The foundations of Crown Heights might have been set in place for years, but to Kai Parata, someone who had been used to totally different customs, was a stranger in this strange, albeit elaborate, land. What he knew and what he had been used to was pulled out of his life like an infected tooth. And like cavities, this foreigner — both in figurative and literal senses — was tossed into the deep waters of Crown Heights without so much as a life jacket.

Good thing Kai knows how to swim.

The God's honest truth of Kai's three-months of living in Palm Beach, Florida was a culture shock for not only him, his neighbors also found out that the Parata Family wasn't one that knew of America's customs. Compared to their native country of Australia and home turf of Sydney, Palm Beach was nothing like it. There were a different terrain and rules of the way to socialize, the way to greet each other was different. Everything about this specific part of the United States of America was totally out of Kai's comfort zone.

The only thing that was even remotely familiar to Kai was the beach. The upside of living in a town with the word 'beach' in its name was, in fact, the beach itself. That was the one place that Kai had felt at home and, much like his native Australia, he had frequented the closest beach to Crown Heights.

From the moment his parents had moved the family into the neighborhood until the last week of 'Summer', which to Kai was the time for winter, was spent at the beach. He did everything from catching the waves and being one with the water to chilling on the shore. Since his parents weren't consistent on when exactly they'd be home, Kai wasn’t about to waste the precious daylight inside an empty house. His older sister Kiki lived in Miami. She often visited, but given she had a rather active social life, Kai seldom saw her. It sucked, but that was the reality of the situation. This was why he tried to go out as much as he could.

And, as the day came for him to start his new school year at a new school, all of his friends were long ways away in Sydney, Kai had been fortunate to befriend some of the posh kids in his neighborhood. It had been arranged by him, his parents, and the person themselves, to be his guide to the arrogantly-named, King’s Academy. Seriously, what sort arrogant cunt thought it was a good idea to encourage such delusions of grandeur like naming their school after a king? When Kai first heard about that, his first thought was to be homeschooled, but that wouldn’t work because he hated being at home when he wasn’t set to learn some useless information. Just imagine how high the boredom would be if he had to learn while at home.

When Kai had arrived at King’s Academy via the transportation of the blue jeep his parents graciously bought him, he parked in student parking. He was told to go to the office to wait for - and the direct quote was - “a very polite and well-mannered student who offered to give you a tour of the school and its facilities”. Kai had zero ideas what that actually meant, but it sure beat trying to navigate this castle of a campus. “Good to know duxes exist here as well,” Kai noted to the office lady. He didn’t know what they were called here, so he refrained from venturing a guess.

So he simply waited for his guide. Nothing was really given other than that brief description of them.

“Guess it’s waiting until the tide arrives. Fucking great…”

Today, much like all days, must be approached with the utmost care. As someone who, in her own mind, but as well in the high opinion of a lot of people who were currently starting to get ready for their senior year, a queen must take great pride in the way she presents herself. People judge with their eyes before they even open up their mouths. So one must look flawless like a diamond in the sky. If you aren’t absolutely perfect from every hair strand being perfectly brushed so none is left out when you pull it back to a single ponytail to picking the best outfit you have in your closet, you might as well stay in bed and sulk about how your reputation sank to the bottom of the ocean before it even had a chance to plant its roots.

Thankfully for Savanna Hart, she always knew what to do in case of an emergency. Today, however, was not one of those days. Savanna had her outfit picked out a week ago and knew exactly what time she had to get up and just how many minutes she had to get ready, eat enough food to satisfy her unique tastes, and have enough time to carpool with Stella and Sonia. She knew everything and wouldn’t dare ruin her schedule because she didn’t plan for everything.

When she pulled her hair back into a single ponytail, as to emulate Sonia and Stella, she had her school uniform out dry cleaned, ironed, and hung up ready for her to put on. And, as always, she wore it to the level of perfection she not only held herself to but also those who were within her ‘clique’.

