Zodiac High-The Series

32

Cancer Hernández

PROFILE

(Taylor Zakhar Perez)

Nicknames: None

Appearance: Indian/Hispanic descent, brown eyes, black hair, golden complexion, 6'0.

Personality: Cancer is the all-rounder. He's charming, smart and a good sport too, but acceptance is much harder for him to find as he arrives upon the death of the much-loved Cancer Chang. He is hellbent on being accepted and celebrated by Varsity High, and he's prepared to go very far to do just that. 

.....

CANCER

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Mom asked for the tenth time. "I'll be fine, Mom. It's nothing I can't handle. Love you!" Kissing my mom goodbye, I walked out of the house, jumping into my convertible the way I always had before driving toward my new school. 

When I (finally) arrived, I noticed a memorial shrine being set up. Frowning, I paid no heed to the strange setup, walking into the school itself, where many posters were plastered to the wall, reading 'Rest in Peace, Cancer.' Raising my eyebrows, I continued on my way. "This school sure has a weird way of welcoming new students," I muttered to myself, not realising that I had crashed into someone-a blonde girl dressed in a rather worn tracksuit. Raising an eyebrow quizzically, she took a step back. "Who are you?" 

"I think a sorry is in order here."

"I said, who are you?"

"Jeez, chill. I'm Cancer."

The girl took a step back, her eyes widening. "What?" I turned toward the posters, realisation dawning on me.

"So I think it's safe to assume that these posters aren't to welcome me to school." 

She drew in a sharp breath, turning away. "I'm Aquarius. Nice to meet you." With that, she turned on her heel, walking away. Another girl, this one a dusky, tanned brunette wearing a yellow minidress with (ridiculously tall) white stilettos, smiled slightly. "I'm so sorry, Cancer. I'm Libra Cole, sophomore class rep. Lovely to meet you!" Gesturing for me to follow her, Libra led me through the hallway, her walk turning into a strut. "I have to say, you arrival is quite untimely. See, just recently, Varsity High was struck by tragedy. 

"Cancer Chang, a sophomore Honours student, passed about a week ago. Aquarius was quite close with him, and they didn't exactly have the most gracious last exchange. It's all horrible; everyone's devastated. Well, anyways, the school is just a mess right now. I'm so sorry you had to arrive now, but I'm sure you'll fit in right away!" A tall, broad-shouldered boy joined us halfway down the administration corridor. "Hey, Leo! This is the new kid. His name is also Cancer." Leo gaped at me, blinking hard before speaking. "Oh, wow. Did you tell him-"

"About Cancer? Yes."

"And did-"

"He meet Aquarius? Yes."

"Oh no, that's-"

"Horrible. I know."

I was the one left gaping and blinking this time. "Okay, what was that whole thing?" Libra laughed, elbowing Leo. "I don't know, it's like we're always-"

"Finishing each other's sentences," Leo finished. "Are you guys together?" I asked, starting to ship the two. "Oh..." Libra started giggling awkwardly while Leo turned to look at himself in a nearby locker mirror, grinning. "It's complicated," Libra answered before whacking Leo across the head with her white clutch. Then, ironically, she whipped out a compact mirror, gazing at her own reflection. Leo rolled his eyes and walked away just as another boy approached Libra, this one with dashing looks. "Libra, hey!" He wore a red and white jacket with the letter 'V' emblazoned upon it with acid-washed jeans. Libra turned toward him, sighing. "Scorpio."

"Libra, you can't avoid me forever. Please, we can talk about this-"

"It's not you, Scorpio. It's me."

"Please, just hear me out! Three months in a coma, and when I finally see you, I find out you don't want to be with me anymore. I just want to talk."

Libra sighed, nodding reluctantly. "Fine." Turning toward me, she smiled once again.

"Will you be fine from here, Cancer?" Scorpio's eyes widened. 

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks, Libra."

She nodded, walking away with Scorpio.

Sighing, I ambled into the administration. Time to win this place over. 

.....

Sitting through my period 3 Science class was torture until I felt a square piece of paper brush against my hand. Opening the note, I smirked, looking at the message upon it. 

New boy is cute, huh?

I turned toward the blue-eyed origin of the note, who gasped upon seeing where her note had landed before rolling her eyes. 

"I'll be back in five minutes," the teacher announced, leaving the room. Turning toward this girl, I smiled lazily. "So you think I'm cute, huh?" She rolled her eyes, whipping her phone out of her pocket. "So I do. What's the problem?"

"No problems. Just thought I'd introduce myself by name. I'm Cancer."

"Oh, harsh coincidence..."

"Or so I've been told. I'm sorry, by the way."

"It's all good. The name's Gemini."

"Nice to meet you, Gemini."

The teacher returned. "Alright, back to this formula..."

Just as I was about to doze off, I felt another note brush my arm. Opening it up, I read the message written on it in Gemini's sprawling, large script. 

Sit with us at lunch.

Smiling, I looked over my shoulder at her and winked. 

This is just like every other school.

Just play nice, and they'll all love you.