It was bad enough that she had to move to a whole different country. Now, she was late for her very first day of school, where, by the way, nobody spoke coherent English. Her mother's rich friend said the school was the best in the area, but it was just another priss school in the eyes of the very-much-stared-at-since-she-got-to-Japan-foreign -teenage girl. Now, she was going to have to probably stand at the front of the class introducing herself, only she was LATE, so the teacher would probably be pissed as heck.

*"Goodbye, peeps who don't give a heck!," she cried out, waiting for a reply she knew she wouldn't receive. They were home. They just didn't care.

Running out of the apartment, she briskly walked to the elevator, clutching onto the handlebars of her bicycle. Yes, her bicycle. Was it allowed in the above-floor apartment building? Fuck, no. Did she care? Fuck, no.

As she waited in the elevator, along with her bike, she received strange looks from the other passengers. Most of them were glares. Knowing that random strangers were giving her nasty looks, the rude girl began to hum a Katy Perry tune VERY LOUDLY. By the time she got to the first floor, she ran out with more enemies than she could care to count(which was, like, four).

"Miss! Excuse me, Miss! Bicycles are not allowed in the building!," a guard ran up to her, but she ran past him shouting, *"I DON'T CARE!," leaving behind a very confused employee.

Finally hopping on her bike, she rode down the road, practically flying as she tried to remember where Iwatobi High School was. Her mother's friend, Veronica, also known as Veru-chan, showed her earlier the school earlier that week, but she refused to pay much attention simply because she didn't have to care if she didn't want to. She didn't have to care about anything anymore, which gave her more reason to care about what she really wanted to care about, and that made her unconciously smile.

Her long, dark hair flying in the wind, the foreigner recieved strange looks from the few passerby who couldn't help but notice the brown-eyed schoolgirl.

Up ahead were two boys who sported a school uniform similar to hers, so she knew that she was going in the right direction.

"HEY, YOU'RE GOING TO IWATOBI HIGH, RIGHT?!," she shouted to the strangers up ahead, who turned to look back at her.

Eyes widening, they made space for the incoming bicycler, the green-eyed one shrieking at the brush of their sudden death.

"EH?!," green-eyes shrieked.

The girl didn't stop to talk. She only biked faster, relief flooding her as she noticed the checker pattern of their respective uniforms matched hers EXACTLY. Plus, they were still going to school, so maybe she wasn't late after all!

Gaining an unbelievable amount of momentum, she noticed that they were both really, really attractive. Like, MODEL level hot.

She almost swooned but then she remembered that she was going to crash into something at her pace so might as well keep going. Her speed was a new record, after all.

Right before she passed them, she met the shocked gaze of the shorter one, who she could actually SEE, since brown-haired-kun was way too tall for her to meet his own gaze. And, even in all of that, she couldn't help but notice that his eyes were so BLUE. Blue like the freaking Atlantic Ocean.

* "Hehe, but now I'm on the Pacific!," she managed to chuckle to herself, despite not hearing her own voice since the wind stole it.

"H-Haru! Are you okay?!," a doting Makoto Tachibana asked the wide-eyed Haruka Nanase, who rarely showed much expression unless he felt something deeply. And, oh, you could just TELL what he was feeling!

"...Fine," was all the once-again passive Haruka replied, taking steps forward again.

Makoto sighed, thankful that his best friend wasn't as shaken as he was by the sudden fright.

"Geez, I wonder what that was about! Well, she DID say that she was going to Iwatobi, but I've never seen her before…," Makoto thought aloud. Suddenly lifting his eyebrows, he said, "Ah! I remember now! Kou-chan said something about an exchange student yesterday, right? How sudden… Ah, she also said that the girl was American! Ne, how exciting will that be? Going to school with a real American! I wonder if her Japanese is good...she did manage to talk to us, didn't she? She didn't look Japanese...as a matter of fact, she didn't look like what Americans look like in television shows. She had long brown hair, and it was curly-looking. And her face wasn't like an American's, it was...different? She had light skin, but she didn't look like a light-skinned American, if that makes sense..I'm not sure...Ah, but Americans all look different, so I can't say she isn't a real American. I hope I didn't offend her!," Makoto was talking a mile a minute as usual, answering all of the questions he asked Haru. Not as if Haru would reply, anyhow.

