"Disgusting," Violet grumbled, dropping a foul-smelling bologna sandwich onto her lunch tray. "I miss Riverside."

Today was Violet Sinclaire's first day at Nockfell High School. As expected, she hadn't made any new friends by the time lunch came around. She didn't mind sitting alone, however. It gave her time to collect herself after several hours of desperately searching for familiar faces and getting lost between classes. Fortunately, she hadn't any experiences with bullies or stereotypical cliques that most movies portray (yet). So far, the only thing she disliked about her new school was Bologna Day.

"Psst! New girl!" A voice hissed from nearby. Violet frowned, turning around in her seat. Waving at her from a few tables down was a boy from her algebra class. What could he want?

"What?"

"You might wanna move seats, dude. Travis will kick your ass if he sees you sitting there."

"I'm not afraid of him."

Technically, she wasn't lying. She didn't even know who Travis was, how could she be afraid of him? The look of genuine concern on the boy's face, however, slightly intimidated her. This Travis guy must have a reputation.

Just as Violet began contemplating sitting elsewhere, she felt a presence behind her. The person, whoever it was, cleared their throat aggressively. "You're sitting in my seat, newbie."

"I don't see your name on it," Violet replied, growing tense as she came upon the realization that Travis himself was hovering over her.

He scoffed, seemingly shocked by her response. "Yeah? How about I pound it into your skull?"

Violet wasn't sure whether to face him or keep her back turned. She knew that turning around would lead to a punch in the face, but she felt painfully vulnerable without doing so.

Suddenly, the boy from algebra sprung out of his seat. "Back off, man. She didn't know."

"Why do you have to be such a jerk?" A dark-haired girl snapped, standing up to join him.

Travis laughed. "I'm just shaking in my shoes! The freaks are after me!"

"Come on," the girl muttered, grabbing Violet's lunch tray. "You can sit with us."

She gratefully accepted her offer, shooting a glare at Travis as she swooped past him. She'd rather die than let him find out that, for just a few seconds, she was frightened by him. He merely sneered before plopping down into his seat and taking a hefty bite of his bologna sandwich.

Upon arriving at the new table, Violet instantly noticed that everyone sat on the same side, despite there being two rows of seats. She chose to sit opposite of the boy from algebra, who was fuming from the scene with Travis.

"I'm Ash," the dark-haired girl said, placing Violet's tray in front of her.

"I'm Violet."

"I recognize you from organic chemistry!" The boy sitting to her left spoke up. Violet recognized him as well. His fiery red hair and round spectacles were hard to miss. "Congrats on being the only sophomore able to take it."

Violet rolled her eyes. "I don't remember what was going through my head when I signed up for that class. I'm horrible at science. You're Todd, right?"

"Correct."

"You're in my algebra class too, dude. I'm Larry." Larry had failed algebra in his sophomore year, explaining why he was in the class with Violet. She couldn't help but overhear him telling someone about it during the lesson, considering he was the only person talking beside the teacher. Although he was incredibly careless, Larry was a friendly person.

The two people to Larry's right, Chug and Maple, were too consumed in each other to introduce themselves. Ash kindly spoke for them before gently nudging the boy between herself and Larry.

This boy was quite different than anyone Violet had ever seen. He sported dark clothing and strikingly blue pigtails. But what intrigued her the most was the pearly white mask he wore. It covered all but a pair of azure eyes. Violet rather liked this about him.

"I'm Sal. Nice to meet you," he said, giving a small nod.

"I like your hair," she told him, "it matches your eyes."

He perked up, clearly taken aback by her comment. Violet could only pray that she hadn't said anything offensive.

"Th-Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"So, Violet," Ash began, "where are you from?"

"I'm from Kansas. My mom insisted that we move here for research purposes," she explained, pushing her bologna sandwich to the side.

"Research on what?" Larry inquired.

"Some cult, I guess."

"What kind of cult?" Asked Sal.

Violet shrugged. "A cult that supposedly responsible for strange occurrences."

"Interesting," Todd commented. "Very interesting."