Being the new girl in school is never easy, especially when you are moving to a new country.

"Merida," her mother said as she entered her daughter's messy room, "Time to get up or you'll be late on your first day of school."

The fiery redhead buried herself under her pillow and grumbled something about not wanting to go. That wasn't going to stop Elinor one bit. She grabbed the comforter from her daughter's bed.

"Come on now," she snapped in her Irish tone, "If you are late on the first day of school, then you can forget about going with your father to that archery range."

"Oh Mum," Merida groaned, "Why should I even try going to this American school?"

"You have ten minutes to get dress and be downstairs for breakfast," Elinor said as she began to leave her daughter's room, "And please, brush your hair."

With a heavy sigh, Merida stretched and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she walked over to the pile of boxes that still contained her clothes. She tossed through a few things before she found her cameo cargo shorts, a brown tank top, a hoodie and her favorite pair of chucks. Throwing a beanie over her head to make her hair seem a little more tamed, she stomped down the stairs where her mother was fixing her and her father's coffee. Her dad was reading the paper when he looked up and saw his daughter enter.

"Merida," he said with a wide, warming smile, "Good to see you up, dearie. Come. Sit next to your old da."

Merida's father, Fergus, may have been a big shot marketing agent, but that didn't mean he let it get to his head. He got a job transfer from Ireland to America close to the end of summer. The deal was much better than what he was getting at his old company. Now working for Pizza Planet as the head of international marketing, he would able to get Merida a car for her sixteenth birthday. The only downsize was that she was leaving all her friends and the home that she knew for a place that was completely different from the world that she knew.

"Like your new room?" he asked as Merida poured herself a bowl of cereal.

"It's all right," she said.

"She still hasn't unpacked her things yet," Elinor said as she served her husband his breakfast, "We've been in this house for nearly a month, Merida, and you haven't even organized your room."

"Nor have you left that room of yours for the last bit of summer," Fergus said concerned for his daughter's well being, "Everything all right?"

Merida just stared into her bowl as she just stirred around the cereal making it mushy. She didn't want to let on to her parents that she missed Dublin, but it was pretty obvious.

"Don't worry, Merida," her mother said as she held her daughter's hand, "You'll make some new friends in no time."

Looking at the clock, Elinor began to rush her husband and daughter to get a move on.

"And I don't want either one of you playing hooky on your first day. Merida, here is your lunch," she said sternly as she handed her daughter a lunch box. With a kiss on their cheeks, Elinor saw her husband and daughter on their way to the start of their new lives.

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Merida could feel herself getting nervous as her father approached Walt High. She started to chew on her lip and place with her Celtic necklace. Fergus grabbed her hand to get his daughter's attention.

"Don't worry, Merida," he said with a smile, "They'll love you."

With a wink, he unlocked the door so she could get out on her side of the car. Taking a deep breath, she took the plunge. There was no going back now. Merida gave a small wave and smile to her dad and made her way through the chaos of students.

She was lucky to find her way to the front office. She looked over the counter at stumpy lady with rosy cheeks as she hummed a tune as she typed away on her computer. Clearing her throat, Merida was able to get the woman's attention.

"Oh, sorry love," she said in a cheerful tone as she removed herself from her desk, making her way to the counter, "How can I help you?"

"Well, my name is Merida Dunbroch. I'm the new transfer," she said as she pulled some hair behind her ear.

"Oh, your accent is lovely," the plump, little lady swoon as she grabbed her glasses, "And your hair is just as beautiful."

Flipping through some paper, the lady found Merida's schedule and handed it to her.

"First period is Biology with Mr. Jumba," the lady said as she pulled out a map for Merida, "He can be found east wing in classroom 223. He is a umm… interesting man."

"Thank you Mrs. Potts," Merida said as she read the lady's name tag and she took the map and schedule.

"If you need any help, just come to me anytime Merida," Mrs. Potts winked before getting back to work.

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"Biology is the study of life," the Russian man with dark blue hair said as he passed out the syllabus, "You are all required to partake in dissections. Anyone has a problem with that will be transferred to Dr. Doppler's class. There will be a group project that will count as 45% of your grade, three tests and homework will be given every day."

The students in the class began to groan and whine, but the large man slammed his hand on his desk loudly.

"And there will be no talking in this class unless you are called on, is that clear?" he said sternly. The room was quiet.

"Good. Now, please get ready to move around from the tables that you're at," he said, "Table one…"

Merida was moved to Table 3 with Milo Thatch, Esmeralda Dame, and Adam Beastly. They were quite an interesting group. Milo had bottle rim glasses and possibly just got out his braces but there was no doubt that this guy was a total nerd. He was well prepared for this class as he explained the color coding of his binder. Esmeralda smacked her gum and twirled her long black hair, not really caring about anything other than the time on the clock. She had a very cool, laid back feel to her making Merida kind of interested in her. Then there was Beastly. With his long hair and cold stare, it seemed like the guy was ready to snap at any moment. He seemed like a loner. It didn't seem to help that Fred Prince and Philip Hubert were throwing spit balls at him. Luckily, Mr. Jumba stopped them before things got worst.

"Now, there is an assignment that you are all to do and it will be due by the end of this class period," the teacher continued.

Upon completing the microscope project, the bell rang and Merida was off to her next class.

"So Merida," Esmeralda said, approaching her after class, "Where exactly are you from?"

"Ireland," she replied a little shyly as she walked next to the tan beauty.

"Cool," the dark hair girl said walking down the hall with her fiery red haired classmate, "We don't get much excitement here at WHS. You could be the hottest new thing here. Better than knowing that Aurora got a hot set of wheels. Catch me for lunch, 'kay? Later Meri."

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Merida tried to balance a pencil on her nose as Mr. Ratcliffe drowned on and on about the state of the economy in USA history as an introduction. She heard a chuckle next her and look peered to see a boy with a rattail and a twinkle in his brown eyes. His wink made her blush and hide in her wide locks. He surely had a bad boy imagine to himself, but it would be too soon to tell for her. At the sound of the bell, the class erupted into zipping of backpacks and the chattering of the students. When gathering her things, Merida looked up to find the bad boy walk by her desk and leave something on top of it. She saw the note that was titled 'Red' in front of her and let her eyes follow him on the way out.

'At least he has a nice backside,' she thought to herself.

"His name is Jim Hawkins," said a voice from behind her. Merida looked to see an Asian tomboy carrying a gym bag, "You might want to watch out for him. He has been known to leave a few broken hearts. Mulan is my name."

"Merida," she replied as they shook hands.

"You're the one Esmeralda must have told me about you," Mulan said with a sideways smile at the ginger, "What do you say we head to lunch and you can meet the rest of the crew."