The ear-splitting sound of the East Hampton Military School trumpet sent Erika Felix jolting upright, the horribly grey dorm room and the light shedding in through the divided window over her bed greeting her tired vision.

As usual, she had a series of emotions that might as well have been a yoga vinyasa.

1. The 'Where the Hell is she,' panic which consisted of short, quickened breaths and hyperventilating.

2. The 'Oh my gosh, I'm still in military school,' realization in which Erika Felix went into a simulation of cardiac arrest.

And finally, three; the 'I'm in military school and no one is coming to get me,' acceptance which Erika practically forced herself to hurdle through as she staggered out of bed, nearly falling face first on the wooden floor.

She used Cash Caldwell's equally dull bed sheets to pick herself up, her roommate's bed tidy and perfectly made like a meticulously-wrapped Christmas present. It was no surprise that Cash was already on her merry way to First Quarter before the bell even rang but Erika was far too muddled to even consider being a snooping bitch. She felt as if someone had taken the contents of her mind - everything she knew, everything she was certain of - and dumped it all inside a Vitamix Blender.

Begrudgingly, Erika sifted through her bunker until she produced a fresh new tacky uniform, tossing it on her bed and pulling out her boots - that needed a new shining ASAP - up by the shoelaces. Just thinking about wearing the school's dire clothing again made Erika slightly puke in her mouth, however, she had to take a deep breath and remind herself that this was she wanted.

She was no longer Erika Felix, Queen of Beverly Hills, Alabaster Preparatory School, and Rodeo Drive. That was why she hadn't tried to escape back to her kingdom in the first place. She was just a defeated, crazy, bastard, gay child of Matthew Felix and in order to fall with grace, she had to accept her fate - which wasn't working out exactly.

Not when all she could think about was her godawful file and the name Gabrielle Lakemond on the space reserved for Parent/Guardian! Why was Lakemond on her file? And what did that even mean?

Erika had a feeling she knew. In fact, she could feel the answer vividly in the back of her mind but she refused to entertain it.

She couldn't.

Standing upright with her fashion-assaulting clothes and boots, Erika padded out of the room, mechanically joining the busy throng of girls in horrid camouflage emerging from their dorms, lingering in the glossy tudor hallway, or practically running to their classes whilst still jumping into their pants.

Yet despite the hasty mood of the morning, that didn't stop the news of a student escaping to spread like last season's hand-me-downs. However, East Hampton military institute wasn't like Alabaster where gossip was fun, devious, and exciting. The 'cadets' talked like robotic newscasters as if everyone were far too fidgety to share an opinion.

"Jared Hayward got out last night. He still hasn't been caught."

"How unfortunate for the school. "

"They chased him across the field the entire night. Apparently, he took Janitor Edd's uniform and got past the cameras."

"Some might consider that clever or very disappointing."

"Check out the bulletin in the auditorium if you want more information."

Erika shuffled towards the dormitory bathroom, girls shoving her nonchalantly as they passed, all wearing glowers as if to say, 'this is for Cash.' However, Erika felt completely numb to each and every leer. All this time, she'd been fighting her enrollment at this atrocity of an institute and yet now, she'd never felt so rested with surrendering to it.

Ignoring a young Katie Holmes-lookalike who shoved her hard, hissing "bully," under her breath, Erika marched on to the bathrooms, the light buzz of chatter accompanied with the loud melody of the school trumpet dissipating into the background as she shut the door behind her.

Addie Anderson and Tawny Fawcett were leaning on the sinks, Tawny desperately dabbing school lotion on her freckles, and Addie standing to the side and biting her chewed nails. They both turned to look as Erika came in, Tawny glaring and Addie attempting a glare as she started to tug on a pink split end.

However, no one spoke and Erika didn't even have the urge to cackle at the fact they were truly wannabes without Cash Caldwell around. Instead, she simply slipped into one of the showers and closed the pearly white curtain, breathing a sigh of relief when the lukewarm water from the showerhead rained down on her.