Before her fellow Tri-Harts would meet her at her house, Sav enjoyed a small, yet reasonably loaded, breakfast with her moms. “Today is the first day of your final year, isn’t it?” Jade asked her daughter.

“It is, yes,” Sav answered regally, keeping her answers short as she ate.

“It’s a big year. All of the scouts from Hollywood will be focusing on King’s Academy for their program to choose one upcoming pop group to feature in X-Factor, won’t they?” Adielle asked, obviously knowing her facts of life.

“And we will get that slot.”

“I’m sure you will, sweetie, but remember to not go overboard.”

“At all costs, we will win.”

Sometimes even her own parents needed a reminder that her ambitions far-exceeded the limited scopes those in Crown Heights and Palm Beach had. It didn’t matter what it took, Tri-Hart will become the next Fifth Harmony.

After ten or so minutes had passed, the Head of Staff, Niles Huntingsworth, approached the dining table. “My apologies for interrupting your breakfast, Miss Savanna, but Miss Sabrina and Miss Stella are waiting in the foyer for you.”

“Thank you, Niles.” She greeted him with a smile. Wiping her mouth gently with her elegant cloth, she would soon get up and give both of her moms’ a hug and kiss.

“Have a good day, sweetie!” Jade yelled out.

When Sav had shown her face in the foyer, Stella was the first one to speak. “Sav!!! Gurl, you look fab-u-lous!”

“I know,” she not-so-modestly said, somewhat posing for Stella, the ‘wild one’ of the group.

“Rae-Rae, let’s show who really runs this school,” Sabrina stated, flipping her hair as the three ladies had walked side by side out of Sav’s house.

Before long, Sav had joined her two best friends had gotten into Sav’s Mercedes Benz Convertible. The engine purred throughout the gated community of Crown Heights, speeding out at full blast with the song “Run This Town” by Jay-Z playing at full volume. In minutes, they reached the highway and with Savanna behind the wheel, it was almost as if Vin Diesel himself was driving. It was obvious she knew her way behind the wheel of a car.

Once she was done being a bit of a daredevil on the road, the trio of hot girls managed to get to King’s Academy all in one piece. When they parked, Sav noticed a blue jeep about a few slots away. It wasn’t a vehicle that she recognized. She planned on making sure she found out who that jeep belonged to. But she would move her focus to more important things.

“This is the year, girls. This is when we remind everyone who we are.”

“Yass queen! Slayyy!” Stella, as per-usual her stereotype, hyped up only to Sav.

“And if they don’t, we’ll crush them in the only way we know how.”

“By reducing them to nobodies,” Sabrina stated rather bluntly.

Smirking, Savanna signaled her two besties. With Sav in the middle, Sonia to her left, and Stella on her right, they entered the halls of King’s Academy. It was, as they say, a dynamic entrance. And it would be the first of many.

Get ready, King’s Academy. The Queen has arrived.

A gaggle of excited, screeching girls greeted Ella and Courtney in the main hallway as soon as the two best friends set foot on the building. With their matching cheerful demeanors, it was obvious that these were none other than the members of the King’s Academy cheerleading squad led by Antonella. After a round of exchanging hugs, brief summaries of their summer vacations and making plans to catch up properly over lunch, the brunette excused herself. She’d been notified the day before that the new student she’d volunteered to guide around the school would be waiting for her at the office, which was where she was headed.

Upon opening the office door, her brown eyes fell on a tall, broad-shouldered young man with exotic Polynesian features, long locks of black hair cascading down past his shoulders. With how lost he was looking in this environment, it was safe to assume that this was the guy who would be under Ella’s wing for the day.

“Hi there!” Antonella said cheerfully, extending a dainty hand to the male while shooting him her award-winning smile. “My name is Ella, and I’ll be in charge of showing around our campus today!”

“Aces!” Kai jumped to his feet almost as soon as he saw Ella announce who she was.

His bag was hoisted over his shoulder and he shot the brown girl an eager smile. He had been kept waiting for at least twenty minutes. And in that time, a lot of things came to his mind, though none of them seem to stick. He had tried to pass the time and it obviously worked because he was now in the presence of someone who, by the looks of it, had more than enough energy for the both of them.

