Hey Guys, so this is a new story that I've just been writing because I've got writer's block on my other story. Let me know what you guys think of the story line. ENJOY! This is the first time that I haven't written in first person POV, so it's a work in progress.

Chapter 1

Emily stared down the long corridor. She felt a little overwhelmed by the amount of people occupying it. She glanced at the clock and realized that she only had a few minutes for class start. Taking a deep breath, she entered the crowded hallway navigating herself through the heard of people.

It was Emily's first day at Rosewood Preparatory. She'd been in the school over the weekend, but this time she parents and counselor weren't with her. She quickly made her way to her first class and sat in the front of the class as the other students began to file in.

Rosewood Preparatory was located in Rosewood Pennsylvania. It was 1,600 miles away from where she lived. She had lived in Fort Hood, Texas her entire life. That was all she knew, and now her life was being uproot and taken to an unfamiliar school in an unfamiliar land right before she started her senior year. She didn't understand why she had to move cross the country when her dad was still stationed at Fort Hood. Now, it was just her and her mom in Philadelphia. Rosewood was only an hour away, but it was a boarding school. She was only allowed to come home on the weekends.

Her roommate was a bubbly girl, Hanna Marin. She was glad that she didn't have to endure awkward silence because Hanna never stopped talking. She always had something to talk about. The two met over the summer before school started and hit it off pretty well. But Emily only met three out of the 342 students going to Rosewood Prep, Hanna's friends Aria and Spencer.

It was a little nerve-racking for Emily on the first day of school, but Hanna made sure that when they weren't in class that the group kept her company. It made Emily feel a little more at home.

Emily sat quietly as she watched the student file into the class. The teacher followed shortly after. The students took their seats and remained quiet as the teacher called out their name.

"Aria Montgomery?"

"Here," Aria said waving her hand and smiling at the teacher. Emily had briefly met Aria, but she found Aria a little intimidating.

"Emily Fields?"

"Here," Emily said quiet, raising her hand.

"Paige McCullers?" There was silence in the room as Emily waited for a Paige McCullers to say here. "Paige McCullers? Paige McCullers? Anyone seen Paige?" Students shook their heads before the teacher moved on in the roll call.

"Alright class, welcome to AP Chemistry! I'm your teacher, Mr. Hall, and I'm looking forward to an exciting year with this class. So, if you could all take out your planners or notebooks and write down the following dates on the board while I pass out your textbooks." The sound of backpacks unzipping and pages turning was all that could be heard throughout the class. Emily pulled out her notebook and began writing down the dates: September 1: Chapters 1-3, September 5: Chapter4-6, September 9: Test.

While Mr. Hall started handing out textbooks, the door to the classroom opened. Emily glanced up from her note taking and glanced at the girl that had just walked into the room. She wore skinny jeans that fit perfectly and a loose v-neck. She had the front of her hair pinned back, letting the rest of her hair flow over her shoulders.

"Ah, you must be Paige," Mr. Hall said turning to face her.

"Yes, sir, I'm sorry I'm late. Practice went longer than expected."

"That's already, just don't make it a habit."

"I won't sir," she said nodding.

"Take any open seat," he said handing Paige a textbook.

Emily glanced around looking at the open seats without raising her head. The only seat that was open was right next to her. Emily kept her focus on her notebook, while she heard Paige take the open seat next to her.

"Alright class, now that you've got your textbooks and dates written down, I want you to turn to the person next to you because they are going to be your lab partners for the rest of the semester."

Emily inwardly groaned. She slowly turned to face the other girl, but Paige was jotting down the dates in her notebook. After Paige had jotted down the dates she quickly turned to Emily and gave her a warm smile.

"Hi, I'm Paige," Paige said extending out her hand.

"Emily." Emily replied, a little surprised by Paige's friendliness.

"You new here?"

"Yeah transferred schools this year."

"Ah, so where are you from?" Paige asked opening her textbooks.

"Fort Hood Texas."

"Army Brat?" Paige asked as she put two and two together. Emily nodded. "So how are you liking Rosewood Prep?"

"I'll admit, it's better than I expected," Emily said opening up a bit.

"Well if you haven't gotten a chance to try the lasagna, put that on your checklist. It's to die for."

"Dually noted," Emily said with a smile. She was really starting to like Paige.

"Have you oriented yourself with the school and your classes?"

