As the next couple of days passed, everyone slowly got used to having Victoria around. Betty was the most welcoming to her and often helped her the best she can.

George didn't feel comfortable around Victoria. Betty explained that George was at the age where he got awkward around girls. And since Victoria wasn't his blood-related sister, it made sense for him to be uncomfortable around her.

Annie still seemed to resent Victoria's presence, but she stopped making nasty remarks. Instead, she contented herself to ignoring her. But Victoria felt upset that Annie didn't seem to want to know her.

Little Josh really enjoyed Victoria's company. Whenever Victoria was around, Josh would keep saying, 'Up, up,' while making grabby hands at her. Victoria adored Josh in return.

Victoria was nervous when it was time to start school. Although she had been educated in the orphanage, she felt that she hadn't known half the things she should know. Her parents assured her that the teachers at George's school were very kind and would help her.

'Wow, your school is so big,' said Victoria when she arrived at the school.

'Uh huh,' said George. 'You're in my class.'

Victoria looked surprised. 'But you're older than me. Shouldn't you be in a higher grade?'

'Yeah,' said George. 'But I got left behind because...' his voice trailed off.

Victoria wanted to know, but she knew better than to pry.

When she visited the principal's office, she was relieved to find that Mrs Raven was very kind. She told her that she would have the same classes as George.

Victoria was shocked to see how big the classrooms were. There were so many students roaming around that she was certain that she wouldn't know all of them.

Mrs Roy, her English teacher, told her to introduce herself. Victoria stammered all the way.

To Victoria's dismay, she didn't get to sit with George. Instead, she found herself between two identical looking girls. They were both pretty. They had dark skin, brown eyes, and curly black hair. They introduced themselves as Kelly and Holly McMillan. They were wearing identical clothing, so Victoria couldn't tell them apart.

Mrs Roy gave the students an essay to do for homework. The essay had to be about their thoughts about nature.

Victoria saw George surrounded by his friends after the first class and wanted to go up to him, but felt that he wouldn't like it if she did. Luckily the McMillan twins decided to make friends with her.

Kelly was the smart one. She was always raising her hand in class and was also more confident. She also had a knack for making the dullest subjects sound interesting. She was in charge of the tutoring club, a club that helped struggling students with their homework.

'They save money for tuition this way,' said Kelly. 'If you run into any problems with homework, you can ask for help there.'

Holly was moderately good in classwork. She was more into sports and was a little shyer than Kelly. She was the only girl in the school's soccer team.

Holly was also an avid writer and liked English because of that. It was the only class where she was better than Kelly.

Victoria told the twins about her difficult relationship with Annie. 'I really want to be friends with her,' said Victoria. 'But she's awfully difficult. She doesn't give me a chance.'

'Actually, Holly and I didn't get along when we were little,' said Kelly. 'Your sister probably needs time to warm up to you. Or maybe she will see sense when she's older.'

'I don't want to wait until she's older to like me,' said Victoria.

'Hey, why don't you come over to our house after school?' asked Holly.

'That sounds great,' said Victoria. 'Well, I have to ask Leon and Mary-Ann first, but I don't think that they will say no.'