{Aspen's POV}
"Assssssssssss!!!"
"Aaaassssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!"
"AAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!"
I immediately shoot up from my cloud in a panic. I frantically look around my room for the source of the loud noise. My gaze meets a concerned looking Kohen. I can feel the panic grow inside me.
"Sh*t sorry As." Kohen says nervously.
My hyperventilating doesn't subside and I start to tremble. Kohen's face turns frantic as he tries to calm me down. Soon enough, I feel my cheeks getting damp. I reach my hand up to my face and when I bring it back down, I see tears on my fingers and I realize I'm crying. For some reason, the realization makes me sob louder.
Kohen continues to pace around my room mumbling things to himself. His head suddenly snaps to mine in realization.
"Okay, okay, okay, okay relax please? Calm down! Listen to me, we're going to try this square breathing thing."
I widen my eyes, surprised by his efforts but nod my head nonetheless. He sits down on the edge of my cloud and looks me in the eyes.
"Inhale 1 2 3 4, Hold 1 2 3 4, Exhale 1 2 3 4, Hold 1 2 3 4"
I follow his instruction and after a few rounds, I start to calm down. My breathing starts to regulate and my sobs turn to occasional hiccups.
"I'm so sorry As, I was just trying to wake you up for school." Kohen says with a guilty face.
"Sorry Hen-Hen I didn't mean to react that way." I ignore his apology.
"Don't you dare apologize for something you cant control." Kohen says sternly. "I'm sorry As, I wasn't thinking."
"Hen-Hen you're fine, now get out so that I can get ready for the worst day of my life." I groan.
Kohen nods with an amused look on his face and gets up from my cloud. Before he gets to my door, I stop him and he turns to look at me.
"You're off the hitlist."
I smile at his confused face before turning around and heading towards my closet. I pick out a green sweatshirt and yellow turtleneck to put underneath it. For my bottoms I pick some orange pants and a black leather belt to complete the look.
As I change, I cant help but glance at the large scar on my leg. It has finally healed but unfortunately will leave a large scar extending from the back of my ankle all the way up to the front of my knee. It's certainly an awkward shape and I feel awfully self conscious about it. Trying to shake the negative thoughts in my head, I quickly get dressed, do my business and make my way to the dinning room.
As I enter I see all my brothers in their respective seats and I move to take mine. Caspian and Ambrose share a look before both looking at me with something I cant read.
One thing I should note is over these past 2 days since Caspian has assigned me my punishment, I've basically given him and Ambrose the cold shoulder. It's not that I'm ignoring them, I'm just trying to act unaffected by his punishment.
I fill my plate with French pastries that Raini baked and eat in silence with a blank face. Caspian clears his throat in an attempt to get my attention but I ignore him, taking another bite of my pastry.
"Aspen" Caspian's cold voice fills the silence.
"Yes?" I reply, still focusing on my pastry.
"Look at me." He demands. I drop my pastry onto my plate and look up to meet Caspian's intense gaze. "I know you're upset with me but do you have any questions about school? Now's the time to speak up."
"Nope" I reply.
Caspian sighs and takes something out of his pocket and sliding it across the table to me. I glance at the object and find a pair of earplugs.
"In case the noise gets to be too much." He says.
I take the earplugs, knowing I'll probably need them, and tuck them into my pocket.
"You will be driving with Kohen and Jasper, and Sorin will drive himself." Caspian says and I nod in response.
"Aspen, are you angry at us?" Ambrose asks.
"Ah, look at the time!" I say glancing at the nonexistent watch on my wrist. "Jasper, Hen-Hen, I'll meet you guys in the garage."
I quickly get up from my seat and rush to the garage, ignoring Ambrose's calls for me. I sit on the floor waiting for Kohen and Jasper. After a few minutes, they finally arrive and we take Jasper's car. As we drive, Jasper decides to turn on the radio which irritates me. Kohen, noticing my discomfort, turns the radio down, only to have it turned back up again by Jasper. As they continue to fight over the radio, I decide to put Caspian's gift to use.
I look out the window, watching the scenery pass by, as well as trying to familiarize myself with the route we're taking. After about 15 minutes, we arrive at a building that doesn't quite look like a school. It's much to luxurious. The cars in the parking lot are all expensive sports cars and the kids all look like they came out of a magazine. I glance down at my outfit, realizing I'm quite underdressed compared to the others.
The magic of earplugs is shown when both Jasper and Kohen get out of the car without me noticing. A very impatient Jasper opens my door and I get out of the car while taking out my earplugs. The noise is already far too much for me but I decide I need to suck it up, no matter how irritated I am.
Jasper leads the way inside. I notice how people look at us with fear and jealousy. It makes me wonder why my brothers have this kind of reputation. Granted, they are big, strong, and intimidating and the average person would likely fear them at the first glance. I suppose I've just gotten used to them.
When we enter the school, my ears are filled with mindless chatter, laughter, and the occasional screech of random girls. I takes deep breaths to try to control my breathing, but as we make our way further into the school, it proves to be difficult.
We eventually make it to the office where we're greeted by silence. There is a lone secretary typing away on her computer and she turns her head to look at us once we walk in. She platers a fake smile on her face upon seeing my brothers.
"Mr. Karieo, this must be Aspen."
"Yeah, we need her schedule and sh*t." My eyes widen at Jaspers choice of words but the secretary pays no mind to them, as if it's a common occurrence.