When she was in solitary confinement, she had been sure she was going to be stuck there for the rest of her life like a peasant in a jail cell - and yet it'd been a Caldwell of all people to get her out of solitaire in the first place. Silk Caldwell, the prettier, fashionable, version of Cash had convinced the school Warden to let Erika off on her offenses and at least give her access back to her dorm and so, Erika was able to sleep on a slightly-but-not-really comfy bed and return to all of her strenuous classes.

Silk saved Erika from enclosed spaces and the lack of sanity simply because she was dating her brother, Damon. Which only made Erika's stomach churn now. Just the thought of her overrated brother knowing of her disgraceful whereabouts was a torture in itself because that meant Damon wasn't in Juvie.

It meant Damon wasn't being punished at all and was probably having the time of his life, enough time to even find a new girlfriend.

Which meant Matthew Felix only seen Erika as one deserving of punishment. Not his beloved son who'd literally crashed his favorite car...

Turning off the shower and pulling on her camouflage uniform, Erika squeaked out of the shower and over to the sink, duly examining her bloodshot hazel eyes and frizzy auburn hair with disdain. For once, she didn't even have the will to brush her hair. She simply brushed her teeth, washed her hands, and turned on the heel of her splotchy boot - and then Addie Anderson was grabbing her arm, barely shrieking, "E-Erika, wait!"

Bewildered, Erika spun around to see Addie having moved from her perch near the corner sinks, the pink-haired girl's hand snapping back and Tawny frozen stiffly behind her.

"What?" Erika asked, not caring that she sounded like an emo zombie in battle gear. She could imagine what Addie was going to say, or to be more accurate, stutter.

However, instead of stuttering out a lame comeback of victory, Addie unflinchingly looked Erika in the eye. "What-what-what, um, whatever you do," She stuttered determinedly and then took a breath and started again. "Whatever you do...don't trust Cash."

Erika managed to frown. "Why would I trust Cash? I'm not an idiot. I'm not you."

Addie didn't give an explanation, sheepishly lowering her head and hurrying out the bathroom just as the final trumpet sounded.

ⓁⓊⓍⓊⓇⓎ

Erika's First Quarter of Beginner Therapy had seemed to drastically change since the two nights she'd spent in Solitary Confinement. It was still the same dreadful Room A21 she remembered; boring, grey chairs situated in a semi-circle with Lakemond's burgundy cushioned armchair at the center. However, the spacious section for sprints across the room remained unused nearly the entire quarter and Jared 'Hair God' Hayward's seat was empty - not that Erika was protesting.

Instead of physical activity to "stimulate their troubled minds," Lakemond equipped with her icy, blue stare and a wooden clipboard, had everyone make confessions and revelations about what could possibly be wrong with them to end up in a place like the East Hampton Military Institute.

"It turns out, I'm a kleptomaniac and I think it's because when I was five, my mom donated all 84 of my Christmas presents to starving kids in Africa and I didn't think that was very fair so I started stealing...and then it turned into stealing 4 million dollars worth of dresses from Bergdorf, whoops." (Bob-cut girl.)

"I didn't really like Austin, you know the, uh, Democrat boy? I just dated him because my parents are sooo pro-Trump and I knew that'd be a brilliant way to piss them off because....they never pay attention to me." (Tawny.)

"I think I did the race car thing because it makes me feel like I'm about to run off the road and die...and I like feeling like I'm about to die." (Nail-biting boy.)

"I'm a shitty person and all I have going for me is the fact my parents are rich and paying my way to Harvard and knowing that makes me feel like I don't deserve to even live sometimes. Especially when I hear about other people struggling." (Random boy.)

"I'll be honest. I don't care that I burned my step-mother's mansion down. I told Dad not to buy that gold digging bitch a house because she's just using him but he never listens so I burned it down and I'd do it again if I could." (Self-proclaimed Trust Fund baby.)