This time, however, Haru unexpectedly said, "...waves…"

"Eh? Oh right! Her hair wasn't curly, it more wavy, ne? She was really pretty, even though we saw her for only a moment…Ah! But we'll surely see her at school, so maybe we'll get a chance to meet her!," Makoto beamed, happy at the thought of a new friend.

Haru glanced at his friend, one eyebrow raised. He, on the other hand, thought that his circle of friends was already enough. He, in fact, had too many friends, and even though they were all idiots, they were HIS idiots. Warming up to someone new, much less someone who might not have spoken good Japanese. Okay, that was offensive, but he was trying his best to silently protest the idea, even though he didn't have a steady argument to defend his point. The truth was, he just didn't want to talk to her. Not entirely because he disliked her-he didn't even know her yet(he only knew that he was having a rather peaceful morning walk until she disrupted it and ruined everything). He just didn't have the best communication skills, and other people didn't understand what he had to say. Only Makoto and Rin understood his feelings and actions the best. Nagisa, Rei, and Kou did as well, but not as perfectly as the former two. He had five great friends, and a seventh member to his small social circle seemed too exhausting. It wasn't like he had anything to say, least to her, so why bother?

The two friends finally arrived at the school, greeting their freshmen friends before standing in their spots in the morning assembly lines. Makoto was going to mention the girl he and Haru saw, but not only did he have to stand in his assembly spot quickly, but looking around, he didn't see the girl anywhere. Even though he didn't mention it, Haru was curious about the girl's whereabouts too.

"I wonder where she went…," Makoto murmured.

Suddenly, his prayers were answered.

* "Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot…," the girl with the half-eaten chocolate bar popping out of her mouth mumbled over and over, mentally kicking herself in her non-existing balls.

She was getting super hungry on the bike ride to school, so when she spotted a 7-11, she knew that she had to buy something good. She didn't even know 7-11 existed in Japan! On her frantic ride, she stopped in front of the store, only to crash into a nearby tree. Few onlookers saw the girl on the ground, gaping at the sight.

"I'm ok, I'm ok!," she raised her hand from the ground, signaling that she was indeed alright. The onlookers went about their daily business, not noticing that she now had bruises on her knees. BLOODY bruises.

* "Aw man, I'm gonna get blood all over my cute kneesocks!," she cursed aloud, running into the store. Even though she only had a five dollar bill on her, she was able to buy candy bars and band-aids.

One she paid, she thanked the wide-eyed shopkeeper, who could only stare at her bleeding knees.

"Hey, you're getting blood all over my floor!," he boomed, causing her to flinch.

Her demeanor suddenly changed, eyes narrowing at the rude man.

* "Well, GEEZ! THANKS FOR BEING THE KINDEST DUDE IN THE WORLD! YOU'RE SO FREAKING NICE AND SPECIAL, YOU PISSED OFF UGLY FART!," she shouted before running out of the store. Thankfully he didn't chase after her, as he didn't understand a word she had said.

Once outside, she ripped open the band-aid pack, slapping the sticky bandages over both knees as quickly as she could. She then wiped the remaining blood off of her socks and knees, rubbing her bloody hands on the grass. Satisfied with her okay-job, she ripped open the candy bar and stuffed the whole thing in her mouth, jumping on the bike and riding away as fast as she could.

Anxiety filled her very being as she realized that she was probably later than she could dare to imagine. Pumping her thick legs, she rode with all of her might, eyes filling with happy tears at the sight of her brand new high school.

* "Yes! I'm finally here! YES! YES!," she shouted, trying to slow her bike.

Suddenly, panic overwhelmed her very being.

Oh no.

Her bike wouldn't stop.

Cursing to herself, she pressed down on the breaks as much as she could, but they didn't work.

What happened next was painful.

As the morning assembly was going on, a scream worthy of being placed in a horror movie interrupted the head of the school's daily speech.

Everyone in the area and then some turned to see a girl on a bicycle rolling into the crowd, not even daring to stop. With her horrified expression and her hair in the wind, students began to take out their cell phones, recording this unforgetable moment in school history.

Behind the headmaster, she rode straight into a rock, flying off the bike, and landing face-first into a group of bushes. Not to mention that her red, lace panties were shown to the entire world, and soon the world of the internet, thanks to some perverted Iwatobi students.

When she didn't move from her spot, teachers ran to where she was, and everyone began to speak.

