Ding ding ding! Ding ding! Ding ding ding ding ding!

"Come on Logan! Or else we will be late!"I yell, running ahead and swinging the door open

I hear quick footsteps follow behind me. A mop of nearly rose golden hair sways past me, waving from under its shell of a blue beanie as my brother runs past me through the school doors. His bright blue eyes shine as he glances back at me. He readjusts his straps of his backpack as it bops up and down to his bouncing steps, his guitar case tightly gripped in one hand.

"Come on, Marilyn!"He says excitedly

I sigh with a smile, knowing why he was so excited. This will be his first official day as a freshman at our high school, Pearly High. I've started my junior year but if there's anything about my little brother that I know best, is how excited he gets with new experiences.

I follow him as he walks through the halls, towering over the rest of our classmates.

"Wow, I'm still a giant here..."He says, readjusting his beanie nervously

"And? It's your first day. I think people won't bother you over that. But if they don't....You know what to do."I say, hardly reaching his shoulder as I walk beside him

"Send them to you..."He says softly

"That's right!"I say

"What class do you have first?"He asks, wading through the crowd of students

"Physics."I say

"I have World History."He says

"Well I'll see ya at lunch then!"I say, quickly pushing by to my locker

"Attention students, zero period has now ended. Please start heading to your first class."A voice on the intercom says

I head quickly to my class and sit down at my desired seat. I know this teacher and she's the kind that allows kids to choose their seating. I hear some thuds and a groan.

"Marc! It is the first day and you're already causing trouble!"I hear Raiden say

"I thought I could try carrying that much!"Marcellus says

"On your head? Heck no! Come on, bro! Have some logic!"Raiden says

I look over to them, seeing Marcellus gather his books with a shrug. His little brother Raiden stood there anxiously, tugging at his satchel around his waist and checking it to make sure he has everything.

"Hey, you two."I say

"Oh hey Mari! How's it going?"He asks, handing Raiden some books with a chuckle

Raiden snatches them and holds them close protectively.

"Good. What stunt did you pull this time?"I ask with a roll of my eyes

"He tried balancing all of our books on his head into the class. Now, I'll be on my way. Don't do anything dumb that could hurt yourself, Marc. Labs could be very dangerous and shouldn't be messed with."Raiden says sternly

"Alright alright, whatever."His brother says as he walks away

Marcellus chuckles and sits down behind me. I pull out my notebook and start taking notes from the board on classroom rules and such.

"Psst. Hey. Marilyn."He whispers as more kids start filing in.

I ignore him, knowing he is already coming up with a stupid idea.

"Marilyn. Hey! Hey Mari! Maril! Marly! Heeey!"He says repeatedly

"What?"I groan, looking over at him

"Did you hear about Flora?"He asks

I pause for a moment. She along with Raiden, my brother, and Levim will be starting their freshman years of school here. I look to my fellow junior friend who was struggling to stay still in his seat, bursting with excitement and having a story to tell.

"What about her?"I ask

"Apparently a senior tried to get with her over the summer but dumped her before school started."He says

"And how do you know this?"I ask

"Rumors spread quickly, Mar. Especially after people saw her sister having a one-on-one with him if you get what I mean."He says

That sister, being Sloane. A junior in my grade and one of the top running athletes here. She has a reputation of a force to be reckoned with. Cause if you start trouble with her she will go right back at you. And she is extremely protective of her golden-eyed and hearted sister Flora.

"Tch, it's Sloane. The guy had it coming."I say, going back to my notes

Classes came and went. Soon it was lunch time and I marched my way through the crowded cafeteria, finding an empty table. I set my tray down and slide into a seat.

"Marilyn!"A voice cheers

I glance over, brushing my hair out of my face. I see my bff skip her way over with a tray of hot lunch, her Mahogany brown ponytail hopping to her beat. Her dark blue eyes twinkle as she sits beside me. Heads turn to look at her bright smile.