Despite Lakemond gripping each and every student with her harsh gaze and practically shaking their deepest, darkest emotions from the depths of their souls, that didn't stop the cold glares Erika felt every time she turned her head. Jared had been right. Cash controlled the school and now that everyone thought Erika had punched the hell out of her and was sent to Solitary Confinement for it, she was public enemy number one.

Yet all Erika could do was reminence about the days when she'd had that power herself.

'Oh well.' She was officially the wannabe, 'No-Don't-Even-Try,' of East Hampton Military Institute and strangely, she didn't care.

"Erika - erm, Cadet Felix, anything you'd like to share with us?"

Erika looked up from her fidgety hands in her lap to see Lakemond turning her icy, blue stare on her slumped form. She knew she was supposed to answer, supposed to say something, but Erika suddenly found herself engulfed in the most peculiar moment of almost her entire life.

She could see it...

Lakemond's icy, blue eyes were a vivid blue. So blue, in fact, that the hue was nearly a perfect match to the color of the ocean itself. Lakemond's eyes were an ocean blue...like Damon's.

"Cadet?" Lakemond pressed, raising an eyebrow in that way that reminded Erika of...herself.

Shaking her head as if to ward off the horrid thought creeping in, Erika tried to find something to say. Something that sounded groundbreaking to get Lakemond off her case - not that anything her peers had said were even the slightest bit groundbreaking. "I can't say I really learned anything since I was wrongfully sent to solitary confinement," She found herself spatting and she heard a couple of snickers.

Lakemond didn't budge, shifting her clipboard to her other hand.'Even her scrutinizing glare is the same!' "Well then, Cadet, tell us what you learned while you were placed wrongfully in solitaire." She snapped, a sarcastic edge to the word, 'wrongfully,' that awoke an urge in Erika that almost seemed foreign now.

No way could Lakemond be who she thought she was, Erika hated the woman with a passion!

And yet Erika couldn't help but see the similarities. Lakemond was a bitch and while she had a more uniformed way of being one, Erika could see there was a calculated way in which she went about her female dog ways and if the saying, 'Like Mother, Like Daughter,' was indeed true...

"Would you like to give a thoughtful answer, Cadet, or would you prefer to get a few sprints into your morning routine?" Lakemond asked snidely, gesturing grandly towards the dreaded spacious section of the boringly grey room. "You're more than welcome to."

Erika could feel everyone's eyes on her as she involuntarily scowled at their teacher/torturer - and then she remembered there wasn't any use in fighting back. No one was coming to get her anyway. It was as if Erika had to mentally go through her vinyasa of military school acceptance. She was here, this was her punishment and she had accepted it.

Might as well get her suffering's worth.

Taking a deep sigh, Erika stared down at her not-so-shined black boots knocking on the back legs of her chair and the glossy, cherry wooden floor. "While I was locked away, I realized I'm...I realized I'm just as pathetic as everyone else," She admitted somberly and before she could even stop them, tears were streaming down her cheeks. "I'm a loser. I'm gay, I don't have any friends, everyone hates me, my father hates me and it just isn't - ugh, it is fair. It's fair but it's.."

Erika could barely finish and she hurriedly wiped away her tears before they could overtake her. There was no way she was going to be the first to break down in Beginner Therapy. She'd be damned if she cracked before the boy who hates being rich.

No one said a word, some looking down at the floor, as Erika desperately tried to clean up her disheveled form - and then Lakemond finally averted her gaze, clearing her throat in a sophisticated manner. "Thank you, Erika - I mean, Cadet Felix, for participating. That's quite impressive progress for someone like you," She said, the awkward strain in her voice unfitting with her uniformed tone. "But, Cadet, you're not pathetic. Certainly not for being gay.....now, Cadet Fawcett, tell us-"

"Are you my mother?" Erika blurted before she could stop herself.

The room fell deathly silent, the piercing sound of trust-fund-poster-child dropping his ballpoint pen bouncing off the sleek reflecting walls. Lakemond froze midway in shifting her intense gaze on freckle-faced Tawny, wearing the same look she'd had when Erika had practically begged her to save her from solitary confinement. She had caught the stern officer off guard.

