Leila took an awkward step forward, the whole class had stopped whatever they were doing and stared at her. Leila had gone to a lot of schools, done a lot of transfers, but never had she gotten a reaction like this before. It was as though she was an alien species, and the humans had just discovered her.

Apart from that, she had never in her entire life seen a class like this before. It was like a fusion between a café, and a class. Somewhere from the back of the class came a whistle, and people turned around to see who had done it.

"What? I'm just stating the obvious...." someone said. It seemed to ease up the tension in the class room, as a few of the guys cheered him on.

Suddenly the classroom door opened and what looked like the teacher walked in. She too froze when she caught Leila standing in front of her class. The lady looked young, she was the first person, who looked at Leila like she was an actual human being.

"Hello there, you must be our new bursary student?" she asked Leila kindly. There was a gasp from some of the other students and Leila distinctly heard someone whisper loudly "Bursary?"

Smiling shyly "yes" Leila managed a whisper, which to her horror came out like a croak.

"Great, well than take a seat here, right in the front row, you can put you're things down there, and than come up to the class so you can introduce yourself to us" she beamed.

Leila stared at her in shock. Really? Go up there and actually talk to them? She took a big gulp. It seemed like time had frozen while everyone was still staring at her putting her bag down. The teacher too seemed to be waiting for her.

Leila walked to the front, staring down on the floor, she barely managed as her voice kept croaking to her utter horror. "Hello everyone, my name is Leila Adams, thank you.." she said. Just as she was about to walk back to her seat, a girl put her hand up,

"Yes Pearl?" Ms Judy asked.

"Where did...that come from?" Pearl asked sneering at Leila. Making a face as though Leila was something disgusting under her nose.

Leila looked up to Ms Judy, she could see Ms. Judy take a deep breath as though to calm her nerves down, Ms Judy smiled kindly at Leila "where did you come from Leila?"

"Well...I originally came from Saint Francis High school.." she said softly. The whole class erupted in laughter.

Leila stared at them in confusion, she didn't understand what was so funny. She looked up at Ms. Judy in confusion, but she however tried her best to smile at Leila, and gently guided her back to her seat.

The class seemed to go on from there, however Leila couldn't help feeling like she was going to regret ever agreeing to this bursary. Sighing to herself, "Just survive" maybe that's what the receptionist had meant when she said that to Leila?

Leila stared in awe at the 'class' around her, but something strange immediately caught her attention. As her eyes were scanning she could see distinctly that the chairs got more and more 'executive' going down the class.

Right at the back of the class, It looked almost like the setting of an office. They even had executive sofa/chairs in that row. Leila quickly gasped as she saw one of the eyes following her gaze. He was a handsome guy, staring at her unashamedly. She quickly moved her focus back to Ms. Judy.

When the bell rang, all the students got up at once, even though Ms Judy was still talking. She looked as though she was used to their behavior. Leila was the last to leave her seat, waiting for everyone to file out. She heaved a big sigh of relief. Wiping her forehead, she was actually sweating. She heard small clicks, Ms. Judy was closing her briefcase.

"Leila...where is your next class?" she asked kindly,

Quickly checking her timetable, "err...its P.E." she said horrified.

"Oh..well, that's easy enough, you just go back up the stairs, and down the corridor, like as if you're going to the entrance, when you come out, you'll find a glass house, that's where you're P.E. class will be held" she said.

"Thank you Ma'am" Leila said politely. To her surprise, Ms. Judy stared at her, as if in shock at her politeness. "Call me...if you need someone to talk to....this place can be quite...overwhelming." she said uneasily.

Great, just great. So far people have said "Just survive", and that this place can be "overwhelming", what the hell had she signed up for, Leila thought to herself furiously as she made her way to the glass building.

It was just as Ms. Judy had described, "A glass like house". As she entered, again, she was met with the same reaction, people oogling her like she was from out of space, and then there were some girls who plain stared at her with utmost hate. How did it seem so easy to make enemies in this place already ?

