We Are Golden

Cat POV

I straightened out my pink, fluffy jumper and pinned back a flyaway strand of my red velvet cupcake hair. I took a deep breath and joined the sea of students going through the double doors of Sherwood High School. I entered and my jaw dropped. There were kids everywhere, some stood by lockers talking, some walking through the corridors and some bullying other students. There were loads of students! At least 200 more than my old school! I was snapped from my small panic when all the noise died down and all the students looked in the same direction. I followed their gazes and saw a very pretty girl with white skin and jet black hair walking next to a boy with tanned skin and messed up, brown hair. He had a cheeky grin plastered on his face whilst the girl looked completely uninterested. They walked through the corridor, apparently oblivious to or just completely ignoring the fact that the entire student body was focused on them. They just continued their conversation and once they'd rounded the corner, everybody went back to their business. The noise levels rose and students put their focus back on each other. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the corner that they'd just gone around. I was fascinated by those people. Who were they? And why was everyone so focused on them? How could they make a whole corridor full of students completely silent and focused. I kept my gaze on where they'd been and absentmindedly stepped forwards when I knocked into something and fell down on my butt with an 'ooof!'

"Watch out!" I heard a voice say.

"I-I'm sorry" I stammered, looking up to see who I'd bumped into. He was a boy with dark skin and dark hair and where I expected to see a scowl there was a warm smile. He held his hand out and I accepted, trying to get up as gracefully as possible.

"That's okay, just watch where you're going next time" he said with a wink. I giggled and he smiled a charming smile at me. "I'm André."

"I'm Cat" I replied, smiling sweetly.

"Well, I'll see you around Cat" he said before he walked past me. I looked after him then looked around to see if I could see any signs that showed where the principle's office was. I saw the door and rushed up to it and knocked.

"Come in!" I heard a lady say, and I took a deep breath and entered the room.

This school is so big! I'm so lost I can't even find my first lesson! I've only been here for half an hour and I already feel like crying. I want to be back in Florida with my friends, not stuck here in this stupidly big school!

"Shouldn't you be in lessons?" I heard a boy say. I turned and gasped quietly. Stood down the hall was a very good looking guy with tanned skin and dark hair that went just past the bottom of his neck. I wanted to run my hands through it and-

"Yo! Why aren't you in lessons?" he said again.

"Oh s-sorry." I stammered. Damnit Cat, speak normally! "I'm new here and I don't actually know where my class is" I admitted quietly.

He chuckled and I winced as I presumed he was probably mocking me. "That's cute" he said, with humour in his voice. "What does your timetable say?"

I looked at the crumpled piece of paper in my hand, "ummm…history with a Mr. Sikowitz" I read.

"Down there, to the left" he said, pointing down the corridor. "You can't miss it, he's taped coconuts to the door" the boy said. He then gave me a little shove in the right direction and walked off quickly before I could thank him. I walked towards the coconut-covered door and entered, getting my excuses ready.

"Hey Cat, wait up!" I heard a boy say as I left my 4th lesson. I turned around to see a familiar face. "André right?" I guessed.

"Yeah" he said, a smile on his face. "It's your first day and so I wondered if you wanted to sit with me and my friend at lunch? Unless you have other plans of course."

"No no, that'd be lovely" I said, feeling a wave of relief flood over me. I didn't have to worry about being the dumb pre-turd without any friends. I followed André and we talked, him asking about how my day was going and everything. We stopped at a locker that had 'Make it SHINE' written on it in purple ink. We stood around by this interesting locker and a girl approached us.

"André!" she squealed, running up and hugging him.

"Hey muchacha!" he replied, hugging her back. They talked animatedly whilst I just stood there, feeling very out of place.

All of a sudden, André said, "Cat, meet my friend Tori. Tori, this is Cat, the new girl" he said, winking at me. I blushed and said hi to Tori. They both linked their arms in mine and dragged me with them to the cafeteria, where they sat on a table that was graffitied with the same phrase on the locker.

"What does it mean?" I asked them.

"Make it shine?" Tori questioned and I nodded. "It's just my motto I guess" she said, shrugging. "Everyone is a star and everyone should live their dream, no matter what anyone else says." I smiled, that seemed like a pretty good motto to have.

André then came back with our food and I tucked into my salad. I was starving!

"So Cat, where did you come from and what brought you to Hollywood Hills?" Tori said with a smile on her face.

"Well I used to live in Florida but my dad got a promotion and a transfer and we moved here" I explained.

We talked about everything, they told me about the school and the good and bad teachers and things." The doors to the cafeteria opened and the noise died down.