As if the world had slowed on its axis, Lakemond slowly turned to Erika, an unreadable expression spreading over her shock and Erika didn't realize every fiber was awaiting this question until it was about to be answered.

While the Felix's envied reputation was spotless in Beverly Hills, it was actually everything but. Damon wasn't Erika's brother, he was her half brother....and her cousin. Damon's mother wasn't her mother, Glory Felix had been her aunt. And where was her real mother, the lost twin sister who'd given birth to her and disappeared? Erika didn't know, she never wanted to know, because it was easier to brush that detail under the rug and excel until Daddy loved her just as much as his legitimate son.

But now Erika needed to know because Matthew hated her and always would...which meant she was literally nothing.

"Cadet, this is not the time for such a discussion," was all Lakemond said, all she allowed Erika to have and at that moment, the door to Room A21 swung open and grabbed the attention of the forlorn class.

Another tacky-clad officer stood in the doorway, an emotionless, robotic expression on his face as he read from a clipboard. "Is a Cadet Erika Felix in this classroom?"

Erika blinked rapidly, forcing her eyes away from the mystery at the center of the semi-circle and raised her hand. "...I'm Erika Felix." If she was being subjected back to solitary confinement, she'd gladly welcome it now.

However, the officer only nodded solemnly and gestured for her to stand up. "You've been given an off-campus pass for the day. Your brother's here to pick you up."

ⓁⓊⓍⓊⓇⓎ

Erika Felix walked dazedly towards the East Hampton Military Institute parking lot, boots sinking in dewy grass. The parking lot was hidden behind shrubs and greenery, out of sight from the view of the dormitories and large english-styled building. And it was painfully empty besides the Nissans, Chevrolets and one lone Ferrari that looked nothing like Damon Felix's taste - which consisted vaguely of Rolls Royces and Bentleys. In fact, Erika was pretty sure Damon hated Ferraris.

'So why does he have one?'

Erika slowed down, taking a peek over her shoulder to see the school security still watching her from the top of the vividly green field. Then she squinted her hazel eyes, trying to see past the tinted windows of the sleek, blue-silver Ferrari F60 but could barely make out a figure.

Sighing, she trekked over to the car and with every step, she became increasingly aware of how horrible she looked and how bizarre it was to have her brother of all people coming to visit. Her hair was a frizzy mess, she was dressed in tacky camouflage, and she was about to spend a day with her god awful brother who was the last person she wanted to see her like this; pathetic, defeated and broken.

She didn't need to see firsthand how glorious and free Damon was and she certainly didn't want to hear how ecstatic her father was now that she was gone.

Erika felt herself start to hyperventilate, something she wasn't even aware she could do, and suddenly the feeling of bile rising up her throat made her want to bend over and hurl. Hugging herself so tight that she was practically blocking her airways, Erika ambled hesitantly over to the Ferrari, trying to put on her best glare whilst simultaneously wishing a Lexus would crash through the surrounding brush and run her over.

What were they even going to talk about? How Erika was officially the black sheep of the Felix legacy? Or gush over Damon's new girlfriend - whom Erika guiltily liked a little too much herself.

Erika never thought she'd be freaking out, especially freaking out over her brother who was as dumb as the celebrity-stalkers poisoning Rodeo Drive. It was as if her mind was malfunctioning and suddenly she had no idea how to treat her brother. Maybe it was because things weren't the same and never would be.

Because she knew now, even if she had to literally lose her mind to realize it.

'Damon loves you,' her ludicrous imagination had said and yet Erika realized it was true, it always had been. In fact, she'd known longer than she acknowledged it - and now she had no idea how to approach him.

As she neared the luxurious vehicle and the tinted window of the passenger seat leisurely lowered, Erika readied her glare, only realizing too late that maybe she should have greeted with a smile instead.

Not that it mattered because Damon Felix wasn't driving the Ferrari at all.

