Lunch on my first day was, without a doubt, interesting. After two more classes, it was time for lunch and my stomach didn't let me forget that little fact.

The cafeteria was unlike any cafeteria I'd ever seen. My old school had the generic, terrible cafeteria food that tasted like garbage and the room itself wasn't exactly a sight for sore eyes, either.

But this one was. It had two large, glass walls that overlooked a well-manicured school garden and one overlooking the pool. The floors, tables and chairs were all clean and looked brand new. It was fully air-conditioned and there was a separate salad bar.

"This is a really nice cafeteria." I whispered to Tamsin, who'd ended up being in both my English Literature and Calculus classes and, although she was pretty, she was too vapid and invested in other people's lives for me to take much pleasure in her company.

"Is it?" She asked distractedly, looking at something on her sleek, black iPhone 8. "I thought it was normal."

"Trust me, my last school didn't have one as nice as this." I told her, gesturing at the room around us.

"Uh huh." She obviously didn't care about what I had to say, too preoccupied with texting someone, her gray painted nails tapping away at the screen at an unimaginable speed.

I followed her to a table smack dab in the middle of the cafeteria. There was a fair mix of guys and girls and all of them were dressed expensively. It was pretty obvious that the popular group, as I'd come to realize that this was, was a little elitist.

Charlie, Ally and the boy who'd made the derogatory comment towards me during Physics were already sitting, along with a couple of new faces and people I recalled passing in the hallways.

After Tamsin sat down beside a girl who was wearing a cheerleading uniform that even Ally, while being head cheerleader, wasn't, I took the only free seat at the table which was fortunately beside Ally.

"Guys, this is Taylor Channing." Charlie said, effectively introducing me, "Taylor, this is everyone. Travis, Millie, Chris, Brad and Romi. You already know Ally and Tamsin." All of them greeted me in response and I offered a wave, examining them.

Travis was letterman guy from Physics, Millie was the girl chatting with Tamsin. Chris was a pretty muscular, tall guy with close-cropped brown hair. He was really attractive. Brad had the whole pretty boy look going for him, with coiffed blonde hair and angular features. Romi was a gorgeous black-haired girl with the most striking pair of green eyes. She seemed to be the quietest of the lot of them. I also found out that Brad and Romi were dating.

Ally then almost immediately drew me into a conversation about how my first day was going and how I was adjusting to the school. She wasn't the sort of friend I usually made, with her maybe too short skirt and top that left almost nothing to the imagination but, despite her image, she was a really nice girl.

"Anyway," Charlie interrupted, stealing one of his girlfriend's chips, for which she slapped his arm and scooted closer to me, tray included, "What do you think of Bridgetown High so far?"

"Never mind that!" Millie interjected, "Have you seen any guys that you might be into? Because, if you have, you need to tell us so that we know he's suitable. I mean, you can't date someone, you know, poor." Millie whispered the word as if it were the worst insult and my walls instantly went up.

I was just about to say something, my blood boiling at her comment, when Ally noticed the look on my face and interjected, "Well, it's only her first day. I don't think anyone's caught her eye yet." She caught my what-the-hell glance and leaned down to murmur, casually pretending to be eating. "We'll talk later. Just change the subject for now."

I agreed, fighting the urge to roll my eyes. "I don't know, Travis made quite the first impression." I said, glancing at him pointedly, causing his cheeks to redden. Aw, he was embarrassed. How cute.

Not.

"I'm sorry." He apologized, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked down. "That was kind of a dick move, wasn't it?"

I nodded, poking a hole in my chocolate milk carton with the straw. "It's cool, though." I brushed it off, considering he had the decency to apologize and be ashamed by it.

"Guys, just give me a second." Ally said, forcing a smile onto her face as she shot me a pointed look, standing up. "I need to use the bathroom."

Catching on immediately, I asked, "Do you need me to come with you?"

"If you don't mind." I stood up and followed her out, but not before catching the annoyed, hateful glares that I was on the receiving end of from Millie and Tamsin. Looks like they didn't appreciate my newfound friendship with Ally much.

"Look, I'm sorry, but this is me warning you." She said, the second we'd left the cafeteria. Her expression was serious, guarded and I gulped, not knowing what was coming.

"Most of the people here are really stuck up. We just have to deal with it. Even Charlie, to an extent, acts that way. I know that Millie and Tamsin need to be put in place, but the person who does runs the risk of having their lives ruined. Tamsin's parents are richer than God and Millie's grandfather is into politics and both of them have all kinds of connections. They won't just stop at high school; they'll destroy your future without batting an eyelid."

"Are you serious?" I demanded, disbelief coating my every word, "These girls are that petty?"

We'd reached the bathrooms at this point, and Ally opened her mouth to speak, about to push the door to the girls' room open when a guy emerged from the guys' bathroom right next to us.

