Three days earlier

There were two things Neo loved - himself, and himself. But there was one thing Neo hated - this godforsaken school.

Okay, maybe he didn't entirely hate St. Aphrodite's. He hated the fact that the school had been a dumping ground for his parents. He hated how it was so easy and so damn convenient for them to throw him in this boarding school the moment they agreed he wasn't profitable. Not like his sister Nikki.

He loved his sister - in fact, she was the closest he had to family. They were twins after all. But while Nikki Chronicle was out there making her name and continuing the family legacy, Neo had been-

Forgotten.

He hated that word. And he most certainly hated the past.

And so he focused on the present, because this moment made him smile and was a memory he knew he would not hate.

Standing in front of the closed doors of a hospital recovery room, Laena nudged his arm. "You zoned out. Focus."

He pouted, "Am I not allowed to daydream about their reactions the moment we walk through these doors?"

Earning his timeless favourite look on his best friend's face - her eye roll -  they twisted the knob, intentionally loud to mark their entrance, and strutted in.

It was an angry Maliqa they were met with first. "Get out."

"And hello to you too," he greeted sarcastically. Laena made her way to the armchair near the room and sat, one leg folded atop the other.

Dylan, who was standing next to the bed, shot a stern look towards Laena, "How come the nurse did not inform us of any visitors?"

Neo shrugged, "We beat the nurse."

"Came here to recreate a scene from Cars, Nemo? How unproductive," he tutted.

"I didn't know you had a fetish for Pixar movies. Oh and by the way, it's Neo," throwing him a wink. Neo knew this was petty but he couldn't help himself. He was allowed to be a teenager.

He walked closer to Laena's armchair and mimicked headlines, "News flash: Dylan Jonas caught masturbating to Toy Story."

Dylan glared, then shifted his attention towards Maliqa and Laena. The pair seemed to be having a staredown.

Maliqa had always been the lioness of the group. Even when Jayce and her were together, it always seemed as though she didn't want anybody touching him, except for her. Even though Neo was exceptional at spying and digging up information on anyone and anything, he still could not figure out why they broke up. Not that he cared, but it would have been good information to use against them.Blackmail was his forte afterall.

It was only then that it struck him - the man of the hour was not here. Maliqa and Dylan were next to an empty bed. The only hint that Jayce was here was that the sheets were ruffled.

Neo shifted his attention to the girl on the armchair next to him. Laena was a person who planned her every move till perfection. She made no mistakes. She had come here with a goal and she was going to achieve it. It took him a moment, but he then understood that she was waiting for something. For someone. For the right moment. They all were. Bickering with Dylan had just been a way to pass the time.

Just then, the nurse walked in, "Mr. Ashfield, you have visi-" She threw a frown at me. "You came in here unannounced, invading the patient's privacy, young man."

Laena was hidden behind his body - not that she aimed at it, but everything always seemed to work in her favour. While the universe worked against certain people, it also seemed to be partial to others.

Neo cocked his head, feigning innocence. The nurse only shook her head,sighed and mumbled, "Kids these days."

The door closed.

Let the real games begin, Neo thought.

The bathroom door opened, revealing a fully cleaned and dressed Jayce. No one would have guessed he had been the one admitted.

Neo blinked - Jayce was already pinning her down onto the bed, both of them thrashing at each other while trying to be as quiet as possible as to not alert the nurse. I don't need to worry. Laena would never go down without a fight.

Another blink. Pain shot through his jaw. Blink. His ribs.

Adrenaline kicked in and his eyes zeroed in on the assailant. Seems Pixar boy wanted a taste. Neo smiled, chest heaving as he licked the sweet taste of blood from his lip.

He forced Dylan onto the wall, threw two punches. Jaw. Ribs. Dylan forced them to the floor - a wave of pain as Neo's back took the impact. He was quick to twist their position. Straddling Dylan, he aimed a punch at his nose.

Crunch

Only to be met with an upper-cut. Neo's head whipped up. He saw stars. "Neo," he heard Laena call. That was his signal. To call it off and get the job done.

Dylan was fast but Neo was faster. He grabbed Dylan's leg, pivoted him the other way round. Stepped harshly onto his back. Grabbed his arm - lifted and twisted it back. Way too back. One wrong pull and Dylan would be the one admitted.

Across the room, Laena and Jayce were still at it. Their blows were harder. Their limbs were swifter. Each move was calculated, precise, delicate. Neo couldn't help but admit: the two of them made fighting seem like a dance.