"Hey Rosaline. How's your first day going?"I ask

"It's going well!"She says, digging into her food

Her eyes light up as her gaze scans the stuffed lunch room, bustling with activity or chatter.

"Oh! Oooooh! Over here! Kelvin! Hey! Come join us!"She exclaims

I see a boy with a lunch bag wandering around the cafeteria, looking for a place to sit. He physically jolted when my bestie called to him. He hides his faces with some locks of blue dyed black hair covering his face with the rest tied into a bun. His chestnut skin glows a bright red by his cheeks, not liking how others turned to look at him awkwardly. He bows his head and walks over, sitting across from us.

I smirk, seeing Rosaline's openness and curiosity as a single child show itself. She has no siblings so wants as much company as she can get in school, regardless of who it is.

"He-hey Rosaline..."He says

"Hey! This is my bestie, Marilyn! Marilyn, this is Kelvin! He was next to me in my Ceramics class! Hey what do you have for lunch, Kelvin?"She giddily says

"Nice to meet you."I say

He nods.

"I dunno. I'll have to see what Mrs. Galway gave me."He says, unrolling the top of his lunch bag

"Who's that?"She asks

"Oh! She's the mother of my home."He says

"Then why don't you call her Mom?"I ask

"She isn't my mom. She just adopted me."He says

"Ooh. Alright then."I say

I hear a familiar voice humming. I glance over to see recognizable sight of long Cinnamon Brown hair with caramel highlights sway under bright green headphones as the one humming bobs their head to some music. She nearly walks right past us but I grab her arm, alerting her. She taps her phone and pushes down her headphones.

"Oh! Whoops! Sorry gals! This music sucked me in!"She giggles

"We can tell. It's okay, Flora."I say

Her golden eyes twinkle. She looks around and sighs.

"Sloane, leave him be."She says

THUD!

"This isn't over. Watch your back."A voice says

Over comes her sister Sloane, both with recognizable golden eyes or limestone skin. Sloane's skin was a bit more tan than hers. Her hair was a darker brown then her sister's with lavender streaks in her hair. The difference between their gazes are that Flora's eyes shine kindly while Sloane has a determined twinkle. Sloane brushes herself off, fists still forming in her hands.

"Sis, he can't just-"Sloane begins

"I know what he did. I was there. Just leave him be. It's his loss, not mine. Violence and hostility won't change anything."Flora cuts her off, sitting down

Sloane huffs and sits beside her. Flora hands her a lunchbag and they both start checking their lunch.

"What happened?"Rosaline asks

"Got dumped by a senior over the summer. Eh, it was only a week or two that he considered us a couple. Apparently he's too good to date a gamer. Eh, he's probably just upset that I beat him in Smash Bros with his buds."She replies

"It's still not right to dump you."Sloane mutters

"Well it's been done and he wasn't that great anyway."She says

"W-Who do you play first in Smash?"Kelvin asks quietly

Flora looks at him and grins.

"Kirby. How about you?"She says

"Pac Man is always a fun one for me."He says

"Ooo! That's a good one!"She says

"Looks like you already found a gamer to ramble about games with."Sloane says

"What's your name?"Flora asks

"Kelvin."He replies

"Oooo, I love that name! Aren't you in my grade? Freshman year?"Flora says

He nods.

"Cool! What's your schedule like? Maybe we have the same classes!"Flora says

"Where's Levin?"Sloane asks

"Probably migrating from one table to another."Rosaline says

"Social butterfly in the building."I say with a smirk

I glance around, looking for my brother and see him sitting at another table with Raiden and some other kids, tuning his beloved guitar. Marcellus was at another table, a much more wild and noisy one too with other boys pushing each other around. I notice one boy that didn't fit in with the group of wild jocks or restless boys. His bright red hair remained untamed, strands refusing to stay down as he pats it down while other strands clung to his face like a picture frame. Some hairs were growing on his chin, his cheeks rosy on his tan skin. His dark indigo eyes seemed so calming in comparison to the restless ones around him.

