Ms. Elliot's Institute for Misunderstood Girls

Chapter 1

Nova kept her head down on the bus, making sure to avoid any and all eye contact. She could be niave at times, but she wasn't that painfully stupid. These girls were dangerous and she planned to stay out of their way. 

The whole ride to Ms. Elliot's Institute for Misunderstood Girls, or The Institute, she sat and thought to herself, having nothing better to do. How had she let herself get into this mess? She never should have listened to Nikki, look where it got her. 

She felt the bus slow to a stop outside of another school and a new girl hopped on. She seemed to be in high spirits, not being bothered by the fact that they were basically going to juvie with nicer clothes. Her long hair swished behind her, the strands multicolored in a rainbow pattern. 

Nova nervously looked around the bus, realizing that the only open seat was next to her. She was desparately hoping she could make it through the whole bus ride without having to socialize. Worry made her stomach churn. What if she said the wrong thing and the rainbow girl punched her? 

Rainbow girl plopped herself down right next to Nova. She didn't way anything at first, silently taking in Nova's appearance, which wasn't much. Nova's dark brown hair was pulled back into a messy bun for the journey, and her thick rimmed, black glasses hid her plain brown eyes. She was in a black hoodie and a pair of ripped skinny jeans. 

After a minute or two, rainbow girl finally held her hand out to Nova, a smile present on her face. "The name's Quinn." She said, way to cheer for the place they were heading. 

Nova shyly held her own hand out. Quinn seemed nice enough. Strength in numbers, right?

"Nova." She replied, a small smile of her own slipping onto her face. 

They shook hands for only a few seconds before Quinn was leaning back in her seat, looking extremely bored. "What're ya in for?" She asked, turning her head to look at Nova. "Mine's car jacking." A goofy smirk took over her features. 

Nova's eyes grew wide. "Whoa, really?" She asked. She hadn't done anything that bad. In her personal opinion, she thought her parents were overacting by a long shot. 

"Yup, what'd 'bout you, pip squeak?" Quinn asked while she fiddled with the ends of her dyed hair. 

A faint blush appeared on Nova's face at the name. "Oh, um, I kind of got chased by the cops after spray painting one of my teacher's cars with a couple of friends." She explained. 

Her blush only darkened when Quinn's eyes lit up and a huge grin took the place of her smirk. "That is so bad ass pip squeak!" She said, holding a hand up for a high five. Nova hesitantly slapped her palm against the other girl's. "But I'm guessing you got caught?" Quinn asked with a raised brow and a knowing twitch of her lips. 

Nova looked down, pulling at the cuffs of her sweatshirt. "Yeah, I couldn't jump a fence in time." She admitted pretty embarrassed by the whole ordeal. 

Quinn let out a loud laugh, causing a few of the other girls to throw glares her way. "Damn, I was pretty spot on with pip squeak, huh?" She asked, bumping Nova's shoulder with her own. 

Looking down, Nova answered with a small, "yeah," as the bus pulled to a final stop. 

"Okay ladies, everyone off." A woman with a clip board at the front of the bus called out. Quinn was quick to stand, pulling Nova by her wrist off the bus. 

All the girls were led into the big school building, walking through a few hallways until they reached, what appeared to be, an empty cafeteria. Once there, they were told to take their seats and listen up for instructions.