Kira sat in her classroom, tracing her lips with her pencil while her Spanish teacher taught the class.

"Hey, are you still thinking about earlier?" Nessa who was sitting behind Kira poked her friend's back to snap her out from trance.

She sighed. "I still cannot believe what happened. The humiliation." Kira groaned after having a flashback on what happened.

"Señorita Kira, ¿cuál parece ser el problema?" Her Spanish teacher asked. (Miss Kira, what seems to be the problem?)

Kira leaned away "Nada, señorita Cara." She nodded.

"Hmmm." The teacher half nodded before talking to the class.

"It'll be okay." Nessa tried to assure her.

"It won't." Kira shook her head. "He ruined my last first day back to school." She groaned in annoyance.

Just then, someone appeared at the doorway with his hand clutching the strap of his shoulder.

"Oh! Debe ser el señor Estridsen. Bueno, pase." (Oh! You must be Mr Estridsen. Well, come on in) The young Spanish teacher smiled at him happily. She looked back at the whole class. "Clase, este es Aksel Estridsen, un nuevo estudiante transferido que se uniría a nosotros." (Class, this is Aksel Estridsen who would be joining us) Then glanced back at Aksel. "Es bueno tenerte con nosotros." (Good to have you with us)

"Gracias señora." He smiled at the lady.

Teacher Cara looked around for a vacant desk and finally smiles when she sees that Kira has a vacant desk beside her. "Well, you can get settled beside the young lady." She gestured at Kira.

Kira's stare didn't leave him. From the moment he walked in, she had her eyes stilled, blazing at him.

Aksel noticed the cold stare the blue eyed gave him but he disregarded her and walked up to his desk. As the lecture went on, he could feel that the girl at the side desk kept on staring at him, making him feel uncomfortable. Finally the class ended and that's when teacher Cara walked up to him.

"I usually don't use English in my class, but seeing that you're new I'll make an exception." She said to him.

"I understand." Aksel nodded.

"Kira." She called the attention of Kira who was already leaving with Nessa.

Kira turned to her teacher. "Miss Cara?" She smiled sweetly.

"I am sure you wouldn't mind seeing to it that Aksel Estridsen finds his way around the school?" The teacher said to her.

Her smile dropped. "What?" Maybe she didn't hear what was asked of her.

"I'm sure you heard me." Miss Cara turned to Aksel. "I do hope you have a wonderful stay." She smiled at him. And before Kira could react and talk, Miss Cara walked out of the class.

Kira did a hair flip and turned to leave. "I'm nobody's keeper, so go find yourself a tour guide." She said, before reaching the door.

"Can you at least show me which way to the Biology lab?" Aksel frowned at her.

Kira stopped, turning to him. "Don't you ever talk to me, You..." Her eyes scanned from his head to toe. His horn rimmed glasses and his stupid hair infuriated her the more. "Loser."

He narrowed his eyes at her, he wasn't sure how to react. "About the hallway incident, it was never-"

She cut him off rudely, "Zip it. If I were you, I'd stay clear away from me." Kira sneered. "Loser." She rolled her eyes before walking out.

Aksel sighed, turning back to glance around the empty classroom.
................................................................................

Kira sat with Nessa and Liam in the cafeteria.

"I'm really sorry Kiki." Liam apologized for the hundredth time.

"I was humiliated Liam. You weren't there. You should have seen how the other students gave me mocking looks, that has never happened before, ever!" Kira said to him.

Kira didn't hide how annoyed she was feeling at the moment, "and those Pinkly Gossips, they uploaded pictures and memes of the incident!! Everyone in school is mocking me right now." Kira ranted on and on bitterly. "All thanks to that loser."

"You still looked good no matter what angle the pictures were taken from, besides, who would dare to stand and mock you in your presence. You're the queen here." Said Nessa.

"Babe, I'm sorry, I gotta go. I'm meeting the guys at the gym." Liam kissed her cheek before standing.

"You're leaving." Kira rolled her eyes.

"I have practice." He reminded her.

"Don't forget you're driving me home, okay?" She said, grabbing her bottle of juice.

"Sure." He nodded in assurance.

"Bye Liam." Nessa waved at him.

"See you guys later." He picked up his bag from the chair, strolling away.

Kira eyed Nessa when she noticed her staring at Liam. "Eyes off him, he's mine." She reminded her friend.

