A/N: Hey, guys. So, some of you may or may not have noticed that I deleted Candles and Water. I did so because I didn't like how it was going, and it was supposed to be based on my own personal situations. I really didn't feel like reliving those moments. I thought that it would be therapeutic, but it didn't really help. So, I've started a new high school AU. I like how this one is much better than the other. It does have some personal situations, but the entire story isn't based on them. I'm sorry if you liked Candles and Water, I just couldn't do it.

Thank you to everyone who follows, favorites, and reviews this story. As always, I love you all! - Fox

It started when Beca Mitchell moved from Salt Lake City, Utah to possibly the worst place she'd ever been in. This place was completely unappealing. It was going to take some getting used to as if being a junior and moving to a new school wasn't enough.

The new school was even worse than the brunette thought it was going to be. She'd been there for about a week and a half, taking some stupid tests that were required there. A lot of people tried to talk to her. She talked back to some of them, only trying to be polite. They all wanted to intercept the new girl in town. All of them pretending to be perfect little angels when really all that was underneath that fake skin were horrendous monsters. Beca wished her real friends could have come with her. They'd help her with this, but the reality was they weren't there and she'd never get to see them again. She wanted to run out of that school and never go back.

Some people were more polite, probably knowing she had no idea where to go by how lost she looked. That school, Barden High School, was the worst school Beca had ever been to. Anyway, these people only gave her slight glances, whispering to themselves. She met the eyes of one girl, though, and couldn't seem to tear her eyes away. Her hair was the brightest red Beca had ever seen and her eyes were such a beautiful shade of blue. The girl held Beca's gaze for what seemed like an eternity, slightly grinning in the process. Some guy that was heading Beca's way bumped into her, breaking her gaze.

"Watch where you're going," he glared. Beca just scowled at him, taking out her schedule. She glanced back up at the girl and the redhead chuckled. Beca sighed and started walking, heading towards her next class. She had already embarrassed herself...great. This was no better than Hell.

As she walked into her first-hour class, Beca asked the teacher, Mr. Daniels, where she was going to sit. He pointed to an empty desk in the front. Perfect. Now everyone was going to be able to look at her while she wouldn't know who or when they were. Beca shifted all of her weight onto one foot and stared at the desk.

"Is something wrong?" Mr. Daniels sat up. He had been leaning back in his chair, reading a copy of some giant foreign book. Beca silently prayed that this enormous book wasn't going to be what was assigned for reading.

"Oh, um, no. Sorry..." the small girl quickly walked over to the desk and set her backpack on it, sitting down. She waited for the bell to ring as other people of all shapes and sizes walked through the door, talking to each other. Occasionally, she'd get a few glances and a couple smiles, but she tried to ignore them. Beca would smile back, but that was the only response that she gave anyone. Finally, the bell rang.

"Alright, settle down class." Mr. Daniels closed his book and set it on his desk, "Many of you know that we have a new student today. We're all going to participate in this five-minute activity, understand?" The class stayed silent, "Great, we're going to start by saying our name and something about yourself. Let's start over here."

Mr. Daniels pointed at the boy sitting to Beca's right. He just stared at Mr. Daniels. She looked over at him, then at his notebook. She could tell he was an artist. There were all kinds of drawings on the cover. Who knows what was on the inside. Mr. Daniels sighed, knowing he wasn't going to cooperate.

Mr. Daniels looked at her next, "Um, my name's Beca Mitchell and I just moved here from Utah." she said quietly. He went around the room and everyone answered in the same monotone voice. Mr. Daniels was doing this just so she'd learn everyone's names, but there was no way she could remember all of them. Beca didn't even know the kid sitting next to her. Let's just call him Art Boy for now.

They went on talking about some book that they had been reading. Luckily, Beca had already read it. It was one of her favorite books. She read the thing front and back several times. It was poetry, something the brunette liked for a long time, thanks to her father. It was kind of embarrassing.

The rest of the day went by pretty much the same. Teachers trying to get Beca into the swing of things, people trying to intercept her, and diving head first right into whatever they'd been working on before she got there. Most of the time she was completely lost. Her second best subject was English. Her first? Well, she was heading right to it; Orchestra, her final class.