“Why is this place so large, Shirley? It’s like canvasing a field of a dozen arses of roos.”

Completely taken aback by being called the wrong name, his slang and overall strange choice of words, Ella stared at him for a few long seconds before disregarding what she didn't understand and answering what she did. “Our campus is indeed quite large, yes. But you’ll best used to it pretty quickly, since for us seniors only a handful of them are of importance. Now, if you would please follow me…” she instructed softly, motioning for the new student to follow her out of the office to start the tour.

As if on cue, Kai followed her out of the office and into the ever-expansive halls that were full of male and female blokes that Kai wasn’t sure who they were or how they could dress so strangely. The way they talked was completely foreign to him. The way that they laughed. How was it that people on the same planet that Kai lived could be so alien to him? Kai was starting to think this was going to be tough to get used to.

_{“She’ll be apples. She’ll be apples.”} Kai chanted to himself quietly, looking up to the cheery Shirley as she pointed at the different doors they passed while listing the subject taught and by which professor on each one. “How far does this hallway go anyway?”

“A long way down, actually! If you follow it through those doors, you reach the junior high building, and then the elementary school building.” Ella told him, pointing at a set of closed blue doors where, from the glass panels, younger-looking students could be seen mingling or going about their daily lives. “For security issues, high school students are never to cross those doors unless they have a note of authorization from a faculty member. And since us high school students truly have no business to do over there, we won’t be touring that particular area. So we’ll be making a right here so I can show you the sports areas.”

“I hear ya, Shirley. Ya don’t want to cross a flank and get ya arse kicked by an angry roo, ya get me?” Kai, though he probably sounded completely crazy, completely understood what his guide, if not somewhat pleasing to the eyes, was saying. To further emphasize this, he nodded a few times, humming his understanding.

“Uh- yeah, totes!” Ella replied, nodding as if she’d completely understood what he’d said and deciding to not correct him on calling her by the wrong name. It wasn't an ugly one in her opinion, so it didn't cause her any sort of annoyance. Who knows? Maybe she did look like a Shirley, and he was the only one to see her for who she really was.

After showing him the indoor volleyball and basketball courts, wrestling and cheerleading rooms, their tour took them to the outer campus. Under the warm sun, Ella and Kai walked past the the tennis courts, followed by quick visits to the football, soccer, rugby baseball and softball fields. They were soon indoors again, where she showed him by the art wing, the library and auditorium before, finally, there was only one place left to visit.

“Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I took you for a swimmer since the moment I saw you. So I thought I’d leave the best for last...” she told him sweetly, giving him a smile as they crossed the doors that led to the top-notch, pristine indoor swimming pool.

There were no words to describe what Kai was feeling in that very moment they reached the gymnasium and he saw the indoor pool. Everything about it was perfect: from the way it was made, to how deep it was and just how crystal clear the water was. Kai was so immersed into this moment, he was walking around the pool, leaving Ella on the other side of the room before she would even realize it. Though he was quite far away from her, Kai’s sudden shriek of excitement was loud enough for the very delighted Ella to hear and, when he looked over towards where she was, Kai gave her a big thumbs up. Grinning, she gave him a double thumbs up back.

And then his next action proved to be a surprising one. He put his bag down to the side and took off his shirt and shoes and pants, leaving a pair of green swimming trunks where one would think boxer shorts would be. In the next moment, he took a step back, and right before he jumped, he shouted “Cowabunga!” before he had done a cannonball into the pool, splashing the area he was just standing.

When Kai pulled his pants down, Antonella had quickly shut her eyes and pointedly looked away in the opposite direction as to protect her virgin eyes from any unwanted perverse sights. Even with his shouting of that word cliché movie surfers would say, it wasn’t until she heard the loud splash that she finally opened her eyes and found herself staring at her new classmate smack-dab in the middle of the pool.