"I think so. I'm a little iffy on where the gym and math wing are, but other than that I think I know where I'm going."

"Lemme see your schedule," Paige asked. Emily kindly handed over she schedule. Paige's eye quickly glanced over it. "Damn! You got an amazing schedule."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You're done with classes at like 2! All my classes start early and end late, with huge breaks in the middle of the day. Oh we also have math next to each other and the gym is close by so I'll show you those."

"Don't you also have practice?" Emily asked, remembering that Paige said that she practice was extended.

"Yeah. I'm on the swim team 5 am practices 5-6 days a week."

"Oh that sounds brutal."

"Trust me, I'm in a better relationship with coffee than my girlfriend," Paige said passing Emily's schedule back to her. Emily's heart skipped a beat when she heard that Paige had a girlfriend. Emily hadn't met many gay people in Texas. It was hard when she came out in middle school. She was bullied through most of high school. She guessed that that was one of the reasons she parents wanted to move.

"Do you swim?" Paige asked.

"I swam back at my old school, but I missed the tryout period for Rosewood."

"Well Coach Fulton is a really relaxed coach. I'm sure you can get she to at least watch you swim. I'm going to the pool around 4pm if you want to join. She's usually there until 6pm."

"Yeah, I'd love to."

"Alright class I hope that you have all gotten to know your lab partner because you're stuck with them for the rest of the semester. As you know a requirement for this class is to meet up with your lab partner outside of class to make sure that you are both prepared for tests and practicum. Now if you would kindly swap some sort of information with your lab partner. Thank you. You are dismissed after you have done so."

"Here," Paige said passing her phone to Emily. Emily quickly searched her bag before handing her phone to Paige.

"Uh, passcode," Paige said handing Emily's phone to her. Emily slightly embarrassed quickly entered her passcode and handed her phone back to her. They both quickly entered in their information.

"Ready for math?" Paige asked as she gathered her belongings.

"No," Emily replied as she followed Paige out of the classroom.

"So there are multiple ways to get to the math wing, and the gym is just down the hall. This is a short cut way if you're in a hurry to get to class, which for me is like always."

I tried to memorize the way that Paige was taking me. We went through hallways I didn't even know existed.

"I take it that you've been here for a while," Emily said trying to memorize every turn.

"Ever since middle school. My parents like the way the school is structured. "It gives students the allusion of college life,"" Paige said using air quotes.

"I guess our parents think alike," Emily laughed.

"Alright we're here. The gym at the end of the hall and the lockers are straight back after you enter the gym. You can't miss them; they're like these big blue doors. Just look for your locker number and you should already have a set of clothes in there."

"Thanks!"

"No problem. Let me know if you get lost or something. What hall are you in?"

"Flagstaff."

"No kidding, you got lucky. Flagstaff is the newest dorm."

"Well I'm just a lucky girl. Where are you?"

"I'm in the Village."

"That's the suite one right?"

"Yup, got my own room and everything. Perks of being a athlete," Paige said grinning.

We heard the warning bell ringing in the distance. Paige said a quick 'see you later' before heading to her class across the hall. Emily let out a sigh of relief. Something about Paige made her feel so nervous. She'd only met the girl, but it seemed as if she could talk to her forever. Emily quickly looked through her phone and smiled when she found Paige's name: Paige McCullers ;).

Math was the only class that she didn't have the company of the group. She took the seat nearest to the window. She waited as the teacher handed out the syllabus, and give his introductory lecture.

"Good morning everyone, I'm Mr. Harrison. I've passed out the syllabus, which I hope that you will take seriously. Everything…."

Emily turned out Harrison's lecture. She pulled out her phone and found Paige's number and started to type a quick text.

Emily: Please tell me Harrison isn't as boring at he seems.

Paige: Sorry girl, I think you're lucks run out. ;)

Emily felt her lips curl into a smile as she reread Paige's text. She felt a soft nudge from the student next to her. The student who nudged her was signaling for her to put her phone away cause Harrison was walking down the rows. She gave him a soft smile before returning her attention to Harrison.

She was so relieve to hear the sound of the bell ending the worst class of her life. She ran out of the class as fast as possible. She looked to see which way the gym was. She spotted Paige down the hall. She was talking to a girl was at her locker. The girl was in Emily's math class. She sat in front of Emily. Emily figured that that was Paige's girlfriend because Paige gave her a kiss on the cheek before leaving.

