Lucas Anderson's voice boomed throughout the neighborhood, which was quite impressive considering how large their property was. He had little regard for his weary neighbors, who offered a somewhat weak wave as the young man strut over to one of the cars in their driveway. He returned their greeting with an enthusiastic wave of their own, not noticing their sighs as they would continue on their way. Patting himself down, he was genuinely proud of himself at the moment. His uniform was clean, pressed, free of wrinkles, and above all, still in one piece. More importantly, however, this was not the same uniform he had last year. Turns out he had grown somewhat, a product of finally getting off his ass and actually hitting the gym more than twice a week. Granted, he had always been athletic, but a few extra inches to his height gave him a much needed confidence boost. And lord knew he needed it, especially after what happened last weekend.

Wanting to rid himself of those unpleasant thoughts, he chose to continue to sing. Unfortunately for him, his song was interrupted as Lucas was pelted with a rock. It wasn't painful, but it did make him yelp in surprise. Letting out a slight wail of protest, he threw a glare to his attacker. "Et tu, Vic?" He asked, watching his sister toss another rock in the air and catching it.

"It shut you up, didn't it?" Came Victoire's rather cheeky response.

Victoire was an ice queen through and through. Academically driven and needlessly straight-laced, she was a rigid young lady who excelled in nearly everything she did. And anything she wasn't good at, she didn't bother trying. It was a smart tactic all things considered, but Lucas really wished she would live a little. Not that that was going to happen anytime soon; now that their father had formally informed her that he wanted her to inherit his company once she graduated college, it was like her nerdness went into overdrive. Well, that's not entirely true. Most nerds were meek, quiet, and generally buried in their books. Victoire was strong, imposing, and unafraid to speak her mind. Which made messing with her all the more fun.

"I'm talking pedicure on our toes, toes--oh," The redhead seemed to catch herself at the end of the verse, eyes alternating between Victoire and Lucas, though he couldn't help but grin as Victoire would roll her eyes. "Good morning...?"

Nadia was his future stepsister. She was way more fun than Vic was by a mile. Sweet and eager to please, in real life she looked nothing like she did on the magazines. It had been a complete shock when Lucas had first met her: he was expecting this monstrous diva who thought she was better than everyone. But she was pretty down to earth, if somewhat a bit of a doormat, but she was great to hang around. Ever since she moved in, Lucas had gained an ally against Victoire, which the latter had found completely infuriating.

Knowing that Vic was probably going to start yelling at her for encouraging him, Lucas decided that he may as well take advantage of the moment. "Trying on all our clothes, clothes!" He continued, snapping his fingers to the beat.

"Boys blowing up our phones, phones!" Nadia continued giddily, letting out a giggle as Victoire promptly ignored them both and got into the car. Lucas threw her a wink as he got into the driver's seat, waiting until Nadia got in before driving off. Despite having his eyes on the road, he could already see Victoire writing in her planner, her notes covering a majority of the sheet. Nadia noticed as well, frowning slightly. "We haven't even gotten to school and you're taking notes?" She asked out loud, somewhat confused.

Without looking up from her writing, Victoire replied, "I always get a head start, I have a million things to take care of and if I don't start early, I could fall behind."

"Vic just wants to show off, that's all," Lucas stated, watching the girl put her pen down as she would slowly inhale. "Come on! It's senior year! As long as you show up to class you'll graduate, you know."

Snapping her planner shut, Victoire shoved it and her pen back into her messenger bag as she fished for her phone. Nadia grinned again, leaning back in her seat as she looked out the window. Victoire actually had a point about getting a head start on things, but taking it easy sounded way more appealing. Stretching her arms above her head, she stole a glance at her watch. It was still pretty early all things considered, but now that being 'environmentally friendly' was supposed to be a way for her fans to see her as more down-to-earth, or something. She honestly never really understood her mother's marketing techniques, but she did think this was as good an opportunity as ever to get a quick Snapchat in.

Positioning herself in the middle seat, she lifted her phone up and started, flashing a brilliant smile to her phone's camera. "Good morning! Happy First Day of school!" She greeted her viewers excitedly as the car came to a halt at a red light. She heard Victoire let out a slight groan of protest, but ignored her. Lucas smiled, giving the camera a wave, and placed his hand on the radio knob. "Carpooling is always a great way to make things green! So grab your friends, turn up the tunes--" Getting the cue, Ke$ha's Tik Tok started playing on full blast, causing Victoire to let out a yell as she covered her ears. "--and have a jam on your way to school! See you later!" Nadia shouted, and as she finished, she joined Lucas' singing. "Drop-topping, playing our favorite CD's, Rollin' up to the parties--Trying to get a little bit tipsy...!"

Lucas took off as soon as the light turned green, making sure to drive as quickly as possible before Victoire would decide to throttle him. The duo sang all the way, ignoring the grumpy brunette as they parked, and continued even after Lucas turned off the car. He motioned for Nadia to follow him as he closely followed Victoire, dancing around her as they continued singing. Their little ruse did little to distract her as she continued to walk, only pausing to make sure her skirt was smoothed out. She was used to Lucas' ridiculous antics, though she didn't quite appreciate Nadia tagging along so comically. Rather than pay them any mind, she situated herself in her usual spot by the school gates, crossing her arms and putting herself on alert.

Nadia stopped dancing long enough to raise an eyebrow at her, nudging Lucas slightly. "What is she doing?" She asked him curiously.

"Watching for troublemakers, druggies, strange older men, perverts...defending the peace of the school is something she takes pride in," Lucas replied with such confidence that Nadia didn't realize he was joking. "It's a thankless job, but she takes the responsibility very serious, for she is...President Victoire!"

"Really?" Nadia asked, her eyes wide as she watched Victoire.

"Of course!"

Finally deciding to quell Lucas' claims, Victoire let out a sigh. "No. I just make sure everyone has their uniforms and make sure they're adhering to the dress code," She corrected him, watching his rather smug expression.

"My version is better, though."

---

"Yeah, mum, okay I'll call when I get to the airport!" Tucker Baxter was loading his suitcases into his car, ready to leave for Cambridge ASAP. He'd stayed with his family for a week or so. Johnny couldn't be happier to see the back of him. As much as he loved Tuck, seeing him for a week was too long. He was better taken in small doses. Whilst his parents were fretting over their eldest son, Johnny leant on his 1969 Boss Mustang, calmly eyeing up his family. Tuck turned to Johnny before leaving. "You'll miss me, won't you, kid?" Tuck asked him, snickering.

"Something like that, you old geezer." He responded in kind, briefly smiling. His voice was deep, every syllable meticulously pronounced. As many his age have said about him, 'he talked posh.' His brother grinned, pulling him in for a brief hug. Even if they weren't similar, there was no lack of brotherly love between the Baxter's. "Damn, I've got to get to school. I'll chat to you later, right Tuck?' He jumped into his car as his parents bid him a quick good luck, returning to their favourite son.

Pulling out the driveway, he heard his brother trying to fend off their parents, desperately attempting to leave. He chuckled, safe in the knowledge that he escaped in time. He had more important things to worry about. Senior year. Most films, TV shows and the like portrayed it as some amazing passing-of-the-torch, full of drama and romance. He wasn't so optimistic. It would be another school year, but more depressing and full of pressure. University, exams, careers, it was daunting stuff. But he knew that none of the people at school would have any problems, they were rich enough to avoid the real world and its pressures.

His equivalent of actually preparing himself for the year ahead was watching what he considered to be the only essential high school movie, Wes Anderson's Rushmore. It helped him a little. He already felt prepared, he just needed to get on with it and finish his studies. Maybe on the last week he could relax a little, but that's a stretch. There was a part of him that knew he wouldn't be able to avoid petty drama, as that's a fundamental part of high school, but he didn't want to get too depressed on his first day. The trauma was only supposed to come in the second semester.

