CRIMSON DONOVAN

"CUT!!"

The sudden shout startles me, causing me to jump and stumble backwards until my back meets the solid door behind me. The curtains are suddenly drawn open and the sun lightens the room immediately. It makes my eyes squint before widening in perplexity as students start to appear out of thin air. One boy held a camera and a girl held a sound mic while the others ran around the room to open the windows and arrange the disorganized desks and chairs.

There were other people? How? Where? How come I didn't notice?

Chakaman(Wait.) What is happening?

Were-were they filming a porno?

I need water. I need holy water too. I need to get out. My innocence is tainted and lost like my ability to think straight.

Oh well, at least they cut it off before they could get into the intimate bits.

"CUT! CUT!" the same voice from before shouts.

A boy stands up from his chair in the corner of the room which falls with a crash, stomps towards Drexel with his silver-bleached hair fraying about and points some rolled-up papers at his face. "YOU!" he seethes. "WHAT WAS THAT? WERE YOU SUPPOSED TO SNEEZE? IT WAS DEFINITELY NOT IN THE SCRIPT!" The papers fly into the air.

Drexel rolls his eyes and points an accusatory finger at Ayla, "It was her fault. Too much perfume." he scrunches up his nose.

"Couldn't you have held it in? You were supposed to say that she smelled like sunflowers!" the frustrated boy yells.

The whole class falls silent.

"Zeke," Drexel calmly tells him as if he was talking to a child, "I've told you this before. Sunflowers don't have a fragrance."

They don't?

"I feel offended," comments Ayla in a bored tone from the desk she is seated on.

"But...but Drex!" the boy, Zeke, whines while boring his blue-grey eyes into Drexel's exhausted-looking ones. "We need to–"

"The teacher will come anytime now Zeke," Drexel interrupts. "I'm already feeling tired, and we came early to film this. The others need to keep their energy until the break."

Zeke sighs but gives in. "Tomorrow then," he says. Drexel nods his head in agreement.

"You all seemed to have scarred the new girl's eyes," a new voice comments from beside me. I whip my head to the right to see a sandy brown-haired boy cheekily grinning at me, his hands in his pockets. I cannot for the life of mine, handle any more handsome boys randomly popping out of nowhere.

"Oh, you poor girl, don't mind the idiot," Ayla jumps from her desk when she notices me and stands in front of me with a smile, "Are you a new student? I'm Ayla, the idiot here is Archer," she says earning a mock-glare from the boy. She nods towards the other two, "This is Zeke and that's Drexel."

"... I'm Crimson," I mumble half-heartedly, my face is no doubt red from what I've witnessed.

Archer laughs out loud as if I've told the most hilarious thing in the world. "That is the most hilarious thing in the world!" he bellows. "You are Crimson alright! Your face is flushed! Even your hair is crimson! You are red all over!"

I could only close my eyes in embarrassment.

"Oh no! Did she- Did you see all that?!" Ayla squeaks and flails her hands wildly in defence. "It was not what it looked like!"

"You should have seen her face when you and Drexel were all over each other!" Archer continues with a laugh.

"It was for entertainment purposes only!" Ayla assures, her face turning red too. "This is all Zeke's doing! We were just acting out his script for his stupid competition!"

"Yep!" Zeke proudly grins and pats himself. "It's for the 'best mini-movie' competition hosted by our drama club. I'm the director and scriptwriter. Plus, it isn't a 'stupid competition', mind you. Drex and Ayla were the only ones willing to act the part of the main characters."

"Willing, my ass," I hear Drexel mumble.

"So yeah! That was what it is! I have nothing going on with him!" Ayla points at Drexel with disgust as if the very idea of them together was off-putting. "He isn't even my type! I'm doing this for the monthly supply of McDonald's Zeke promised!"

"So, uhm, you weren't filming a...a...porno?" I whisper the last word.

Ayla chokes and starts coughing as Archer howls in laughter. Zeke awkwardly scratches his neck while Drexel silently watches with an amused smile. Then he looks at my rouge face and lets out a little laugh.

"No, it wasn't! Oh god, no!" cries Ayla covering her face with her hands.

