Connor Anderson went into his senior year preparing for college.
Kara Williams went into her senior preparing to get her sister out of their house when she turns eighteen.
Markus Manfred went into his senior year pretty much the same as all the rest...
"Hey, Niles, wake up," I say to my twin brother in the bed across from me.
"How about I don't?" Niles groans.
"How about you go to school so I don't have to deal with you forever?" Dad says from the kitchen.
"Wow, rude, I'm getting up," Niles starts to get up. I walk out of the room toward the kitchen, Sumo- our dog- following me.
"How long have you been up, hair gel?" Dad asks as I sit down.
I laugh a little, it is true that I gel my hair a little every day, "five."
"Jeez, Connor, you know you can sleep, right?" Niles says, walking out of our room. Right now, he is the Niles only Dad and I see. Normal Niles' hair is gelled, his tone is even more professional than mine, and he is almost completely no nonsense. Our Niles's hair is messy, his tone is sarcastic and he is the nonsense of the house.
They are very different. I don't know how he does that.
"I can?" I say back.
"Yeah, you should try it sometime," Niles sits down.
"I'll think on that."
Dad laughs and puts eggs on both of our plates.
Markus: 7:21 AM
I wake up on my first day of my senior year to my adopted brother smacking me with a pillow.
Typical.
"I'm getting up!" I say.
"Good." Leo, my brother, leaves the room. I sit up and rub my eyes. Since being adopted four years ago, I'm still not particularly used to having my own room and being in this massive house. I get up and get dressed into my school uniform.
I silently curse at myself for not setting an alarm and jog slightly downstairs. For the past few years, it has been my job to cook, since Carl, my adopted father, is disabled and it is difficult for him. I enjoy cooking a lot so I don't mind. I'm sure Leo had a poptart already because he'd rather have a sugar high in the middle of a lecture than eat my cooking. I don't know why.
After cooking and eating breakfast, I have to get going. I am gonna be late.
I am halfway to school when someone grabs my shoulders and shouts, "boo!"
I can't lie, I honestly screech.
The person bursts out laughing. I spin on my heels. North is doubled over laughing, Josh is facepalming, Daniel is rolling his eyes and Simon, my boyfriend, is smiling softly.
I laugh too. I find myself looking at my friends and boyfriend. They look like normal, put together teens. I mean, they are normal. To me, at least.
They are all from this foster home, it's called Jericho. A lot of people think I was adopted from there when they learn that I was adopted, but I wasn't. North straightens herself, "okay, let's go."
Kara: 7:34 AM
"Kara, Alice! Get up!"
"We are getting dressed!" I shouted downstairs.
"Well, hurry up!" Our father shouted back up.
"We are!" I said. I helped my little sister get ready for school. I was just about to go downstairs when my phone buzzed.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Alice and I went downstairs. We walked past our father. I feel the need to tell him, "Luther is driving us."
"I don't care," he replies.
Alice grabs both of our backpacks and hands me mine. I push the door open and spot Luther's car outside. We slide in, me in the front, Alice in the back, having to climb over Jerry, to get in between him and Ralph. Said boy passes Alice her vanilla milk and sandwich and passes me an iced green tea and bagel from Starbucks.
Luther takes the car out of park and drives us to school.
Connor: 8:06 AM
"Alright, see ya, Con," Niles waves and walks toward his friends, and also his boyfriend. Niles is friends with the group that you would think would be fresh out of juvie, though they are all in the Junior Detective Program with me.
I walk to my new locker, number 504. I don't even have to think about my combination, since I've memorised it. Someone taps my shoulder. I turn around slowly. "Hey, Chlo."
My blonde friend takes her hair out of her ponytail and fixes it. "Clari has a crush on you." She says, referring to one of her little sisters. Chloe has five little sisters. Clarissa "Clari", who is ten, Carley, who is twelve, Cassie, who is fifteen, Callie, who is sixteen and Cora, who is seventeen. Their mom died a few years after Clari was born, so it's just her incredibly rich father and his many servants raising them.
"Clari is ten," I reply, turning back and putting a few books in my locker.
Chloe leans against the locker next to me. "She also doesn't know you're a raging homo."
I scoff, "you're the raging homo."
"True." Chloe laughs. She stops after a moment. "Quick, talk to me like I'm interesting."
"Seriously, your crush on South is getting out of hand," I say, still not looking away from my locker.
"I'm ignoring the fact that you're using the wrong name, clearly on purpose, and reminding you of the fact that Daniel is coming near us with her."
That makes me turn around.
I see what is referred to as the Jericho crew, also the crew including the people we both have a crush on walking past us. "How many ponytail holders do you have?" I ask.
"What the Hell?! That doesn't make me sound interesting!" She smacks my arm.
"I'm interested in that," someone says from behind me.
"Me too," another voice says.
"I know right?" I say. Both of the Tracis, the girls who had just spoken, laugh.
"For your information, a shoe box worth," Chloe crosses her arms. The three of us burst out laughing. "Shut up."