Only their dance was interrupted by Maliqa, who was trying to break it off. "Enough." Her were firmly laid out between the two of them. She wore her hijab loose today, unlike in school where she always had it tightly high up. It was a brown that made her tan skin seem to glow. The whole outfit paired well with her usual nose ring.

Neo couldn't help but notice these little things. He was raised in a family of models after all. Fashion was in his blood. Plus, Maliqa was the fashion queen of St. Aphrodite's and she strutted around like she damn well knew it.

Dylan wriggled underneath him. Neo only twisted his arm further back. 'Shut it."

"Why are you here, Laena? Just couldn't wait till school started, could you?" Maliqa scoffed.

Laena, retreating from her fighting stance responded, "I've come to see my work of art. Seems he's faring well," throwing a nod at Jayce.

Jayce placed his hands in his pocket, "You thought you could break me?" He walked closer to Laena as Maliqa carefully moved out of the way, throwing a warning look at the girl.

"Everyone has a breaking point, Jayce," she sneered. "You just have to find it."

"Then I wish you all the best, Laena King. May we find each other's breaking points." They weren't smiling. Their faces were so close that Neo swore they shared a breath.

"Get out, Laena." Maliqa's face was unreadable, expressionless. Neo knew this wasn't regular Maliqa. Regular Maliqa owned her resting bitch face. She owned it and wielded that weapon everyday that once, even a teacher shivered. But ever since the break-up, Maliqa had been... different.

Laena glanced at Neo. That was their exit. Neo harshly let go of Dylan's arm and gave him a goodbye-kick in the ribs. He was up in an instant, glaring at Neo. "Fuck you."

"Everyone wants to fuck me, D. You're not the first." He winked saucily at Dylan then returned to Laena's side as they left the room. She dallied by the door, "Get well soon, Ashfield. See you in a day's time." Without even looking, Neo could already feel the smirk on Laena's face, and the glares from the trio in the room.

The pair breezed past that same nurse - she seemed to be running towards Jayce's room. Neo nearly laughed, only to be stopped by Laena who nudged him in the ribs. She laid out her hand as if expecting something from him. So he passed over Dylan's phone, which he managed to snatch during their little brawl. Laena was now holding three smartphones in her hand as if they were mere playing cards.

That was what they had come for. Mission accomplished. Neo let out a satisfactory smile.

"Get rid of any recordings from the Mid-Summer event or today. Ensure they have no backups," she ordered. Laena was clean and thorough. She left no traces. And Neo made sure of that, thanks to his expertise.

Neo nodded. "You know, I never pegged Jayce for an Android user. Figured he was more of a - he made air quotes, "apple-kind-of-guy."

Laena made a cheeky expression, "You owe me 5 pounds."

It was his turn to roll his eyes, "Ugh, cut me some slack."

His best friend's laughter  made him smile even wider.

* * *

"Butter or jam?"

"Nutella."

"And I wonder why I'm even related to you." Nikki, his twin sister, slapped her forehead through their video call. "Two options, Neo," she lifted two fingers, "two options. Just choose."

"I mean," he replied while working on his eyeliner, "butter and jam's kind of basic. Nutella has flavour." Finishing his signature eye make-up, he fish-lipped at the mirror, praising himself. He never went anywhere without eyeliner. Sometimes, it was light, sometimes heavy. It depended on Neo's mood.

"Let me see, let me see," she called. He lifted his phone that had been sitting against his dressing table's mirror. "Ooo, you nailed the wing this time."

"Thanks. It's a new brush. The other brand was a little dry and thick."

"Hey, do you want some of mine? I have tons of them here that I don't use." Nikki received many sponsored items - that she didn't need - and was constantly trying to shove them at Neo. But his answer was the same each time.

"Nah, don't need it."

This was their routine. After a shower was 'make-up sesh' with his sister as he prepared for dinner. But since she was always moving around, the siblings now hung out online as much as they could in between Nikki's hectic schedule. It was always him in his dorm room and Nikki... well she was everywhere. Different parts of the world in a matter of months either attending fashion shows, participating in beauty pageants, smiling for cosmetic brands at their photoshoots - the list could go on and on.

It wasn't that Neo was jealous. No, never. He loved his sister with all his heart. They were inseparable. But it always hit him each time their parents smiled at Nikki, their golden child and walked past Neo, as if he were a mere shadow.

He was never enough for them. No matter how hard he tried.

No. Laena told me not to let the past haunt me. I'm indestructible.

Nikki's voice woke him out of his trance, "Earth to Neo? You there? Or is it my Wi-fi?" She was clad in a crimson dress that made her dark brown hair glow. A stylist was adding a final powder-run to her face.

