Warning: This story is not for the faint of heart. Know that this is a gritty story, subjects will be breached that might be uncomfortable for certain readers.

Take the World

Chapter I

Sherry Birkin sat before her father's bed with defeat. William Birkin's face looked ashen, and his once soft blonde hair was now brittle, and waning on his head, where his eyes had been light there was now darkness, where hill full lips had once been stretched with infinite smiles there was only grimness. Even when he tried to smile it looked like it pained him.

Today she would leave him in the care of the home-health- aid nurse he had adamantly requested. Her father refused to let her drop out of high school for even his sake. She protested stubbornly at first, but realized that this was only stressing him further, so she relented.

But now they had moved a new town, and she didn't know what to do here. When she asked him why this strange town named he had simply told her that it would give him peace to know that in case of his death his friend would be nearby to handle things so that she wouldn't have to.

"Dad, I have to go to school, okay? I'll be back by four in the afternoon…"

William opened his eyelids carefully; she resisted the tears in her eyes and bit her lip. "You'll have fun Sherry; this is a nice town… I promise you'll like it."

She couldn't be so sure and hid the cynic in her as best as she could. Gently she reached to his hair and gently stroked his head… she cringed inwardly when a few strands came out tangled in her fingers. But at the same time his hair was so thin that it couldn't really be considered 'tangled' as much as 'weaved.' "I'll see you later on, okay daddy?" Her weak voice became weaker as she stood, he smiled at her.

"Bye sweetheart."

She kissed his cheek gently, and escaped the room, the nurse was waiting in the living room with a small smile.

Jill Valentine was a sweet woman who Sherry thought was far too young and good looking to be in this profession. The woman had blonde colored hair and strange blue eyes, they were wide… always so knowing, and she always had a sweet smile planted on her mouth.

"Off to school?" She asked Sherry as the blonde girl grabbed her book-bag and sighed heavily.

"Yes… I'm not sure about this. I don't think it will be as easy as dad claims it will be but… I have to do what I have to do." She shrugged nonchalantly and then held her arms out to her sides, "how do I look?"

Jill analyzed the outfit with a critical eye. She took in the plain blue button-down shirt Sherry wore, and then the black skinny jeans. She nodded and then looked up to Sherry's eyes, "you look appropriate. But it looks like you're wearing a uniform." She wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"I don't want to look like one of those girls on the first day," Sherry mumbled awkwardly and moved towards the exit of the apartment.

"You should live a little," Jill called to Sherry as the petite blonde made her exit and started down the stairs, "you're too much of a good girl!"

"There is no such thing!" Sherry called back with a small laugh as she made her way out of the apartment complex.

…

Not good… not good... not good. Dear God, why me? Why is it always me? I I get that life comes with hardships to teach us lessons… but really? Does this ever stop?

The first thing Sherry noticed when she stepped out of the cab to the high school was the fact that the high school itself was immense. The building looked more like a museum then a high school. It seemed to sign in the fall sun. The second thing that she noticed was the way most of the girls were dressed. They wore shorts too short to even be considered 'shorts', and if it wasn't that then they wore skirts too short to really be considered skirts.

"Are you going to sit here all day... or?" The faceless cab driver muttered impatiently.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" She apologized and passed him the exact cost of the ride before scrambling out of the car and approaching the high school as if she were confident and knew her way around, like if she had been here for years. The truth was that she had no idea where she was going. Al lshe had was a schedule to lead her.

Since class hadn't started yet she assumed that it would be a good idea to go to her classroom early. That way she wouldn't get lost on the way and then have to make an awkward entrance in front of a bunch of kids she did not know.

Few people noticed her as she passed, for this she was grateful. She did catch a few glances with a few boys but quickly turned her face away and sped her walk up to the entrance of the school.

The hallways were long, lined with lockers on each side. The ceiling was lined with long lights that made the glossy floors look like runways. She noticed some girls strutting passed her as if it truly were a runway too.

Another thing Sherry found herself happy about was how easy it was to find her classroom. It was on the first floor, all the way to the left. Room 104. When she found it shepeered into the room from the pane at the window.

Sherry was already picking out a seat, all the way to the back and right in the middle, if I sit at the corners the teacher might catch sight of me better.

In no time at all – which meant entirely too soon- the first bell rung. She walked into the classroom quietly and took a seat. Outside she could hear the sounds of students as they made their way through the halls.

A man walked into the room suddenly, she could only assume that he was the teacher. He had a black tie on and a plain button down blue shirt with black pants. Embarrassment washed through her. Her outfit looked a lot like his… she suddenly felt uncomfortable knowing that she had indeed dressed as if she were in uniform. He looked up to her with a confused stare.