Leila was late, the other girls had already changed into their P.E. uniform, and not surprising..they all looked in almost unrealistically amazing shape. As Leila was standing there, one of the boys walked over to her, he was quite handsome, but than again which one of these pupils didn't ?

He had a tall thin athletic physic, beaming at her, he stretched his hand out "Hey there, nice to meet you Leila....my name is Nico, pleased to meet your acquaintance" he said, while kissing her hand. Leila heard a small "pshh" of disapproval from the girl Ms. Judy had called as Pearl earlier.

"Er..hi Nico..nice to meet you too.." Leila said awkwardly. Another guy walked over to her and Nico, smacking his back playfully "-And this here, is Taylor,"

Taylor beamed at her too, "Hey there Leila"

"Hi.." Leila replied akwardly

"I'm sure you're going to make school a very entertaining place for us this year" Nico said winking at Leila

"Er...what? why I'm quite boring actually" Leila replied worried

"Ah...well let's see, I've never seen our girls like this before.." Nico whispered dramatically to Leila. She turned red,

"Ah wow...and she blushes too..." Nico said ecstatically turning his head back a bit towards his other friend, Leila caught a glimpse of him, just staring at them. He was the same handsome guy she had seen earlier at Ms Judy's class.

His face looked very cold, he had absolutely no expression on. His dark eyes again stared at her unabashedly. This time though Leila could really see him. Although everyone around her pretty much had an aura of being elite, there was something much different about him. He stood out from them vividly.

It was as though even in the upper social class, there were even further subdivisions into the upper social class and the upper-upper social class. And he was definitely at the top. Maybe it was the way the others kept glancing at him nervously, as though seeking his approval.

Or maybe it was just him ? Self importance etched across his very being. He looked powerful, feared, and yet enigmatic at the same time. Realizing she was staring at him, Leila hurriedly looked away.

"Here comes fatso..." said Pearl. Leila turned to look at whom she was talking about. There was a huge obese man, huffing and puffing as he was making his way through to his students. He stopped before he could even greet them, huffing and puffing. The kids all started laughing at him rudely. Finally after catching his breath he walked over to them.

"Good morning folks" he said while wiping sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief.

"Ewe.." a girl who seemed to be pearl's friend said loudly. Ignoring her, he continued.

"Today we will be doing group activities..girls on one side, boys on the other. We will be focusing on core training. Right who here is the new bursary student? L. Adams?" he asked, reading a label on a clothing bag which he seemed to have in his hand.

"Here Sir..." Leila said shyly, raising her hand slightly. Again he looked at her shocked to be addressed to politely.

"Oh right...here is your P.E. Kit, courtesy of the Royal High Scholarship Fund" he said, handing her a gorgeous black paper bag.

"Thank you.." she responded for the first time a small smile swept across her face as she looked down into the gorgeous black bag.

"Gosh, she can't even afford her own P.E. wear? What a joke !" Pearl's friend said outraged, while Pearl sneered looking at Leila in disbelief

"Okay, you can change and make your way back here please Ms. Adams" the P.E. Teacher said.

Leila walked into the change room, and it took her a moment to regain her breathing.

Wow....just wow. How can this be a changing room for a school? She thought to herself stunned. The changing room was glistening with the polish from the tiles, the whole room was surrounded with mirrors, and each cubicle was equipped with its own Jacuzzi, mini sauna and mini steam room. There were already white robes laid out neatly on the entrance of each cubicle with fluffy white slippers at the entrance.

Leila quickly opened up her bag, and beamed again at the magnificent so called 'P.E. uniform'. It was really so pretty. Made up of a white silk skirt with matching silk top, which fit her on snugly, as though it was tailor made.