Deciding to cut her some slack, I reassure her with a smile, "It's fine now. I misunderstood. You act well, no wonder I thought it was real. I hope you guys win." Ayla sobers up at the praise and grins at me.

Our conversation is cut short when the bell rings for the first period and a fairly built middle-aged man comes in. The class staggers to their seats. The boys disperse to their seats and Ayla hurriedly drags me towards a desk in the corner by a window. "We can talk more later. Come on. I have an empty seat next to mine, you can sit with me."

Thankful that I did not have to find a seating place in the sea of students, I express my gratitude and take a seat.

° ° °

After the three exhausting periods, Ayla takes me to the cafeteria that was on the first floor. "I usually sit with my best friend, I'll introduce you to her. She is a sophomore unlike us who are juniors, so we don't share many classes with her."

We take our lunch trays and walk towards a table where a petite girl is seated, phone in hand. I would prefer the outdoor tables, but I wouldn't miss out on the chance of meeting new friends. So I plaster a little smile when the girl looks up.

"This is Rowan. Rowan, this is Crimson," Ayla introduces us to each other.

Rowan gives me a wide smile. "Nice to meet you, Crimson!"

My head bows in greeting, "Hello, Rowan."

As I looked at Rowan, I couldn't help but think of her as adorable and cute. Her dirty blonde hair framed her heart-shaped face perfectly and her marble-like grey eyes sparkled like diamonds. She reminded me of a little kitten, with her small nose and delicate features.

"You don't look good," Rowan remarks as she observes Ayla's tired face.

"Try having your brother draped on you," she says dryly.

"Ew!! No, thank you!" Rowan gags, "I take it Zeke's project is not over yet?"

"It will be over tomorrow, hopefully," Ayla says, tossing a French fry into her mouth.

"Drexel is your brother?" I ask Rowan.

"Yep, Rowan is Drexel's baby sister," Ayla replies while pinching her cheeks with greasy fingers.

Rowan makes a face at her and grumpily wipes her face, "Don't touch me with your oily hands." Then she looks at me and her face morphs into a kind smile. "It's the first day of school for you! How has it been so far, Crimson?"

"It's been good. Everyone's friendly and kind." Then I sneakily glance at Ayla. "Except for the scare I had this morning that unfortunately is imprinted on my innocent mind, everything sailed smoothly."

"It was only for that stupid film, alright?! I would rather kiss a cactus!" she cries, her eyes begging me to relieve her of misery.

"Or you would rather kiss someone named Ar-" Rowan is cut off when Ayla slaps her hand over Rowan's mouth.

"S...Shut up!!" Ayla glares, her cheeks flushing, and narrows her eyes at Rowan's giggling figure in warning.

Rowan pulls Ayla's hand away from her mouth after some struggle and breathes out. "Archer," she pants out breathlessly.

Oh my. I quickly stifle my giggles when Ayla's glare turns onto me. Then she drops her head into her hands with a heavy, defeated sigh. "It's nothing but a little crush," she mumbles.

"Oh? So you finally admitted that you like that doofus?" Rowan asks. "He is just an idiot," Ayla just waves her hand dismissively and slurps her drink noisily with her gaze elsewhere.

I turn my head to follow her gaze and my eyes drop to a table in the far corner of the cafeteria after a while. Drexel, Archer, Zeke and another boy with luminous green hair are seated, laughing and talking without a care in the world.

"Who is the one with the green hair?" I ask. "That's Jed. He is very smart and the quiet type. He is a New Zealander who moved here during our Freshman year. I've lost count of how many times he had his hair dyed. He changes his hair colour like changing TV channels," Ayla states while twirling her blonde curls.

"Let me tell you more about them!" Rowan eagerly butts in. "As you may have seen earlier, Zeke is the movie freak. He is obsessed! I think he is hoping to be a movie producer or something."

"Archer is the sly, cheeky troublemaker," Rowan continues looking teasingly at Ayla who casually looks back at her food. "How she fell for him, I don't know. Maybe because of his lean swimmer's body."

"He is a swimmer?" I ask.

"Yep, and a good one at that," Ayla says and her lips transform into a proud grin.

"She goes to all his swim meets," Rowan adds and Ayla mockingly smacks her arm.

"What about Drexel?" I inquire.

