For reference, THIS is Serene's outfit:

Serene's POV

"First day of high school at Auradon Prep Academy." I mumble under my breath, straightening my blue leather jacket. "You're a Freshman, Ree. So act like it!"

I tilt my head to the right, considering myself in the mirror. My silver-blonde hair is fashionably fastened behind my head in a twisted ponytail, with bobby pins holding the remains of my horrid bang phase back. My mother gave me an old jacket of hers for my start of Freshman year, a silky leather blue one with a snowflake design beaded on. And an oddly singed hem. When I asked her about it, she just laughed and said she'd tell me someday.

I have to say, the jacket ended up pairing nicely with the knee-length light blue dress I'm wearing over silvery leggings and slick black boots. My dark brown-gray eyes are wide and bright, with no makeup helping them gleam. My earlobes are twinkling with the double-dog bones sign usually associated with my grandmother, Cruella De Vil. My nails are painted a delicate alternation between blue and red, sort of reminding me of the fourth of July.

But, despite how long my getting-ready routine has taken, I think I'm finally ready.

I open my bedroom door, and am instantly blinded by the flash of a camera. After blinking my eyes multiple times to clear the spots, I see my seventeen-year-old sister grinning at me with her phone still poised at picture-taking height.

"Happy first day of high school, Reenee!" Janessa crows, lowering her arms to embrace me, squeezing me tight, hoisting me up and swinging me back and forth, smashing my cheek against hers in celebration.

"Jenna!" I complain, pushing away. "You're going to ruin my hair."

"I didn't even mess it up." Jenna chides, tugging on my ponytail and making it bounce.

I brush her away, walking down the hall. Her heavy footsteps, caused by obnoxiously thick-soled combat boots, follow me. My sister has a very different style than mine. Her black-fading-to-white hair is just on the edge of curly-straight, and she lets it stay down and free no matter how frizzed-out it gets during the day. Instead of dressing nice, she's wearing ripped black skinny jeans, a red tank top with paint stains all over it, and an army of beaded, metal, and thread-made red-and-blue bracelets on her arms. Black nail polish with sapphire stripes, and shimmering red earrings. The only thing we have in common with our style is that she's taken to wearing dad's jacket, supposedly the one he was wearing the day he came to Auradon.

(Janessa's outfit:)

Jenna throws her arm around me. "C'mon, baby sis, you can't deny you're at least a little bit excited to finally be starting high school at the infamous Auradon Prep."

I shrug her off of me, seating myself at our kitchen's countertop island. Per our normal routine, she pulls out Frosted Flakes for herself and Cheerios for me, pouring them into two bowls simultaneously.

"I mean... I guess it'll be nice to have the same classes as Bri again." I say as nonchalantly as I can.

"That's right---" Jenna slides my bowl to me, filled to the brim with milk. "---Brietta's a year ahead of you. I always forget that. What class do you have together this year?"

"I have three with her." I remind Jenna. "Not one."

"Three, one, whatever." Jenna waves her hand, chomping on her cereal. "Which three?"

"P.E... Chem 2---" I count off on my fingers.

Jenna coughs. "Uh, Chem 1. You're a Freshie."

I sigh. Does my sister remember nothing? "No, I took Chem 1 over the summer so I could go straight to Chem 2. Chem 1 is Mr. Deley's daily hour-long session telling the Freshmen how they're idiots for not understanding simple atomic problems."

"Meh. True. Isla, Max, and I had the most fun in that class, though." She grins at me. "We pranked that teacher, like, every other day."

"I prefer to learn, not distract."

She shrugs. "Your life mistakes. What's the last class you have with Bri?"

"Magic. Fourth hour."

"You're taking Magic?" Jenna throws her head back, laughing. "I remember you talking about that in February---but I didn't think you were serious. Why are you taking Magic?"

"Well, I'm sorry, I'd prefer to know how to use my powers and not leave anything to chance." I say stiffly, taking a bite of cereal.

"Hey, wait, I didn't mean to---" Jenna starts, but our parents walk in at that moment and we fall silent.

"We didn't hear you arguing on the first day of school, did we?" Dad jokes, nudging my shoulder.

I smile up at him. "No, Dad."

"Thought so." He winks, and Mom rolls her eyes. I can't help but be a little bit jealous of my parents. Even though I'm only fourteen, I wish I could have what they have. Anyone even in the same presence as them can tell they love each other more than anything. I don't even think they realize that when they stand next to each other, they lean towards one another.

The story of my parents is a wide-known legend. My parents try and act like none of it happened, like my mother wasn't one of the biggest heroes ever alongside the original four Villain Kids, but I've heard the stories. Everyone has. It's all we ever heard growing up. 'You're so lucky your parents are who they are.', 'I can't believe you're related to Elicia and Carlos!'. 'You'll turn out to do great things.'.

My father and mother, everywhere they go, are recognized. Heroes. Royalty. Good.

My mom has complete control of her powers. She barely even blinks when she summons something to her hand, or does her hair by having snowflakes gather strands in a specific way, or when she used to make us snow cones out of nowhere. It's another reason I want to take Magic. I want people to ask about something other than who my parents are when they meet me.