I jumped, and his shoulder bumped into mine, but I quickly righted myself before I could fall. I hadn't seen him around anywhere; his all-black clothing would have stood out to me as would his looks. His appearance was messy, as if he didn't care, but he had a bone structure that was a gift from the gods.

My breath caught in my throat, but I quickly snapped back to reality when he glared viciously, the edges of his pink lips turned down in disapproval. His skin was an appealing olive tone and his eyes were the color of caramel, but his anger was a turn off.

"Watch where you're going." He warned, his voice a low growl.

"But that wasn't my fault." I protested, the words escaping my lips before I could stop them. Then again, he deserved to be told off. "I was just standing there. I would've been willing to apologize, but you just had to be an asshole about it."

"What did you say to me?" He asked, his eyes flashing with anger and....was that surprise? Apparently, this wannabe James Dean bad boy wasn't used to being crossed.

"You heard me." I wasn't going to back off. Ally stood next to me, not saying a word. She didn't seem like the kind of person to stand for stuff like that, but she was acting like a scared kitten.

"Whatever." Huh, maybe he knew how to pick his battles. Or, maybe he decided he was too good to talk to me. He made it a point to step on my foot as he walked off, leaving me confused as to whether it was my bruised ego that hurt more or my bruised foot.

"Who the hell was that?" I asked, the moment he was out of sight. My blood was still boiling. "He was such an asshole."

"His name's Julio Hernandez." Ally answered, her voice soft and sounding as if she was about to warn me about something. "He's like that with everyone. Millie and Tamsin say that they deal with it because he's poor and, to them, that makes him unimportant but I have a feeling he scares them a little."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he does. What's his deal?" I questioned drily. At least those two left someone alone.

"I don't know. We've been going to school with him for years, but no one knows a thing about him."

"Hmm..." I trailed off, thinking as Ally slipped into a stall to pee. Even the bathrooms here were fancy.

"Look, Taylor." She spoke from inside the stall, and I looked around to make sure no one else was in the bathroom. "You need to stay away from him. He's not the kind of person you want to hang out with."

"Why, because he isn't rich?" I felt stupid as soon as I said it. I knew what she meant, but I had still opened my mouth.

"No," she said firmly, and I heard the toilet flush, "Because he's an asshole who gets away with whatever he wants because everyone's too scared to stop him."

"What do you mean?" I frowned, leaning against the wall as Ally came out of the stall and began washing her hands.

"The last time anyone stood up to him was Ross Wilson in freshman year. Ross came out of that encounter with a black eye, a split lip and a bruised rib because he told Julio to stop annoying this other girl, Jenny."

"Well, someone has anger issues." I commented, understanding why Ally had been so quiet earlier.

She giggled, finishing up and we went back to the cafeteria,changing the topic. Millie and Tamsin were deeply engrossed in a conversation that had something to do with some girl who had slept with a guy who had a girlfriend. They were calling the girl a slut when she hadn't even known that he had a girlfriend.

Um, what?

Charlie, Travis, Brad and Romi began asking me questions about myself, seeming genuinely interested. I knew that Charlie was being friendly because his dad had asked him to, but I still appreciated it.

The bell rang and it was time for my next class, which was Psychology. Psychology was, by far, my favorite subject. It fascinated me. Chris, who had been pretty quiet up until then, told me that he had the same class and wouldn't mind going with me.

Romi and Brad had Biology a few classes over and walked a few feet in front of us. They were holding hands and their faces permanently held smiles as they whispered to each other. They made a cute couple.

"So, what made you move here?" Chris asked, surprising me. He hadn't exactly made any previous attempts at getting to know me.

"I used to live with my brother in San Francisco, but he was accepted into this year long course at the London School of Economics, so I moved in with my mom."

"You don't sound too happy about it." He said, his expression knowing.

I merely shrugged, not particularly wanting to talk about it.

"We don't have to talk about it. Trust me, I know all about disappointing mothers." He scoffed, his eyes reminiscent, as if he was lost in memories, but not ones that he wanted to be lost in.

So, the beefy, macho linebacker guy had actual problems, huh?

"People suck." I said bluntly, eliciting a short, surprised laugh from him, almost like he didn't expect for me to make him laugh.

After that comment, Chris was a bit more comfortable around me, making me giggle at stupid little jokes and puns.

Brad and Romi turned around a couple of times to glance at us, their eyes alight with amusement as they appeared to be discussing something to do with us. That was the thing about couples—they were so trapped in their own happy state of domestic bliss that they thought everyone else wanted a relationship, too.

Unfortunately for them, I wasn't looking for anything. I was done with guys, especially with the relationship history I'd had. It wasn't anything dramatic, but I'd dated my fair share of assholes.

"This is it." Chris said suddenly, coming to a halt. He held the door to the classroom open, and I sighed, hoping that I wouldn't have to introduce myself to the entire class again.