Gemma woke up with the sun streaming through the van window onto her face. She sat up straight and groaned realizing her sleeping position had given her a crick in the neck.

"Are we almost there?" She whined from the backseat of the van.

Her younger sister, Lilly, turned around. "I just asked that. Mom says five more minutes, but you would have known if you hadn't been sleeping!" She snapped, as she was still fuming that her sister would get the bigger room upstairs.

"It's not my fault I was born first, you snotty little-" Gemma raved. Her father cut her off reminding her of her little brother, Aiden, who was only in third grade.

"Why did we have to move? Everything was perfect where we were!" Gemma complained some more.

"You know, a lot of girls your age would love to move to California." Her mom replied.

"Mom, it's Beacon Hills, not Beverly Hills. Girls my age want celebrities, not nobodies who live in a town that isn't even on a map!"

~O*O*O~

Just as promised, a few minutes later, they arrived at a grey brick house with a dark blue door. It had a white privacy fence, and a two car garage. Which was all, much more than the pessimistic Gemma expected. She strolled in, with bags in hand, and walked up the staircase leading to her room. The ceiling was slanted and the walls were a light blue. The brunette placed her bags on the ready to sleep in bed, and slipped her shoes off. The cold hardwood floor wasn't very pleasurable at seven in the morning. She hissed at the jet of cold that had just ran through her. Once the shock had worn off, she kneeled down and unzipped her duffel bag. As she unpacked, she heard shuffling downstairs, then came the footsteps on the stairs. Her mother knocked and stuck her head in the girl's room.

"You like it?" She asked softly.

Gemma nodded and smiled sheepishly.

"Well, I'm glad. Oh, and hate to break it to you, but uh... school starts in half an hour." Her mother announced, then retreated down the stairs.

Gemma panics. She scrambles around for a hair brush, a toothbrush, and clothes. She hadn't known she would be attending school that day. She had a mad dash to get ready, not wanting to look unkempt on her first day. The girl scanned herself in the tall mirror that was mounted on her wall. Her wavy hair went almost to her elbows. She wore a royal blue shirt and jeans that were a bit tight. She heard her mother call out to her, so she grabbed her leather jacket and slipped on her black toms.

"Hey, your backpack!" Her father shouts as he tosses the bright red bag at his eldest.

They all shuffle back in the car and head off. Gemma's school was the closest, so she was dropped off first. Her father explains to her that she won't see him for a week or two because he has work to do, and he travels with it. She says her farewells, and tries to keep them short. She sees herself falling into a pattern as her mother drones on.

"Yes, Mom. Ok. Yes, I know. Ok... yes. Mom! I love you, now can I go?"

"Go on, Sweetie. I love you! Have a nice day! Remember..." Gemma doesn't stick around to find out what she has to remember. Her mother was embarrassing her, so she ducked her head and searched for the office.

~O*O*O~

There she was, outside of her first period English II class. Gemma takes a deep breath, then exhales. The door creaks obnoxiously as she enters. Her grey eyes widen as all attention goes to her.

"Oh, hi. Are you Gemma?" Mrs. Baker asks.

"Uh, yeah." She stutters out.

"Um, how about you take the seat next to Isaac. Three seats over, three seats back. Just let me put you in the seating chart." Gemma moves swiftly to her desk, and sits down. Hoping everyone will stop watching her every move. Her eyes flit around the room landing on a pair of blue ones. She immediately looks to the floor, she wouldn't have looked that way if she'd have known this Isaac character was already looking at her.

"So Gemma, have you read The Great Gatsby?" Mrs. Baker surveys.

Of course she has, but Gemma is clever. She doesn't want an extra assignment. So she answers, "No."

"Well, that's good. Because we're starting it today." The middle aged woman started rummaging through her desk with a grimace on her face.

"Isaac, would you mind sharing your copy with Gemma? Just for today. I'll have to snag another copy from the library later."

"No Ma'am." The Isaac boy piped up.

Oh God this is going to be so awkward, Gemma thinks. He moves his desk halfway into the aisle, and she does the same. He holds the book at the bottom, allowing them to see all of the words. They were only reading to chapter two that day. Gemma never liked reading, she wasn't good at it. Isaac apparently was. He always finished the page first, she could tell because he would look for her 'OK' to turn the page. A few pages in, a red headed girl turned around and snapped a picture, on her phone, of the duo.

"I'm Lydia. And you two are adorable." She states.

Gemma's expression contorted with confusion, "I just moved here, like just this morning." She glanced over at Isaac who looked as red and flustered as she felt.

"Oh, well. What class do you have next?" The girl asks sweetly.

"Um..." Gemma scrambles through her bag to find her schedule,"Harris, Chemistry."

"Nice, Me too! I can walk you there, if you'd like." Lydia yips.

Gemma wasn't sure about this girl. She seemed like the type to act all friendly, then stab you in the back. Her father always said 'Don't judge people before you get to know them.' Gemma hopes he was right.

"Sure, that'd be really nice of you."

~O*O*O~

Gemma slid onto the stool behind the big lab table that was behind Lydia and her friend Allison, who seemed like a nice girl. A few moments later a boy tosses his things to the floor and sits in the chair next to Gemma. Another boy, who walked in with the boy sitting next to her, stood beside her.

"Oh! I'm sorry, is this your seat? I'll move!" She realizes, then tries to stand.

"No, no. You're OK. I'm Stiles." He says then offers a hand out to her, which she gladly shook.

"Beside you, is my best friend Scott. Then, there's Allison, Lydia, Danny, Michael, Olivia, Marcy-"

"I got it! You don't need to name off the whole class. I'll meet them all someday." She cuts off the cheery boy.

A man with dark hair and glasses strides into the classroom, and begins to lecture without even noticing Gemma. She quietly sits there, just waiting until the bell rings. Her peace, and the class, was interrupted by Stiles. He had his hand raised, but he just started talking.

"We have a new girl." He states. Gemma gave him the death look.

"Oh! Gemma, right? Well, here's the book, and the syllabus. And welcome to Beacon Hills." He says all in a rush. She takes the items from him and walks back to her seat. On her way, she spots a familiar pair of blue eyes and smiles.

At lunch she sits with Stiles, and Scott. Scott seems nice, and is dating Allison. Stiles keeps talking, and he likes Lydia. Gemma catches on to these things pretty fast.

"Do you like lacrosse?" Stiles questions.

"Uh... Isn't that like football slash soccer with sticks?" Gemma pondered.

"Yeah that's it."

"Never seen a game before, but it seems fun."

"Great! There's a game tonight, you wanna come? Scott and I and the boy you're checking out are on the team."

Gemma was flabbergasted, "I am not checking anyone out!"

"Yes you are." Scott chimes in.

"No one asked you, Scott!" Gemma retorts. The two boys start chuckling at her embarrassment.

"It's fine, Gemma. I never pegged Isaac Lahey as your type though." Stiles continues.

Gemma tries to calm down and get the blush off of her cheeks to no avail.