One

CHAPTER 1

Golden High School. 10:00 am.

A young girl was standing under an oak tree when she dropped the last of her cigarette butts. The girl was Alicia, Alicia Perth. Alicia's sea-like blue eyes looked down at her feet, which were wrapped in black ankle boots. The boots had stepped on the remains of a cigarette, causing it to crumble and mingle with the asphalt on the street.

Alicia's hand held an invitation envelope with a rose gold logo on the front, while her other hand, wrapped in a colorful suede bracelet, squeezed her ashes backpack on her shoulder. The few people around her were now watching. Alicia caught the eye because of her beautiful face. Alicia had a uniquely American face, her eyeballs were large and beautiful, and her nose was sharp as if carved by a professional artist. So Alicia's appearance that day, successfully made a lot of boys around pull out their smiles.

That tall girl ignored people's eyes, she honestly didn't care what others thought of her. Even if it was a good thing. Alicia walked through the transparent glass doors with iron handles made of the finest iron in New York City. It was the only entrance to the building she was heading for. Looking back at her, Alicia attracted the attention of the people inside the building. But once again, Alicia ignored everyone and chose to keep walking.

Golden High School was an international boarding-based school. People from all over the world can come and study here as long as they have a lot of money. You'd be able to find a politician's kid, a billionaire's kid and even a rich businessman's kid if you managed to get into Golden High School. It's known as one of the most elite schools in America, but that's not why Alicia chose Golden High School.

Alicia had another purpose. She wanted to escape her past. She doesn’t want back.

The glass main door was directly connected to the hallways of the student dormitories at Golden High School. These hallways were organized on an alphabetical basis to make things easier. But the more you pay, the more you'll get a room with the best facilities.

All the facilities at Golden High School fall into the international school category. There are rooms with comfortable spring beds and sheets, one pillow and bolster, air conditioners, and even indoor bathrooms. But the school also provided public bathrooms for parents or guests who were visiting Golden High School. And Alicia knew about this facility when she was about to move into her new school.

During her walk down the hallway of the Golden High School dormitory, Alicia saw only a few people passing by. The atmosphere was very quiet. Alicia passed through a high wall that led directly to the doors of the students' rooms. Most of the doors were made of the finest wood and all the fronts were labeled with numbers that were quite unfamiliar to Alicia.

Alicia stopped in her tracks. She looked around and muttered, "Where did everyone go? Are they always on time like this?"

To be honest, it wasn't the people who arrived on time, but Alicia who was late. She missed the time written on the invitation card and was already more than fifteen minutes late. Alicia had missed the opening ceremony of Golden High School's winter rules reading ceremony.

But Alicia didn't care and kept walking. Some people were watching, others were busy with their own activities.

Her blue eyes then moved to the main hall sign in front of a large door. She stopped and glanced at the envelope in her hand to make sure. Alicia had finally arrived at her destination. Golden High School's main hall.

"Alicia, welcome to the new place, may luck be on my side this time," Alicia mumbled.

After feeling that she had found the room that matched to invitation letter, Alicia immediately pushed open the door in front of her.

A large Greek-style room greeted Alicia's senses. World-class paintings by Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci and Vincent Van Gogh were neatly arranged on the walls. Roman-style architectural columns held up the ceiling. Several chandeliers dropped beautiful, luxurious light. Alicia's blue eyes traveled around quickly, sweeping over the classic sights that Alicia had never seen before.

Alicia was amazed. "This school has good taste too."

The main hall. The room provided about five hundred chitose folding chairs for the day's official event. With special lounge chairs for the Golden High officials in the front row. The event held that day was intended to inform the dormitory students of their new rules. All students would not be as free as before.

Alicia stood in the middle of the doorway and saw that all the seats were occupied. She looked around in confusion as she saw people busy with the scene in front of them.

It seemed that people wanted to impress by arriving on time. Alicia frowned, looking for a place until she finally found an empty seat in the corner of the room. Alicia let out a short breath and hurriedly sat down in the only chair left. A few people who passed by had seen Alicia, feeling interested. But Alicia ignored them all and kept her backpack on her lap.

Alicia looked at the people around her, women and men sitting in separate places but close to each other. All the seats faced forward, staring at the large podium that was now the center of attention.

A hand tapped Alicia on the shoulder. It was Brittany, the girl sitting next to Alicia.

"Hello," Brittany greeted.

Alicia turned her head, and found the blonde-haired girl smiling kindly next to her. "I'm Brittany," she said politely, then extended her hand, want to knowing more about Alicia. "What's your name anyway?"

"Alicia," Alicia said simply.

Brittany leaned closer to Alicia and glanced at her ashes backpack. "Do you have marijuana in your bag?"

Alicia's brow furrowed. "What? What... did you say?"