His thoughts were cut off by some obnoxiously loud music. Or, lots of obnoxiously loud music. It seemed to be some kind of superiority ritual to see who can play the loudest music. Maybe if they played good songs, he wouldn't resent the practice all much. Deciding the join in, just to shut people up, he rolled his windows down, turned the volume dial on his radio as high as it could go, and put on a song: This Time Tomorrow by The Kinks. He felt it was appropriate for the year ahead, about the uncertainty of the future. He got some funny looks for his choice in music, but he didn't mind. It only fueled him to start singing along. His voice wasn't too bad, but he still felt a bit obnoxious.

He smiled a little, enjoying the odd looks people were shooting him. "This time tomorrow, what will we know? Will we still be here watching an in-flight movie show?" He sang, as if it were a ritual to prepare himself. It was nice to have a moment to sing your guts out before entering the hellhole called school.

When he arrived through the school gates, he noticed their holier-than-thou student president, Victoire Bailey, setting up camp by the gates. He always got a kick out of teasing her. He stuck his head out the window, yelled "Oh captain, my captain!" shooting her a wink and a mock salute, chuckling as he drove through the gates. He parked his car and proceeded to sit on the bonnet, pointing his phone camera at the school, filming some junk footage for no real reason.

"This is Jonathan Baxter. My first day of senior year, and I probably won't save Latin like Max Fischer, but I'll finish up my studies and dump this plastic playground of the pompous." The freshmen may have been confused as to why some random bloke had his phone out, but everyone else knew not to question it. He was the weirdo with a camera.

@Hero

---

---

---

---

The night before Archer’s senior year starting at King’s Academy just happened to coincide with his brother Warren leaving for Harvard, so of course the Didriksons had to have a going away dinner for their golden angel of a son. As an act of kindness Warren had given his family gifts, even Archer. Sceptical Archer reached for the cylindrical parcel his brother had tossed in front of him, with narrowed eyes he carefully ripped the tape that covered the top. Just as he got the top open he could feel a gust of air and something hitting him in the face. When he opened his eyes he was covered in pink glitter and a note had fallen in to his lap, his eyes shot up angrily at his brother who could barely contain a fit of laughter. Archer unfurled the rolled up note, on it a single sentence:

“See you at thanksgiving, fruitcake!”

Archer looked up at his parents, his father with his forehead resting in one hand and his mother frowning at Warren. Archer stood up quickly and stomped of towards his room leaving a trail of glitter after him. “Go eat a dick Warren!” He screamed as he slammed the door to his room shut shaking with anger. He tried brushing the glitter of but it stuck to him no matter how hard he tried, glitter really was the herpes of crafting. Archer looked at himself in the mirror he had beside his closet, the glitter had settled in to his thick hair. That would take like a month to get out. He could hear his mother scolding his brother downstairs, Archer let out a big sigh as he retrieved a pack of cigarettes he kept in a drawer beside his bed.

He sat down in the large bay window at the far end of his room and opened one of the windows wide. As he took a long drag of his cigarette he could feel the calm rush over him and the anger ebb away. Staring out at the manmade lake that his house had in his backyard, he wondered how his last year would pan out. He took out his phone and opened up his Misfits group chat, he thought about telling them about what had happened but changed his mind. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with Sonny’s bullshit and Marisol would just send over her brother to punch Warren in the face, which would be satisfying but not really helpful in this situation. He decided to tell Marisol in the morning when he saw her at school, and the others needn’t know this ever happened as far as they would know the glitter in his hair was just a fashion statement.

After a quick shower where he furiously scrubbed his scalp to get most of the glitter out of his hair, he laid down in his bed and fell asleep.



In the morning, Archer stayed in bed and listened for when his father left for work before he threw his cover of and started to get ready. Putting on his King’s uniform felt almost claustrophobic, Archer made a face as he straightened his tie in the mirror. He shrugged and grabbed his book bag as he made his way downstairs. In the kitchen his mother Jessica sat with a cup of coffee, when she saw Archer walk in she gave him a worried look and started to say something. He put up a hand to stop her “No don’t… I’m fine” he said sitting down across from her. Jessica grabbed her son’s hands and gazed at him “Your brother… he says he’s sorry….” she started, Archer rolled his eyes “No he really is, he’s just processing all of this in his own way.” She continued. Archer snatched his hands back and stood up “I’m going to be late for school” he said and grabbed his keys of the table. His mother called something after him but Archer was just over the whole conversation.

He closed the door to the garage and rested his head on it for a second before turning around and facing the now nearly empty garage now that both his father and brothers cars were gone, left was his mother's BMW and his rusty blue Saab, it was a hunk of junk but he had at least bought it with his own money so it was really all his. Getting in to his car was easier said than done, he first needed to rearrange the jumble of trash that littered the front seats to fit his book bag and himself. It was a array of various books, old take out bags from the surf shack and a few notepads filled with scribbles and texts, this was done by just piling it all in the backseat. Archer made a mental note to clean it out after school as he turned the key to start the engine, it took a few false starts before “the blue devil” started and he could finally back out of his garage.

The drive towards school was uneventful and boring as always, usually he would pick Marisol up on the way but seeing as it was the first day of school Mr. Castillo probably had something grand for his daughter and Archer didn’t want to disrupt that tear-fest. So instead of taking the exit towards his best friends house he kept course for King’s Academy, all the while listening to one of his favorite new artists and drumming on his steering wheel. Archer had manages to score a good parking space in the senior lot, close enough so he didn’t have to walk that far to get to the school gates but far enough so some people wouldn’t give him crap for sitting in his car smoking. He disconnected his phone from his aux cord and wrote a quick text to his ride or die:



He put his phone in his pocket and rummaged around in his bookbag for his pack of cigarettes, when he finally found them he rolled down his window and lit one. The first cigarette of the day was Archer’s favorite thing in this world, he leaned back and closed his eyes. The day had yet to start and he could already feel a headache linger in his forehead. He decided it would be better to get some fresh air before he had to enter the gates of hell so he got out of his car, as he got out he saw the familiar broad tall frame of Johnny Baxter, with his long legs, nice strong shoulders muscular arms, big hands that was holding a phone that was filming and Archer could see his own face in it and he was staring.

“Oh shit!” Archer yelped and ducked down behind his car door, praying Johnny hadn’t seen him staring at him.

---

"Thanks for helping get those shots in yesterday." Said Jiyeon from the passenger seat of Grace's white Toyota 86, it seemed relatively new because of the smell and the general cleanliness of the car, or Grace is a clean freak and kept the car that way, the former seemed like the believable one. "Don't sweat it," Grace replied as she shrugged her shoulders, "Always here to help you Ji." Grace replied turned to her for a quick but rather heart warming smile which gave Grace this girl next door like aura whenever she did it, and people often loved it. "If you need anything, just ring me, you know that I'm not really the most hardest person to reach," Grace continued but whispered, "unlike some people." Grace then turned to Jiyeon as they hit a stoplight, she noticed that she'd been rocking that same Nikon D90 for years now, even though she had quite a large collection of the latest brand of DSLR camera; She noticed that when she helped her moved in. "You got any plans this year, like boyfriends and what not?" Grace asked as she leaned her left forearm on the steering wheel and pulled up the handbrake, giving that same smile to Jiyeon as she asked. "I'm fine with just having you and Johnny as my friend, I'm not really good with the whole relationship thing anyway." Jiyeon replied as she aimed her camera right at Grace, and with Grace's natural smile, a click was heard and Jiyeon's first picture of senior year is of her best friend. "Whatever you say then, you do you, whatever makes you happy and all that Grace Yoon crap." After that sentence, the two just laughed it out, since they both knew that Grace always said something cheesy like that.