Makoto and Haru stood their, faces turned into stone. They didn't know that their second meeting with the girl would end up this way. It was not what they expected. At all.

Finally getting up from the bushes, the girl sighed, only to be surrounded by fast-speaking teachers.

"Are you okay?"

"Are you alright?"

"Eh, she looks foreign…"

"Oh! She's that new exchange student from America, right?"

"Ah right!"

"Ne, she doesn't look American…"

"Ne, Americans all look different! It's a-," the teacher tried and failed to say, *"-melting pot."

"Murting poot?," the American repeated, biting her tongue so she wouldn't laugh at a teacher's face her first day.

"Eh, hello! Hello!," all of the teachers said in English, along with english 'how are yous' and japanese 'good mornings.'

"Let's get you cleaned up, ne?," a friendly looking woman said, gently guiding her into the school building.

"My my, that was some display!," the soft-spoken woman giggled for the upteenth time, causing a grit-toothed smile from the new student.

"Ah! Here's your classroom! I hope that the Japanese is not too hard for you! But, ah, you do understand what I am saying, so I guess that means you know, haha!," she laughed awkwardly, getting no immediate response from the girl.

"A-anyway, I am Amakata-sensei! And if you need anything, just be sure to ask for Amakata-sensei, alright? A-MA-KA-TA," she pronounced as if she was speaking to a caves-person. Amakata was getting irked by the stone-faced girl, who hasn't said a word since the incident.

"OK," the girl responded, causing the teacher to sigh in relief.

Waving goodbye, the teacher left Miss America to the door of her new class, causing the girl to feel like a scared little pup.

Putting on her brave face, she confidently strode into the classroom, making everyone look her way.

Her homeroom teacher glared at her, causing her to glare back.

"Ah, you're that troublesome girl from this morning."

"Yes," she replied, even though she wanted to tell him off for making her feel crappier than she already does. I mean, yes, she remembers the incident, thank you very much. She also remembers that her bandaged knees get a lot of stares. And everyone saw her panties. And she's not Japanese, so she was immedietly ostracised(at least, judging from the teachers' reactions, she felt like she was).

"Please introduce yourself to the class, and next time, please be on time," the teacher tsked, causing students to snicker.

Facing the classroom she could feel the heavy stares of everyone on her. In that moment, she knew that she wasn't going to be making many friends this year. Even if she didn't make any, she would still have fun, she knew.

Mustering up fake confidence, she smiled brightly at all of her now current-haters.

"Hello! My name is Litelli Raquel! AH, but you can call me Rocki, since that's my favorite movie and all, hehehe! I know it's a boy sounding nickname, but whatever works, works, amirite?!," she boomed laughing. Once she saw no one was laughing along, she coughed into her hand, slightly embarassed. Oh, NOW people were laughing! "A-anyway, YOROSHIKU ONEGAISHIMASU!," she shouted, bowing forward to her classmates, who laughed at her enthusiasm.

The teacher gruffed, "Continue."

Raquel was at a loss for words.

"Um...uh…Oh! I'm from Brooklyn! Which is in New York! I'm originally from Brooklyn, New York, but then I moved to New Jersey to Hoboken, which is a gang city, so, uh, yeah…"

Once she finished, the teacher gruffly told her to sit in an empty seat, which she happily complied.

As she walked to the back, where the only empty seat in the class was, she could hear everyone's hushed whispers, talking about her ever so rudely. She heard things like "American" and "New Jersey" and "Whore" whispered around. She decided then and there that everyone in that class was a new enemy of hers.

Sitting in her seat, she sighed, turning her head to look at her surrounding classmates, smiling. No one smiled back. The people in front of her glanced and whispered, but tried to pay attention to whatever the teacher was saying, even though his subject was homeroom so whatever he had to say was useless. The girl behind her only glared at her, so she turned back to the front. Glancing to her left, she noticed that the only girl not looking at her was quietly looking out the window, her red ponytail shimmering with the help of the sunlight. Raquel didn't get to see her face, so she couldn't tell whether this girl was involved in any of the classroom-gossip nonsense.

Feeling the heavy stare of the new girl, Gou turned around to look at her, face questioning.

Raquel's breath hitched, her heartbeat loud enough for her to hear.

Oh. My. GOD.

This girl was smokin' hot.