The director was more welcoming than the others. Her name was Mrs. Whitehill. She was a small, thin woman. His eyes were blue-gray and full of kindness. Beca stood there for a moment before she showed her where her new section would be; the violin section. She sat in the empty chair in the back of the section of chairs. Mrs. Whitehill told the class to simmer down as they started tuning after the bell rang.

Everyone went ahead and started playing after everyone had been tuned. They played a few songs, stopping when someone made a huge mistake. Mrs. Whitehill made a few corrections, teaching them what different symbols and words meant. Beca knew most of the ones she had gone over. She had been playing since the third grade, after all.

After Orchestra, the bell rang and Beca packed up her violin. Mrs. Whitehill told her that she could just put it in the designated cabinets. She watched all the others walk over with their instruments and walk off without them.

The brunette looked at the cabinets, then at her violin, "Um, would it be okay if I put it somewhere separate from the others?"

"I can assure you that it will be fine in there," the director smiled.

"Well," Beca sighed, "it's just that my dad bought this violin for me and he, um, he passed away not too long ago. This is the only thing I have that's connected to him."

Mrs. Whitehill gasped, "Oh, Beca, I'm so sorry. I can put it in my office if that's okay. Or you could take it home. You don't have to leave it here, you know?"

Beca handed Mrs. Whitehill her violin, "Thank you very much," she forced a smile.

"You're very welcome, dear" she walked towards her office, putting it away.

She took the opportunity to run out the door and sighed with relief when she was in the hallway. Now it was finally time to go home. Unfortunately, it was almost a mile walk from the school to her house. After going out the front doors, she crossed the street and walked forever, looking down at her feet. After a while, she looked up at the sky. It looked ominous. That's the kind of thing she liked. When the sky was cloudy and about to rain. The rain soothed her. She hoped it wouldn't rain until she got home.

It began to rain before Beca got home, though. Cars passed her, splashing water in all sorts of directions. Some guy actually swerved his car into a puddle so that she would get wet. The petite girl just flipped him off and kept walking.

When she got home, she walked through the door, sopping wet. She threw her backpack in the corner and stomped up the stairs. "I better not get a cold," Beca grumbled under her breath.

Beca's mother met her at the top of the stairs. She was about the same size as Beca, just a little bit taller. Her dark hair was an oily mess, "What the hell are you doing? Did you jump into a pond or something? You're getting water all over the floor!" she scolded her.

"Yeah, Mom. Because there are plenty of ponds in the city," Beca retorted, "No, I had to walk home and it started raining. I wouldn't be wet if you'd just pay the money to let me ride the bus," she sighed. Beca's mom didn't have her license anymore. She lost it when she was younger so she couldn't drive Beca to school.

"Beca, I don't have that kind of money. You know that."

"Yeah, but you have enough money to buy your stupid computer games and all your beer and cigarettes, right?"

"I do not spend all the money on that. You need to watch your mouth, little girl," she pointed her finger in Beca's face.

"Okay, can I go get changed now? I don't want to get sick."

Her mom moved out of the way, "You better hurry it up"

Beca sighed and wiggled her way past her mother. She changed into sweatpants and a tank top. After slinking out of her room, she tried sneaking past her mom. Beca didn't feel like talking to her. She was going to snap. That woman made her move away from the few friends that she had and now she was making her walk almost a mile to get to school and her mom didn't care if it was in the rain, snow, or sunshine.

"Beca, come here," her mom called.

The brunette sighed and walked over, "Yeah?"

"Can you bring me a beer and my cigarettes?" There were three empty cans on her computer desk and an ashtray full of cigarettes.

"Mom, you really need to quit smoking...and drinking. You'll end up like dad."

"I'm not going to die, Beca. Now do what I told you to do." She didn't even look up from her screen.

"Okay," Beca walked down the stairs and opened the fridge. There were several cans of beer. She picked one up and closed the fridge, turning around and grabbing her mom's cigarettes off the counter. She should've just thrown them in the sink, turned on the water, and poured the beer out, but she would've been killed if she did. The young junior learned her lesson the first time she tried getting her mother to quit. She still had the scar.

Beca brought her mother's things up to her, "Alright, go away," her mother said without even looking up from her computer screen.

"Whatever, Mom," she glared. Her mom didn't even hear her. Her headset was on and so was her mic. She was probably talking to Drew. Drew was her best friend. Beca thought they were more than that, but she never asked.

She went through about the same routine for about a week. This was going to be a long school year. Beca just couldn't wait to be out on her own.