“Oh. My. God.” was all Ella could mutter, brown eyes wide with shock as she watched Kai swim a few laps. “Um, you’re really not supposed to do that!” she called out to him, walking in the direction he’d been earlier. “The only times you can use the pool is if you’re- eek!”

Once again, Ella’s signature shriek of panic could be heard resonating across the deserted room as she slipped on the puddle of water that Kai had splashed with his dive and fell headfirst into the pool. As she scrambled to swim back to the surface, she quickly tried to make sense of what exactly had gotten into her that she was so clumsy lately, and raised a silent prayer that the streak wouldn’t follow her to cheer practice that afternoon. When she finally reached the surface, Ella took in long, gasping breaths of air before turning to face Kai. She stared at him, truly dumbfounded by this chain of events. And suddenly burst out laughing.

”That’s the spirit, Shirley!”

Kai’s voice rang high as he swam closer to Ella by going under the water, coming up and to a full stop a few feet away from her, floating. His mouth was wide with an ear-to-ear grin. When he came up, his hair had whipped all the way back, revealing the entirety of his rectangular forehead and, what was even more obvious, was his brown eyes and Polynesian features. It was obvious that his Maori features were dominant over the Chinese blood that ran through his lean body.

“This water feels great, donnit? So warm yet completely cool,” Kai said to a smiling Ella, getting lost in his own head, though it was only a moment later that his eyes fell back on her. It was then when he noticed something that caught his attention. “Your OctaGoo is running down your face, Shirley.” Kai informed her, laughing.

‘OctaGoo’? the young woman repeated, frowning in confusion for a moment. She wiped her under the eye to see what in the world Kai was talking about now, and her frown turned into giggles when she realized what he meant. “That’s just my mascara, silly!” she informed him, that bright smile of hers never once leaving her face.

“What a weird thing to call OctaGoo,” Kai scratched his head, trying to decipher why these western mates referred to OctaGoo as mascara.

As he and Ella were floating in the water, laughing without a care in the world, they would soon be caught red-handed. Amid his and her laughing, they both were handed a reality check as someone would interrupt their good times. “And just what is going on here?” A male voice said causing Ella to freeze and quickly turn in the direction of the voice. Meanwhile, it was only when Kai heard and looked up that he saw who it was. Well, he didn’t know who this person really was, but it was safe to assume he was a Caucasian man. Kai knew his genetics, and the guy looked to be of Irish ethnicity. At least, that would be the young man’s educational guess.

“Just enjoying the water, mate,” Kai responded cheerfully to the man. He didn’t seem very receptive to Kai’s lax attitude.

On the other hand, Ella was scrambling to get out of the water; a task that was being unnecessarily difficult because of the extra weight her soaked uniform was putting on her figure.

“Oh my God, Coach Sutherland, I am so, so sorry!” she stammered, a nervous edge to her voice. The young woman knew how badly hers and Kai’s compromising position must look to an outsider with no context, so she tried to clarify the situation before things go any more awkward than they already were. “You see, he’s a new student here, and I was showing him around campus when he just went ‘Cowabunga!’ and, like, just straight out jumped right into the middle of the pool, and really there was nothing I could do about it, so I went to tell him he wasn’t allowed to do that, and then I just slipped-”

Her panicked ramble was instantly silenced by the coach raising his left hand: his universal sign for silence. By this point, she was standing a few steps away from the edge of the pool, shaking like a leaf.

Kai was simply observing the nervous Shirley as she seemed to frantically explain the situation, but that didn’t amuse Coach Sutherland. This confused him. Why did she seem nervous when this guy showed up? Why was he disapproving of them swimming? As he thought about these questions for another moment, Kai noticed that the Shirley was on the verge of falling into the pool again. To avoid this, he rushed to the steps and pushed his hand against her wet back

“This doesn’t excuse your ignorance to go come and get a faculty member, Antonella,” Coach Sutherland stated, obviously livid and disappointed in her. As he was about to say something else, no doubt just as angry, he was suddenly welcomed by a forcibly-pushed Ella sliding across the floor, skipping a step. This would prove to be a dire mistake because, as she would trip over her own foot, her head collided with the Coach’s head. As a result — and to Ella’s horror — his nose started to bleed.

