Chapter 1

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.

First day at a new school, breathe out. No-one's going to bite you. Just... keep breathing. That's a good start.

With that barely comforting thought, I picked myself out of bed and wandered drowsily down the stairs. I hated mornings. Unlike my younger sister, I thought mornings were the worst part of the day. Especially on days like this.

My horrible new uniform dress was lying on the couch, waiting for me to put it on. The sight of it tortured me, with its pale blue and purple stripes; it struck me as the ugliest thing I've ever seen. That's including all those frilly dresses my mother had put me in when I was a baby.

My sister Midna came bounding the stairs already dressed in her new uniform. She was starting in year seven, at the same school as me, but a different section. That just meant I wouldn't see her often during actual school time.

I moodily wandered around the kitchen, gathering things for my lunch and recess break. All the while, my father hung around, watching me. Every so often he'd glance down at the paper in his hand, but I could feel his eyes on me.

My head was pounding, and the second he left the room, I quickly swallowed a couple of pain pills. I was feeling just a touch faint, but I'd be fine. Just fine.

Actually, I wouldn't really mind missing my first day of school. I fact, I would love to miss the whole year at this school. But I wouldn't be allowed. Though my father had lost his job, he wouldn't let me compromise school. As a prior teacher, he thought teaching the next generation was the most important thing in the world.

Sighing, I continued to gather all my belongings. I stuffed all my books into my old school bag and heaved it onto my back. Good Goddesses, it was heavy! I dropped it back onto the ground and watched as it slowly lolled backwards into the chair. This was going to be a long day.

(xxx)

My father drove us to school. Sure, it was only a fifteen minute walk, but I wasn't sure where to go and I couldn't face this alone.

I sat alone in the car in my hideous uniform staring at his retreating back as he walked my sister a little down the street to her part of the school.

I stared at the clock on the dashboard as the time ticked by. 8:00… 8:03… 8:07… 8:15… I was starting to panic. The receptionist had told us to be at the office at 8:15. I couldn't be late, not on my first day. My breath sped up, but I relaxed as much as possible when I finally saw my father walking towards me.

"Are you okay, Zellie?" he asked. His voice was hoarse as always, but today it was laced with a slight panic. He seemed as nervous as I was. I nodded my head faintly to answer his question. I was afraid if I made to many sudden movements, I would just fall to the side and not be able to get back up.

And whilst it would be a great alibi, it would still be really embarrassing.

The air conditioner was going full blast inside the main office, the cold air hitting us hard as we entered. Starting to tremble slightly, I moved up to the front desk.

"Umm… could you please tell me where to go? I'm new here and…" My meek voice trailed off. She nodded, turned and walked away. I was left standing at the glass, confused. I straightened up a bit and glanced behind me. My father was waiting patiently, but I could tell he wanted to move. The office attendant strode back, holding a wad of papers in her hand. She sat down and looked at me again with a bored expression as if to say 'Oh, you're still here, are you?'

Shuffling through the papers, she asked me my name in a flat, monotonous voice.

"Zelda, Zelda Harkinian," I answered, a fearful shake in my voice. What if I wasn't on the list? Would they just tell me to go home?

It seemed that this messy office was more organised than I thought. She picked up a paper and nodded. She placed it down again and opened her pouting little mouth.

"You are in…" she looked down again to check the class. I noticed whoever had written it had horrible handwriting. It was scrawled messily and there was no way to distinguish between the B and E. Finally she looked up and decided that I was in, "10B."

I walked back to my father quickly, anxious to get to class. It was only 8:30, and classes started at 9:00, but I didn't want to miss anything. We walked slowly through the school, taking in all the different people and buildings. We walked to a corner of what the lady had called "the plaza". I gratefully dropped my bag onto the pavement and rubbed my sore and sweaty shoulders. The heat was horrible.

"Zellie, are you sure you're okay? I can stay a little longer, until everyone goes into class." my father offered. I shook my head. Nobody had their parents with them and I didn't want to look weirder and stupider than I already felt.

"No, dad, you can go. I'll be fine," I objected, more confidence in my voice than I actually felt. He looked at me once worriedly, then walked away. I sighed as I shrugged out of my jumper. I was worried, but there was no need for him to be, too.

People rushed by me, everyone surrounded by a group of friends. They all chatted happily about their holidays, and how much harder they thought this year was going to be. I sighed. This year would be painful, but not the parts at school. As a government school, they followed the curriculum laid out for them. My old school was privately run, and much further ahead. My pain would come after school.

