Mel arrived in the small town of Midway with bright and eager eyes. The high wind didn't even phase his short, curly brown hair. Mel was on a mission. He had to find Midway Prep.

Mel had come to Midway after his parents had broke up. Why, he did not know. All he knew was that his mom had hightailed it out of there with him and here they were, in Midway.

Waves crashed against the sandy beach that was only about a mile away. Mel walked down Estates Boulevard, trying to find any sign of a boarding school. His mother was in town trying to get a job as a designer, fashion that is, so she couldn't come with him to find it. He knew she would be along, though. That was the kind of mom he had.

As he was walking and looking around, Mel didn't notice a young red-headed boy running his way, but not looking at him. The two inched closer and closer together until BAM!...they ran smack dab into each other.

"Watch your step, man!" the red-headed boy yelled.

"You too! If you weren't running like a bull that's found his mate, you wouldn't be in this situation," Mel yelled back, getting up and brushing himself off.

"Well, just for your information, I was heading over to the dorms to meet my mate!" fire-head snapped, getting up and walking off."

"Dorms!" Mel shouted. "Does that mean you go to Midway Prep?"

The boy looked at Mel uncertainly. "Yes, I do. Why? What's it to you?"

"I've been looking for Midway Prep since I arrived. I couldn't find it, and I was beginning to worry. I have to get registered!" Mel explained breathlessly.

"Oh, well then, you're one of us, aren't you? Come on, I'll show you where the academy is," the boy said, leading the way. "Oh, by the way, my name is Rusty McCarthy."

"Nice to meet you Rusty. My name is Mel Richard Jamison Clark," Mel formally greeted, shaking hands with Rusty.

Rusty & Mel walked along the street talking about their lives and plans. They were so busy, they didn't notice a young woman with shoulder-length golden-brown hair and large brown eyes following them.

"I can't wait to meet my girlfriend, Gemini. I've been waiting to reunite with her for hours!" Rusty gushed.

"Oh really, Rusty," the girl whispered from behind them. "Well, you won't give Gemini a second thought when you see me in all my glory. You just wait and see, Rusty. You just wait and see!"

"Man, the summer carnival this year's gonna be awesome!" Trace Quincy declared. "It's gonna be better than ever. Especially with the Miss Midway contest, eh, Allan?"

"Yeah, man. It's gonna be awesome. It'd be better if Francesca were still here," Allan answered wistfully, gazing out of the window.

"You still haven't gotten over Francesca? Man! The girl is only going to be gone for two months. This'll give you some time to try out some other things on the menu, if you know what I mean," Trace grinned, nudging Allan.

Allan smiled a thin smile. "No, Trace. I can't do that to Francesca. She's my heart and soul. I can't and I won't do that to her."

"Fine, suit yourself, but I know I'm not going to order the same thing every time. I like variety," Trace said, getting up and looking out of the dorm window. Their dorm room was small, with one bed on one side of the room and another on the other side. They didn't have a bathroom. There was a communal bathroom down the hall, as well as a communal shower. Sorry to say, Midway Prep was old as dirt, and thus didn't have individual bathrooms and such.

"So hey man, I've gotta run. They're having an opening ceremony in the Arboretum. You wanna come?" Trace asked.

"Nah, I think I'll hang back," Allan said.

Trace smiled and patted him on the back before leaving.

"Oh, Francesca! Why did you have to leave?" Allan said with a pitiful moan and groan.

Jake ran down to the Arboretum. He met up with his friend Matt. "Hey, Matt!" Jake called, trying to push his way through the very large crowd, but getting pushed back more and more. "Help!"

Matt went and rescued Jake. "Man, you look bad!" Matt said.

"Oh, well thanks a bunch. That crowd is worse than a flock of buffalo during spring!" Jake exclaimed, brushing himself off, and trying to straighten his very-messed up hair.

"Oh, well anyways, look at Amber over there. Isn't she a babe?" Matt whistled, looking at Amber up and down. Amber was the super babe of Midway Prep.

"Yeah, maybe, but you know that my heart belongs to Kim, Matt," Jake said seriously.

"Yeah, whatever. But I'm not tied down so I can look all I want," Matt said, taking notice of a girl in a bikini down on the beach. "I'll be back, Jake," he said, walking towards her.