As the car ride carried on, Jiyeon continued to compare the photo and real life Grace. She looked at the gray beanie on her head and how her hair draped down all the way to just below her bust, a gray pullover hoodie with the rest of the uniform underneath, with the skirt and shoes. Not all of that was capture in the shot but Jiyeon couldn't help but continue to stare at Grace, like something told her that throughout this year, this might be longest she might be seeing Grace. A lot can change in a few days and Jiyeon was a bit afraid of it, but sometimes that could mean a good thing.

Grace then moved her hand to the radio and placed her hand on the nob and turned the music up, it was playing When We Were Young by Lost Kings, it continued to be the ambiance of the whole car ride with Jiyeon. The gate of the school was close, it was in their field of view so what looked like two minutes from now, senior year would finally begin.

They pulled up to the gate and drove past Victoire Bailey, Jiyeon even snapped a quick photo from inside the car of her setting up before asking, "Who's that?" Jiyeon asked, "Victoire Bailey, she kinda makes sure everything in this school goes according to the rules." Grace then continued to go through the driveway but stop right by the entrance. "It's your buddy Johnny, go say hi while I park, I gotta make a phone call then I'll catch up." Said Grace and Jiyeon just nodded in reply, she picked up her bag and opened the passenger door and climbed out, she shut the door behind her and started to walk towards Johnny. Grace then leaned over and rolled down the passenger window, "Hey!" Grace called out as she picked up the cup of coffee off the cup holder, "You forgot your coffee." Grace called out, and Jiyeon took the coffee and politely nodded "Thank you." She replied and then went off towards Johnny.

She walked up behind johnny and tapped him in the back, she was always looking up at him since he was so tall but it was whatever. "Hey Johnny! Already filming huh?" Jiyeon asked with a bright smile across her face, she liked the guy in a friendly way, they were both camera dorks and she appreciated that.

Once Grace had parked, she sat in her car and went through her contacts and went to call someone, no dice. She then sent a text, and a conversation started.



Odd how she could text but not call, Airi sure is an odd one.

5:30am - Awaken to the alarm
5:45am - Exercize and practice dance
6:30am - Shower
6:45am - Brush teeth and hair
6:55am - Get dressed
7:10am - Eat breakfast
7:30am - Get to school

It was the same schedule she'd had since she was a child when it came to school. She followed it religiously and was hard-pressed to do anything else come the morning. When Bea came down for breakfast Papa Elliott was putting out her usual cereal and milk. "Morning," she said softly. Papa Ro was reading a newspaper and sipping coffee. He glanced up at her and his face brightened into a smile.

"Mornin'" Elliott greeted, the tired sulking his shoulders and forcing an overly large yawn. He was not a morning person, unlike his husband and their child. He blamed Bea's ability to wake up well before the sun on Roland. After all, he was the one who had kept her schedule growing up. If only there weren't two cheerful faces looking at him. Well, one astoundingly handsome and cheerful face and one that looked as if she were sitting through a lecture on molecular cell biology. Knowing his girl though, he knew her to be quite happy right now. Damn excited even.

"Good morning my little Bumble Bea." Roland lowered the paper as she kissed his cheek. Elliot tapped the spoon and bowl beside the cereal. "Come eat before you run out of time. Dad and I are going to take you to school." Beatrice poured out her bowl, filling to the exact height she always did. And the same with the milk. She began to eat hurriedly.

"You know I can just drive myself," she said blandly.

"We know, but this may be the last time we ever have this chance," Elliott said dramatically, his eyes teared up as he pressed a kitchen towel to his lips.

"There, there buttercup." Roland left aside his paper and put his arms around his shorter husband. "We knew this day would come." He stroked Elliott's black hair.

"I just never thought it would be so soon," he replied with false sobbing as he buried his face against Ro's chest.

Beatrice smiled and laughed. "Alright, you can take me to school. You are both ridiculous." She drank down the last of her milk and hurried to grab her messenger bag.

The drive was a fun one. It reminded her of when they would all take day trips on the weekends when she was young. They would sing to old 80's songs and dance. When they arrived at the gate she quickly unbuckled and gave the pair a kiss on the cheek each. "Bye Papas, I love you."

"I'm going to pick you up from school, don't you be going home with any friends," Roland warned. Beatrice hopped out of the car and rolled her eyes. "And you've got your phone?" She held up the old, metallic colored flip phone. There were paint stains all over it with a couple of glittery butterfly stickers over the front. "And your books." She lifted her bag. "And you remembered to put on clean socks?" She stuck out her tongue.

"Bye, I'll see you tonight - you gooses." She waved as the car pulled off. Turning toward the gates she found herself face to face with Victorie. A sense of panic settled over her stomach with the harsh way the girl eyed her. Had she gotten something with her uniform wrong? Jacket, shirt, tie, plaid skirt, over the knee socks, and loafers. All there. Maybe it was because her uniform didn't really fit properly? Everything had a tendency to sit baggy on her frame. Not only was she terribly short but also waifishly slender. As if the wind might just pick her up and blow her away. The other girl's eyes finally turned away from her to something more interesting.

"Morning," Bea offered hesitantly and before Victorie could say much of anything scurried in through the gates. In the parking lot, she found people beginning to clique up. She found Johnny quite easily. As she began walking toward him she caught of glimpse of Archer ducking behind his door. Was it Archer? The sight had been so brief. Strange.

Min made it up for greetings before she arrived. Bea offered the girl her best smile before her face settled back into the bored, disinterested expression that always seemed to haunt her expression. Turning to Johnny she said, "You should probably put that away, you're starting to scare the children." Her voice was it's typical bored and mild. "Morning Min." She attempted to sound more cheerful but ended up more like a sigh of exasperation.

---

Dylan Howard was preparing for his first day at King’s Academy. Currently, that meant that he was getting dressed for school. Looking at the uniform, he hoped that it wouldn’t be too hot. Dylan was still struggling to find clothes that he was comfortable in, having not adjusted to Florida’s weather yet. Perhaps he would go shopping after school today, if there wasn’t too much homework to do. Dylan checked the weather on his phone to find out that it would be, unsurprisingly, a hot day. It was at this point, wearing only a towel from his shower, that his door opened, and his brother, Paul walked in.

”Paul! What are you doing?” Dylan shouted out, making sure that his towel was held up around his waist, as Paul waked up to his mirror.

”Just seeing how I look in this uniform, my mirror isn’t big enough,” Paul replied, turning around to look at Dylan, ”What do you think?”

”I think I still need to get dressed and you’re in the way of that,”

”Alright then, but hurry up, we’re about to leave,” Paul said, before leaving Dylan’s bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

Five minutes later, Dylan emerged from his room, walking downstairs and into the kitchen, where he grabbed a breakfast bar from a cupboard.

”You’re finally ready then? Kate asked from the kitchen table, standing up and reaching towards the triplets’ car keys, before Paul grabbed them.

”Don’t worry, sis, I’ll drive today.” Paul told her ask he began walking towards the front door, Dylan following.

”Trying to impress the girls already?” she asked, scoffing a bit.

Paul stopped where he was and turned around to face his sister, ”That’s cute, Kate, but I don’t need to try,” he grinned, before resuming his path out of the house and into the front seat of the Mercedes convertible that their parents had bought as a joint gift to the triplets now that they’ll need to drive more. Stepping into the passenger seat, Kate continued her laughter, ”You are so far up yourself, I’m not sure we should even send a rescue party,”. In the back seat, Dylan chucked at the insult, ”He’d probably just try and seduce the rescuers, anyway,” he added as Paul pulled out of their driveway and on the way to their new school.

As they pulled into the gates of the school, Dylan’s eye was drawn to the girl with her arms crossed by the gates, and he winked at her, ”No need to frown now, babe, your day just got a lot better,” he called out.

”Wow, Paul, we’re not even in the car park and you’re already hitting on girls.” Kate said, shaking her head.

”You don’t ask, you don’t get. Well, maybe more in Dylan’s case,” Paul told Kate.