Seated in my classroom, everyone stared at me. They were all still speaking mindlessly to the person beside them, but all eyes were on me. Great. Just what a new girl wanted, to be a gawked at.

A teacher walked into the room and I lifted my eyes from the cartoon I had been doodling. She was a plump, grey haired lady with her mouth pressed into a strict line but laugh lines all over her face. She didn't look to bad, I decided.

Keeping my gaze down, I stumbled up to her desk after she called the roll. She hadn't called my name. Nervously, I started, "Excuse me, miss, but... you didn't call my name. I, uh, just started here and I was told to come to this class."

"I see, dear. What is your name?" she inquired. When she had scribbled my name down, I sat silently back in my seat. I still appeared to be the centre of attention. Three girls approached me hesitantly, as if they thought I might attack them.

The shortest one stuck out her hand. I finally looked up into her face and shook her hand hesitantly.

"Hi, I'm Tanya. This is Di and Mel," she pointed over her shoulder at the two other girls. They seem to be under her command, her henchmen. Well, henchwomen. I nodded and introduced myself, but then looked back down again and continued with my drawing. From the corner of my eye, I saw Tanya frown and walk away, whispering to her two cronies.

In the locker bay during snack, I simply stood in a corner, eyeing my apple distastefully. I've never liked apples, but it was either that or bananas, and I hate them even more. The only thing bananas were good for was being thrown at unsuspecting passer-bys and watching their reaction.

I stayed there for the entire fifteen minutes of recess, occasionally taking a bite of my apple. When the bell finally rang, I quickly threw it in the bin and took out my books. I was alone in the locker bay, and I found that strange. Not wanting to look too awkward, I simply shuffled through my books over and over again, waiting for someone else to arrive.

Over three minutes later, the first stragglers started to enter the lockers. I decided it was safe for me to take out my books then.

Standing alone outside the classroom, I shivered as a cold breeze suddenly blew. I was here first. The bell had gone over five minutes ago and the teacher had not even arrived. I shook my head in wonder. No wonder the standard difference between this school and my old one was so great.

I sat alone for the two periods before lunch as well. No-one came to speak to me, but I could still feel their eyes staring into my back. The class was boring. All the teachers had simply given them work sheets about organisation and study timetables to read. I sat in my chair staring down at the mindless patterns my pencil created. My head was starting to feel a little light and occasionally a wave of nausea and pain would pass over me, but they were quite easily oppressed.

For the last minute of class, I simply stared at the clock, willing it to go faster. Every second seemed to last an eternity, and I was too impatient to wait for eternity.

When the bell finally honoured us with its presence, I immediately picked up my books and left the room. I ignored the strange looks I received from the students and the teacher and kept walking.

As soon as I got to the locker bay, I immediately downed two more painkillers, in an attempt to be able to get rid of the now crippling pain.

I stood alone in my corner again, this time clutching my sandwich. The three girls who had spoken to me earlier came up to me. Tanya's face seemed uncharacteristically soft.

"Why don't you come and sit with us?" she asked. Surprised and pleased at the gesture, I nodded eagerly and followed them to their apparently usual haunt. It was a bricked of the back of a building, facing onto a hill that doubled as the teachers car park. I sat down and leaned against the bricks, listening to their conversation.

"I went out with him last year, but dumped him in the first week of the holidays. He just got so annoying that I couldn't stand him anymore."

"I know what you mean. Do you think Ingo will still want to go out with me? We haven't seen each other all holidays because he was working at the ranch…"

"Of course he still wants to go out with you. You haven't officially broken up so…"

I stopped listening; the conversation was endless and boring. Boys, I sighed. Saria's question broke me out of my reverie.

"So how many boys have you gone out with, Zelda?"

I didn't really want to answer that. "A couple," I answered grudgingly. As much as I didn't want to tell these girls that I'd just met about my love life, I felt bad not answering their question when they'd acknowledged my existence.

Tanya looked like she was about to comment, but then a boy called her name, I was saved from an interrogation. Her head whipped around she broke into a charming smile.

She walked up to him, grinning. He smiled too, but he looked a little reluctant to answer her hug.

"How've you been?" he asked, breaking away from her. As he did, another boy walked up behind him. All three of them started to talk, and as they did, they wandered closer and closer to where we were sitting. Saria looked down at me, before introducing me.

"Zelda, this is Link," she pointed to the first boy, "and Kafei," she pointed to the other. They both sat down opposite me and nodded their heads, an inclination they had acknowledged my name.