"Silk?" Erika gasped incredulously, having to scrutinize the gorgeous girl lowering the passenger window. As a Caldwell, the girl's similarities to Cash was uncanny.

Silk Caldwell pushed a pair of black cat-eye Versace sunglasses atop her head of long, coily curls. "Hop in, I'm here to whisk you away to Mexico!" She exclaimed giddily, her accent aesthetically-pleasing to the ears.

Erika found herself smiling, even when she was absolutely miserable. "I thought my brother was here to pick me up." Although she was relieved it was the "tolerable Caldwell" instead.

Silk laughed nonchalantly, almond-shaped brown eyes crinkling. "I wanted to surprise you!"

"Why? You barely even know me." Erika stated, raising an eyebrow that she just knew wasn't as elegant as it used to be.

"Erika, we're family now and as family, I am obligated to save you when you're rotting away at a tragic military school," Silk insisted, opening the passenger door for Erika. "No offense but you look like you need a nice day at the The Baker Spa - and maybe a quality shampoo and conditioner, your hair is a mess," She slightly leaned towards Erika, so close that Erika could smell her Yves Saint Laurent Fragrance. "Also your pores are screaming for moisturizer, you're breaking out."

Erika couldn't even protest as she slid into the car, the air conditioning hitting her like a cool breeze. "Honestly, you could drive me to the slums and leave me there and I'd be thankful." She replied glumly, crossing her arms tightly across her chest.

Silk revved up the expensive engine and grinned. "Or I could just get you out of here and never come back, it could be like Bridesmaids, the sister-in-law edition!"

"Are you and Damon really that serious?" Erika asked, realizing her voice was tinged by 'are-you-for-real?' and 'you-can-do-better,' all at the same time.

Silk didn't look like the girls Damon was usually fooling around with. While it was obvious she was sixteen, she had a more sophisticated city girl look to her as if she were far too superior for mere teenage boys. Even her current outfit - a flowy, silk blue Johnny Was top, vintage black Eileen Fisher skinny jeans, and a navy/onyx Brunello Cucinelli fox-fur scarf that screamed Spring snaked around her model neck - was the epitome of elegant New Yorker with more important matters to consider.

Silk didn't answer Erika's question, simply giving another island-flavored giggle and pulling out of the parking lot as Lady Gaga's 'Fashion!' began to blare from the Ferrari's impressive speakers.

All the while, Erika could only watch with a mixture of relief and unexplainable fear as East Hampton Military Institute turned into nothing but a blur in the rearview mirrors. She was really leaving, even if it was only for a day - and yet she had an urge to jump out of the car and storm right back into Room A21 and get the answer she'd been waiting for.

She rested her palms on the sill of the car window, the Ferrari suddenly speeding down the edge of a breathtaking freeway overlooking greenery and the East Hampton Main Beach.

And then she decided worrying aimlessly about life in general was pitiful and sat upright, ignoring the weighing feeling of being some psychotic mental patient escaping for a day out on the city. "How were you able to get me an off-campus pass? I thought no one's allowed to leave." When Jared Hayward had described the military school, he'd acted as if it was a reincarnation of Alcatraz.

"Oh, it was easy," Silk answered dismissively, eyes on the empty freeway sprawling out before them. "All I had to do was ask my uncle for an off-campus pass and that was that. I get special props because I'm his favorite niece."

"Clearly, Cash must be the disappointment since he didn't pull any strings to get her out," Erika tsked, the thought only offering a pint of comfort.

"Actually, Uncle loves Cash," Silk snapped abruptly.

Erika raised an eyebrow. "Then why is she in military school?"

"Because! It's her sick parents. They don't care about her, they think she's some kind of abomination to the family. It's really sad."

"I'd think my daughter was an abomination too if she looked at anime adaptions of Fifty Shades of Grey," Erika snickered, sinking into her seat - and Silk scoffed as if she'd just been offended.