”What’s that supposed to mean?” Dylan asked from the backseat.

”No offence bro, but you’re not exactly a chick magnet, are you?”

”I could get a girl!” Dylan futilely tried to defend himself.

”If you say so,” Paul chuckled as he finished parking the car and got out, with Kate and Dylan following.

As they took in their new school for the first time, the three triplets looked around to see what their next year was going to be like. Spotting Johnny, Dylan told his siblings, ” “I’m going to go over to Johnny, I’ll see you two later.”

Watching as Dylan walked off, Paul said to his sister, “I’m going to go and look around, see what this school has in stock,” before walking off himself.

Left on her own by her siblings, Kate sighed, ”I guess that leaves me to be the responsible one and try and find a reception or something,” she said out loud to nobody in particular, before going off and trying to find somewhere that could tell her how this school works.

---

Arriving at Johnny’s car, he saw that some other people were also here, assumedly Johnny’s friends. ”Uh, hey Johnny,” he said awkwardly, not knowing what to say to the other people.

---

---

The huge cotton curtains were fluttering in the morning breeze cooling the stuffy sunroom that Jason Macmillan used as his study. In the big sofa in the middle of the room a red haired girl was resting her eyes. Julie had been up quite late the night before talking to her sister Iris who is currently doing a levi’s campaign in Shanghai. Julie had asked all about the culture and the food Iris had been eating and suddenly it was 2am. The alarm had gone of at 6am because she needed to finish hemming her uniform skirt. Julie had decided to spice things up by breaking the dress code and shortening her skirt to just above her fingertips. Hopefully this would elicit some kind of reaction be it good or bad.

Her hand rose slowly as Julie checked the rose gold chain link watch around her wrist, it was almost time to leave. She let out a small sigh as she hoisted herself up in to a sitting position, eventually getting up from the sofa. She smoothed out the crisp fabric of her newly hemmed skirt and looked at herself in the full length mirror beside her father’s work table where he sat engrossed in a few fabric samples. “Did I overdo it daddy?” Julie mused as she fussed over her hair, which she thought was her best asset by far. Today she opted to wear it up in a ponytail accented with a hermes scarf.

“No you’re fine pumpkin” her father mumbled without even looking at his daughter. Julie smirked as she finished tying the scarf around the hair tie that sat at the base of her ponytail. She fluttered over to her father and bent over his shoulder and kissed him on his cheek “Bye daddy! You should try leaving the house today, remember Dr. Ogawa said it would do you good to get out and about!” Julie chirped as she left, grabbing her small leather shoulder bag on her way out.

With her new AntonFrans sunglasses on she made her way down the driveway and passed both hers and her father’s cars. It was the first day of school and Julie Macmillan was riding the bus. It was a sort of tradition Julie had made, she loved watching the new students riding to school for the first time. When she got down to the bus stop there were a few kids standing around, all new freshmen Julie had to assume because no one old enough to have a driver’s license would be caught dead taking the bus. She checked her watch again, the bus was a few minutes late when it arrived and Julie stepped on and smiled at the tired driver as she passed. She settled herself at the back of the bus as it made its way through the neighborhood. Not that many people got on since even if you were someone that didn’t have a license, you’d probably have a driver or even take an uber. But one kid caught Julie’s eye, he was small even for a 14 year old, his uniform almost swallowed him, his hair was mousy brown and messy, he had a nervous look on his face as he looked around to find a seat. He looked like small lost puppy and Julie couldn’t help but smile, the boy took the seat right in front of Julie and she heard he was a little bit out of breath like he had been running to catch the bus. She leaned over the back of his seat and rested her chin on top of it.

“Hey… you excited for the first day of high school?” she whispered. The boy almost jumped out of his seat at the sudden voice in his ear, and recoiled a little when he saw Julie smiling sheepishly at him. “Y-yeah I-I guess” he stuttered and offered a nervous smile, Julie offered her hand “Well I always say it’s better to know someone right from the start! I’m Julie, and you are?” she asked. “S-spencer” he blurted as he took Julie’s hand, his palm was a little bit moist. “Charmed” Julie smiled at him just as the bus came to a stop in front of the academy. “Now don’t be a stranger, ok?” she told him as she patted him on the shoulder as she made her way of the bus. “O-okay” she heard Spencer call after her in a small voice.

As soon as she stepped out of the bus she noticed her first hurdle, madam president Victoire Bailey was situated at the gates surely to check on student behavior. Julie looked down at her newly hemmed skirt and smirked to herself, hopefully it wasn’t that drastic of an alteration to warrant a lecture this early in the morning. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and confidently passed and made her way towards the entrance of the school stopping to sit down at one of the garden tables that were scattered around watching as the students began to fill the courtyard.

“Forget about what you know about high schools, the bus rides that take anywhere from half an hour or more just to get to school, the fundraisers for the local firehouse, or the broken A/C during the summer. This isn’t one of those schools. No, rather this is Palm Beach where lions sleep both figuratively and quite literally. Kings Academy is what you would come to expect from its name….filled with 'royalty'. It’s less of a kingdom and more of a jungle. You see King’s Academy is like a giant watering hole; you have the jocks who bash on their chests like Gorillas. The populars who demand all the attention like peacocks or zebra, more of a distraction if you ask me... and of course the freaks and geeks like me sprinkled in with everything else in between. Anyways, it was finally the first last day of my entire school year career. Let’s just hope it goes by as fast as those race cars everyone here and there mothers likes to drive.”

------------Checkmate, Queen of Kings

Aaliyah put the final touches onto her latest blog, letting her active audience listen to her latest chapter in her never ending life story. It was almost too surreal to think it was finally over, well practically over, she just needed to turtle out the rest of the school year like she had for the last three years. That was a perk of being a wallflower, she was just as invisible as the imperfections on the plastics. Aaliyah locked her laptop and was about to shut it close until she stopped and caught herself in her reflection. You know when you open your camera and its front faced so you see your horrible face? Yeah it was a lot like that. Her face grimaced in disgust as there was still dried drool hugging the sides of her mouth while her glasses were slipping down her nose, what a mess. With an exaggerated sigh she pushed up her glasses and closed her laptop muttering to herself in the process, “Man why can’t I be pretty?” Dejected, the school’s chess champion reluctantly got up and took to the bathroom. Unlike her model sister, she didn’t take an entire century to get ready, only about 15 minutes maximum and most of that was just her checking the latest book released on her phone.

Having showered, Aaliyah retreated once more into her room looking at her dresser, it was almost as plain as she was. The slight changes in hues of her monochromatic wardrobe spoke to just how much she knew of fashion. Pushing hangars away she clawed through sweatpants and pajamas until she found her vapid school ensemble, it felt more like an orange jumpsuit than anything fun. Regardless she jumped into her clothes and gathered her bag. Aaliyah kept her room insanely organized with everything in perfect position with labels from A-Z, the level of attention was nearing obsessive if wasn’t there already. Double checking she had everything she gave another once over, making it to the hall she caught herself once more in the mirror. If anything the girl did have some nice hair naturally. "Hey care bear are you almost ready? You don’t want to be late for your first day of school! You know I want to take pictures to show your auntie on Facebook. Ooooo you’ll look so cute! All the guys will be chasing after you, just wait!” A wave of fear washed over Aaliyah as if something had just kissed the back of her neck. Her mom was so embarrassing, she did this every year, it was worse when she used to be dropped off.

