3. First Day Nightmares

I hate it here.

I really fucking hate it here.

I can't think or say that enough.

Nothing good has happened to me here yet. In fact, everything seems to be going wrong.

And, Cindy is officially on my shit list for abandoning me, committee be damned.

Plus, can you believe they don't allow cell phones on campus? I mean seriously, it's the twenty-first fucking century yet when my cell phone rang this morning in Scotland's history class she had the guts to scold me for it. I told her I'd only be a minute seeing as it was Trace calling and I needed some form of normalcy out of this nightmare. Apparently talking back to her was also a big no-no.

She confiscated my phone.

She actually took my phone and told me I'd get it back at the end of the semester like I was some child she was dealing with.

On top of that, she gave me a twenty-five hundred word essay to write on the state of the economy and the whole recession issue taking place.

I mean seriously, what could I possibly say in over two thousand words about that? It's not like it's affecting me in any way as shallow and as ignorant as that may seem of me. I'm still financially stable. Ok I don't genuinely think that shallow. I'm just kind of ticked off.

I don't get these professors. It's like they have a pole permanently wedged up their asses.

Oh and get this. Apparently, my calculus professor thought it was fun to make me solve the very first problem he wrote up on the board after spending almost an entire hour explaining the mathematical theory or formula or whatever we were supposed to use to solve the damn equation.

I don't think I have to explain how embarrassing that was for me. The students weren't subtle about their amusement either.

I'm definitely switching my major to art first thing tomorrow.

My day in one word was terrible.

But, it's lunch time now and I've just strolled into the cafeteria.

Luckily for me, I don't have any more classes for the rest of the afternoon, but I do have to pay the headmaster a visit then head up to the dorm rooms. I've been putting that off for obvious reasons.

Oh yeah, and then there's my tour guide. I almost forgot about her.

She's a weird one and very bold and blunt.

She's nothing special really. She's average I guess.

Her name is Delilah something and while she's not a ‘looker' she's not hideous either. Like I said she's average. That's the best word I can use to describe her.

She has very light caramel skin and brownish mixed with grey eyes so I'm thinking that she's mixed.  She's about 5'7 in height which is also average and she's not exactly skinny but she's not fat either. Her hair is fairly long, about shoulder length, dark brown and plain like her.

The only thing about her that really stands out is her mouth. And I don't mean it's a physically attractive feature on her. I mean she's quite brusque with her comments and remarks and while I could tolerate it at the start, I'm officially annoyed with it now. It doesn't help that she's taken a liking to making fun of me for some reason.

You know what? It's whatever.

I can handle just about anything that's thrown at me here so bring it.

I know for a fact the student body wouldn't survive a day in my life.

Henry is probably begging to go home by now.

As I make my way over to the lunch line, my advances are cut short when one of the students walking by brushes me roughly in the shoulder, nearly causing me to lose my balance.

"Watch it pretty boy!" The guy hisses angrily and I frown in perplexity.

"You're the one who wasn't watching where you were going asshole!" I call out and I hear a few gasps around me.

Uh ok. Melodramatic much?

Before I'm even aware of what's happening, I have at least four guys standing in my face invading my personal space.

"What was that twinkle toes?" The same jerk who brushed me asks.

Ok, twinkle toes? That's the best he can come up with?

"Why don't you learn some coordination? That way you won't end up walking into people." I spit and a deep frown graces his face.

I'm not scared of him or his posse. This isn't middle school all over again for me. I'll be damned if I let them intimidate me.

"You know, you have some balls pop star. I don't know what little bet you lost to end up here, but I'm not buying your act." He spits condescendingly. What act? Is this dude for real right now? "Just because you're famous and rich or whatever, doesn't mean you're better than any of us here. It would do you well to remember that. And I think you need to remember to watch where you step from now on." He snaps, matching my stance.

Who does this guy think he is? Apart from the fact that we're about same height, he looks like a typical athlete on steroids. His spiky blonde hair isn't helping much with his lack in attractive male features either. What a jackass.

Before I can open my mouth to respond, Delilah comes into view, her eyes wide and filled with horror.

"And we were just leaving. Move along girls." She mutters to them, gripping my hand and hauling me away from the foursome.

"Typical that Delilah would be the one to save you pop star. You've really downgraded huh? I guess you're nobody without your crew here to sing your praises."

"The fuck is this dude's problem?" I mumble about to turn and curse the dick out but Delilah keeps a firm grip on my hand, giving me a light pinch for effect which totally sways my attention. "Ouch! Are you insane?" I snap, glaring at her. I can't understand how she could just ignore them when clearly the asshole just dissed her.

"Not nearly as much as you who must have a death wish." She groans, still hauling me along.

By now, the little group is long gone and the few spectators we encountered have long scattered to continue on with their business.

Chewing the inside of my cheek nervously, Delilah finally releases her hold on me when we get to one of the dining tables.

"Sit." She orders and I do just that, only now realizing that there are two other girls in our midst silently gawking at me.

I ignore them for the most part because I'm used to the star-struck stare by now. What I'm more interested in is the annoyed glare Delilah's shooting my way.

"Who was that clown?" I finally ask after a moment of silence.

I gaze down at her lunch tray and smile lightly when I see that all she has on it is a bowl of cereal and milk. "Eat much? Interesting lunch choice by the way." I chuckle, earning another death glare from her.