"He is sly just like Archer, but less of a troublemaker," Rowan replies. Then Ayla says, "But he is actually a sweetheart! He is so sweet and gentle. Once, he accidentally lost the custom-made pen that I had gotten for a birthday, and he spent the whole day searching for it even though I insisted he didn't. The next thing I knew, he was at my doorstep the other morning with a brand new set of pens and McDonald's as an apology. He is too caring," she finishes with a sigh.

"Why don't you guys sit with them though?" I ask. "It is Rowan's way of proving that she can fair well without her overprotective brother breathing down her neck 24/7," chuckles Ayla.

"Ugh, he can be a pain sometimes. He chases all the boys away from me," pouts Rowan and we laugh and get to know each other some more until the bell rings.

° ° °

Surprisingly, it was a great first day in contrast to all the over-the-top scenarios I had planted in my head before coming here (that included me being a loner with nobody sparing a glance at me and haughty cheerleader girls scrunching their noses at me. I shouldn't have let the books I read get into my head).

I was waiting for my dad after school and was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't see the figure beside me until he spoke, "Hi."

I turn my head in the direction of the voice.

"Oh, hello Drexel." We had shared quite a few classes today but we hadn't talked much.

He nods. "Scarlet, right?"

"Uhm, no. It's Crimson."

"Yeah. Scarlet."

"Crimson. It's Crimson," I calmly tell him.

"Scarlet. Crimson. No difference." Now, he was getting on my nerves with that dry look on his face. But then he turns his head away from me, but not before my eyes caught the small smile that threatened to break his stupor. 

"Yes, difference!"

"But both of them are red." As if that solves all the problems. Was he doing this on purpose?

"It's Crims-"

Our banter is cut off with a sudden CAW!

I grimace when I see a crow in front of us briskly plucking a snail out from the soil and flying away.

We wordlessly blink at that intrusion, unsure of how to fill the sudden awkward silence. I quickly avert my gaze and pretend to be interested in something else, stealing a glance at him from the corner of my eye.

Drexel just shrugs indifferently, as if he had won the argument and silently stands next to me with his hands in his pockets, a pair of earphones dangling around his neck. He was humming a tune, a little content smile on his face as his dark brown hair blew into his face.

He catches me staring before I can look away, and his lips quirk upwards. "I'm waiting for my sister. Are you waiting for your ride?"

"Yeah, my Dad will be here any minute now," I reply with a nod. He had wanted to pick me up today as it was my first day, but I will be driving to and from school myself starting tomorrow.

"...I can give you a ride if he is running late?"

"No no! It's fine, really. Thank you," I say,  startled at the sudden and unexpected question.

Drexel shrugs again and goes back to his nonchalant humming. Suppressing an impatient sigh, I drop my eyes to the ground. I absentmindedly observe as two ants fight for a little piece of food. I save them the trouble and toss the piece of food with the tip of my sneaker. I hear Drexel's soft chuckle and turn my head at him with a little grin.

He shakes his head in amusement.

"I'm sorry I called you Scarlet."

"It's okay," I laugh dismissively. "I was not offended at all." Not really.

"Are you sure about that?" he asks with a teasing glint in his eyes.

"Well..." I start to mumble but Rowan comes running toward us before I can say anymore.

She throws her bag to Drexel who catches it with a wince. "Hello, Crimson! Waiting for your ride?" she inquires.

"Yeah-" I answer, but then I see a familiar car from a distance. "Looks like my dad is here. Sorry, I have to go, but it was great knowing you guys!"

'I really was lucky to meet this group of friends today,' I think happily. They seem like a fun bunch. 

"We have to get going too. It was nice meeting you, Crimson! Bye-bye!" Rowan waves with a smile. I wave back at her and head towards Dad's car.

However, before entering the car, something urges me to turn back. I watch the retreating figures of the two siblings whose heights were too different. As if sensing my gaze, Drexel turns his head back and locks his eyes with mine.

He gives me a small smile and waves his hand goodbye.

Please note that the point of view will be changed from time to time, be on the lookout for  their names under the title of every chapter!

Hello! The characters are introduced, let me know who intrigued you the most. A tame first conversation between the leads I should say. Please look forward to them!

Don't forget to leave a comment and vote!