie?"

The silver and white-colored kitten looked up from her partially-eaten breakfast at her mom's sudden question. Immediately she began to ponder it. Was she ready? Millie had tried not to think about it before, but now that it was mentioned, her thoughts drifted back to it. "I guess," She replied apprehensively.

"Nervous?" asked her father from the other side of the kitchen table. Millie shuffled uncomfortably in her seat, her silver ears drooping below the top of her snow-white hairline, "Y-Yeah."

"Aww, don't be. After all, your mother and I survived high school too," her father tried to reassure her. "Isn't that right, Lucy?"

Lucy snickered a bit. "Mike, I wouldn't say we survived it."

Mike shrugged. "Mmm. Either way, if we made it, you will too."

Millie forced a smile, but it didn't last long. Much as she wanted to believe it, she couldn't shake the feeling that something bad might happened. She had gone through middle school just fine. Why would high school be much different? Sure she had heard...stories, but they were few and far between. She would probably be fine so long as she kept out of trouble. Unfortunately comforting thoughts were not enough, and Millie soon returned to unenthusiastically poking at her breakfast once more.

"Here, I think I know something that might help," her mother suddenly spoke up. Lucy quickly sat up from her chair and exited the room, followed shortly by the sound of footsteps heading up the staircase. Millie considered following, but dread mixed with boredom kept her confined to her chair.

After a few minutes, the sound of footsteps appeared again, and Lucy returned to the kitchen with a strange pink piece of cloth in her hand. Once back at the table she passed it to her daughter, revealing it to be a bow. Slightly worn-out, but still clean and intact.

Millie stared at the bow for a second, then looked up, her sapphire-blue eyes full of curiosity, "It's my old bow," her mom explained for her. "Figured it might help. Go ahead, try it on."

Hesitant to take the bow, Millie continued eyeing it for a second, but eventually took it nervously, and began to wrap it around her neck. It felt rough, presumably from being not as clean as it looked, but that could be easily fixed. On the other hand it felt cozy and warm, giving a hint of comfort to the nervous kitten.

"Well...It does feel nice," Millie admitted. "How's it look?"

Lucy smiled. "Lovely."

Content for the moment, Millie returned to eating breakfast, this time with a newfound appetite. The remainder of breakfast passed uneventfully, until finally it was time for Millie to get ready for school. Once finished collecting her backpack full of things, Millie said goodbye to her parents and left the house, setting off down the sidewalk towards the high school.

But instead of heading directly towards the high school, Millie took a slight detour down an adjacent street. She began to look around expectantly, as if looking for someone or something. Her search soon proved fruitless though, and she began to head back down her original path, only to notice a familiar cat walking the same way.

At first she wasn't sure, but upon catching up she got a better look. Tan body, black limbs, black ears, and a fluffy tail - Millie smiled as she realized exactly who it was. "Hey! Spencer!"

Spencer's ears perked up upon hearing his name, and he looked behind him in curiosity. His unexcited face hardly changed as he recognized Millie, but a small smile formed as he did, "Oh hey, Millie."

Jogging a bit to catch up, Millie soon fell in line with Spencer, getting a good look at her friend. He didn't seem nervous, but he was not usually one to show emotion, preferring instead to stay quiet and observe from the sideline.

"So," Millie smiled nervously as she attempted to start a conversation, "you nervous?"

Spencer looked at her with inquisitive gray eyes. "About?"

Millie's smile vanished. "About school..?"

Spencer shrugged. "I guess."

"You guess."

"What's there to say?" Spencer asked her.

"A lot?" She asked, slightly confused by his answer.

"You know who you're talking to, right?" he inquired, eliciting a sigh from Millie.

"Are you ever gonna be talkative?" Millie asked, annoyed.

A sickening grin appeared on Spencer's face. "Nope."

Millie sighed to herself. She learned a long time ago that Spencer was not one for conversation. Why she kept attempting to coax him out of it was something she didn't know. Maybe one day he might actually be one for conversation, but for the time being Millie had no chance of changing him.

Though even if he didn't make it apparent, Millie could tell Spencer was indeed nervous. The two had been friends for a long time, meaning Millie had learned to read the few emotions he revealed. It was often difficult at times, but she couldn't ask for a better friend. Smiling to herself, Millie continued walking with Spencer, growing equally nervous and excited as the school finally came into view.

