Tamarious' POV

TIME SKIP (Senior Year, Second Semester)

My name's Tamarious Browning, unapologetic hip-hop kid who's the son of a music mogul and former bar singer.

And right now, things have gone to shit for the last of my fellow clique of Outsiders (my Valley-Girl girlfriend Tiffany Detweiler, and new transplant Kelante Parrish alongside our families and others) since news of Kyle York being engaged to Marcel Dermott spread like wildfire all around the community. It's bad enough that Kyle was now a hyped-up and super-powered Beautiful Teen no thanks to his parents and the Dermotts. But him being engaged to the one whose family started all of this?! That was a declaration  of war between the Outcasts and the Populars.

What was was that Yesenia Maldonado and Mavis Telfair, two former Outcasts who decided to jump ship before the Thanksgiving holidays, were now two all-American pretty boys going by Yavier and Marlin respectively, the latter immediately connecting to his bond with his cousin Kaleb. The numbers in the rank of Outcasts took a slight hit with almost everyone either disappearing, transferring to other schools, or- in Omarion's case, dying before anything can be done. My sister Kennedy took off for Knoxville over the Christmas break once she learned what went down during Thanksgiving. "I can only tell you to keep yourselves guarded and look sharp," she had said on the day that Uncle Teddy came to take her to Tennessee after New Year's Day. "Now that York is out of reach, there's no telling what can happen unless you or his grandpa take him down like he requested. Be careful, Tam-Tam. There's really a traitor in your ranks and I know that Marion Dennard is the one."

Speaking of Marion, he's getting more and more closer to the Beautiful Teens day by day. He said that he's only hanging around them to gain some intel, but that's not the real reason. Not when it comes to Kennedy Deveraux, the Texan Barbie from the pits of hell. Since her arrival, Tiffany, Kelante, and I were mainly kept under the harshest watch for lunchtime and after-school detentions with either Mr. and Mrs. York or Marcel's two dads, all of them reminding us that the end of the losers was close at hand. And at the moment, Kelante and I were currently cleaning up the library after classes as Mrs. York and Deveraux stood guard.

"You musn't think that we're keeping you as prisoners," Mrs. York intoned as I finished placing the returning library books at their respective places. "This is to make  sure that neither you, Kelante, nor Miss Detweiler interfere with the incoming wedding plans for my son and Marcel. They're now part of the trend where it's time to stop playing kiddie games and get with the times. And with them being Blue Sentry and Kevarix, it's more the reason for them to accept more responsibilities and take in new opportunities to be drops of leaven in society."

I faced the older woman, hatred in my heart. "Mrs. York, you should know that Kyle wasn't meant for what your husband cooked up," I said tersely. "You should've been the one to defend your child and allowed him to thrive, joined your parents in helping him be what he desired to be, not with your husband in pressuring Kyle into something he's not. You're worse than the man you married."

"I'm a good mother and a loyal wife," Mrs. York defended. "What my husband knows best for the family is what's best for my son. There's only two kinds of children: those who obey and those who are free thinkers. Only one of them will be allowed to live in the York home and have privileges and rights. And that's an obedient child."

"Of course, Mrs. York," came Kennedy's voice as the blonde senior came to the older woman's side, she dressed like she was the latest edition of Malibu Barbie. She sneered down at me. "Why can't you accept how things are done, Browning? Kyle was  facing a dead end before he came here. He needed a lot of guidance after spending too much time with your ilk back in Oakland. He needed a drastic change. Marcel and the others came in to help him with his journey, even though he had his severe reservations. It took some doing, but he's finally thriving. Can't you be happy for him?"

"Not if it means having him souped up with nanobots to rewire his brain and beef him up like he's a prized cattle," I retorted.

"Typical," Mrs. York scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Mr. Browning-"

"Save it," I cut her off, raising my hand. "You know what? It's no use trying to talk to two hags from hell in seeing that what's going on is dead-ass wrong and that Kyle isn't meant for this kind of life. Thanks to Brian York and all those other haters, Kyle's grandparents are grieving the loss of a young man who wanted to live his life without anyone judging him for not conforming to your rules and world. If anything, I'm mourning him and those that you've ruined: Mavis, Yesenia, Joseph, Christina, Omarion- all of you Beautiful People either have them exiled, transferred, or executed in some way or other. But know this and know it well. As long as Kelante, Tiffany, Khadijah, Khandi, Kyle's grandparents, our families, and I are still around; the war's not going to be over until the fat lady sings! We Outcasts may be down in numbers, but we still got fight in us."

"Is that a fact?" Kennedy spat.

"You damn right it is, Chicken Legs," came the countrified and boisterous voice of Kelante Parrish. "Trust us when we say that we're not backing down from a fight."

Mrs. York smirked. "Darlings, let's be civil," she crooned in a snake-charmer purr. "There's no need to go against the grain when everything's written in the stars. Kyle is going to marry Marcel and embrace his true destiny as a Titan Club member. Save face and fall in line with everyone else here. You'll have it easier if you do but worse if you don't."

I narrowed my eyes, storming towards her before spitting on her face and doing the same to Kennedy. "That's my answer," I growled. "Fuck off!"

"That's enough," came the voice of Mr. York, he in his superhero glory sans the mask as he came by his wife. "Browning, apologize to my wife right now. And you're in detention alongside Kelante for another week."

I took a deep breath. "All right," I said calmly. "I'm sorry. Sorry that I didn't do this sooner."

I spat in the older man's face before giving him a Z-snap and motioning for Kelante to follow me. "This is it, heathens," I declared. "This means war!" With that, Kelante and I left the rage-stricken trio before exiting the library.

"Tamarious, this is a hot mess right here," Kelante breathed as he eaifpulled on his leather-bomber jacket and biker cap. "You really think that this is going to be the beginning of the war between us and them?"

"It's already started since last year, Parrish," I replied coldly as we stepped out into the sunny yet slightly cool Northern California air. I spotted Tiffany waving at us from her limo. "Today was when things have been made official."

"Then we need to get the ball rolling and find out more ways to end this nightmare. If I know my uncle, I bet that he's already planning something else to get us down to size."

I huffed a deep breath. "Right. I'll take you home, Parrish. Meeting at lunch tomorrow."

Start your engines, Titans and Beautiful People, I thought as I got in the limousine and greeted the Detweilers. You all started it, now I'm going to finish it. And before you know it, you're going to regret everything.

I was sure of it.

The battle lines have been drawn, folks, OFFICIALLY! And all I can tell you is that things will be shaking up in all the wrong ways for the Outcasts. Coming up next, Tamarious' bad day is going to get worse while Marcel keeps his grip on Kyle tighter with another serum injection and a phone call from Marion ensures that things will be sealed.

Dedication: _shaybravo and BilliePaige88.

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