"Hello, do I have you in this class? I've never seen you before… are you the new student?" He asked. He had a nice set of glasses on his face. She nodded shyly, too afraid that her voice might crack. She also noted that his hair was slightly blonde in color and that his eyes were green and hooded over a tense brow bone. "Sherry Birkin?" He asked, setting his briefcase on the table and opening it, shuffling through a set of papers and then coming upon the one he wanted.

"Yes, that's me."

"I'm Mr. Kennedy. It's a pleasure to meet you," he smiled at her, "why were you already in the class when I came in?"

"I-I just wanted to be the first one in here…"

"Avoid all the stares?" He guessed with a dashing grin. She blushed and nodded. "Don't worry Sherry, everything will be fine. The kids may seem intimidating but they aren't all bad. In fact there's one girl in this class that I can see you getting along with… you're actually right in the seat that she usually sits in." One girl only?

"Oh.. Oh, I'll move then." She stood to move but as she did she heard a chuckling voice from the doorway. She looked to it, as did Mr. Kennedy, and she saw a brunette standing there with a sly smile on her face.

"It's no big deal, you can sit there. I don't want it anyway. The girl who sits in front of you has a huge head and I can't ever see the board." The girl rolled her eyes and strode forward. The first thing that Sherry noticed was how she dressed, the girl wore strangely tight cargo pants and a black shirt with her backpack slung over her right shoulder. She had amazingly stunning hazel eyes, perfectly almond shaped and a pony tail.

"Thank you, are you sure you won't mind?" Sherry mumbled as the girl settled into the seat beside her.

"It's totally fine, that girl's head is fuckin' ridiculous-

"Language!" Mr. Kennedy warned the girl beside sherry with a serious stare.

"Sorry, Mr. Kennedy," the girl laughed, her eyes sparkled, she sure doesn't look sorry, Sherry thought and settled into the seat as the girl finished her original statement, "it's like the size of a watermelon. It's huge... well you'll see." She said forebodingly and then turned to Sherry with a gentle smile, "what's your name?"

"Sherry, Birkin."

"How interesting," the girl mused, "Sherry Birkin, S.B. I'm Sheva Alomar, S.A." She suddenly turned to Mr. Kennedy who had gone to writing a few notes on the board. "Did you plan this Mr. Kennedy? Or are we meant to be friends?"

Sherry grinned at that.

When the bell rang the kids finally filtered in. They instantly took in the new girl and Sherry avoided their stares by burrowing her face into her notebook and pretending to be very concentrated on the notes on the board about World War II. World Wars, I know all about that. It's this very room! Sherry thought as she noticed girls muttering and looking in her direction. She hoped Mr. Kennedy would spare her the whole 'introduce yourself' tradition. Luckily when he turned around he seemed to notice her shy demeanor and didn't bother even mentioning that there was a new student.

It was then that a girl walked into the classroom. Sherry noticed her instantly because she was chewing like a cow and had too much make up on. Sure she looked gorgeous, but it was still clownish.

"Oh, here she comes," Sheva muttered quietly. The girl looked to Sheva with a roll of her eyes and then settled in front of Sherry.

The rest of the class Sherry found herself squirming as she tried to look at the board around the girl's head.

Sheva snickered beside her the entire class.

…

When that class ended Sheva grinned at Sherry and asked her if she needed help finding her next room. Sherry replied that she did not and simply thanked her, Sheva nodded and wished her luck with the rest of her day.

When Sherry went to her next class, which was art, she met an eccentric teacher, Ms. Wong. The woman spoke with a sultry tone that made Sherry uncomfortable, the woman oozed everything Sherry didn't, and she couldn't help but squirm under the woman's beautiful dark eyes. That class went by easily; she simply sketched while the other students minded their own business and casually spoke to her about things she had missed during the year. But none of these things would really matter in her grade she knew.

The next class was Math, which she hated, there she met a boring teacher whose name she never learned because he never bothered to introduce himself. He had a scrawny voice and the students mercilessly whispered about his appearance. Only when she looked at her schedule did she learn his name was Mr. Irving.

By fourth period she thought she was going to faint from anxiety, but luckily this was a lunch.

She took her time walking to the cafeteria, she considered going to eat outside but then realized that she had no knowledge of how to get around here, so playing it safe she decided she'd go into the lunchroom and read as she ate.

When she entered what she hereafter called Hell, she looked instantly for where there was an empty table. The cafeteria itself was modest in size. Round tables sat all around leaving one very direct isle towards where people could buy food, she'd brought her own lunch so she searched for a table quietly. She found one all the way to the back of the large cafeteria and squirmed past people uncomfortably.

She could feel their stares, it was awfully obvious too. Some of the girls didn't even bother to whisper their confusion over who she was. And while she knew it shouldn't bother her (she was new after all), it was the fact that they were so blatant about talking about her that bothered her.