"Zelda. Name sounds familiar," Link muttered absently.

As the five students began to talk animatedly, I took the opportunity to examine the two boys closer. My eyes moved to Kafei first. He was not short, but not exceptionally tall either. His light brown hair was spiked up into what he must've wanted to be casual spikes. Instead, they stuck up in an almost orderly fashion, and the way he kept ruffling his hand through it, he obviously wanted to keep them standing up. In the sun, it occasionally got a strange pale purple look to it.

Link, on the other hand, seemed as if he had paid no attention to his appearance at all and still managed to look handsome. His dirty blonde hair rested scruffily on his shoulders and two blue earrings glinted in the sunlight on each ear. He sat tall, with his back straight. He was slim, but when he stood, I guessed he'd be almost a head taller than me.

As my eyes travelled to his face, the first thing I noticed was two sparkling blue orbs, showing laughter and happiness. His eyes were beautiful. When he laughed, the laugh lines around his eyes showed. The laugh lines were deep and long, they travelled almost down to his mouth. A happy sort of person.

As I was still pondering over him, I realised that the two blue orbs were staring into mine. As I looked back into them, I could almost feel his friendliness. We stared at each other for what must have been a fraction of a second, before we both looked away. I was blushing lightly.

The rest of lunch time passed by, with my three new friends chatting to the boys. All the while, I kept my eyes down, imagining strange eccentric patterns onto the concrete. From time to time, I felt someone looking at me. Too lazy and not interested to look up and see who it was, I ignored them, staring at the pavement.

When the bell rang, I ignored it. At my former school, I would've jumped up immediately and pretty much run to get my books, but it seemed no-one was afraid of time here. By the time the second bell had rung, we had just barely started moving towards the lockers.

The rest of the day passed in strange chunks. Sometimes, it would fly by, but others, it would drag. I wasn't sure if the extra pain pills had worked, because whilst my pain had disappeared, I was now just starting to feel numb, and a little dizzy. When the final bell rung, I was one of the first to leave the room, once again. I had never been so eager to leave school.

Walking out of the school gates, I shook my head in a futile attempt to clear it. Instead, it only seemed to get more fogged up. It was a strange sensation, though not a completely ghastly one. A wave of nausea passed over me and again it was easy enough to get rid of.

Thinking back as rationally as I could, the day hadn't actually been too bad. I had been expecting to be stared at and not included, but the main thing I had found strange was that none of the teachers had had my name on their list. Other than that, most people had seemed fine. Link and Kafei had been nice, though I hadn't really talked to them myself. A few people in my class had even spoken to me during the last two periods.

I heard someone panting slightly behind me, but didn't turn. Must just be some kid late for the bus. As I kept walking, I heard my name being called out between the pants. I turned to see Link jogging towards me, carrying a bloated bag on his back. I stopped walking and waited for him to catch up. My head was spinning and I had to put up and effort to even get my eyes into focus. People stared at me while he ran. Catching up to me, his breath slowed and he smiled. His smile was angelic, the laugh lines accented quite heavily. I gave a faint smile in response.

"So, how was your first day?" he asked after a small pause in which he regained his breath.

"Alright, I guess," I answered softly. My body felt heavy, and for a moment I thought I was going to tip over.

"Met anyone nice?"

"A few people." I was still standing, but only just, I thought.

"Did you hear me at lunch time when I said I had heard your name before?" he asked. I nodded. I had assumed it to be just a coincidence, but apparently there was more behind it. Also, nodding seemed to only bring on a sudden fiery migraine.

"I had heard it earlier today, on the teacher's roll. Every teacher we've had so far has called out your name," he said. My breath hitched for a moment. It could've been taken as shock at this news, but that was only a coincidence. I coughed for a moment as he went on. "I think you might be in the wrong class."

"What class are you in? Or... what class am I meant to be in?" I asked, my voice breaking and squeaking in strange places. I had stopped walking as I simply tried to regain my balance. I could see Link just in front of me, with a confused look on his face, most likely at my strange behaviour. Every now and then his face shifted out of focus and the world spun.

"10E," he replied cautiously. I nodded minutely, trying to seem normal.

I hesitantly tried to take a step, but as soon as I raised my foot, I felt my body tip and fall. Before I felt he actual crash, the spinning world around me went black.

Authors Notes:

Hey, for my first fanfic, it's not that bad, is it?

Well anyway...

In case anybody's wondering, these characters are based on my real friends, jus changed a little.

Next chapter should be up...god knows when..

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