"Must be your shitty Wi-fi. Hey, where are you now, anyways?"

"Milan," her answer was abrupt. From the background, he could see the stylists leaving the room.

Even through the screen, he could feel her looking him straight in the eye. He looked back. They shared the same eyes, something he always loved about them. They were sharp and naturally winged-shaped. Although their parents had hooded Oriental eyes, the twins came out with different ones completely. Their eyes were distinctive. Sharp. Elegantly curated with long, black eyelashes. The first thing a person would notice when looking at them would definitely be their eyes.

"Okaasan and Dad are calling us home this winter break," she let out with a sigh.

Okaasan and Dad. Their parents. The last Neo saw them was three years ago when he was 13 - just before he was enrolled. From her sigh, he figured it had been a while since Nikki had seen them too.

"Oh," he let out, mind elsewhere.

Okaasan. Dad. Home.

Words that he had not used in a long time. They felt foreign to him. While everyone else returned home, he spent the last three Christmases here in the school filled with video calls with his sister and simple presents they posted to each other.

He wasn't completely oblivious - the school had passed on the message from them a few days back. They didn't even bother telling us themselves-

No. He would fight this anger. I'm indestructible.

He looked back at his sister as they threw each other smiles of sympathy. That was the best they could offer each other. He knew well that neither of them enjoyed talking about their parents. They would go back, fulfil their requirements as children, then return to their own lives.

Nikki shrugged, "On the bright side, we get to see each other after three whole years."

"Yeah."

Silence. A moment of peace between the two. A moment of understanding.

The 7 o'clock bell chimed in the distance meaning it was time for Neo to head to dinner. Through the screen, he noted Nikki's stylist had returned to the room and was calling her to leave.

One nod to each other, and they knew it was time to cut the call.

"I love you, brother."

"Love you too, sis."

* * *

Dinner was at 7:30 pm at the Banquet Hall today as it had been for the whole of orientation week. Orientation week was spent in the Grand Entrance block and the dormitories - students were not allowed access to the learning facilities yet. The board ensured something new was added to the school every year to awe new parents and attract more sponsors. And so currently, Education Square was undergoing renovations.

Neo made his way out of his dorm room, fresh in a maroon sweater that fit perfectly to his body - not too tight, not too loose and in his favourite pair of black jeans. Through the mirrors lining the corridor, he checked himself. The boy was tall and usually mistaken for skinny, though he was not. Per usual, his eyes were the most noticeable of his features, complemented by the little pair of dangly earrings he selected for the night. He pushed the sleeves of his sweater up to his elbows like always and proceeded onward.

Only to be yanked into a dorm room, forcefully, and pinned against the shut door.

For fuck's sake-

A pair of lips smashed into him, disabling his ability to breath or speak. The person's tongue forced open his mouth and claimed him as if Neo was his. He tried to push the person away as gently as he could but the person only pressed his body closer. The heat of the other boy's body only made Neo cringe. The press of his hardness made him cringe even harder.

When the boy finally broke to break for air, Neo gasped, "Josh, stop this, please-"

Josh ignored Neo and shut him up again with another forceful kiss. He began trailing kisses down Neo's neck.

"Enough of this Josh," Neo laid his head on the door, frustrated. But Josh again waved off Neo's words and sneaked his way under his sweater, running a hand up and down his mildly-muscled chest. Neo did his best to keep in the sounds he so desperately wanted to make.

But Josh had found just the right place - he bit the spot just under Neo's earlobe, letting out a breath of hot hair against it. Neo let out an unstoppable moan.

Josh finally spoke,"That's what I wanted to hear," then proceeded to trail his lips down Neo's chest. A lick to each of his nipples and another moan slipped out.

"That's it,"Josh spoke.

"Stop it. I already told you, I'm not into you, so let me go."

"Make me."

Neo very well could. He could have easily shoved Josh off but - his heart wouldn't allow it. He didn't like Josh, no. But he knew that this boy, two years older than him, had liked him for  a very long time. And deep down, some part of Neo knew what it was like to be rejected and neglected. The least he allowed himself  was gently saying no to Josh. He could easily say a few harsh words and break the boy forever but - if the positions were reversed, Neo knew it would kill him.

And Laena had been very blunt about this - that Neo's weakness was that he cared too much about people.

"Josh, please. I'm not enjoying this," Neo tried in a slightly firmer tone.

"Oh yeah? Then explain what happened on the night of the after-party."

Two months ago. The Mid-Summer Gala. The after-party.

