Court of Titans

Burn

Avis Stone did not like being the center of attention.

Not in the typical teenage-novel-shy-girl "I don't think I'm pretty" kind of way. But in the way that makes her hands sweat, her heart race with unease and she wants to run from the room screaming. Like the kind that happens when Avis didn't sleep the night before while studying for a big exam kind of way. She felt like this when she had her driver's test, when she had to give a speech at her parent's wedding, and when she took her finals.

However, she didn't feel her hands sweat when she made the winning goal at the final game of soccer season, the one that happened to get her noticed by scouts and get her a scholarship to a prestigious university halfway across the world. Nor did she feel that way when she stepped out of the taxi in a place that wasn't home, surrounded by unfamiliar faces.

The place Avis grew up in wasn't small nor was it a major city. The place everyone called "The Burbs" was spacious enough to have plenty to do on the weekends and during school breaks, but small enough to know almost everyone. It was the place Avis lived since she was eight, where her mom and her called home since Avis's father left (even though she wouldn't call him that). "The Burbs" is where she met her three best friends – Thera Greece, Valentina Cruz, and Aurora Lovelace – and became increasingly inseparable ever since. Where one girl went, the other three followed.

Avis's group of girls were a bunch that no one expected to stay together throughout high school. Avis was sporty, but only for soccer, and nerdy. She tried her hand at other sports, like basketball and volleyball, but she just didn't click with them as she did with soccer. Although she was nerdy, she was pretty, and she had her boy crazy phases occasionally. Every year she dated one boy, but the relationship never lasted more than six months to a year. She'd cry for a bit and lick her wounds, but there was always another boy to come along and make Avis go heart eyes over him. Then, the cycle would repeat.

Thera Greece was always known to dress in pigtails and poodle skirts. But when high school came around, and her father and mother started to fight more, Thera dyed her light brown hair black, threw out the poodle skirts, got a few piercings, and basically became the epitome of a gothic rock princess. Her father was not supportive at all, but Thera's mother loves her daughter and chose to let Thera express herself however she saw fit. Anyone with cojones big enough would approach her and would often get turned down. If they didn't get the hint, then they ended up with a big, black, spiked boot in their no-sunshine-area, as well as a bruised ego. Then Avis's brother, Loken, came into town from a cross country road trip with some friends and Thera fell head-over-platform-boot in love. She and Loken have been dating for the past two years, no matter where Loken went, but he always came back with a token from the road.

Valentina Cruz is insanely beautiful; her mother was a supermodel after all. With Latin roots, and a temper just as vibrant, Valentina could make anything look good. It was just better if it happened to be in her favorite color; as Avis would put it, "if it's red, then it's in Vale's closet." As for boys, Vale made Avis look like a nun. Vale had the entire Burbs population falling at her feet. And Vale absorbed every ounce of attention that she found. Once she had what she was looking for, she kicked them to the curb and moved to the next in line. Vale was not stupid though; her mom would castrate any male that came near her daughter and lock Vale in a tower far, far away if she knew what or who, rather, her daughter had been doing.

Aurora Lovelace was the jokester of the group and boy did it make for some trouble with the other girls. Aurora always had some type of prank or practical joke to pull with "The Burbs" residences. The rest of the girls would be damned if they let their friend pull any of it off by herself. Yet, if someone thought Vale's mother was strict, they'd have another thing coming when they met Mrs. Lovelace. Most of the time the girls had to sneak Aurora out through the window or the balcony to go anywhere with all of them together. Mrs. Lovelace only let Aurora leave their apartment for work and school. That was a challenge in itself since Mrs. Lovelace fought for Aurora to be homeschooled rather than attending the high school like every other teenager in "The Burbs". Work was another thing that Mrs. Lovelace had to let Aurora go to since the matriarch had surgery on her back that left her out of work for an undisclosed amount of time. Aurora became the main bread bringer of the home and hardly attended her classes anyway. How she managed to graduate, Aurora didn't even know.