A/N: ok, so Americans have different systems for temperature, you guys are still on imperial measurements, and we Aussie's are using Metric. And no offence, but if you guys hadn't kept up with that silly system, this story woulda' been a lot easier to write and understand.

pikey is usually an English word, not American, but I really needed to show how different everyone was. Anyway, next chapter should be better. Also, if anyone spots any major fuck ups, please tell me, I don't want to leave this story with holes in it

Again, I use Australian mannerisms. Deal! Read and review PLEASE!

Riley wasn't ready for school, but when she had walked all twenty minutes to her school she was relieved and even a little let down. Her father said this was a big school, that there would be a lot of people to make friends with, but from the looks of things this hell hole, was schooling all the children in Canberra, the smallest 'city' in the world.

"Well, can't be too bad, at least I don't have to bother with uniform anymore." Riley mumbled under her breath. She was wearing short shorts to compensate for the heat, but seeing as she didn't ever want a tan, she was also wearing thigh high socks and an over sized shirt, with the Dodge car company's symbol on the front. The heat was the worst part of this crummy 'city.' With the temperature higher than anywhere Riley's family had been, though, Riley's family wasn't big on any kind of temperature except air conditioned twenty three degrees.

The entryway to the school was just pathetic, it looks as if the whole building was feeling the heat, it looked as if it was sagging, and the awnings were about to melt right off the thing. Riley couldn't help but wonder how long before she would kill herself, this place was hell, with the heat to match, and this school was the epitome of boredom, she hadn't even entered and she knew it, though, all the tan Aussies walking around were slightly gorgeous.

"hey, you plan on going in, or are you a pedo' in training?" some boy said from behind her, he was even tanner than the other students walking up all three sad little steps, he was hot, and he was obviously proud of his body, seeing as his shirt hung open, revealing over sized chest muscles.

"Pardon?"

"Oh god, you're American, lemme guess, you're that new chick wanker's been talking to everyone about, you're his neighbor?" this guy was so weird, yelling out about pedo training, and now he seemed to think being American was a bad thing.

"Uh, yeah, I'm American, and wanker? Do you mean Walker, that thin weird guy next door to me?" Riley wasn't sure whether this guy was being nice, or just trying to keep up with the gossip, though, it didn't look like he would need to, there were an awful lot of girls walking past wearing tights, also known as slut rags to Riley, high fiving or hugging him, trying to gain his attention.

"Haha, yeah, Walker, Wanker, all the same to me, Anyway, America, want to go inside? I'll take you to the office, so you can do whatever new kids do, hahaha, oh by the way, the name is Jake, but you can call me hottie" his self confidence was stifling, turns out that good bodies don't always come with good minds. Marks body wasn't this good, but he was a genius, and he rarely talked, so he never seemed arrogant.

After the guy with the hot body and little brain, whose name was Brodie, took Riley to the front office, she got her list of classes and a map, even though this school was so tiny she could probably navigate it while she was sleeping, and went off to her roll call. The teacher was balding, but seemed nice, and didn't horrify her by introducing her to the entire class; he just let her slide into a chair at the front.

"Hey newbie" Wanker, uh, Walker said from behind her.

"Uh, it's Riley"

"Pfft, Riley, but that's a dude's name. Also, what's with the accent, you American or something?" this guy had no manners. But Riley had to agree, if her mother hadn't started being a pikey around the time Riley was born, she wouldn't have been stuck with it.

"Yeah, I'm American, please don't make any jokes. Also, yeah, I guess it's a guys name, my mum's a pikey though, so I don't really blame her for it."

"What the hell is a pikey?" damn, second conversation of the day and she already stood out for her language.

"Oh, um, its American's way of saying um, hippie. I guess. Your wording never really makes sense to us, haha, guess it goes both ways." Walker just looked at Riley funny and then tried to do a subtle once over of her outfit.

"So what's with the Rams head on your shirt?" these guys didn't even recognize the car symbol? But Dodge was responsible for more than half the cars Riley's family had ever owned.

"Uh, Car Company makes American muscle cars. In a lot of cop shows." But Walker just turned away to his friends. God, Australia was already turning out to be like hell, and she hadn't even been in school for a whole day.

Riley couldn't help but think about school back home. And then she got to thinking about Mark, and felt the need to text him. even though it was probably still night time back in California, she couldn't resist, and Mark wasn't the sort of guy to get annoyed at her for waking him up. God, talk about a morning person, Mark was impossible to annoy before noon.

"uh, America, can you chuck us a pencil?"

"god, Walker, its Riley ok? And sure, here" as she reached into her bag she could tell all the other students were trying to check her out, not In a pervert way, but they were obviously curious as to who she was and why she was lending walker, who she knew by name, a pencil. She couldn't help blush a little when some of Walkers friends started making gestures at her ass, god, tennis had really saved her.

"Here ya go, can I get that back when you're done, oh and don't chew on it, save that for your boyfriends dick" she couldn't help making the call, and when she saw how some of the guys were laughing at her insult, she laughed and turned away, hiding in amongst her auburn hair. Today it seemed to be deflated in the heat too, normally it would be frizzy and blow everywhere, but today it sagged around her head and shoulders as if it were tired from all the work it had been putting in.

And that's when He walked in. somehow he reminded her of Mark. Maybe it was the way he was drinking Up And Go, the same way as mark would, chewing on the straw while pretending to be interested in the floor. Riley wasn't sure who he was, or why she found him interesting, but he was walking right towards her.

"Uh, you're in my seat" he said, his voice was so smooth, not like 'let's fuck' smooth, but it sure made him sound sweet, as if he was politely telling you that you had stood on his foot.

"oh, um, sorry, I'm new here, I didn't know, I'm Riley, and you are?" Riley was tempted to hold out her hand for him to shake, but realized that she still had to move out of his seat, he looked almost bored with her. But then his eyes lit up in a way that Riley could only compare to when a kid got something for Christmas that they didn't want, but thought was pretty cool, like if they'd been expecting a DVD, but got a really good book they'd heard about instead. It was a look that said 'well, we can work around this'

"Right, Riley. Nice name, American? Anyway, I'm Tom, where in America are you from?" he was actually genuinely asking. Most people asked for the sake of it, so that when someone asked them for the gossip about the new girl they knew more. Tom actually seemed interested.

"Oh, um, California, here's your seat" she said, tripping over her bag and his chair as she struggled to look away from his face.

"Thanks Riley. Oh by the way, learn to respond to Cali. That's your name now."

This guy sure was something. Riley couldn't believe he'd just decided her new name, god, what a tosser, it's a shame he was hot enough to get away with it. His face was angular, but not chiseled. He looked remotely like a cat, as if he was about to pounce, but not in a playful way, he looked like he could deck someone, and that fact wasn't helped by his black shirt matched with black jeans, only his light brown hair made him look remotely approachable. Riley moved to the back of the class, and ignored the rest of the looks she got from other students trickling in, but she couldn't get her mind of Tom, until she realized that was supposed to be texting Mark now.

From: Riley
To: Mark

Hey, hope you're awake, Aussie is hot and gross nd no 1 knows what dodges are :O lol, how's Cali?
riley