Kai got out of the pool just in time to see what his unintentional actions had done. “Crikey! Sorry ‘bout that, mate.”

Coach Sutherland waited for the panicking Ella to get up, then he did the same, brushing off the dust and having an anger fit over his now-wet clothes. He glared at both Kai and Ella. “Well congratulations, Antonella and — what’s your name, young man?”

“Kai, mate. Kai Parata.”

“Well, Kai Parata, I hope you had fun because you and Antonella here just landed yourselves two spots in today’s first detention after school today.” Coach Sutherland said, sighing heavily.

“Aces!”

“What?!” Ella instantly cried out in protest, nearly in tears at the craziness of this whole situation. “But I didn’t do anything, Coach. And the girls and I have cheer practice after school!”

Unaffected by her waterworks, Coach Sutherland would simply say, “I’m sure they’ll survive a day without you!” over his shoulder before walking away, leaving behind a crying Ella and a very confused Kai.

"I'm going to be so freaking late!"

The last-minute festivities that his mother had thrown last night because, what else was a Russian-Mexican family to do when the eldest child received his early acceptance into a winter, science program that Marco had been working on getting into for a full year now? Of course, the answer to that would be to throw a party that was hosted by his proud, if not somewhat neurotic, mother. He loved her to death and loved that she cared so much, but Marco regretted how she was so wrapped up into the moment of the now that she completely let the fact that he, unlike his two younger siblings, was starting his 11th year of high school.

As he scrambled to find a presentable outfit to wear, Marco glanced at his wristwatch that his father, Alec had given him last night as a gift. Wouldn't you know it? He was running late. No school breakfast for him. No sir, if he didn't stop himself from being an over worrying Wally, he'd be overbaked like last night's chicken dish. "Fuck it!" Marco gave up on looking fashionable. He just grabbed whatever he saw in his walk-in closet. What he ended up on picking was a Ramone's tank and a pair of some shorts. Paired with his usual shoes of choice, he was ready to hopefully not be late on his first day.

Marco came down the [enter name thing you put your arm on when going up the stairs here], sliding down half of it to save him some time. He landed on his feet as he had always done in the past - well, save for a few times where he ate it or when Ian would try to closeline him (and succeed). That wasn't happening this morning. And as much as he would love to gloat about the landing he just stuck, he didn't have the time, so he made a beeline for the door. However, just as he appeared to be home free, a penalty was thrown in the field: a pink flag that signaled that mama needed him.

And I was so close.

While Marco's pity party only extended to the inner-workings of his mind, he turned around to face his surprisingly well-dressed mother standing behind him. She didn't seem particularly displeased with him. He would take that as a good thing, but her firm stance between him and his escape to freedom didn't necessarily give him all the confidence in the world that she was going to let him leave. Odd, isn't it? Considering he was about to be late for school, a thing that normal parents don't want to happen to their children, let alone on their first day. Then again, Marco's mother wasn't your average parent. She never did appear that way to his friends or how she had raised him. So it fits within her visage of being a quirky parent to not want him to be on time on his first day.

"Mama, I am really running late. Can this wait for another time?"

"So," she began, hesitating and letting out a deep sigh before continuing. "We're having a visitor staying with us for a little while."

Marco gave his mother an unamused look. "That's what was so important that you had to tell me now? It couldn't wait until after school?"

Marlie let out an exasperated sigh. "No, it couldn't. He's already going to be here when you come home from school, so I figured I would tell you instead of you finding out of the blue. He's..."

He threw his hands up into the air out of frustration, "well, now I'm really late. I'll see you when I get home. Love you, Mama," Marco said, giving his mother a peck on the cheek, leaving out of the door behind her.