I looked over and saw that it was the same people as before, only there were more of them this time. The girl with dark hair, pale skin and an uninterested expression walked in first and sat down at a table that was cleaner than the others and further away from them too. After her, in walked two boys. The same boy from earlier with the tan skin and messy hair, and I gasped quietly when I realised the other one was the boy who helped me find my class earlier. Once they were sat down, everyone seemed to continue with their life again just like earlier.

"What's up with them?" I asked Tori in hushed tones.

"They're the goldens" she scoffed, making a face.

"Goldens?" I asked, puzzled.

"They rule the school" André said. "Everyone admires them but at the same time everyone is scared of them. Somehow they managed to get to the top and everyone just sort of accepted it."

"But who are they?" I asked, wanting to find out more about the mysterious people.

"That there is Rex Powers" Tori said, pointing to the short, tanned boy with messy hair. "The biggest man-whore in this school. It's rumoured he's kissed every girl in this school."

"Has he kissed you?" I asked.

"Once, at a party. It was like 2 years ago" she said blushing. "He's charming and good looking, but he treats girls like crap. Apparently he's been with half of North Ridge as well" Tori grimaced.

"Who's the other boy?" I asked.

"That's Beck Oliver" Tori told me. "A complete heart throb, definitely better looking than Rex. He used to be like Rex and got off with loads of girls until Jade came along."

"Are they together?" I asked.

"No" Tori said, with a wave of her hand. "He's crazy about her but she's too stubborn to admit any feelings she might have. Beck's actually a decent guy at times. He's only really in the golden group because of his good looks and the fact him and Rex have been friends for ages. I'm pretty sure he would have left the group already if it wasn't for Jade" she said.

"Tori fancies him!" André said, mocking the girl.

"Shut UP André!" she replied, throwing a French fry at him and hiding behind her hair.

"He helped me to lesson earlier" I confessed.

"That's a good sign. If you haven't made a bad impression on the goldens then you should be fine at this school" André said.

"No, it's not them you've got to worry about" Tori said. "It's Jade West. If you make a bad impression on her then you're life is pretty much over. She is short-tempered and cold-hearted. She knows everything about everyone. And she uses it against them. It's also said that she carries scissors around with her."

"What would she need those for?" I asked nervously.

"People. You see that girl over there?" Tori said, pointing to a girl with a bob haircut, sat on a table alone.

"Yeah" I said.

"Her name is Meredith. She was flirting with Beck and said a bunch of bad stuff about Jade. He never told anyone but Jade still managed to find out. She cornered Meredith in the corridor and told everyone in the school that Meredith wet the bed until freshman year. She then cut Meredith's hair short with her scissors and Meredith became an outcast."

"That's horrible!" I exclaimed. I looked over to the poor girl over on the table and felt a pang in my heart. She had been completely deserted by everyone else. Well not me! I, Cat Valentine, am a friend to all! Human and non-human! "I'm going to talk to her!" I said, standing up.

"No Cat!" Tori said, grabbing my arm and pulling me back down.

"But Tori, she's all alone! She just needs a friend!" I said, pointing over to the lonely girl.

"Cat, you can't. If you do that then you'll basically be going against Jade and she will destroy you. You're new here and I'm warning you now, agree with the goldens and just try to ignore them at all times. That's how you survive here" she whispered.

I looked over to sad girl and sighed angrily, putting my chin in my hands. All of a sudden, the cafeteria doors opened again and another boy walked in, yet again silencing the student body. He had dark messy hair and pale skin, and was definitely 10x hotter than Beck and Rex put together. He looked around the canteen and his gaze stopped at me. His dark eyes locked onto my hazel ones and I felt my stomach flip. I blushed and looked down, poking around my salad. Soon the noise levels rose again. I dared to look over to the goldens table and saw the boy talking to Jade.

"Robbie Shapiro" Tori said next to me.

"Huh?" I said, not really listening and still focusing on the boy.

"He's Robbie Shapiro" she repeated. I turned to look at her and she continued. "He's the leader of the goldens and therefore the leader of the school I suppose. Everyone listens to and believes what he says. A complete bad boy. He's hotter than any guy at this school but he's never been with anyone from here. People reckoned that he was carrying on with Jade but he killed that rumour when he revealed that they were cousins last year. Girls have said that they've been with him but he denies it and Jade soon sorts them out. Many people have tried but all failed. Nobody can break his shell. He's apparently heartless" she said, sighing.

I turned back to look at Robbie and noticed he was already looking at me. I dared myself to be brave and keep the gaze this time and he retaliated with a cock of his eyebrow. I was snapped from our staring battle when the bell went. I followed Tori and André out of the cafeteria and looked back to see that all the goldens had disappeared.

AN: Here's a new one! I'm still doing Milestones, but this came to me and I needed to write it down! Next chapter Robbie and Cat will actually meet properly. But how will that meeting go? Please read and review! I love all of my reviewers and followers and everybody. Mwah!

chuckyshmucky -xo