As they came across the area in front of the school, both cats paused. They looked around for a bit, taking in the school, surrounding area, other kids, and whatever else they felt was worth gawking at.

"Well," Millie eventually spoke up. "Certainly something, huh?"

"Yeah..." Spencer responded. He was clearly impressed by the school too, as Millie could detect a hint of awe in his usually emotionless voice.

Eventually Millie gestured towards the school entrance. "Ready for this?"

"Not really."

Millie laughed nervously. "Neither am I..."

Another stupid fuckin' school year...

Emily sighed to herself, brushing her tan and brown bangs out of her face as she waited for the cafeteria lady to fill her tray with whatever horrible glop was being served that day. Emily looked around, observing her surroundings while she waited. The cafeteria was crowded. Just like last year. And probably would be this year. And for however long she needed to attend the school. She sighed to herself, only to receive a rude shove from someone behind her, reminding her that her tray had been filled. After returning the favor with a swift, hard kick to the other kid's shin, Emily rushed away as the kid hissed in pain, and set about finding a table amongst the student-filled sea that was the cafeteria.

Finding a table was harder than expected. The previous year had gone similarly, with tables being taken left and right, sometimes even by a single person. This year was no exception, and Emily found it hard to keep up a calm demeanor as she came across at least three tables where a single greedy kid had claimed the whole thing.

But eventually Emily did come across an unoccupied table. A simple small one in the back of the room. It was by no means impressive, but she didn't try to find a table with the intent of being seen. Emily had no friends to speak of, and she wouldn't mind if it stayed that way. At least she thought she did.

Taking a seat at the table, Emily began to absentmindedly poke at her food, attention diverted to her thoughts, however few and scattered they may be. All she could think about at the moment was school, and not in a good way. She tended to be indifferent to many things, but school was not a subject she gave the benefit of indifference. She despised it, only bothering with it simply because she had no other choice. That said, she had already managed to survive one year. It wouldn't be hard to go through a few more, right?

At the same time, in a different part of the cafeteria, Millie and Spencer found themselves lost. High school had been confusing, but manageable so far, yet the sheer lack of spaces to sit intimidated them. They had no intention of sitting on the floor, but neither knew what else could be done if no open seats were found soon.

"See anything yet?" Millie asked nervously.

"Nope," Spencer replied, with similar, yet suppressed fear.

"Cmon, nothing?" she inquired. "We're not sitting on the floor."

"Doesn't look like we'll have a choice."

Millie bit her lip. She didn't want to consider using the icky floor as a place to sit, but if a table wasn't full it was apparently 'reserved'. Millie would have loved to argue, but even if she had the confidence to do so, the last thing she wanted was an avoidable argument on her hands.

But hope soon ran thin. The only two choices now were asking to sit with someone or sitting on the floor. The latter option would be even more embarrassing than the former, thus Millie decided to ask for a spot at the nearest table with empty seats. Fortunately the two eventually came across such a table. A small one in the back, with the only other occupant being a tan-colored girl with long hair, and whitish patches adorning her chest and lower face.

"H-Hey," Millie asked the girl, trying hard to hide her fear. "Mind if we sit with you..?"

The girl looked up from her food at the question, revealing a set of amber-colored eyes, "Go ahead," she responded indifferently, and went back to staring at her tray. "Not like I care."

Millie, slightly taken aback, looked to Spencer for advice. When his emotionless face revealed nothing, Millie regretfully sat down, exhaling slightly with fear while Spencer calmly sat down next to her.

A bout of uncomfortable silence fell between the three teenagers. Millie felt like saying something, but her nervous nature caused her to constantly reconsider. The other girl didn't seem interested in starting a conversation. Spencer was more focused on inspecting his meal and proved to be no help, leaving it to Millie to break the silence.

"So uhh," Millie smiled nervously as she finally spoke up. "What's your name?"

"Emily," replied the other girl, not looking up from her plate of food. "You?"

"Millie," she replied, shifting nervously in her seat. "And that's Spencer." Spencer hardly acknowledged the statement, providing only a small 'hey' in response.

"Huh. Can't say I've seen you two around. New here?" Emily asked.

"Y-yeah," Millie had eased up, but still retained a bit of nervousness. "First day of school and all..."

