When Alison walked into the foyer of the school, she thought she was in a dentist's office. There was a high desk in front of her, behind which sat a secretary, and the entire room was painted in pastels. There were chairs for visitors to wait in, and there was even a coat rack. The secretary popped her head up from behind the desk, revealing her face. She was about 55 years old, was just starting to go gray, and looked like someone's grandmother. The sign in front of her read "Mrs. Cipriano."

"May I help you?" asked Mrs. Cipriano, smiling at Alison and her father. The chauffeur came in the door behind them. Seeing the luggage, Mrs. Cipriano realized who was standing in front of her. "Oh, you must be Alison! Welcome to Hanklin Academy!"

Alison smiled in thanks and sat down in one of the chairs as her father and Mrs. Cipriano went over some paper work in Alison's file. Alison stared out the window behind the desk, watching the waves. The school sat on a cliff, high above the town and a beach. It took a full two minutes to drive up the driveway to the school from the town below. And the campus was hidden from view by a forest that eventually thinned out to be a large quad.

"Well, here we go," said Mrs. Cipriano, stuffing some papers in a folder and placing it in a filing cabinet. She smiled at Alison. "You're all set. I'll have one of the students take you to your room." She picked up the phone and dialed some room in the building, asking for someone named Aaron to come downstairs. Alison hoped this "Aaron" wouldn't be a stuffy jerk. Hell, she hoped the whole school wasn't stuffy. The last thing she wanted to be stuck in was a building full of snobs. Her father's beeper went off, so he ran out to the limo to answer the call, leaving Alison and Sergi, the chauffeur, waiting for Aaron to arrive.

Alison was examining a painting, her back to the door to the rest of the school, when Mrs. Cipriano welcomed Aaron. Alison spun around, expecting to see some jerk in a suit. Instead she saw the most gorgeous guy she'd ever seen, wearing regular shorts, an Aeropostale t-shirt, and sandals. He had really deep brown eyes that seemed to bore into Alison, probably cause he was staring at her, thinking she was beautiful. Mrs. Cipriano gave Alison the key to her room and told Aaron that Alison was to be taken to room 20. Aaron smiled at Alison and told her to follow him. He lead her and Sergi into the library of the school, which was also the main congregational area. It was cathedral ceilinged and on one wall were doors to classrooms and a large door leading to the dining hall. The other wall was giant panes of glass, exhibiting a breath-taking view of the ocean. The room had about 10 tables in it and shelves of books, and opposite of the door to the secretary's office was a grand staircase, leading upstairs to the bedrooms.

Alison followed Aaron up the staircase into a long hallway, with doors on either side. It really did look like a hotel. As they passed each room, Alison could hear the sound of televisions coming from behind the shut doors. Outside of one, even with the door shut, she could hear music blasting.

Aaron banged on that door. "Trey! Turn it down!" The music went down a notch, although Alison couldn't figure out how "Trey" had heard Aaron over the noise. Aaron smiled at Alison. "He plays it a little loud sometimes. Just bang on the door. He should listen. If not, just barge in and turn it down yourself. That usually works too."

Alison laughed in response and they continued down the hall until they reached a door marked "20." Alison stuck her key in the lock and turned, pushing the door in. She, Aaron, and Sergi walked in, Sergi lugging several bags. The room had a twin-sized bed, a window overlooking the ocean, a walk-in closet, a fullsize bathroom, a TV and VCR, a large bureau, and a desk holding a computer, printer, and stereo. Alison was surprised and figured the school must be pretty trusting of the kids.

Sergi plopped the bags on the floor, said goodbye and good luck to Alison, who said goodbye in response, and left Aaron and Alison alone in the room.

"I'm Aaron Lohr, by the way," said Aaron, extending his hand. Alison shook it.

"Alison Samborn," replied Alison.

"Well, welcome to Hanklin, Alison Samborn," smiled Aaron. "Why'd ya get stuck here?"

Alison sighed. "My parents are on business, so they put me here. I'm used to it."

"Really?" asked Aaron.

"Yeah," said Alison. "This is my ninth boarding school."

"Wow," said Aaron. "You've really moved around. You wanna get unpacked, or you want me to introduce you to all the other psychos here?"

"Psychos?" asked Alison. "Well, I guess now is as good a time as any other."

Aaron led her out of the room into the hallway and headed toward room 1. "We'll just start at the beginning," explained Aaron. He knocked on the door lightly. A red haired girl opened it, a bag of goldfish crackers in her hand.