I want to be seen. Seen for who I am, not by who my parents are, or even who my big sister is.

A Junior in high school, and Jenna's living the life. She's popular, has tons of friends, and is the goddaughter of King Ben, with Aunt Sera, one of the coolest people alive, as her godmother. And she, out of the two of us, is the one who got my mom's snow powers as well as my mom's fire powers from Grandpa.

Oh, there's that too. Our grandfather is Hades, the Lord of the Underworld. Which means that since our Great-Uncle Pluto is Queen Mal's dad, we're related to Princess Isla. It doesn't matter that Jenna is BFF's with the Princess, and future Queen, of Auradon. We're related to the present King and Queen.

As if I don't have enough shadows covering me.

Dad nudges my shoulder. "Your cereal is soggy now, kiddo."

I glance down, mildly surprised. "Guess I'm not hungry."

Mom winks at me, taking the bowl. "Well, I like soggy Cheerios. I'll finish them. You make sure you've got everything ready, okay?"

"Thanks, Mom." I slide off my stool by the counter, walking briskly back down the hall to my bedroom. I suppose our house is bigger than most---being a palace, not a house---but does everything have to show off who my mom is? Like our grandmother, Mom made a palace purely by her powers, adding a touch of Grandpa's in there as well. Like torches that never go out and won't burn you. And soft, black cushions on the couches instead of the always-melting throw pillows Jenna makes.

I sigh, considering myself in my floor-length mirror in my room. Is my outfit really appropriate for high school? I'm supposed to start being mature now, I guess, but I still feel like the tiny girl everyone in middle school knew as "Nessa's little sister".

Oh, yeah, that's another thing. "Jenna" is Janessa's 'at-home' name, and around her friends, she's known as "Nessa". Except Isla and Max. Those three are the Golden Trio of Auradon Prep, and they call her "Jan" or 'Your Fiery Iceness' as a joke.

And my group of friends? I'm Serene. Or Ree. Jenna is the only one who calls me Reenee or Reeree, because that's what she called me when I was a toddler.

I sigh and turn away from my mirror, snapping my fingers and summoning my black bookbag, already neatly packed with each subject I'll be taking.

Jenna comes into my room, stuffing her History textbook into her bag with papers going everywhere. "You ready to leave?"

"I guess so." I say, a slight twinge of annoyance going through me. Jenna never knocks.

"Great! You're gonna love A.P." Jenna assures me, grabbing my arm and dragging me down the hall back to our kitchen. Mom is emptying the milk from my bowl into the sink when she sees us.

A small smile grows on her face. "I can hardly believe my two girls are going to high school." She says quietly, setting the bowl down and coming our way to hug both of us simultaneously.

"Mooooom." Jenna complains, laughing. "This'll be my third year!"

"I know." Mom hugs her alone. "But this will be your first time together. Maybe you'll meet some new friends."

"We know pretty much everyone already." I remind her. "Since we went to the bigger elementary school."

Mom's face lights up, her hands clasping under her chin as she steps back to my dad. "Well, Eleanor and Finn will be coming over from Scotland this year! You'll finally get to see Maira and Dori's kids again!"

"Yeah, the last time they were able to escape was, what, three years ago?" Dad says. "It'll be nice to see Hans again." Dad remarks, putting an arm around Mom.

"Jr." She adds, smirking. "I can't believe he doesn't change his name or something."

Dad laughs. "No kidding. I think he's just too stubborn."

Mom suddenly starts to giggle, tapping my dad's chest with her hand. "What is it that Maira calls him? Hans---"

"---the More Annoying." My parents finish together, laughing.

"I still don't get why Aunt Dori and Uncle Chad don't live here. Isn't Chad technically king in his castle?" Janessa asks.

Mom nods. "It doesn't really matter where he is, he's still royalty. I think they just wanted to get away for a short while, but ended up liking it too much in Scotland. Plus, it's not like Chad had a kingdom to run anyway. Just a castle to order around."

"I also think Finn and Eleanor's instant friendship had something to do with it." Dad says.

"True." Mom agrees.

I clear my throat. "We're going to be late. So, am I driving, or...?"

"Oh, no, I can take you." Mom says, holding out her hand. Jenna takes it first, grabbing mine and waiting impatiently, bouncing on the heels of her boots.

"You coming, Carlos?" Mom asks him. He nods, grabbing her free hand and then holding out his other toward me. I smile and accept it, putting us in a tiny little circle. Mom's eyes flutter, and shadows wrap around us. 

________________________________________

So I'd planned on stalling Serene & Janessa for quite a while more... but there's really nothing left to edit anymore in this first chapter. And today is what would've been my grandfather's 84th birthday, so it felt right. It felt like a good time to finally post something I'm really proud of, and I enjoy writing. It's been a while since I really really loved characters and a story this much. The last time was with my original series, "Starlight, Starbright." I took that down because I was afraid of someone copying it, but I have had people asking me to put it back up, so maybe I will? I'm not sure. 

Anyway, I hope anyone who stumbled across this (Or read it out of sheer boredom) is happy with it's quality. If you have any questions, or suggestions, comment! I'll happily reply if I can think of something that doesn't sound too dorky XD