Almost there… she thought as she approached the circular blue lunch table. It was just in the distance, almost there, she could almost feel the imaginary sweat on her brow as she hurried to it. She could almost hear the slow motion victory music as she was just in reach of it.

She reached it with a huff and a grin playing at her lips, she looked foolish that she quickly hid it and set her bag down and took out her sandwich and her book. She sighed with relief, and then she heard her.

"Can I sit here? I mean, I figure its better than sitting on the hot cement outside." Sheva's voice made Sherry's head snap up with surprise.

"Yes, of course." She quickly moved her bag off the table as Sheva slid onto a chair and then looked at Sherry expectantly. "What?"

"Well, what do you think so far? Does the school meet your expectations?" She looked at Sherry's sandwich and raised perfect eyebrow.

"I think it's nice… no one has been mean to me. So that's a plus right?"

Sheva threw her head back and cackled. Sherry stiffened, confused, "don't let them fool you. We have our own Class A for Asshole's in this school."

Sherry kept her eyes locked with Sheva's, afraid to look anywhere else, "you curse a lot."

"And you're a good girl." Sheva smiled and then grew serious, "let me show you whose who here." She slid her chair next to Sherry and bluntly pointed out people where they sat.

"Don't point, that's rude…" Sherry mumbled shyly. Sheva noticed her frightened stare and let down her hand for Sherry's sake.

"Fine, look," she discreetly pointed others out with her eyes, "stay clear of these bitches," she muttered pointing out a table near the entrance of the cafeteria. Sherry noticed a student with dark hair and steely eyes looking through her notebook with disinterest and speaking to a bunch of other females. "That airheaded one you see with the tits hanging out of her shirt is Excella Gionne…" Sherry winced at the words Sheva had used for Excella Gionne's breasts, "her father is a hot shot scientist so she thinks that his intelligence is naturally passed down to her… but boy is she wrong…" Sherry smiled slightly and then Sheva pointed out another group, this time it was guys, "that right there is the Jocks table."

"Isn't that a bit cliché?"

"Things may be Cliché, but Cliché things exist because they're true. They are jocks. They think they're hot-shit too, but see the thing about them is that they are. People here worship the ground they walk on, the difference between them and Excella's group is that where people worship these guys – people generally hate Excella Gionne. Even Excella Gionne hates Excella Gionne, it would explain why she wore those shoes with that outfit." Sheva cackled now at her little joke and set her forehead down on her forearm which rested on the table. Trying to hide her laughter.

Sherry raised a brow and ate her sandwich patiently, waiting for Sheva to finish laughing.

"So what are you doing in this town?" Sheva asked, raising her head and wiping under her eyes. She looked towards Excella and let a snicker past her lips again.

"Well… my dad felt that it was time for a change." Sherry didn't want to delve into it. "Have you always lived here?"

"Diverting attention from yourself, smart," Sheva observed, "I have lived here all my life. You might notice a bit of an accent but that's only because of my father and mother."

"I hardly noticed," Sherry said with a raised brow.

"Really?" Sheva shrugged, "everyone here never seems to stop mentioning it. They love to make me feel like an outsider. I just make sure they understand that I'm comfortable with it." She grinned almost maliciously, Sherry looked away. "You're the good-girl archetype you know that?"

"What do you mean?"

"You sit here, quietly reading and eating. You don't curse, you don't even show any hint of anger towards anyone. I'm sure on your first day there are plenty of people to already hate."

"I don't hate anyone."

"That's what I mean… I mean don't get me wrong, it suits you, you look the part you might as well be it. But it's just amazing to me that you are so kind. I wouldn't be on my first day. No way, I'd be very guarded."

Sherry said nothing to that and then looked to the entrance of the noisy cafeteria as three guys walked in. "Who are those guys?" She asked Sheva, wondering if she really knew everything about everyone as she seemed to let off.

Sheva looked up to the entrance. "Ah… here we are… These are the three idiots of the school. The one all the way to the left, that's Billy Coen." He stood out like a sore thumb, he had tattoos running down the length of his left arm and his hair was long and shoulder length, pulled back and away from his serious face. Dark brown eyebrows hooded his intense dark gaze, and she noticed that he was also the shortest out of the trio. But the most dangerous looking.

"He looks…"

"Scary. And he's dumb as hell," Sheva rolled her eyes. "The one in the middle, that's Jake Muller. He's probably the nastiest of the three of them. He has a bad habit of ending up in prison cells for the night and then coming to school reeking of last night's whore." Sherry winced at her choice of words. "As you can see, he's disgusting." Sherry observed the way he grinned at Excella Gionne who had almost too casually bumped into him. He stared at her backside as she walked away without shame, he grinned shamelessly when the guy on his right punched him in the shoulder, shaking his head in disgust.

