First Impressions

The year 2030. A batch of new freshmen graduated and entered high school. Among them, is Caitlyn Maddenson. A quiet but respectful student. Her classmates looked up to her for her high intelligence, and the teachers praised her for every great thing a student can be during middle school.

After their graduation, Caitlyn left her friends full of hope and determination for her future. Because of her great performance at her previous school, her parents suggested that she study at Starheights Academy, a proper school for those who were well during middle school, or so her parents believed.

The academy is located in the northeast, just outside of the city. The neighborhood Caitlyn and her family live in is in the far southeast of the city, so her family decided to buy her a small house just a few miles south of the academy with the promise of performing greatly. It's a one-ride trip to the academy with the bus stop near that apartment.

Time flew by for Caitlyn and now she stood before the campus gate. Her eyes scan the area with sparkling eyes. "Wow..." She muttered to herself. Unlike her previous school, the campus of Starheights has a larger and wider area and is a lot more green. It was a different place from where she used to study. Looking at the large patches of grass around the campus, her first thought was to pick an area to sit down and read her books.

After complimenting the school campus, Caitlyn took out a paper with her class schedule written on it. "Science 9-3... 7:30...." Her first period is Science class. With that in mind, she walked towards the main building, looking around as she did. Many students are around the campus, which was natural since it was the first day of the school year. She happily observes the students walking and chatting about until her eyes stop at a group of rowdy students.

Her smile quickly disappears into a slight frown. She wasn't expecting delinquents at the academy since her parents favored the school. The delinquents had unbuttoned uniforms and wore different earrings and chains. There were two girls in their group. Although they don't have accessories like the boys, their body language suggests that they're capable of causing trouble.

Caitlyn shook her head slightly and proceeded to walk, ignoring the rowdy students' distasteful presence tainting the campus's good scenery. Upon entering the building, heavy traffic of students greets her. In front of her is the main hall, most students are going in either direction to the left or right. Further up ahead are the lavatories. She decided to join the flow to the left and look for her classroom.

After walking for a while looking for her classroom, she bumps into a student. He and the other student glared down at her. "What was that for?" He asked aggressively and Caitlyn quickly apologized. "I'm sorry! I was looking for my room!" She nodded slightly and walked past them. The two students watch her walk away. Chuckling, the student she bumped into spoke to his friend.

"Hey, you should look at that girl. Looks wealthy to me" His friend smirks at his word. "You think Langley would shake her down?" His question made him scoff. "Nah. Langley doesn't mess with random fools. They mean business, not clownery" The friend nodded at him and then said. "But that girl is a tourist! I'm sure Langley would take interest" The student chuckled at his friend's word. "Maybe. We will see" He scoffs as they walk away.

After spending time looking around, Caitlyn eventually found her classroom. She went and stood before the door, laughter and chatter coming from the other side. She took a deep sigh. "Okay..." She reassured herself and opened the door. She came into the room, and as she expected, the students turned their heads to see her, the noise dying out in the process.

Feeling wonderful that her classmates would be lively, she put her shyness aside and looked around the classroom. It was a bit of a pressure meeting the eyes of her new classmates, but she managed to put up a smile as she scanned the room. Some immediately turned back to their friends, some went back to using their phones, and the few remaining students kept their eyes on her.

As the surprise from the students subsided, Caitlyn walked further into the room to look for an empty seat. She saw one empty seat in the second row and went there. "That seat is taken" A male student briefly told her and she nodded at him and looked to the back of the classroom.

She saw one empty seat by the second row in the last and headed there. No one spoke up so she took the seat for herself. She let go of her bag and placed it beside her table. After settling down, she looked around the classroom and met a girl's gaze, she was sitting on her right. She was holding her phone but was staring at Caitlyn. The girl had plain short black hair, and wore her uniform properly, her pale skin barely visible under. She had a bored look on her face, but as soon as Caitlyn saw her, she smiled slightly.

"Nice hair" She complimented. Caitlyn nods shyly at her. "Thanks..." She replied. "You're new around here?" The girl asked. "Y-yes... I'm new here... I came from Clarkins Middle School" The girl's eyes widen in her reply. "Clarkins? That school? Isn't that, like, far away from here?" She asked, her tone full of surprise. Caitlyn nodded. "Wow... So that means you live from afar... And I guess you're renting an apartment now?" Caitlyn twirls her hair at her question.