Aaliyah cringed and pushed the memories away, “Coming mom, do we really have to take pictures?” the answer was obviously yes as she cascaded down the stairs with the walls all littered with pictures of her and her siblings. The cutest part was they were all in aging order. As she hit the bottom of the stairs and turned to face her mom she was greeted with a bright flash instead, blinding her like a deer in headlights. “Oh honey you look so cute! I made some oatmeal for you in the kitchen and already have your lunch packed. I made your sandwich just how you like it! No crust and cut down the middle!” Aaliyah loved her parents, but sometimes they were a little too supportive. While her mom went to town on facebook, Aaliyah took her lunch and ate her breakfast while her dad sat at the table reading his paper. “You know I can still drive you to school? You don’t have to keep riding your bike.” Her father said muffled behind the giant newspaper. “Yeah I know, but it’s good exercise dad” she said as he put his newspaper down on the table. “I remember my senior year” he started to bob his head and laugh, “I hated it. High schools sucks darling, you’ll get through it, you’re a King and that makes you royalty.” Aaliyah laughed, her father always knew what to say to make her feel better.

She ran over and gave him a kiss before exiting through the door, “Bye daddy!” Unlocking her bike she hopped on, kicking the stand back and pushing down on the foot pedals. Biking to school beat out driving to school any day. It was a good workout, healthier for the planet, and gave her time to appreciate the scenic view that most people tend to forget since they’re glued to their phones or take it for granted. Most of the time they just post pictures of some place exotic they went to two weeks ago on Instagram with the caption, ”Take me back”. It was just how this environment worked, let’s just say Aaliyah thrived elsewhere. Eventually her serene bike ride would have to come to an end as she rounded the corner to the street the mansion like school would appear with perfectly black pavement devoid of potholes, the ever apparent palm trees green with life, and the luxury cars lined up like a dealership. “Okay remember, it’s just like any other day. You survived freshman Friday you can survive this.” She needed her little pep talks…even though she ended up becoming the socially inept klutz she always transformed into once she touched school grounds.

Aaliyah parked her bike in the only bicycle rack on campus, since it was so primitive to the likes of Palm Beach natives. There was no real use in locking up her bike since no one would be caught dead with it in hand, even the burglars saw it as a waste of time. Regardless she wrapped the chain around and locked it before taking a few deep breaths as she made her way to the front entrance. The schools around her started to fade out of focus as the appearance of the Serengeti began to bleed into her vision. The watering hole appeared and the predators already started to gather round scoping out the rest of the new arrivals. Aaliyah did her best impression to act invisible and kept her head down waiting for the others to draw attention to themselves whilst diverting it from her. She hoped a teacher or someone other than a sports coach would come out and save her, she hoped at least.

There was just something about the raw, naturally aspirated, eight cylinder engine of the Maserati GT MC that set it apart from every other high end car on the market. Something that sparked a fire in April’s eyes and sent adrenaline coursing through her veins. Perhaps it was the crisp, throaty rumble of the 4.7L V8 engine that powered the beast or the roar that it let out when she pressed down the gas. Maybe it was the responsiveness of the throttle and how it launched forward when commanded. But if one thing was for certain, it was that from the moment April had laid eyes on her dear car back on her sixteenth birthday, the two were inseparable. Nothing was different this morning. Even the shiver that had ran up her spine when she had first climbed into the cockpit of the GT still repeated itself on this very morning, just like it had done every time before.

The only thing different about today was that instead of the slick racing tires that had all but lived on the car for the summer, normal street tires stood in place. From an onlooker’s perspective, the difference was extremely hard to notice and didn’t really change the look of the car at all. From April’s seat behind the wheel though? The difference was enormous. The car handled completely differently and the tarmac on city streets was not nearly as smooth of a ride as brand new track pavement.

The arctic white Maserati flew down the freeway at a bone rattling 150mph (~240km/h) as it’s pilot sat calmly behind the wheel, her eyes flicking back and forth between cars from behind the clear visor of her race helmet. With the practiced hand of a two-year amateur track driver April weaved the car in and out of traffic effortlessly, passing the vehicles like they were standing still. There was nothing much on the young woman’s mind on this particular day other than making a kick-ass first impression for her final year at King’s Academy. Nothing would stand in her way on this day.

As April got within a few minutes of Crown Heights, she quickly downshifted the car and drew some looks as the engine revved up in response. After slowing down to a measly 60mph (~100km/h), she pulled over into the right hand lane and veered off onto the smaller roads of Palm Beach. April drove with a little more caution on the city streets and kept her eyes peeled for patrol cars. The last thing she wanted to do was to get a ticket on the first day of school, though now that she thought about it, with the speed she was going it’d be more likely that she’d get arrested.

Moments later, she pulled into the stone driveway of the Foster Estate and carefully guided her car into the only open garage bay of the three present. The other two were occupied by her father’s toys, neither of which April was allowed to drive. Just as the young woman was about to exit the vehicle, her phone buzzed a few times. She almost had to double take at the name that had appeared on the screen. Someone she hadn’t seen in ages since he was destroyed by a family tragedy. Truth be told, April would’ve been there for her closest friend Santiago had he not asked her for space. There was very little that she wouldn’t do for him. The two of them were inseparable.

April was almost awestruck at the few texts from her closest friend, but quickly typed out a reply before she exited her car.



After quickly changing into her school uniform, April had a quick bite to eat and tossed her bag into the backseat of her car. The brunette then slid on her cropped leather jacket, propped her aviators up on her head and walked back out to the garage. She couldn’t help but wonder how Santiago was doing while she waited for a response. It had been way too long since they had talked, among other things.

Everyone was always so hyped up and nostalgic for their senior year of high school. As he threw the blankets off of himself, and hit the annoying alarm to shut if off, Oliver would come to the realization that he had no idea how people could ever feel such a way. Sure, he got to see his friends, and maybe he would have a new crush this year, but he had never been able to stand school - at least not the academic part. English was okay, he supposed, but Oli was more of a social guy. He went through his morning routine with ease, a slight smirk on his face at all of the potential juicy gossip that would be filling the halls this year. He had actually had an idea to start a school website with all of the who’s who, said gossip, and the like, though he would have to most likely discus it with Victoire first, of course. He could convince her that it would work as a sort of helpful tool of the freshman, and he would probably have to promise her her own spot of dedication, just like the rest of the class representatives, but maybe, just maybe, he could get it approved.

Showered, fed, and dressed in the insufferable uniform, he made his way downstairs. His father was away on yet another business trip, so he only had to have a brief conversation with his mother to please her before walking out the door. Most of the other students took the bus or drove, but Oliver decided to walk more often than not. He didn’t have that many of friends, so carpooling was out, and he hadn’t decided what car he wanted just yet. Plus the bus was bound to be full of annoying little Freshman that he would much rather avoid.

Arriving on school grounds, he would see that Victoire had already assembled a small crowd, playing a Kesha song. An old one, at that. He rolled his eyes. Though he was open to pretty much all kinds of music, Kesha had never been prefered. He was more of a Brittney kinda dude. His eyes scanning the scene in front of him as he made his way towards the doors, he spotted Johnny with his camera. Oli had a feeling inside telling him to run and hide, but, since he had always sort of considered Johnny a friend, he gave a small wave and a smile in the other boys direction. Dodging the aforementioned freshmen, he would take a deep breath as he made his way over to one of the spare tables, sitting down, and grabbing his pen and notebook from his backpack, already starting to take notes of his observations from this year.

With quick and definitive clicks and clacks of Elijah's fingers along the keyboard, the final touches were being updated to the app he had spent the summer working on. One that started the previous year in his Coding Club. It was an easy and simple enough design- an app revolving around his day to day life at school, or at least what remained of it. He had been collaborating with a few other students in the Coding Club to develop a social app for the prestigious students of King's Academy. Simple enough- it would keep up to date with school events and information. There was a section for news articles to be posted, chat rooms, and an anonymous gossip message board. Now, Elijah wasn't one to really condone the obvious missuses that would go into creating an app like this. People making anonymous comments about fellow classmates- it would get nasty fast. However, he recognized the fact that there were plenty of people who would hop on the app as soon as it would launched... which Elijah had hoped would be today. However, there were still too many bugs to fix, too many gears to grease. His eyes jumped to the clock in the corner of his laptop, seeing it was already 6 am. "Shit!" He stood up frantically, banging his knee on his desk from beneath. The table twitched, knocking over a handful of coffee bottles and redbulls. "Fucking Shlemiel!" He grunted under his breath as he closed his laptop lid, tripping over the clothes and small trinkets and side projects that decorated his floor. Tripping over one project, Elijah collapsed to the floor like Goliath defeated by David. "Oy Gevalt! Fuck!"