Emily stopped poking at her food for a moment and looked up, observing the two cats sitting across from her as she leaned back slightly in her seat. "First day, huh?" Emily grinned. "Welcome to hell."

"Is...is it really that bad?" Millie asked fearfully.

"Nah, boring is more like it," Emily paused to blow her hair out of her face. "Didn't have to spend a week in this shithole to know I'd hate it. Just do what you're supposed to and maybe you'll get your diploma."

Spencer had yet to show some form of emotion, but Millie was clearly scared by what had been said. Emily stared for a second, considering whether or not to say something a little more uplifting. When Millie's face refused to change, Emily decided to do just that. "Well, I suppose it's not all bad. Sometimes entertaining stuff does happen."

"Like?" Millie inquired when Emily failed to elaborate.

"Eh, mostly it's just some kid getting a face full of," Emily poked at her food briefly, "whatever the hell this is whenever he pisses off somebody. Try not to make that mistake."

"You've had that happen to you?" Spencer finally spoke up.

"Thankfully no. But I did see it happen to one guy with a lot of hair. Probably took ages to get out..."

Silence fell between the three teenagers once more, interrupted only by the constant background chatter of other students. Emily returned to poking at the lump of 'chicken' on her plate, debating whether or not it was better than starving, only to be interrupted by a gagging noise. She looked up, noting that Spencer had a pained look on his face.

Spencer forced himself to swallow, clearly regretting doing so. "This...this is food?" he asked after a second spent to remove the horrible taste from his mouth.

"Something like it," Emily explained. "They hired a chef that couldn't cook to save his life, but apparently they don't have enough money to replace him."

"That's legal?" Spencer asked incredulously.

"You wanna argue with them about it?" Emily inquired. Spencer said nothing as he realized she was right.

"Well anyway," Emily eventually spoke up again, "convince your parents to make a lunch for you. I don't care how bad their cooking skills are, it's better than playing roulette with the crap they serve here."

Meanwhile, Millie, having silently observed Emily the entire time, slowly began to notice something odd about her. Millie couldn't understand why, but Emily was familiar. The two hadn't met before, but something seemed to say otherwise.

"Say Emily," Millie started hesitantly. "You seem kind of...familiar."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"I...don't know. You kinda look like someone my dad knew."

Emily stared for a second, slightly confused. "Well. Guess that depends who your dad is?"

"Mike?"

Emily blinked, slowly beginning to realize something. "As in, Mike and Lucy?"

Millie nodded.

"Is the name 'Paulo' familiar?"

"Oh yeah, that's who I meant!" Millie suddenly realized, only to pause. "Wait, how do you know all this?"

Emily crossed her arms and smiled. "Paulo's my dad."

Millie's eyes widened in surprise. "Huh, really? How bout your mom?"

"Sue? Wouldn't expect you to know quite as much about her."

"Eh. A little. My parents don't tell me many stories from back then."

Emily shrugged. "Interesting coincidence either way. How bout you Spencer?"

Spencer looked up from inspecting what remained on his plate. "Oh? Augustus and Daisy."

"Daisy?" Emily asked. "I've heard of her. Not so much about 'Augustus' though."

Spencer didn't say anything in response and returned to determining which parts of the food on his plate were edible. Emily - now mildy annoyed- turned to Millie. "He always this quiet?"

"Yeah, kinda. But hey," Millie wrapped an arm around Spencer's shoulder. "He's still a great friend," She finished, eliciting a smile from the fluffy tan cat.

BRIIIIIIIIIIIING

Millie jumped slightly at the sudden shrill ringing of the school bell. Her right ear twitched slightly from the uncomfortably shrill sound. Spencer and Emily moved to get up and Millie quickly followed suit, hastily grabbing her tray full of mostly-uneaten food, and heading towards the nearest garbage can.

"Guess I'll see you two around then," Emily told them, after depositing the remains of her food into said garbage can.

"Suppose so. Thanks for the table by the way," Millie replied.

"Heh. And thanks for the conversation," Emily smiled bashfully. "Can't say I've had too much of that..."

With that the three teenagers each went their separate ways after waving to each other. Emily watched Millie and Spencer leave the cafeteria a different way, before smiling to herself.

Maybe this year won't be so bad after all...