In less than a minute, the loud, teeth-grinding sounds of leather tires peeling from the Castillo Estate to the road. Marco's 2018 Dodge Ram was the only thing they saw as it left the vicinity of Crown Heights. It had only taken him ten additional minutes to speed through the number of green lights of the neighboring communities, with an extra five spent getting to the freeway.

Usually, Marco wasn't the type to go over the speed limit, but in this case, he was in a hurry. As it stood, he was already late, but if he hurried, he could still make his first class and sneak in before any of the teachers or another facaulty member. It was an ambitious plan, but, if successful, Marco would've accomplished what no student before him could ever hope to do. In other words, the gauntlet has been thrown and Big Mac was the only one who could take it down.



"Men, man your battle stations."

First up were the evasive countermeasures. This would be the easiest part of his three-stage plan. Though loud, Marco knew how to handle his darling Rami. She was a beaut in the way her engine purred like a BMW, yet had the body and bulk of an off-road furious truck. And Marco knew how to make her purr when he wanted to and knew how to make her obey him. In such cases like this very moment, she listened intently to his desires; and what Marco desired was a subtle aggressiveness that she totally understood. They worked in unison as she pulled into a parking slot just a few meters away from the gymnasium.

Now, the second phase was about to make its presence known. This was going to happen as Marco grabbed his bag from the back of his truck, cowering behind it like a ninja warrior. His experience in track and field was about to pay off in about three, two, one...

"Now!"

Marco had never run as fast as he was right now. Each leg going in front of the other in rapid succession, the wind picking up as his dark hair was bouncing up and down with each step he took. He sped through the parking lot in under a minute and he started to make his way past the gym. It was all going according to plan. He would sneak past the staff members he had heard through the grapevine would be where around this time of morning. Then again, people were all in class, so not like he was going to get caught or anything.

...Right?

Marco was confident of that. His legs were proving to be the very tools that secured his safety. They were the only, two instrumental things he needed at this very moment. And maybe, if he was being picky, an invisibility cloak like that he remembers seeing on Harry Potter. What a great film that was. But this wasn't like it was in the movies, Marco. Because, if it ere, you wouldn't stop dead in your tracks by the equally-as-scary-as-Snape, Coach Sutherland. Where did it all go wrong? Marco had the perfect plan. He had all that he needed. So why, when he was so close to his first class, did he have to literally bump into this man?

"Marco Castillo," Tyberius Sutherland said, getting himself up and pulling on an in-progress, fleeing, Marco, by the collar of his tank top. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To class, sir."

"We need to have a little talk."

"Can it wait? I'm running a little late, you see."

Coach Sutherland didn't seem amused, which furthered Marco's anxiety of the situation. "Yes, about that. You are not only late, you are also not wearing the uniform that each student is required to wear."

"It's at the cleaners. Seriously, dude, I do need to go." Marco attempted to get out of his hold, but to no avail.

"Listen, dude, you aren't going anywhere. Now stop resisting and listen to me."

Marco scowled, but he eventually gave in and let the old fart speak. "Floor's yours, bro."

Tyberius didn't seem to be quite fond of Marco's attitude towards him. "With your tardiness, blatant disrespect towards me, and, if that make matters worse, you physically assualted me."

"Whoa, take it back a second. You bumped into me, man! I did nothing to you deliberately."

"So, you admit you did something to me?"

"I..uh, no, that's not what I--"

"Marco Castillo, congratulations! You earned yourself a day in detention."

And just like that, Marco's day went from terrible to terribad.

As Marco was left to his own devices, he was wallowing in his own dispair of the moment, realizing that not even a full hour into his first school day as a junior, he was to serve a day fo detention after school. He wouldn't be so bummed out about it if this wasn't yet another thing piled on top of a list of shitty things that happened to him this morning. His alarm clock didn't go off when it should've. His mother felt the need to tell him about some stranger coming to visit them, and now Cournel Sanders himself gave him detention. And, the icing on the cake was he was even later to his first class that he thought he was.

"Slim better have my seat nice and warm. I can't handle more shit today.."