What a wonderful start to the first day of senior year. A beautiful reminder that no matter how suave or cool Elijah thought he was- he was far from it. Very... Very... Very far.

By the top of the hour, Elijah finally emerged from his room, backpack slung over his shoulders. Books, check. Laptop, check. Cell, check. Elijah took in a deep breath, smoothing out the hair on his head as he emerged into the family kitchen. His younger brother wearing the Junior High uniform of King's Academy, his mother actively working on breakfast, his father nose deep in the newspaper, and his grandfather, munching on a delicious looking bagel. "Ah! Look who has graced us with their presence this morning. Elijah, running late, again?" Elijah shook his head, grabbing up one of the delectable bagels that graced a spotless dish on the kitchen table. "No, I'm just all over the place, as usual. Let's get going Asher." Elijah patted his brother's shoulder and the two set off. Not without hearing some final words of wisdom from their grandfather. "zogn kleyn aun ton fil!" He called in yiddish as the two exited the front door. Say little and do much, ha! Keep your head down and be obedient is what his grandfather was telling them.

He heard it every morning when they prepared for school. Elijah always had an off-put feeling that it had something to do with his grandfather's relation with concentration camps- but he never wanted to look too deeply into it. He was a good boy, as always, so no worries there. However, this year, perhaps it would be a bit different. The final year of high school- every high schooler wanted to have fun at some point, and Elijah was no exception. Just that he was a late bloomer to the idea... a very late bloomer. Pulling into a prime real estate spot near the main campus, Elijah parked his brand new, luxe 640i BMW. He wasn't one himself for flashy things. But his parents liked to keep appearances up, and buying their sons nice luxury vehicles was one of their strategies. Asher took off, straight for his own Junior High section of the school, while Elijah made his way towards the High School section.

Was there a pep rally this morning, or something? There were way too many bodies hanging around the front enterance- many he recognized. First and foremost his best friend, Johnny Baxter. If Elijah was the left brain, Johnny was the right. At least, in an artistic sense. Though at this moment- he seemed quite popular among the student population. There was Victorie, the true Ice Queen of campus. Even someone as goody-goody as Elijah was intimidated by her. Sometimes it felt like her eyes were piercing his soul. He tightened his tie anxiously, as if she would suddenly call him out for a dress code violation- knowing fully well he was dressed perfectly in accordance with the set rules. There was sweet little Bea, Elijah's study buddy. She was such a sweet girl, given her... condition. Was it wrong to think something like that? He didn't mean it in a bad way, just... well, perhaps they were both strange.

There were those two foreign girls- if he recalled correctly one was pretty good with a camera. Perhaps he would have to try and recruit her to try and help gain publicity for his Coding Club's newest app. Or have her submit pictures to it to gain interest. Speaking of which, he was going to have to ask Johnny how his first day of school video was coming along. If the app was moving on schedule- which it seemed it could- they would be ready to launch by the end of classes today. And having a nice introductory video could help gain hype.

Elijah was fully prepared to approach Johnny to ask how his video was coming along. At least, until he was stopped dead in his tracks, witnessing another sweet face entering campus. Aaliyah King. Acquaintance, smart girl, amazing chess player, and a gorgeous face- for a black girl. Not that it mattered in the slightest to Elijah that she was black! Coming from his rather xenophobic family, these slight prejudices tended to shoot in his head rather instinctively. It didn't matter that Aaliyah was a black girl to Elijah, it mattered to his family. But why was he debating what did and didn't matter. She was retreating into campus so quickly, it was as if she felt she was under attack. Elijah's eyes glance back and forth between Johnny and Aaliyah. Hm, regroup with best friend, talk social media buzz, whilst surrounded by a million strange faces. Or scoot along in pursuit of a rather well known acquaintance, who seemed just as alone as him. He was supposed to be taking chances this year. Sorry, Johnny- He will get back to you soon. With that, Elijah quickened his pace, following Aaliyah in hot pursuit.

It didn't take much for his long strides to pull him across the parking lot and into the campus, tailing Aaliyah. Once he was next to her, he adjusted his pace to be walking side by side. "He- Hi- Y- SHALOM."

Face, meet palm.

Even in the presence of a good friend, Elijah really knew how to turn down his brain to idiotic levels. It was as if Elijah didn't know how to function around anyone who didn't already accept him. Perhaps that was why he was always made fun of- his amazing ineptitude to social interactions. Alright, now what genius? "Did you see my updates this morning to the Coding Club app?" Yep, because asking 'How was your summer' was way too normal of a question.

The alarm clock wake up was so overdone. Jordan liked to think of himself as better than that. In fact, by the time the sun had cleared the horizon he had already been up since five on his morning run. It was partially because he liked taking care of his body, even in the off season, but also because this way he could feel slightly smug passing yawning middle-agers in slippers and dressing gown picking up the paper run.

It had felt good in his old neighbourhood at least, but Crown Heights was more of a spiked gates and security camera area rather than friendly neighbours and morning papers. He’d barely glimpsed a fellow human apart from a peep of a suit behind the tinted windshield of a speeding Audi.

-

Once Jords was home, he grabbed his towel, ready for a quick shower to wash off the sweat of the Florida sun. He passed his brother, comatose on the couch under a heap of blankets.
‘Room still out of commission?’ he asked while pouring milk into a bowl of muesli. The blankets snored.

Jords threw a shoe at him. ‘Get up. Your mate called last night. Said he wanted to meet you at the gas station at half nine.’ Jay scrambled out of his mound.
‘What did he say?’

Jordan shrugged. ‘Said bring money. He’s got an ounce. Seriously, how did you manage to get a hookup when we’ve only been here a week?.’

‘I have my ways, little brother.’ Jay grinned. ‘Spare cash for a pothead in need?’ he said, holding out his hands like Oliver Twist.

Jordan huffed. ‘Ask mum. Or just take some from her purse like you usually do. I’ve got to get to school.’

His mother stopped him on his way out the door. ‘Jordan? Is that you?’ she called from the balcony. She had a cigarette in hand, and her voice was slightly raspy from dragging on it.
‘Yeah, ma. Off to school. I’ll see you later, okay?’

‘Your father called.’

‘What’s he poking his nose around here for?’

‘He’s thinking about visiting.’

‘And you’re thinking about telling him to take a hike, right?’

‘Don’t talk about your father like that. Now shut up and get to school.’

Jords gave a two fingered salute to the smoky figure of his mother and slammed the door on his way out. He was in a pissy mood from the morning’s events and the only cure was breaking all the speed limits on his way to school. His tyres ripped into the asphalt of the student parking lot as he swerved into an empty spot.

He slammed the car door too, to provide a sense of continuity. His senior year hadn’t started off on the best note, but he was feeling slightly more optimistic as he took in the state-of-the-art school campus. He’d been here already the other day to get his uniform, a rather ugly blue blazer and a stripy tie- which he had bought far too short to top it off. He’d wanted to be in and out of the store so quick that he hadn’t bothered to try on the clothes to check the fit.

Plus, they’d spent the last few days crumpled up in the back of his cupboard so he could pretend they didn’t exist, which probably didn’t help. He sauntered in through the front gate with a couple minutes to spare, unsure of what to do or where to go next. He unravelled a printout of his school timetable- English first. Wagging the first spell at a new school probably wasn’t a great idea. Fuck.