Jake Muller had a scary face compared to the others. He wasn't ridiculously good looking… he was just… intimidating. He had a very short crew cut sort of hairstyle. His hair was a strange colored hair, almost red, but not quite there yet. And his skin was a strange fair tone. He had a broad chest. He was not quite as tall as Billy, but he was clearly at least six feet tall. He wore a tight black long sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He had black cargo pants and thick boots. His eyes were narrow and sharp like the rest of his features. His mouth was grim when he stopped grinning like a dirty fool at Excella Gionne.

"And that one to the right is the love of my life." Sherry blinked rapidly at Sheva's statement, "that's Chris Redfield. He's the biggest fool, but I love him." Chris Redfield was muscular and tall. He had a serious countenance about him, and he wore plain jeans and a snug black t-shirt. He had a bit of stubble on his face and deep brown eyes. His jaw was thicker than the rest of his friends, he looked to even be bigger the Billy, Sherry realized with a widening stare.

Then she realized that they were heading in her direction.

Sherry looked to Sheva and found her grinning like a fool in Chris' direction. The closer they came the more food Sherry found she was stuffing into her mouth. She then realized, with horror what she was doing and did her best to swallow it all quickly.

The trio stopped in front of Sheva and Sherry. Jake Muller was saying something to Billy Coen and Chris Redfield stepped around the table and kissed Sheva on the lips, Sherry's eyes widened when he saw him deepen what looked to be a chaste kiss. Sheva laughed and pushed him away gently, he smirked down at her, "I missed you."

"I missed you," She smiled softly.

He grinned foolishly down at her. Sherry found herself smiling at the plain adoration in his eyes. "Whose this? New Girl?" Chris guessed and grinned in Sherry's direction. She suddenly felt very tiny in front of the giant.

"Her name is Sherry, don't be rude." Sheva said seriously. Chris extended his hand and took Sherry's carefully in his own, shaking it firmly. His hand swallowed hers.

"Nice to meet you." Sherry murmured shyly, ducking her gaze a bit.

"Nice to meet you too," he sounded sincere enough. "I'm Chris, but I'm sure Sheva was ranting your ear off about all of my wonderful qualities."

"Haha!' Sheva laughed sarcastically, "not quite."

He grinned at her and then looked to Jake Muller and Billy Coen. "These two handsome devils-" Billy laughed at Chris' phrasing, "are Jake Muller and Billy Coen."

Sherry extended her hand to Billy first, he smiled at her sweetly, "Sherry." She said with the nicest grin she could possibly put on.

"Nice to meet you cutie," he flirted and suddenly kissed her hand. She reddened and pulled her hand away as Sheva made a short sound in her throat of plain revulsion.

"You're disgusting." Sheva announced, "couldn't you just shake her hand like a normal individual? God, Sherry here, some hand sanitizer." She pulled out a little bottle and handed it to Sherry who resisted taking it; she looked up to Billy's sheepish face and shook her head, not wishing to embarrass him. She'd make sure to use it later.

Jake Muller then looked at her for what she thought was the first time. She realized with a certain shiver that he had strangely crisp blue eyes. Her hand trembled as she extended it towards him. He looked at it and then looked up at her. A smirk suddenly slithered its way onto his face.

He's laughing at me, she realized.

Sherry pulled her hand back, had she offended him? Did he not like to be touched or something? "I'm Sherry."

"Yeah, I guessed the first two times you introduced yourself." He rolled his eyes at her as she blushed and bit the inside of her cheek. She lowered her gaze, embarrassed.

"I… Uhm.. I have to go, okay? So I'll just talk to you later?" Sherry looked to Sheva who was glaring at Jake so hard that she was certain she was going to burn a whole into his head.

"Don't leave," Sheva said, looking to her then.

"No, it's fine I have to go do a few things anyway. Honest. Do you want my number or something?" Sherry could hear the shaking in her voice.

"Yeah, that'd be great!' Sheva grinned and pulled out a touch screen phone. Sherry pulled out her old phone and flipped the top open. Jake snickered at the sight of it and Sherry ignored him to the best of her ability as Sheva told recited number and Sherry told her her own. She closed it when it was saved and then looked to Sheva with a smile.

"Thank you for everything."

"No problem, see you later maybe? I don't know what classes you have…"

"We'll see I guess. Nice meeting you Chris," Sherry smiled, "you too Billy, nice meeting you too Jake." Not really.

Jake looked at her as she stood with a raised brow and that smirk still on his face, "See you around, New Girl."

She said nothing else and escaped them all; missing the tongue lashing Sheva started dishing out on Jake Muller.

So, what did you think? I hope you liked it haha! And to all my readers from Color me Once I am especially curious to know what you think.

To my new readers know that I update by review count, the more reviews, the faster my updates :)

You guys did read the warning so in the future don't become shocked at some of the things I write.

Review please! Tell me what you think of the personalities so far :)