If there was one sight that not everyone within King’s Academy was used to was the sight of Savanna Hart without her two followers, Stella and Sofia. They were often a packaged deal. If you saw one, the odds of the other two being nearby was very likely. Whether this came from the years their friendship dating back to when they were still in diapers or just how the stars aligned Stella and Sofia within the cosmos that was Sav, the one thing that was doubtless was the pure and simple fact that all three, enigmatic girls of Tri-Hart were always near each other.

So, imagine the surprise of the students within Savanna’s homeroom when she arrived solo. Granted, her arrival was just as flashy and flawless as Sav herself. Being the self-appointed Queen Bee of King’s Academy’s senior class, when she entered a room, eyes were on her. Everything from how perfect (or so she believes it to be) her ironed uniform was and how the fabric naturally complimented her body in just the right ways so it is to not promote excessive promiscuity on her part, yet just enough to make the men who eyed her want her and the women who saw her want to be her. And to top it all off, her hair down was like a river gold flowing in a controlled stream into a sea of the blue scheme that King’s Academy fashioned itself.

Savanna, despite being without her two best friends, would not miss a beat. She parked it near the back of the classroom. She arrived about five minutes early. It was within her nature to get to class early. Though, to her, this wasn’t a class that was of any particular interest to her. Plus, as she took her seat, there was a familiar face that caught her attention. Greeting the face with a smile, she finally took her seat, resting her bag beside her outside leg and turning a half-turn to face the person who caught her eye halfway to her seat.

“Miss Vice President,” Sav said as if announcing herself to royalty, “what a genuine surprise it is to see you here with me. What an honor it must be for you.”

Of course she would want to talk to her.

Reia turned her head, a fascinated look on her face, bright and cheery as she chuckled. Plastered on her face was her smile, amused if anything to Sav’s statement. ”Is it, really?” Reia asked, perching her chin on her hand as she pretended to think. ”I thought you’d be used to coming after me.”

“I aim to please,” Sav noted, crossing her legs under the desk she was sitting in. It was next to Reia’s. This placed Sav in a perfect position to examine the latina sitting next to her. Features of an otherwise attractive woman who, by all rights, rivaled Sav in about everything but what actually mattered: dominance of their class’ social ladder. “It has to be tiring to be the good one of you and that little brother of yours. Word already spread about how he and Aurora got caught with an illegal cigarette. Though, it isn’t clear who had it first.” Sav was rambling, as she soon caught herself, collecting her thoughts in an orderly fashion. “To think you would actually be the good one.” There was a genuine shock in Savanna’s tone.

Aurora? What? Reia was well aware Grant was a pothead, but there was no way in hell the by-the-book President smoked. Admittedly the news had caught Reia off guard, though she handled it with the grace and poise she always did. ”I’m pretty sure Aurora was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” She hypothesized, leaning back against her seat for a moment. “As for your second comment, let’s see...beautiful, rich, successful career, multiple contracts waiting for me on graduation--no, I have to correct you. I’m not good, I’m great.”

Shifting in her seat slightly, she wasn’t going to stay on the defensive. ”But enough about me. And how’s your little girl band going? I imagine all the fun you have singing into your hairbrushes in front of the mirror.”

Sav smiled, flipping her perfect hair over to the right side, revealing her fabulous, good side - well, both sides of her face were good, but her current sitting position made her left exceptionally great.

“It’s going great. I’m flattered you remember. I thought to be second to a now-known smoker would’ve affected your memory,” she replied with a hint of jovial aggression. Sav adjusted herself in her seat, leaning just a few inches closer to Reia. “How will you cope with this, I wonder. Being associated with two, known criminals isn’t going to set well with your college aspirations. I imagine any hopes of being more than the sister of a criminal will weigh heavy on your soul.”

Outright rolling her eyes, Reia let out a laugh, though she gave her a fake gasp. “Oh, that’s right, I keep forgetting you don’t really know the reach of my fame,” She said, leaning back slightly. ”You see, when you reach a certain status with your career, education takes a backseat. My success over the summer has opened a gateway...you’ll be seeing my face all over town in a manner of days. No one will even remember I have a step-brother: they’ll be too busy looking at me.” She assured her, patting her knee. ”Don’t worry, I promise when I reach Hollywood, I’ll put in a good word for you and your little Trio-Hearts.”