Emily ignored her feelings as she headed towards the gym. Paige's directions were dead on. The locker rooms were straight ahead. Big blue doors. She quickly glanced at her schedule to find her locker. 0518. Her locker was in the last inlet. Her name was clearly printed on the locker. She quickly entered in the combination and grabbed the clothes that were waiting for her. Hanna appeared from around the corner and opened a locker on the other end of the inlet.

"How are you classes going so far?" Hanna asked as she began to change.

"Pretty good, although I got Harrison and I think I want to shoot myself."

"Harrison…Aria had him last year, I think she listened to music the entire time and she still got an A."

"I can't decide what's worst, coma or Harrison."

"Tough choice."

"Well other than Harrison, everything's okay?"

"Yeah, they're great."

"Good!"

"Question, do you know Paige McCullers?"

"Yeah, everyone does. She's like really popular. Well not like the bitchy popular, she's like the nice popular. Everyone likes her. She's also like ranked on the top high school swimmer in the Mid-Atlantic region or something. Why do you ask?"

"She's my lab partner."

"Well I guarantee that you'll get an A in that class."

"Good to know."

Gym class went by quickly for both Hanna and Emily. All they did was sign up for which gym class they wanted to take. They both choose to go to the fitness center for the semester.

After gym Emily stopped by the cafeteria to get something to eat and maybe start some of her homework. Grabbing a quick salad and soup, Emily sat down and started she English assignment that was due tomorrow. Mr. Fitz had assigned a one-page essay about a struggle and how it changed you. Of course Emily wrote about her coming out because it was the only struggle that she really faced head on.

Halfway through her essay she decided to take a break and check Facebook. She began scrolling through her newsfeed when she stopped on a post the Rosewood Prep had posted about the swim team. There was a picture of the entire swim team and Paige was front and center holding the state trophy. She had biggest smile on her face.

Emily quickly typed Paige's name into the search box. Her name popped up immediately with 16 friends in common. Emily began to scroll through Paige photos, she was tagged in more photos than she posted. Most of them were her and a girl named Shana, which Emily assumed was Paige's girlfriend.

Emily decided to do a little more stalking, so she typed Paige's name into the search engine. Hundreds of links appeared. She scanned through the result lists of some of the races Paige was in. Comparing her times with Paige's, she realized that Paige was a speed demon. She times were at least a second off from Paige's.

"That's the hardest I've ever seen anyone study something," Emily heard a voice say. She quickly looked up from her computer and found Paige standing in front of her. She exited out of the site and closed her computer.

"I guess it was something that interested me."

"Well, you're a dedicated person. My attention span is about five seconds," Paige said taking a seat across from Emily.

"Well my attention span is about two seconds with Harrison."

"Ah, Harrison, those were the glory days," Paige reminisced before laughing. "I had him last year. Just remember to do the homework because that's where he gets his test questions."

"Thanks for the tip," Emily said with a smile.

"So you ready?" Paige asked.

"For what?"

"To go to pool. It's almost four," Paige said glancing at her watch.

"It's four already."

"Time flies when you're invested in something," Paige said pointing to my computer.

Emily packed up her things and followed Paige outside. The pool was directly across from the Village, which was where Paige was living. It wasn't much farther from Emily's.

Coach Fulton was in her office when Paige knocked softly on her door.

"Hi Paige, here to swim?" Coach asked.

"No today coach, I just needed to grab some things. I wanted to introduce you to someone," Paige said motioning for Emily to enter the room. "This is Emily…"

"Fields," Emily responding, realizing that Paige didn't know her last name.

"Well, hello Emily, I'm Coach Fulton, but everyone calls me Coach."

"Hi," Emily said shyly.

"Emily Fields…that names rings a bell. You swam previously, I presume."

"Yes, Fort Hood Area Dolphins."

"Ah that's right."

"I wasn't able to make it to the try-out period because we were in the middle of moving. I was wondering if I could try out now, if possible."

"Well of course it's possible. Why don't you come to practice tomorrow morning and we'll go from there."

"Really?"

"Really," Coach Fulton said with a smile.

"Thank you thank you!" Emily shouted excitedly.

"We'll see you tomorrow bright and early."

"5 am, bright and early!" Paige joked.