Nessa turned to her and feigned a gasp. "Bestie what do you mean? Why would you think like that?" She playfully slapped Kira's arm.

"Because he's the cutest, not to mention most popular." Kira smiled dreamily.

"No one will dare to steal Liam from you. You both are perfect for each other. I would never do something so stupid, I'm not a boyfriend stealer, like hello?" Nessa waved her hand in a 'duh' tone.

"Good to know." She shrugged. Her eyes immediately spotted Aksel's entry and she immediately called the attention of Nessa. "One o'clock, check who just walked in."

Nessa turned. "Oh, loser guy." She didn't care. "Look at those horrible things on his feet, sneaker?" She snorted. "How ridiculous, who does that?"

"Not to mention his archaic taste in fashion. What are those pants? Who wears baggy these days? And that stupid glasses!" She groaned. "Can't believe I kiss a hideous monster." She shook her head in disappointment.

"Will you look at that! He's taking a seat next to that freak Gwen." Nessa scoffed.

"What do your expect, losers befriend losers. Why are we here anyways? Come on." Kira grabbed her bag and plastic bottle of juice before standing.

"Where are we going?" Nessa frowned.

"You'll see." Kira gave a short mischievous smile.

Aksel glanced around the cafeteria which was packed with students. He had never seen anything like it except in movies, you know why? He was homeschooled. Unexpected things happened and now found himself inside the walls of the most sophisticated school in the whole country. He felt totally out of place and the incident which had happened earlier made things weirder as everyone kept staring at him for no reason. People whispered as he walked past, making snide comments. But Aksel couldn't care less about it.

He finally found an empty table which he was surprised because no one was seated at the table except an African American girl with massive curly ringlets sitting all by herself, eating peacefully. Aksel wasn't sure what to do because he found it odd, but then he walked up to her.

"Um, hey." He gave a smile but the girl didn't look back at him. "Sorry excuse me." He tried again.

She looked up, apparently surprised. "Huh?" She looked around before fixing her eyes on him. "You talking... talking to me?" Her eyes grew wide.

"Ye-yeah. Can I sit?" He asked politely.

"Su-sure. Go ahead." The girl nodded, facing her lunch.

"Thanks." Aksel pulled out a seat and sat next to her. "If you don't mind me asking," he decided to talk to her after a moment of silence. "Do you know where the music room is? I kinda got lost making my way around here." He asked her.

Gwen turned to him. "You're new, figured." She narrowed her eyes at him. "You don't happen to be the guy in the pictures of the hallway incident, do you?" She wasn't sure.

"Oh, that. I was never-" He wasn't able to complete his sentence as a cold liquid trickled down his face. Orange juice.

The girl beside him gasped in horror, and soon all eyes were on the table.

"Oops." Kira feigned a gasp. "Must be the shoes." She smirked with pride. She had literally dumped her juice on his head.

Nessa chuckled. "Way to go Kira."

Kira gave Gwen a scornful look before having a triumphant exit, strutting like the queen she was with Nessa trailing behind.

The shock on Aksel's face was inevitable. His face was wet and dripping, his shirt was ruined. He looked like a disaster.

"Yep, you're the boy." Gwen nodded. "Here." She handed him a napkin.

"Thank you." He took off his glasses wiping his eyes immediately.

"Are you alright?" Alice felt bad for the poor guy.

He looked at her and with a small smile he said "I'll be fine." Before wiping his glasses.

Gwen nodded, "You'll need to go to the bathroom." She told him.

"Yeah." Aksel nodded, trying to make everything seem okay. He stood up to leave but then turned back to look at Gwen.

"Where is the bathroom again?" He asked, confused.

"Don't worry, I'll show you." Gwen stood on her feet. She didn't mind helping him out, after all, she'd once been in his shoes.

Aksel tried to get the stickiness out, but in the end, he had to change. After he was done cleaning himself, he left the bathroom. He met Gwen waiting.

"Hey." He said, walking up to her.

"Oh hey." Gwen smiled at him. "You look not so drippy anymore."

"Yeah although it took a while to get it out of my hair. Apart from that, I'm good." He told her. "Sorry I um, I never got the name." He asked, drawing his hand for a shake.

Gwen quickly took her hand away from her pocket, taking his hand. "I'm Gwen, Gwen Hankman." She shook it firmly.