“Reia, sweetie,” Sav leaned forward, eyes locked on Reia’s own, “who says you’ll ever make it to Hollywood? The sour taste of being related - even if by marriage - to a known felon will kill your career before it was even born.”

Her perfume invaded her senses, and Reia let out a small cough. ”Just like your perfume, you insist on one point. No one gives a fuck who smokes pot in a place rampant with it,” Reia reminded her, fanning herself. ”So naive, you really should get used to the idea of drugs; your agent will be snorting it off your back as he promises to make you famous.”

For a moment, Sav almost let herself become affected by what Reia was implying. But then she remembered that, no matter what she might try to do or say to get a reaction out of her, Sav wasn’t the type who could be easily manipulated like that. Her moms, for everything they went through in their own high school years, brought every lesson they learned, and implanted them into Sav as they raised her. When you pair that up with the wisdom that her Aunt Viola and the advice she received from her cousin, Andrea (some called her Dangerous Drea), she knew how to handle insignificant bugs like Reia Santos.

“You say nobody cares, but in a world where public image is everything, do you really think your future employers would be willing to overlook your relation to Grant and his extracurricular activities? Think about it, Reia.”

She decided not to reply right away, instead looking at Sav’s shoes, an unimpressed look on her face as she lifted her gaze to meet her eyes. ”We’ll just have to see when my commercial airs this weekend,” She stated, shrugging. ”But if I were you, little Savvy, I’d definitely work on your own image before trying to preach to anyone else about it.” She concluded, flipping some of her hair off her shoulder. ”It’s okay, amor, we can’t all be...well, you know.” Gesturing to her own, fully developed curves, she flashed her a smile.

Though she wasn’t amused initially, Sav shook it off, hearing the words of the female figures in her life not to let this girl get to her. Instead, she let out an amused chuckle, twirling a strand of hair between two of her fingers of her right hand. “Up until just now, I had all the respect for you, Reia. But for you feeling the need to flaunt your body shows an obvious insecurity that not even all the success in the world can fix. Simply put, you are damaged goods.”

There was no need for Sav to continue engaging in this line of dialogue with Reia any longer. She lost any and all interest that was there for this sad girl. A pity because she was starting to warm up to Reia. So she simply turned to face the front of the class.

Raising her eyebrows, Reia let out another laugh, shaking her head. “Then it’s a good thing wolves don’t lose sleep over the opinions of sheep,” She stated, flipping open her notebook to see what was on the agenda for the day. She was surprised to find things quiet, so when she looked up, she realized everyone was either looking at her or looking at Saraena.

“Wonderful, you’ve finally decided to join the rest of us,” Mr. Hammond clapped his hands rather sarcastically.

Reia blinked slowly, opening her mouth, but not having a response. Shit, it had been a very long time since she had been left so speechless. ”I...Sorry,” She shrugged, not sure what to say.

“There’s a first time for everything,” Sav said under her breath, chuckling as low as she could.

”Well, Since you two enjoy each other’s company so much, I’m sure you’ll get plenty of bonding time in detention,” He stated, turning back to the chalkboard and effectively ending the conversation.

Great. Tapping her pencil against her notebook, she noticed an event today. Her expression was rather stony as she read it, though she ended up quickly slamming her agenda shut, instead quietly crossing her arms.

One would think she never got punished in her life. Though Sav wasn’t keen on the idea of detention, she, unlike certain people, knew how to take her licks when they were given to her. Very casually, she turned her head around to Reia. “Seems like we’re going to get a chance to bond. Maybe I’ll get to know your brother and he can tell me all about how wonderful you really are.”

Sav shot Reia a wink, turning around to face Mr. Hammond. This day was turning out to be better than she could’ve dreamed.