The alcohol had destroyed him. Moreover, this was a few days after he had received the message from his parents. So after successfully crushing Jayce, Neo allowed himself the oblivion the wine and beer had to offer.

He had partied his head off and somehow managed to return to the boys' dormitories, inhibition and mind thrown into the bin. And so when Josh found him, Neo let himself get lost. It was only the morning after when he woke up with a piercing headache and a sleeping Josh when he realised he had gone too far.

'Irresponsible boy,' his parents' words from the past had echoed.
    He had given Josh false hope, and the guilt tore at him ever since.
    When Neo quit his daze, Josh was already unbuckling Neo's jeans.

Knock, knock sounded loudly through the door. Laena.

Josh peeled away, both boys still breathing heavily. "Next time," he muttered and walked away. He hoped there wouldn't have to be a next time.

* * *

Laena was a tigress. The moment he heard those two knocks, he was more tense than relieved. For he knew she would make Josh suffer twice what he inflicted on Neo. So he had to skillfully slide out of the door with the least space required then shut it as quickly as he could to avoid her from pouncing in.

The pair now made their way silently to the banquet hall for dinner. Laena was pissed. And an angry Laena King was dangerous. He would know.

He began, "Right, so are you going to say something? Or are you going to-"

"What are you going to do, Neo?" She spoke in her tone that meant she was doing her best to hold herself back.

"What do you mean-"

"So you're going to let him keep harassing you like that?"  she pressed.

"It's not like that-"

"It is, Neo. It is. This is harassment. Josh is sexually harassing you."

He stopped in his tracks. Accounts from the past flooded into his mind; Josh touching him despite his pleas to stop, his guilt at giving him false hope. He hadn't realised the magnitude of the situation.

He loved Laena for how direct and point-blank she was. But sometimes, her blows hit hard. Though each time, he knew he needed her blows, despite how painful it could be.

But right now, he didn't know what to make of the situation. His breathing started accelerating.

"Quit it," Laena snapped at his face. "Look at me. Now," she ordered.

He whipped his head towards her, grateful to be focusing on something.

His breathing slowed. "Wh-what do I do? I-I- this is - was it really that bad?"

She did not respond.

"Laena-"

"Calm down, Neo."

"Laena, please-"

"Breathe." Her tone was firm. Looked him dead in the eye. And so he took a few deep breaths, and settled down.

Only then did she say,"I will not tell you what to do. Everything is in your own hands, Neo. But I can make a few suggestions."

He let out a puff of air, "Okay." He hadn't realised that Laena had guided them to the art gallery in the Grand Entrance. They were secluded. Safe. He breathed again.

"My first suggestion is to report him. You don't have to if you don't want to - it's only a suggestion," she said. He admired how objective this girl was. When someone was down in the dumps, she wasn't the kind who sat down next to someone and let them cry on her shoulder. She planned the next steps to ensure your safety. The next steps to take down whoever hurt them. Her tone was never soothing but she was there to help. In her own way. She was the best friend he could ever ask for.

"Okay," he contemplated. "I'll think about it."

She nodded and began walking away.

"Wait - your second suggestion?" he asked while trying to catch up to her.

She shrugged, "You know me, Neo."

And his guess was right.

"We make Josh suffer ten times more for what he did to you."

* * *

Sitting in the middle of the bustling buffet setting, Laena scrolled through her phone. "That's all you're having tonight?"

"Yeah. Not hungry," was his usual reply. Laena merely nodded. She knew why he never ate as much as the rest.

Neo never snacked. Even during proper meal times, he was extremely cautious of his diet. Every breakfast, lunch or dinner was torture. Every plate of food raised fear in him. Laena knew why and he respected that she never pestered him about it.

She plopped her phone face-down on the table. "Sent it to you. Recruitment list for this year."

Neo smiled mischievously and rubbed his hands together. He fished his phone out of his pocket and looked at the burner text Laena had sent him.

"Wait - only two recruits this year? Laens, we had like, more than 10 last year."

"Trust me, Neo."

He looked at the profiles again. One was a boy he swore he had seen in their year group before. Miguel Hermanos, it read. Another was a girl with rose-gold glasses and short hair. Amita Chandran. He searched his brain for a memory of her and came out with... nothing.

"The girl's new," Laena confirmed. She pointed to a girl sitting at one of the tables far from them. She was furiously reading a book as she progressed through her food.

"Noted."

"You get the girl, I get the boy," she said as she rose from her seat. Neo followed.

"You got it," he winked back.

Starting the term with a kidnapping? Easy.