I haven't seen him before.....

"Who has your attention, Mar?"Rosaline asks

"Just checking out our surrounding tables..."I say with a shrug

We eat our lunches, eating and chatting. Flora and Kelvin dove deep into gaming conversations happily. Then the bell rings, dismissing us to the afternoon classes. After all our classes were done I was walking down the hallway. I went to my locker, taking the chance to unload my things, sort through them, and decorate my locker. I put in a foldable shelf to stack my books on, a mini whiteboard on the inside of the door with a marker for reminders, pictures of my friends, and a small mirror. A shadow looms to my left and I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turn around to see the boy from before standing beside me.

"Hey....H-How do I do these locks? I've been carrying my things all day since I dunno how to open my locker."He says, pointing to the combination lock

"Sure! What's your combo?"I ask

"What's a combo?"He asks

"Ok, you must be new around here if you don't know that...You should've gotten three numbers for your locker with dashes between them."I say

He takes out a slip of paper.

"And I'm supposed to enter them on that circle lock?"He asks

I nod.

"Oh! Sorry. At my old school we didn't have lockers so I am pretty new to this....Public school thing."He says

"You got nothing to be sorry for. All newbies need some adjusting. I was just as lost my freshman year."I tell him, shutting my locker

"Yeah...It feels a bit awkward since it's supposed to be my junior year or something.."He says

"Well welcome to the junior locker wing. We also get gym lockers but that's not grade organized or divided. I'm sure my brother Logan could help you there if you have any trouble. Here, I'll show you with mine. Starts with a turn clockwise, then counter, then clockwise again. Push up for a click, take it off and viola! There's a spacious locker within!"I say, slowly going through the steps as I spoke

He follows my lead and it opened. He sighs with relief and starts unloading his stuff.

"So where are ya from?"I ask

"I've been bouncing around in foster systems for a while. Foster homes mostly did homeschooling with me..."He says

"Huh, interesting. Well I'm Marilyn and if you need help with anything, I'd be happy to help."I tell him

He chuckles.

"What's so funny?"I ask

"I've known Marcellus for a few years from a summer camp and he knew I was coming here...But he gave me everything but guidance when he said just that this morning."He says with a laugh

It sounded like a purr, soft and sweet.

"Yeeahh, that sounds like him. I'm Marilyn Seamore. And who might you be?"I ask

"Hugo Sanco. Nice to meet you."He says with a smile

I smile back at him.

"How much homework do you have?"I ask, shutting my locker again once getting my things

"It's the first day...So not much besides making sure I have everything for classes. You?"He says

"None. Do you have any plans?"I ask

"No....And my aunt and uncle couldn't care less about curfews...Why?"He asks

I take his hand and start leading him away.

"Because knowing my little brother, he's already taking off to the mall in town to play his guitar with our friends following. Come join us." I say

His eyes twinkle as I lead him through the back entrance. We walk through the streets with the mall coming up in the distance.

"Soo...I noticed that you're different from the other girls there..."He says

"And what exactly creates that difference?"I ask

"You look different from them first of all. Not a single bit of makeup present on your face-"He replies

"And that's a problem?"I ask, cutting him off

"Nope. It tells me that you're confident with your natural beauty. And I like that. Others seem to be wearing too much and freak out if one thing is wrong with them, even if it's the smallest thing."He says, his eyes twinkling and tightening the grip on his backpack straps

I smile at him and he smiles back.

"Huh, thanks."I say

"Plus you're not as stuck up as them. You actually are grounded and reach out to people."He says

"Yep, some can be bratty."I say

We reach the mall and as we entered, I could hear my brother's guitar tune. I smile, seeing Hugo look around curiously at this newly discovered place for him.

"Come on, my bro is this way."I say

He nods and follow my lead.

TBC