"Oh no you don't," Jake said, grabbing Matt's arm. "You said you'd stay with me until it's over. I'm lonesome without Kim."

Matt groaned something not to be written, and said, "Fine. I'll stay, but you owe me big time."

"Fine, I owe you. Just stay here," Matt said, looking around wistfully, just hoping to maybe see his girlfriend.

"Oh, lover boy, look over here," a rich, womanly voice called from behind him.

Jake turned around and gasped at what he saw.

The young woman got out her cell phone and dialed a number. "Hello, Gemini? Yes, it's me, Ariel. I want you to come meet me on the other side of town from the dorms. I need to get some advice. You will? Good, I'll see you then!"

She watched Rusty & Mel walk down the street. "Yes, you may think you're happy now, Rusty, but as soon as you become mine, you'll know what true happiness is."

Rusty turned around and saw Ariel. "Ariel! Hey! Come meet Mel! He's new in Midway," he called.

Ariel put on her nice, sweet friendly face and ran towards the two. "Hi, Mel. I'm Ariel...Ariel Winchester. Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine," Mel replied, bowing cordially. Then he heard all the commotion down at the Arboretum. "What's going on down there?"

"That's the opening ceremony going on down at the Arboretum. If we don't hurry, we'll miss it!" Rusty said, racing down the street towards the Arboretum.

Mel and Ariel ran after him. Ariel stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her supposed best friend and romantic enemy: Gemini Narcissus. "No!" Ariel cried out angrily. Mel looked at her suspiciously.

Allan, after some more moping, decided to join Trace downstairs. After a few minutes, he found him.

Trace smiled. "So you decided to come out of your hole! Good! Come join the party. The ceremony is about to kick off."

"Yeah," Allan replied with a weak laugh. He still wasn't fully up to the fun.

"Hey, Allan!" a young man with brown hair and deep violet-blue eyes called.

Allan's face brightened. "Brent! You're back! When did you get back in town?"

"Just a few minutes ago. Dad decided to come home early because I wanted to go to the opening ceremony, so here I am!" Brent explained cheerfully.

"Great!" Trace exclaimed. "Now I won't have to be the only one checking out the babes."

Brent laughed. "That's all you think about, Trace. Women."

"And football," Trace countered.

Brent chuckled again. "Yes, and football." Then he turned to Allan. "Hey, man. What's got you so down in the dumps? I know you're not upset that Francesca is gone."

"Then it looks like your guessing abilities aren't that fine tuned," Trace said. "Allan's been in the dumps since the second Francesca left. I haven't been able to get him to come out of it, so I just gave up."

"Come on, Allan, brighten up. We've got things to do, places to see," Brent tried to cheer Allan up.

Then, a girl came up behind Brent and put her hands over his eyes. "Hey, baby. The love of your life has arrived."

Jake stared open-mouthed at the person in front of him. "Amber! How'd you get from over there to over here? I mean, that's impossible!"

"We women have our ways," Amber said in a low voice. "Why don't you join me on the pier so we can...talk."

"Nope, he can't. He's going to head up to the front row with me," a voice called out from behind them.

"Randall!" Matt cried. "I thought you were going to Bermuda for the summer!"

"Pshaw," Randall said with a wave of his hand. "I went their this past winter. I decided to stay here and visit the carnival. Now come on, you two, we need to find our seats."

"Oh, good. I really need to talk to you, Jake," Amber said romantically.

"Nobody said anything about you coming, Amber. It's just going to be Jake, Matt, and I. Notice how that doesn't include anything about Amber." Randall said, turning his back on Amber.

Amber let out a disgusted "uh!" before walking away.

"Thanks, Randall. That girl just doesn't know what the word 'no' means," Jake said, relieved.

"Um, guys, I'm going to be over at the refreshment table, hoping some beautiful, rich woman comes my way and sweeps me off of my feet," Matt said walking away.

Jake & Randall laughed before finding their seats. Soon, the ceremony began. And with the ceremony came the official beginning of summer.

"Yes, summer has begun, as have my plans. Watch out, Midway, because Randall's back, and oh, what plans he has in store for you," Randall laughed evily internally as he toasted the rest of the group.