"She's not in military school for being an anime lover - which there is nothing wrong with that, by the way," She explained passionately. "Her parents think she's a nutcase. Her mother actually called her a nutcase to her face too. They said she was too crazy to be apart of the family and they didn't want to keep sending her to a psychiatrist because people started talking...so she got sent away and they won't let her come back..."

An odd, unsettling silence fell over the car, nothing but Abra belting out Vegas over the speakers to fill the void.

Erika studied Silk for a moment, the girl's brown eyes still glued to the road as she turned off the freeway and on to the familiar streets showcasing luxurious Hampton beach houses. "Oh," was all she could say to that story. Sure, she hated Cash's guts but something about the story of being sent away because she was "too crazy" hit a nerve.

"I'm guessing you feel bad for her?" Erika quizzed, wondering then if Damon felt bad for her, stowed away at a torturous institution for being "too gay".

Silk's almond-brown eyes met Erika's in the rear view mirror. "Of course, she's my twin sister and it's unfair! It's not my fault that I have a disorder, it's not like I asked to be crazy but they treat me like I'm some burden and it doesn't help that I had bitches like you bullying me over my love for anime either."

Erika took in the girl's words solemnly - and then froze. 'Where's her accent?' And why was she talking in first person? She felt a chill run down her spine despite the sunny, Spring weather.

"...It's really sad being an outcast, especially in your own family and you know the worst part? Sometimes they pretend like Silk is the only daughter they have, just because she's prettier than me and smarter and..." Silk continued on and Erika felt herself sinking disconcertingly in her chair, the road feeling too long and her life seeming way too short. She sneaked a glance at the gorgeous girl beside her who was blabbing on about being the Caldwell's unwanted daughter - and that's when she spotted it; a lone, coily curl the shade of dark purple just at the nape of her neck.

'Oh no.'

Erika's eyes darted from the curl to Silk's pink french nails on the wheel and that's when their eyes met and Silk giggled eerily. "I'm guessing that school has you tense? You look like a tomato - literally."

"And you look like a purple teletubbie with Down syndrome, stop the car." Erika found herself snapping abruptly, her strong, and firm tone startling even herself. She didn't sound like the Erika she was coming to know and accept, she sounded like the old Erika, the one she was trying to forget.

Silk gasped.

No, Cash gasped but didn't move to turn off the engine - and then she laughed. "Wow, nice one but someone's already used that comeback on me before!"

"And I'm sure the one about your pathetic life has been used before too, you're a psych-ward reject, get over it, now stop the car."

"Why? Don't you want to go to the spa to soothe your weak soul?" Cash countered. "Addie said you were a tough bitch but you can't even navigate your way around a dorm without falling for a stupid makeup trick. Guess you're not the bitch you thought you were."

"What are you trying to do?" Erika shrieked back, something hot and blazing surging up from her chest that she hadn't felt in a long time; rage. "You do realize this is kidnapping and not just any kidnapping but the kidnapping of a Felix. Are you trying to end up in jail?"

Cash cackled, averting her eyes from the road to smile right in Erika's face. "What do I have to lose?"

"Apparently nothing," Erika shot back, realizing she was speaking more to herself than anyone else. She had nothing to lose. Which was why she threw herself on to the girl before she could even think, the car swerving nauseatingly to and fro on the road.

Erika maneuvered herself on top of her roommate and jabbed Cash square in the face with all her frail might. At least now she finally made up for the makeup fraud!

However, the satisfaction of punching Cash didn't last long, because Erika wasn't strong enough to do any damage, and the car was whirling off the street - and before Erika could make even the slightest of movements, Cash was shoving a Sailor Moon-printed handkerchief in her face....

--------------------------------

A/N: So I'm feeling pretty good cause I started this 1000 words a day challenge which has been making my writing flow so I'm ready to finish this book ognhg!

Thank you all for reading and I'm dying to hear your thoughts cause the endgame is finally forming! 

Also the third book will be called Spoiled xD

Also, also, this is dedicated to azzy1231 cause I know this chapter is gonna give her a heart attack and I'm sorry <3