Now that she thought about it, she did have to fill in details on her application form like her measurements, weight, height etc. Her outfit even had her name printed on it on the underside of her collar. There was a matching head band, long socks and even P.E. white shoes, without looking at herself, she quickly went out of the changing rooms.

And yep again, for the third time in a row, the reaction was the same, ogling, whispers, catty looks. How was this already getting so tiring at only the second class of the morning ? Leila thought grumpily.

Nico came to stand by her, "Now ladies, THAT is how you wear a P.E. outfit" embarrassing Leila, she didn't understand all the unwanted attention she was getting. All of these girls looked flawless, beyond beautiful, from their well kept hair, accurately tweezed eyebrows, beautiful layer upon layers of endless lashes (could they be fake?), beautiful bronze tan....flawless. And there she was in stark contrast, her own nails, hair tied in a messy one sided ponytail, wearing a uniform which she could never even dream of affording. What was the fuss all about? She could possibly not have anything that they could possibly want.

"OK now, divide yourselves up, girls onto one side, boys onto the other" the P.E. teacher said. Nico winked at Leila and went off onto the other side of the basketball court.

"Right now, huddle around in a circle. We are all going to practice, some warm up exercises..."

All through the P.E. session they worked on different themes, from general warm up, to strengthening their core, to relaxing tensions in the muscle. Although he was unfit, he really did know his stuff, Leila thought to herself, as she heard the bell ringing signaling the end of the P.E. session.

Suddenly from the boys circle came a terrible scream, still huddled in their circle, but there was a small figure being dragged to the center, and he was getting kicked in succession by each of the guys around the circle, almost all of them were having a turn kicking him except for Nico, Taylor, and their tall handsome friend. He just stood there gazing at the scene in front of him, with his hands in his pocket, with a strange expression on his face. Leila couldn't fathom it, it was a mixture of cruelty and sneering. Leila looked in disgust at the P.E. teacher as he ashamedly bowed his head down and turned away from the scene.

"Scholarship students, ..." Pearl said approaching Leila. She was accompanied with two of her other friends. The rude one who had openly laughed at their P.E. teacher and another girl who too stared at Leila in disgust.

"You see... that's what happens to them when they don't know their place, you might be here at Royal high, but it would do you good to know you're place on the food chain. And here you're all just scavengers, begging off the bits and pieces we throw at you, just like the clothes on your back that you're currently wearing." Pearl continued, while every sentence she threw made her beautiful face look more and more ugly.

"My name is Pearl, this here is Alicia, and Oliya...know them...we're important" she said walking off. Leila stared at them in disbelief, she moved her gaze to the floor where the scholarship student was still being kicked, and saw in turn that she was being stared at by the same handsome face, looking at her with mild interest. Blushing she looked between his face and the guy on the floor being hit, and finally it dawned on her...the handsome man was actually enjoying seeing such brutality.

********

"And why do you look so toned down?" Pearl asked taking a seat next to Xavier

"Whatever do you mean?" Xavier replied disinterested

"haven't seen you picking on anyone once since you got back ...has prison taught you some manners finally?"

"No ..there's just nobody left to pick on anymore, seems like I've gone through the whole school, can't even remember their faces anymore" he laughed cruelly.

"Well I'm sure you'll be up to your old pro-aggressive self when Zach comes back"

"Hey Pearl !"

"what?"

"I think I can bear you better when you're not talking".

Pearl got up and left haughtily.

"you know I think she like's you" Nico said, chewing on his fruit.

"Of course she does, which girl doesn't? As a matter of fact, if I were a girl, I'd want him too! His the succesor to the Royal Group and all" Taylor replied back,

"Ohh...which one of us would you like to date between Taylor and me?" Nico asked, blinking his eyelashes at Xavier dramatically.

******

If you want to make a big entrance back at school, guess there's no better way than doing so after you're released from prison, Zach thought to himself, as his driver was driving up the road leading to the entrance of Royal High. Ah the stares he will get coming back, well, can't say he didn't give the kids anything to talk about that's for sure.