---

---

Airi's morning started like any Price family morning, Airi waking up in her room which reeked of nicotine with her cheek down on her pillow and her phone right next to her face repeatedly buzzing from all the alarms she set, yet she doesn't wake up for most of it. Though the two things that stood out were Grace's messages that continued to go on and on, on Airi's home screen, and the ping pong messages she and Marisol had throughout the night. Grace's messages were just her making sure she slept well, she was practically being a mom to Airi as usual but that came to no surprise the longer they carried on from becoming friends. "Yeesh... Already missed 14 messages from Grace, man she wakes up early." Airi said audibly as she stared at the screen of her phone from just laying there.

Airi shook her head and sat up, grabbing her phone and inched her way off the bed. The moment she stood up, she was greeted by her closet with a whole body mirror as stared at her messy bed hair, wrinkled old black Metallica t-shirt that she uses as pajamas nowadays, and her gray short shorts. "I don't see why this mess should be wearing a uniform, when does short hair and a plaid skirt ever look good together?" Airi thought as she shook her head, she looked at the white leggings and fuzzy slippers she had just laying on her carpet and mouthed, "Fuck it." She grabbed the leggings and slipped them on real quick, and slipped on the fuzzy slippers, tapping them on the ground after she slipped them on to make sure they wouldn't fall off.

She walked towards her bedside table, and opened the drawer that came with it, she took the half empty pack of smokes and the lighter right next to her lamp and walked towards the window. She slid it open and climbed out the window and onto the roof, watching the waves crash against the shore a few houses away, "God, look at this shithole, I'd leave this place the first chance I get." Airi blurted out. She sat down right by the chimney and lit one fag as she stared at the ocean; funny how the moment she put the ciggy in her mouth her phone immediately started ringing, she pulled out her phone to see Grace trying to call her, she declined the call but when Grace started to text her, she replied rather quickly.

Though right after that, she started to text Marisol, asking to have a quick smoke before school starts.



After she had sent those texts, she finished her smoke and climbed back in her room. She grabbed her uniform from her closet and placed it on her bed, after that she left her room and immediately went straight to the bathroom to take a nice shower before anything else.

---

The freshmen looked at him strangely as they passed. Who's that guy holding the phone? Why is he filming? Is he trying to catch out the new kids? What's he going to do with the footage? Johnny was, of course, going to something with it. His first, and best, friend Elijah was making an app for the school, in a Zuckerberg-esque (or was it Winklevoss-esque?) endeavor to give the school its own social media platform. The project had his full support, especially when he got recruited as resident camera man. He got to make the introductory video, interviews, and filming important stuff for articles.

He'd take the best parts of the footage, edit out the sound and put in a voice-over. So the freshman that nervously tripped over, then looked at the camera was safe. For now. He could see face behind him reflected in the phone screen. Specifically, Archer Diedrikson ducking behind his car door, looking nervous. He always saw Archer doing stuff like that, but never thought anything of it. People do weird stuff all the time, himself included. He didn't mind Archer being weird either way, he was a nice guy. In the hopes that he would see, Johnny gave a thumbs up in his direction, hoping he would see.

He filmed for a little longer before hearing a voice call his name. "Hey Johnny! Already filming, huh?" He smirked, recognising the voice. Min Jiyeon, fellow photography nerd. He nodded, eyes glued to the screen.

"You bet I am, my friend. Eli told me to get some rough footage for a video on the app, so here I am. Say what you will about phone cameras, but they do have a found footage appeal." His eyes flicked up to her, then back down. He wanted a documentary feel for his intro video, it was more appealing to students than those polished, masterfully edited ones you find on official websites. Feels more authentic. He would have gone into a long speech on the merits of found-footage style documentaries, but was met with another person.

"You should probably put that away, you're starting to scare the children." He looked up from his phone this time, albeit briefly, chuckling at his friend. He had known Bea since they worked on a school project together, and they were firm friends since. Plus, he loved The Dads™, insane as they were.

"Yeah, as if. They'll learn to live with it. Poor unfortunate souls." He gave an evil cackle, before looking up at Bea again, smiling. "They're newbies, it's part of their job to be scared of the seniors. Anyway, how are your crazy fathers?"

Again, his conversation was cut off by a new member, though this time it was a new member of everything. "Um, hey, Johnny," said the awkward voice. Johnny's mum worked at a hospital, where she met Alice Howard, mother to the Howard triplets. Though Kate and Paul were decent (well, Kate was decent, Paul was a douchebag), he quickly became friends with Dylan, nerd and inhibitor of The Closet. He easily guessed Dylan's sexuality, but never pointed it out. Dylan would get it eventually.

"Hey there! Don't get too nervous, some people here can smell fear. But don't mind these two, they're harmless. Guys, this is Dylan, he just moved here." He pointed at Bea and Min, deciding it would be good for Dylan to integrate into his group. "This is Min, she's great with cameras. And this is Bea, she can draw like no-one's business." He noticed Oli Grayson waving at him. He raised a hand in greeting. "And that's Oli. He's a nice guy, but you may want to stay clear of him for a bit. He notices everything." Oil was a good source of information, and Johnny liked to take photos for the school newspaper in return. A nice system.

He was about to explain why he was filming, when he heard a cry of "SHALOM!" from across the entrance. Ah, the famed mating cry of Elijah Abrams. Johnny smirked switching off the camera for a second to text his best friend, who was clearly in dire peril.



@KatKook @QueenOfWands @TheIrishJJ @HaleyTheRandom @spooner @eclecticwitch

"Yeah, as if. They'll learn to live with it. Poor unfortunate souls." Johnny laughed strangely and her brows furrowed in slight confusion. "They're newbies, it's part of their job to be scared of the seniors. Anyway, how are your crazy fathers?"

Poor unfortunate souls… That was a movie quote, right? She got lost in thought for a moment as she attempted to recall the film. There was silence and then Bea realized he had asked her a question. What about? Ohh yeah. The dads.

“Crazy,” she responded, looking toward the next person who approached. It was beginning to get uncomfortable with the number of people who had arrived to stand around the car to see Johnny. Her right fist balled up as she tapped it against her thigh and attempted to calm herself. She then realized she remembered the movie. “Little Mermaid,” she mumbled to herself and began to study just how interesting the blacktop appeared.

”Uh, hey Johnny,”

"Hey there! Don't get too nervous, some people here can smell fear. But don't mind these two, they're harmless. Guys, this is Dylan, he just moved here. This is Min, she's great with cameras. And this is Bea, she can draw like no-one's business."

Bea raised her left hand and gave him a small wave and her lips turned to a frown. New people. Uhg. That meant having to learn stuff about them. And then they would have to learn things about you. And then they probably wouldn’t like you much because you say shit like, “Being you must really suck.” She, of course, meant that being new to a school in one’s senior year had to be a terrible experience. What came out of her mouth in monotone boredom was an insult. “Welcome to Kings.” She turned her eyes from the new boy to glance at Johnny.

It seemed he had finally stopped recording and was typing out a message to someone. She took this as her chance to escape. Without saying a word or looking at anyone else she turned on her heel and walked away. The tapping at her thigh calmed as she headed toward the building and relief washed through her.

At least the day was pleasant. The sun was shining and there was barely any humidity in the air. She could tell because her hair was not sticking out at all angles and giving her shadow a crazy fro. She brushed the curls back from her face. It was too warm to be wearing a jacket in the summer though and she longed to be able to get into the air-conditioned building. She would have to search out club sign-ups. What would she do this year? Art Club, as always. Nothing like getting more time to paint. Probably theater again so she could do set and prop design.

Bea paused when she noticed a very tall guy. He was new too, probably. She didn’t recognize him. And he seemed to be perhaps angry at the piece of paper in his hands. Or maybe he was hungry. She couldn’t quite tell. She approached him, glanced at the paper and then up toward his face. Bea was a small girl, but this guy’s build and intimidating expression made her feel downright minuscule. “Lost?” she inquired, stuffing her hands into her jacket pockets and tilted her head to the side. When he looked toward her she noticed the lines of his features and the shadow of tree dancing across his skin. “You have a good face,” she said blandly.



