Dominions

Chapter 4: Selena

"You are a bad bitch." Selena told herself in the mirror. "You can do this. Today is your day and the world is at your fingertips."

    If you had told Selena Conchos that her junior year of high school would be the worst year of her life she would have laughed at you, not because she was rude, but because Selena's life was perfect. She had the perfect family, the perfect boyfriend, at least what people saw on paper, and she was rich. People normally saw her shopping in designer clothing stores and buying the latest trends from social media. 

She was the envy of her preparatory school. Girls wanted to be her, boys wanted to date her, and she was at the top of the class. Selena truly lived the life of luxury.

    Or at least she used to.

    It happened suddenly. One moment she was shopping in Gucci and trying on a pair of shoes. The next moment she was pulled out of the penthouse condo her family lived in. Not only that, she was then pulled out of her prep school and left to enroll in the local Saffron high school.

    "Doing that again, are we?" asked Selena's younger sister Aria as she sat up in her bed across the room. The two girls had never had to share a room a day in their life, but when their father had them move into the basement apartment of his building, there were only three rooms available. One for her parents, one for her middle school brother, and one for the girls.

    "You don't understand, Aria," Selena said from the vanity she had to fight her parents to let her keep. It was the one piece of furniture that made it to the basement. Selena spent hours getting ready at this table. She could recall the memories that she had, learning new makeup tips from Youtube, or how Calvin Edgely gave her the first kiss she'd ever had sitting on that plush stool. "You're a freshman. You have four years to reinvent yourself in this new life. I have two years to make an impact and somehow climb my way up from the depths of obscurity."

    "Don't be  so melodramatic," Aria said rolling her eyes. "Dad said finances were already looking up. After this year, we most likely will be back to normal."

    "The damage is done, Aria," Selena said flicking her eyeliner into a sharp wing.  "My reputation at Dogwood Prep is done."

    Selena refused to give the girls at her old school the satisfaction of seeing her leave in shame. Everyone from Dogwood believed that she was spending a year abroad in Italy completing an "electronic free adventure year." It took a lot to sell the lie, and Selena wasn't even sure she was able to do it convincingly, but it saved her the shame of telling everyone what was happening.

    "Well, at least we'll be ahead of everyone academically," Aria said with a smile. "I'm personally looking forward to being the smartest in the class. I don't have to deal with Ashley Wilcox trying to outdo me all the time."

    Selena frowned and turned toward her sister. Aria just didn't understand the severity of everything their family was dealing with. What their father did was not just going to go away in a year. He lost it all because he made a terrible investment. An investment that cost her the future she had always wanted. The future that she deserved. Conchos used to be a name of power and esteem, and now it's one of hidden shame and she prayed that no one found out what was truly happening behind their steel front door.

    "Listen," said Aria as she got up from her bed and sat next to Selena. She wrapped her arms around her sister's neck and locked her into a hug. Selena couldn't help but smile as she felt the warm embrace from her sister. They may argue from time to time, but they truly were the best of friends. "You're going to have an amazing first day. Dad's mistakes don't define your future and you're way stronger than you give yourself credit for."

    Aria kissed her sister on the top of her head and then went to the closet. She pulled out a small blue gift bag. Selena smiled as she reached her hand out excitedly. "I made this for you. So don't get too excited."

    As soon as the bag touched Selena's hand, she ripped the tissue paper from the top and squealed excitedly. She looked into the bag and saw a CD and a pin. She picked the pin up and saw the words "birthday girl" in blue letters. Selena smiled and wrapped her sister in a hug.

    "That CD is a playlist of all of my favorite songs that remind me of you. Each one has a special memory attached to it. See if you can figure it out. Also, wear the pin to school today," said Aria as she walked to the door of their room. "No one can be an asshole to someone on their birthday."

"It's been a long year for you. Trust me, everything is about to fall into place for you." 

"What did you do to your voice?" asked Selena with a laugh. 

"What are you talking about?" asked Aria. 

"You like added a weird British accent. It was really bad. I hope you're not planning on joining the theatre program." 

"I didn't say anything with an accent," Aria said confused. "And I'd be the best damn actress on that stage, love," she said with a wink emphasizing an English accent on the word love.

    Selena watched and smiled at her sister as she walked out of the room. She was younger than her, but Aria was wise beyond her years. Selena wished she possessed as much strength. She turned back to her vanity and inspected her face for any mess-ups in her makeup.

    "You look perfect," she said as she flipped her dark brown hair over her shoulder. She looked down at the pin her sister had handed her and chuckled as she applied it to her shirt. "Well, now you do," she said as she got up and walked out of the room.