"Aksel." He said, introducing himself to her.

"Cool." She removed a stubborn strand of hair away from her lips.

"Thanks for the napkin." Aksel thanked her.

"No no, it was nothing." She shook her hand. "Just be careful, you don't want something worse." Gwen said jokingly.

He nodded, and then there was silence between the two. "Can you point which way to the music room please?" He asked.

"How about I take you there? That's where I'm heading." Gwen said to him.

"Thanks." Aksel thanked her.

"Follow me." She smiled, jerking her head towards the hallway.
✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳

Kira arrived home late after her hangout at Liam's parent's pool house with Nessa and Liam. She was going to sneak in to avoid her mom's probing questions. She tiptoed into the splendid living room silently but was caught by the caretaker- Marie.

"Oh my goodness Marie!" She whisper- yelled. "You scared the shit out of me." Kira took in a sigh of relief. "Where's mom?" She asked.

"With your father. They are both in the study." Marie informed her.

"Dad's home early? Strange." She glanced at her wristwatch. It was only 7:45. "Please don't tell them I'm home, allow me to-"

"There's no need for that. I can see you already." It was Hannah. Her mom.

"Oh, hi mom." Kira chuckled nervously.

"Where have you been young lady?" Hannah frowned slightly at her daughter.

"I was, uh, I was with Nessa." Kira answered nervously.

Hannah sighed... "I've had a long day missy, I'll deal with you later. Your dad and I have something very important to discuss with you so wash up and come down to meet us in the study, okay?"

"Right." She nodded. "I'm really sorry, I should have texted or something." Kira apologized.

Hannah exhaled slowly, "The important thing is you're home. Now go on, freshen up."

Kira nodded, before leaving her mom's presence. That was new? Her mom was known for giving her lectures for staying out late. But this was certainly new!! Her mom wasn't upset, she seemed relaxed.

Kira took off her shoes and held them in her hand before proceeding up the stairs. She opened her door, giving a tired sigh but that's when she looked around and saw someone. It was her baby brother.

"Blake? What in the world... Aren't you supposed to be asleep right now?" Kira shut the door, walking towards her brother who was going through her magazines.

Blake giggled... "You know, I know what happened today in your school." He said discarding the magazines on the table. "I'm looking for my robot car, the one daddy bought not so long ago? Have you seen it?"

Kira frowned at her brother. "What do you mean know?"

"The kids in my class who are all on Instagram showed me some pictures. You know that Jupiter girl I always talk about, her sisters are the Pinkly Gossips at your school. So her sisters posted it on Instagram." Her brother informed her.

"Do you think mom has seen the photos of my humiliation?" She asked him.

He shrugged and turned to his sister. "When you're always acting all prissy, that's what happens!" Blake taunted his sister, earning him a glare.

"You're just ten, you still pee on the bed so you don't know anything about being me. And can you leave my room, your robot isn't here." Kira shooed him away.

Blake shook his head in discontent. "I do not pee on the bed! By the way, you look artificially dolled with all the terrible makeup you wear." He shuddered, eyeing her up and down.

"That's it Blake, get out." She pulled him by the hand, dragging him out of the room. "If you don't stay out, I'm gonna tell daddy that you've been snooping around his stuff, plus you broke his expensive porcelain vase." Kira said opening the door.

"And I'll tell him you were with Liam at the pool house yesterday, making out." Blake stuck a mocking tongue out at her.

She mimicked him... "Alright big guy, you win. Goodnight." She was about to slam the door when he stopped her.

"Wait." He held his small hand out to stop her.

Kira groaned, "what now?"

"Some people came in today. They came with entourages, big black cars. It was weird. I thought maybe it was the president but I didn't see him." Blake said to her.

"Might be dad's big client." Kira shrugged, not really interested.

"I thought the same but mommy was involved too. It looked serious and you know mommy doesn't get involved if it isn't serious." He told Kira.

"Is that so?" Kira didn't know what to think. Come to think of it, why was her mom so serious about having a talk with her? Had she done something bad? Was she in some kind of big trouble?

"Alright bye!" Blake waved, strolling away to his room.

Kira closed her door. Sometimes, she wondered if her brother was really ten because he talked way more sensible and mature for his age. She was closer to her baby brother than her sister Rhea. Her relationship with Rhea was estranged, they were never bonding. Even though it wasn't always like that.