"That's enough........I can walk from here" Zach said coldly to his driver signaling him to stop. He got off earlier than the actual stop, he needed the time alone. It was going to be an irritating long day. Maybe he and Xavier were taking their feud too far? Nha screw that, Zach thought smiling to himself, they were both so self-destructive, they didn't understand the concept of going 'too far'.

Walking up the stairs in a jolly mood, he came across a small figure huddled on the stairs, in the cold. Zach had definitely not seen her before, which was strange, they were no "new" students into Royal High. You came to Royal High School, from Royal Primary, and you went to royal primary from royal pre-school, and before you could even enroll for royal pre-school, you had to have the right lineage, the correct parentage.

There was only one type of 'new student' and those were scholarship students. And even those were limited to boys only, so that they could endure the humiliation which they would have to go through day in and day out just to have a certificate from Royal high.

Her posture looked timid, her head was curled up into her arms, as though she were sleeping in a sitting position. She didn't even have a proper winter coat on. Yep definitely a charity case. She raised her head slightly as he got closer to the stairs leading to the entrance, but he couldn't see her face properly. Huh...imagine that, a girl beggar, here in Royal High, Zach thought to himself, as he opened the entrance door to Royal High School.

He walked to the reception, ready to get his timetable, and already he bumped into a familiar face.

"Well.......look who's back from prison..." Alicia said, walking closer to Zach. Her long brown hair neatly tied up into a ponytail. Her uniform fit her like a glove, no doubt custom made to highlight her slim figure. Her once average face had clear signs of modifications, higher cheekbones, sharper nose, plumped lips, the same story for almost every girl at Royal high school.

"Ow Alicia...you're such a tease..." Zach said, walking closer to her, he stopped just a mere few millimeters from her "But don't tease me too much, I've been deprived while I was in prison..I might not be able to control myself.." he said wickedly. He could see her eyes grow wide with slight fear at his words, and she edged back a few steps.

"I see you're still a prick" she said haughtily.

"I see you're still a taunt..anyway I have things to do...so if you don't mind ...I'll be getting my timetable now and heading off to class.."

"Hope I don't see you again"

"Oww..come now, you're hurting my feelings ! " he said, with a mocked look of heartbreak. Alicia rolled her eyes as she stormed out of the reception.

"Good morning Ms Oscar, I trust my secretary called you?" Zach said, paying attention to the receptionist, she looked up at him fumbling with her glasses, as though nervous.

"Hi Zach, yeah he did, I have your new timetable ready for you..." she said handing him a piece of paper. "I trust you will be on your best behavior this semester?"

"Ms Oscar,I'll be as innocent as an angel..I promise" he joked placing a hand on his heart. She stared at him looking slightly worried "You should know that Xavier is already here, he came earlier on in the morning.."

"Ah good ! I was counting on it ! You know I think I've missed him, I should go over and give him a biiggg hug " Zach responded giving his best smile and winking, with that he took his timetable sheet and walked out, leaving the receptionist looking worried.

Zach walked down the corridor, to his locker, he had asked his secretary to equip it with everything he needed , including a packet of cigarettes. Just as he was getting to his locker, the bell rang.

Checking his watch, oh great, its already the break for the morning. Students were all walking to their lockers, he opened up his locker, and took out his cigarette. Just as he was lighting it, he saw someone from the corner of his eyes staring at him. It was one of "his beggars" as the school liked to call it.

Ultimately all the beggars were divided into "Zach's beggars, and Xavier's beggars.." and even those who were not scholarship students had subdivisions, and any of them, could be picked on at anytime by any of the two, and the entire school knew that.

"Miss me much?" Zach asked his beggar without turning around to look at him. He didn't hear a reply.

"You know its rude not to answer, when someone asks you something .." Zach said, while shutting his locker with deliberate force, he could hear its echo into the hall. Turning around, he saw his beggar Joel.