"Ah yes, here it is all prepared." She grabs a few papers and hands them to Jasper, as if I'm not here. Jasper then shoves the papers in my hands.
"Peace out little sister, don't be stupid." Jasper says while leaving the office.
Kohen turns to me and gives me a sympathetic look,
"Do you need help finding your locker?" Kohen asks.
"No, I'll be fine. See you later Hen-Hen." I give him a reassuring smile with all the fake confidence I can muster up.
I exit the office and my ears are once again, bombarded with different noises. I focus on my breathing while walking down the crowded hallway. Eventually, I stop at my locker and drop off my backpack. I grab whatever books I need and head to my first class which is French. I'm quite exited to be honest.
When I find the class I'm looking for, I'm surprised to find what looks to be only 7 or 8 other people in the class. All heads turn to me and I keep my head up, finding one of those lovely boosts of confidence. I approach the teachers desk and give her a friendly smile.
"Bonjour! Je m'appelle Aspen Karieo." (Hello! My name is Aspen Karieo.)
"Ah, Bonjour! asseyez-vous où vous voulez." He says, returning my smile. (Hello! Have a seat anywhere you would like.)
"Merci." I reply. (thank you)
I turn around and look for a safe seat to take. Glancing around, I find a spot near the back that has no one sitting nearby. I decide it's suitable and make my way over, feeling all the curious stares on the back of my head.
The class seems to end as quickly as it began. I make no contact with anyone other than answering a few questions. Due to there not being many people in the class, there's hardly any noise which I appreciate.
My next class is Math which passes by painfully slow. Although, the teacher is one who insists on having everyone silent which makes it slightly more tolerable. I still receive many stares and glares which I simply shrug off. No one has made an effort to talk to me which I have no complaints about.
It's now lunch and I find myself in a predicament. I can hear the noise of the cafeteria from my locker so I decide it's best to stay away from the area. I decide to explore a little bit and I wander the hallways aimlessly, focusing on my breathing in areas where the noise is particularly loud. I find a staircase and when I reach the bottom, I notice a little entrance underneath of it. I go inside and find the area dark, empty, and silent. I decide to claim this place as my own and stay here for the rest of lunch.
Unaware of the time, I decide it might be time to head back. Before I can leave under the stairs, I hear shouting and what seems like crying?
"Speak, I dare you." One voice booms.
"Just say some words, what are you stupid?" Another person joins in.
"Wrong choice b*tch." The first person chimes in again.
I peek out from behind the staircase and find two boys towering over a crying girl. The first boy, we'll call buttface, is the taller of the two. He has dark brown hair, green eyes and a sharp jawline. The second boy, we'll call the elegant chicken wing, has messy blonde hair with brown eyes. He has a big physique and is quite overdressed in a suit. I'll be honest, I'm not the greatest with insults.
Jasper's voice suddenly comes to my head, Don't be stupid. I decide to break Jasper's demand and I walk out of my hiding place and approach the situation.
"The only b*tch here seems to be you, buttface." I say, again, getting a much needed boost of confidence.
"Who do you think you are?" buttface says looking me up and down with a disgusted face.
"A nobody really, but certainly not somebody who will allow you to torment this girl any longer." I reply.
"Sh*t, it's the Karieo girl." The elegant chicken wing says.
"Ah ding, ding, ding! Would you like a prize?" I reply and buttface's face seems to harden.
"Listen here Karieo, you made a mistake. You're making enemies on your first day." buttface says.
"Oh dear, I'm so scared. Buttface and the elegant chicken wing think they're all tough and scary picking on a girl half their size then making empty threats. Go swim in a deep fryer." I roll my eyes and buttface chuckles darkly.
"Strike 2 Karieo, I suggest you leave now." Buttface says.
I place my hand on my chin as if in deep thought before catching buttface off guard and shoving him out of my way and grabbing the girl's wrist. I drag her away from the stair case before the two boys can react. Before I know it, we're outside and I find myself catching my breath. I look at the girl, she looks to be in my grade. She has brown hair and brown eyes.
"Are you alright?" I ask her and she nods her head.
"What's your name?" I ask her.
She grabs my hand and I tense up. She starts to draw letters on my hand and I suddenly understand the situation.
F A Y
"Fay?" I ask her and she nods.
"Fay, I'm Aspen, can you speak?" I ask her softly and she shakes her head no.
"Those boys, they were trying to force you to talk?" I ask and she nods her head.
She reaches for her bag and pulls out a pen and a paper and starts to write.
They have a bet to see who can get me to talk, the winner gets $5000.
I can feel the rage bubbling up inside of me.
"How long has this been going on?" I ask.
A little over a month.
I shake my head in disbelief.
"Does no one ever help you?" I ask.
They are powerful people, no one gets in their way. I cant tell if you were brave or stupid back there.
I chuckle lightly and just as I'm about to speak, the bell rings indicating it's time for the next class.
"Hey I need to get to my locker really quick, do you want to come?" I ask her and she nods her head with a soft smile.
We make our way back inside the school and over to my locker. Luckily the hallways have cleared out and it's pretty quiet. Fay stands to the side as I open my locker and as I do, a little piece of paper falls out of it. I grab the paper and widen my eyes at it's contents.
STRIKE 3
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Another chapter! I was really in the mood to write today so here you go!
Thank you for your support on this book!!! <3
Hope you enjoyed!! :)