@Erklings25@KatKook@TheIrishJJ@Okonuki

The sun rose from the palms outside awaiting to greet Ximena with a beautiful day, some dare say as beautiful as she was. Not that that was even possible considering who she was obviously. Her alarm gently vibrated waiting for the perfect moment in her sleep cycle to wake up the sleeping beauty. Her drapes on a timer opened slowly as the sun shone in from outside like a warm blanket. Her window was open which let in a few bird and other forest critters. They jumped on the bed and peeled back the pearly white comforter that bundle their queen. Ximena came into view with a sleeping mask perfectly nestled on her face shield her eyes from the world’s disappointments. Sitting up she yawned before her lips curled into her traditional devious smile. The mask came off and revealed her soft features. She greeted her little critters and burst out into song alongside with her audience of animals. As she got up to get dressed, her friend began to tidy up her bed and accompany her around her room helping her prepare. Her voice was sweet and gentle as she laughed and skipped around.

Except for the fact that none of this actually happened and her real alarm rang letting out a horrid cacophonous sound. Ximena’s hand came out from underneath the covers and crushed the snooze button as if were made of paper. She kicked off the blankets before she ripped her facemask off and threw it at her mountain of dirty clothes on her computer chair. Ximena grabbed the small bell on her desk and rang it to summon her butlers that take care of tidying her room and preparing her for the day. She wasn’t so nice and boisterous with these forest critters, “Make sure you set out my clothes out perfectly on the bed and get my makeup station set up, I don’t want to be late…well I do, but fashionably late. I can’t do that if you guys are slow right? I don’t pay you to just look at me, although I should. Well I don’t even pay you at all ha. Anyways…uhm what was your name? Consuela? Whatever your name is just remember to set out my favorite thong out, it’s the one in my top drawer, kisses!!!” Ximena closed the door behind her for her cavernous washroom, it was the size of a small apartment really.

If a normal girl told you she was going to get ready that was code for I’ll be ready in an hour or three, for Ximena it was more like half a day. She needed to exfoliate, soak, and whatever ungodly rituals that kept her skin as soft and young as a baby. Rather than jump into her clothes she sat at her computer table checking all the latest status updates and tweets. Social media was her domain, her kingdom, if anyone made so much as a noise she heard about it first. She was the judge, jury, and executioner. There was only a stay of execution as she had just moved schools so she had yet to sink her claws into this school. King’s Academy didn’t know what they were in for, she would be the Usurper, whoever sat on her throne would have a rude awakening. She quickly signed off and put her mask on at her vanity mirror, the final step in her shapeshifting make up session was the application of her cherry red lipstick. It was her signature weapon, with a few stolen glances of self-absorbed admiration she kissed her mirror leaving her mark.

The uniform would just not do, she had to give it her own flare. She shook her head before seemingly pulling a pair of scissors out of nowhere. Fabric fell to the floor like hair in a barber shop; not too long and not too short, but just right. Ximena threw on a pair of thigh highs on accompanied with her newly tailored mini skirt; her blazer was left open with her undershirt unbuttoned at the top. Her nipple piercings bled through her shirt since bras were rather bothersome and how else would someone see that you had them pierced? Before she could run out of her house her mother’s voice rang in her ears, “Ximena make sure you go over to Andrés and go to school with him, he has been here longer than you have” once in a while her mother did have a good idea, I mean it’s how she got Ximena famous in the first place, “Ya mamá yo sé. Bye!” With that Ximena rushed out the house and made her way over to her favorite cousin’s house.



Andrés was sleeping quite peacefully, that was until his brother snuck into his room and loomed over his younger brother waiting for him to wake up. When Andrés didn’t show any signs of walking up due to his presence, he turned it up a notch. The sound of shaving cream dispensing out of the canister could be heard in a low hum. A nice sized glob of white foam was perfectly placed in Santiago’s hand. His brother let out a contagious giggle before he slapped the Spanish out of Andrés. Ripped from his dream of winning the world cup and being named MVP, Andrés shot up from his bed leading to his imminent fall of the side of his bead. Santiago roared in laughter as Andrés rolled his eyes and filled with anger. “Porqués eres tan mamón?! Siempre la misma mierda con usted” Santiago was in tears as his little brother paraded around in anger. “Ya cálmate, mi querido hermano. Our cousin Ximena is here and she’s waiting for you to get ready for school. Get ready you’re late for your last year of high school. Make sure you don’t get her mixed up with that drug bullshit. She’s got enough on her plate with nuestra tía. Oh and you might want to shave that stuff off your face.” Santiago said with a quick burst of laughter once more.

Andrés went from a rage to a panic as he realized he was late for school and his cousin was waiting for him downstairs. Luckily boys got ready at the drop of the hat, none of the intricate tendencies girls had to undergo to look presentable. Andrés hopped in the shower while brushing his teeth, using the shower water to wash out the paste. He was only in there for about five minutes before he jumped out of the shower almost falling again. With his uniform on and his shoes laced he ran downstairs to greet his famous cousin. Their eyes met and she gave him a quaint smile matched with a hand wave like proper royalty. “Andrés! I haven’t seen you in forever! It’s so nice to see you again, how’s soccer? Don’t tell me actually your beautiful mother here was just telling me all about it” Andrés awkwardly smiled before heading over to collect his bag, “Yeah I have a lot of offers from professional teams and colleges, but I think my father wants me to stay and help with the family business” he said remembering what his brother had just told him. “Don’t be so modest Andrés, you worked very hard to get where you are mijo, now go with your cousin to school, you’re late! You both look great. We were never able to dress like that in my day. Oh god I’m aging myself, go now, make sure you carpool!” Lorena said walking towards the pool out back.

“We’ll take your car, I’ve never been in a McLaren before” Ximena said entering the garage, “It’ll just be like old times.” Andrés smiled and followed suite as they both got into his car. The engine roared and purred as he pulled out of his garage and whipped the corner and accelerated down the strip to get to school, he wasn’t late just yet. “Just so you know I don’t know anyone really knows what to expect from you transferring or even who you are or that you’re related to me. I think they just know someone famous is supposed to come. Whatever you decided to do just know that I have your back, familia cierto?” Ximena smiled, “Oh you don’t know what I have planned for these chingados.” Andrés pulled into his spot he pretty much had on reserve since he was King’s Academy’s soccer elite. His presence was bound to pull some looks and if that wasn’t enough XiXi’s presence would. XiXi got out of the car and flipped her hair in the wind like something out of a movie just without the slow motion. She set her sights on the group herding around the entrance, specifically at Victoire who she sized up as her primary competition.

Ximena stood by the side of Johnny Baxter, “Who you texting cutie? I think I’m more interesting than whoever that text is going to” she said as a hand went playfully through his hair. “That’s a nice camera you have there, I bet it would look better filming me. You’ve probably heard of me, it’s kind of hard not to when I’m everywhere. Billboard top 100 and Disney are just some of names in my headshot.” Ximena then turned to the larger group in front, her voice changing from seductive to commanding. “My name is Ximena Garcia, but you can just call me XiXi. I can’t wait to get to know you all” she said batting her eyes paired with a smile that was too practiced to be real.

Before Andrés could get a word in, he saw his cousin strutting her way over to the rest of the group. Shaking his head he opened the trunk and got his soccer bag and ball before making his way over. Not to be outdone by his own cousin he had to show off some flashy footwork, just not in the same sense. Andrés kicked the ball up making sure it never touched the ground even going so far as to thread it through the back of his legs back to the front. He caught up to his cousin and the group, catching the ball in his hand. “I see you guys have already met my cousin.” This would be an interesting year.