"Look Justin, I don't know how you do it in superstar land..."

"Superstar land?" I cackle, getting more comfortable in my seat.

"Yes well...I don't know how you do it where you're from but this isn't your little bubble of a world anymore Justin. This is the toughest school in the country and I can assure you, you'll not survive it if you go around picking fights with the jocks which can earn you a suspension or expulsion if you don't end up dead." She groans angrily before digging into her cereal.

I knew they were jocks...typical.

She's such a drama queen.

"You know, you're making it exceedingly difficult to like you Delilah." I say with a smile on my face and she mutters some incoherent phrase before stealing a glance at her friends who are completely mute.

"I'm not trying to make you like me. I'm only doing my job."

"Your job huh? So I'm a job to you?" I question, my smile never faltering as I enjoy her irritation.

"Yes, and it'll be a lot harder to do if you're dead Justin. This is serious. Don't mess with the jocks ok?"

"Who were those clowns though?" I ask again.

"The guy you were talking smack to was Ethan Landing. He's the captain of the basketball team. His dad's into politics and his mother is in the catering business. His parents donate a fair share to this school every year so he thinks he has ranks or whatever. Look, just don't mess with him or his friends ok? They're bad news." Delilah explains and I nod, shrugging the incident off, suddenly not caring.

I'm way too cool for this place anyway. Yeah, I'm a little cocky but can you blame me though?

"Well in that case, my hero." I muse, grinning brightly and she rolls her eyes at me before a small smile twitches into the corners of her mouth. It vanishes as quickly as it appears but I spot it, and that only makes my grin widen.

"Don't you have something you should be doing?" Delilah asks when I continue staring at her, trying to figure her out. She's a tough one to read.

Hmm, I wonder how old she is. I'll have to ask her.

"Eating lunch? I was joining the line until my little encounter and you dragged me away."

"Oh, right. Well, I'm just about done." She announces, barely having touched her cereal and I frown but say nothing. "I can bring you to this quaint little café just off school campus if you'd like to go."

"Sure, I'm down." I cheer up a bit.

"Ok, oh and these are my two best friends Michelle and Sandra." She adds in and I wave to the two girls who seem to be silently freaking out by my presence.

Michelle's a blonde and Sandra's a brunette. They're both hot in their own way and I think, if they're going to be around more often, I just might start liking it here at Higher Heights.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's get going." I suggest, standing up and all three girls follow suit.

"Oh and one more thing Justin." Delilah speaks up, diverting my attention.

"Shoot."

"If you think I'm always going to be there to save you then you have another thing coming. Try not to get into too much trouble ok?" She pleads.

"But what kind of stalker would that make you if you weren't always around?" I joke, laughing softly.

"Cute is not your forte my friend. Stick to your day job." Delilah jibes and my laughs die out as I glare at her.

"Nice." I mutter sarcastically, our little banter interrupted by her giggling friends as we make our way out of the cafeteria.

*****

Hours Later

Today has been the longest most annoying day of my life. I'm glad that it's finally coming to an end.

I can't help but still regret getting stuck here. I'm so out of my element.

There's a reason why I never finished school and instead went on to be a superstar and make millions.

School is clearly not for everyone but I'm not going to lose this challenge so I can't quit now.

I feel alienated from the outside world.

My life isn't my life anymore. I miss my Ma, Trace, Rachel and even my dogs. I miss being in the studio and almost being mauled by screaming fans.

But none of that matters now. I asked for this and this is now my life for the next year so I might as well suck it up.

I guess it's not so bad.

I mean, I actually had fun with Delilah and her friends this afternoon when we headed out of school.

They're not so bad.

Ok, who am I kidding? I'm totally digging Michelle and Sandra. I'm actually trying to figure out which one I like more to ask out.

But that's the least of my worries right now.

I was assigned a dorm room for god knows how long and while I find the idea of living in a dorm room unsuitable, I'm going to have to deal.

This would probably explain why I'm finally standing in the hallway of the male dorms in front of my assigned room which I'll be sharing with...

"Ryan Mathews....hmm." I utter, reading my assignment card.

Well, here goes nothing.

Gripping the door knob, I twist it and push the door open before scanning my new surroundings and walking inside with my luggage in tow.

Not bad, not bad.

Before I can fully absorb my surroundings though, my roommate comes busting out of his closet with a towel wrapped low around his waist and a change of clothes in his hand and I cringe slightly in disgust, realizing that I'm never going to get used to that.

He needs to cover up those almost-nonexistent-snow white abs of his. How revolting.

As if on cue, we lock eyes with each other and realization washes over both of our faces.

Shit, he's one of those guys who circled me in the cafeteria with that Ethan dude today. I'm assuming they're friends. Just fucking great. What are the odds?

How awkward.

"Aw man, you've got to be kidding me." Ryan grunts, clearly disappointed.

Hey, I'm not exactly ecstatic about this pairing either buddy.

"Look man, just stay out of my way and we shouldn't have a problem." He adds in and I smirk, casually strutting in before slamming the door shut behind me.

"Don't worry, it's not like I deem you as good company to be around anyway." I snap back before walking over to the bare side of the room and sheet-less mattress to drop my belongings.

You know what? I think it's safe to say that I'm officially, without a doubt, in hell on earth.