She was hesitant to say that her parents bought her an entire house. "What's up?" The girl asked raising a brow. "Uh... not an apartment, but a house..." The girl's eyes widen again. "Wow, I mean, you look kind of rich" Caitlyn began to appear flustered. The girl puts her phone away and leans on her table to rest her chin on her palm. She stares at Caitlyn.

"I'm Clara, Clara Wilson" She smirks at her. Caitlyn nodded shyly. "I'm Caitlyn Maddenson" She introduced back. "Caitlyn, huh? Say, what does a rich girl like you doing here?" Clara asked her, still smirking. "What do you mean?" Caitlyn raised her brows slightly. "Lots of better schools out there, girl... And you chose this one?" Clara giggled slightly. Caitlyn began to be concerned. Clara's question and the sight of seemingly delinquent students are starting to connect, but she doesn't want to believe it.

"My parents said this is the best school for..." Caitlyn couldn't finish her sentence as her mind raced. "So your parents are one of those 'parents' huh? They always believed that Starheights was still the same as it was in the '10s. Well, it ain't true, this place has gone to shit" Her cussing surprised Caitlyn a bit. "The administration here is generational and unfortunately it has gotten rotten. They are now lackluster and it seems as though they have no idea how to run a goddamn school" Clara's voice slightly rose.

"I'm sure you have seen it yourself. Bunch of punks and clowns outside" Her head leans to the right, gesturing 'outside'. "The headmaster couldn't pull himself together and let delinquency run amok in his roster of students" Her tone has a slight hint of anger. "I'm surprised he was still able to maintain proper school uniform policy" She scoffed. Caitlyn was quiet the whole time, Clara noticed this and stared at her with amusement.

"I can see it in your eyes" Clara said, making Caitlyn look back at her. "You don't know anything about dealing with punks in a school" Caitlyn slightly gasped. "Spoiled brats are not meant to be here, no offense but it's the truth" Caitlyn was slightly hurt by her words, but her fear easily replaced her mind. "I'm sure you already stood out from the crowd as you made your way here. It doesn't take much to see a rich fella" Her smirk grows slightly.

"I suggest you keep your head down and never let any clowns get themselves into you" Clara's advice got her shivering a bit. Caitlyn had never faced such pressure before, she was a stranger to this new environment and was feeling isolated. Clara noticed her reaction and dropped her smile for a second before returning it. "Hey, it's not like I'm scaring you, okay? It's the reality in this place. I had a brother who graduated here, he saw and experienced the drastic changes, poor him" She said.

Caitlyn put an effort into calming herself, resulting in being silent for a few moments before facing Clara again. "Then why did you choose this school?" She asked. Clara grunted lowly. "I have no choice, my family isn't that wealthy, this is all they can afford. Besides, they encouraged it because this is where my brother graduated" Caitlyn can feel annoyance in her voice. 

Suddenly, the door opened and a man in a proper suit came in. His presence made the students run back to their seats, ultimately shutting the room into silence. It was their adviser. Clara called Caitlyn one more time. "Well, it's nice talking to you, Caitlyn. I hope we both have a decent school year for the least..." She smiled before focusing back on the teacher who was now introducing himself to the class.

Caitlyn just turned to the teacher without saying anything back. The teacher greeted the class and explained the schedules, procedures, guidelines, and the usual things for every first school day. After a while, the teacher proceeded to ask the class to introduce themselves.

Starting from the first row, the students began to introduce themselves one by one, Caitlyn happily listened to them. Like how it was in middle school, there were the shy, confident, nonchalant, and talkative sides of the students during the introduction. Seeing these slightly eased her mind. She listened to every introduction until it was her turn to introduce.

As usual, the students turned to whoever was doing the introduction, they analyzed Caitlyn as she stood up from her seat. Clearing her throat, she began to speak. "I'm Caitlyn Maddenson. I'm fourteen years old, and I'm turning fifteen this September... I studied and graduated at Clarkins Middle School, excelling in mathematics..." She smiled proudly. "I like to read and challenge myself with problem-solving..." She didn't want to say much and ended her introduction with a slight bow.

Once she raised her head, she looked around to see her classmates' reactions. To her surprise, no one reacted as she expected. All but but Clara and the boy to her right. His eyes were fixed on Caitlyn's and his jaw slightly dropped. It was Clara's turn to introduce and she stood up, breaking the sight of Caitlyn and stopping his stare.

Caitlyn felt a bit better knowing at least one student recognized her, even though the rest of the class did not react whatsoever. It was enough for her to feel better.