As I woke up, I took a shower, brushed my teeth, got changed, took a painkiller, and tied my hair into a ponytail. Today was going to be my first day at a new school so I wanted to make a good impression. Yesterday, Adrian told me that there were tryouts for extracurricular activities. From my basic knowledge, I was assuming that there was going to be things like cheerleading, track, and sports that I could try out for.
As I went downstairs, I made sure to grab my backpack which was filled with school supplies and money. The idea of purchasing bandages and painkillers was still fresh in my mind as I thought out a plan to get them without Adrian, Gavin, or Cole noticing. Since Adrian was in the year above me, there was a low chance that he had knowledge of what I was doing. I don't think that Gavin would care about what I was doing either – it didn't take a genius to figure out that he didn't like me. And Cole, he seemed to care more about girls than watching me. I didn't mind, considering that at least he would back off.
"Good morning Sierra," Adrian said as he handed me a bagel with cream cheese. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah, thanks for asking. Where's Jett and Stefano?" I replied, taking the bagel.
"They left to go to work."
"Obviously, otherwise how could they make money? Also Adrian, what's the update about Stefano's girlfriend? Did they make up yet? I swear, they're so toxic that it's like mixing oil and water. The point is, they just aren't compatible. Fighting over their living situation was just hilarious. I've never seen Stefano act so calm in my lifetime while being pissed."
"I don't know, Gavin. And you know how Stefano is with his girlfriend. He wants her to move in with us but she doesn't want to. She currently works in Stefano's corporation as a Chief Marketing Officer but doesn't want to live with him. It's strange, but I don't think that they're toxic. You know that Stefano has a stressful job and sometimes gets anxious. Arguing about the living situation was just the icing on the cake."
"Yeah but whenever they argue, it's so annoying. How did they even meet?"
"They met after Father gave Stefano the responsibility of his company. Before then, his girlfriend was considered an extremely good worker so she got promoted to being the head of marketing. When Stefano had a meeting with each of the sections, apparently, he was attracted to her. At first, she didn't return the same feelings, but after a while, she gave in and started dating him. They might not be compatible in a relationship, but they blend well in a corporation."
"I've only met her once and it was so annoying when Stefano kept looking at her constantly. He looks at her the same way I look at my motorcycles. Never in my life have I pegged Stefano to be the romantic type. That guy is bipolar."
"Cole, that's a terrible analogy and if you don't want me to tell him that, I highly suggest that you shut up. Once you fall in love, then you'll know how Stefano feels."
"Bullshit, I'll jump off a cliff before that happens. Adrian, I prefer the plural form of the word woman over the singular form. I'm a ladies' man, they like me and I like them."
As Gavin snorted at Cole's remark, Adrian put his hand to his face and sighed. I felt bad for him – managing the three of us alone seemed to be extremely difficult.
"Let's just go to the car. It's six forty-five and School starts at seven-thirty."
"Adrian, why the hell are we leaving at an earlier time?"
"Because Gavin, we need to get Sierra's schedule and show her where to find her locker before first period begins."
After getting into the car, Adrian and Cole sat in the front as Gavin and I sat in the back. I just knew that this car ride was not going to end well.
"Listen," Gavin whispered to me. "Stay away from Cole and I. Find some friends who aren't associated with us and ignore us. We don't need rumors about us or our Father to spread like a wildfire. It'll be better for both of us. Whatever you do, don't tell anyone that you're our sister."
"Noted," I gulped as I turned in the direction opposite of Gavin.
After Adrian parked the car, we walked out and I got a glimpse of the School. From what I could see, it was three stories high, had a garden next to it, and was extremely organized. We walked inside and I couldn't help but stare in awe as I saw the hallway. Gavin and Cole didn't seem too fazed by it, but I was shocked. In my entire life, I had never been exposed to something as majestic as this.
"Is this Ms. Sierra Rossi?" the secretary asked. Adrian nodded, while Gavin scoffed.
"It's Petrov, ma'am," he retorted, earning a glare from Adrian and a blush from the secretary.
"Welcome dear, here's your schedule. Your first class is AP Math with Ms. Crawford. Your locker number is seven hundred ninety-five. I know that from your old school, you were learning something different, but your grades were high enough for you to be moved into a more advanced class."
"Thank you," I replied, taking the schedule from her. Gavin and Cole already left, leaving just me and Adrian.
"Sierra, before I go, do you know how to use the locker? If you don't know, I can quickly show you before I have to leave to go to Science Class."
"I know how to use it, but thanks Adrian."
"No problem. I don't have lunch with you, but Gavin and Cole do. If they bother you, just let me know, okay? Have a good day." He hugged me and then left.
It took a minute before I realized that my first period class was just across my locker. Thankfully, the bell hadn't rang yet and there weren't many people in the classroom. The teacher noticed me and grinned.
"Hello darling, are you Sierra?"
"Yes, it's nice to meet you."
"No worries, here, just sit next to Skylar." I followed her and sat down in the seat. Next to me was a girl who had hair as dark as night with purple streaks and an outfit that would certainly turn heads. To be honest, she looked like Dionne from Clueless minus the purple in her hair.
"Hey, I'm Skylar," she waved. "Welcome to the most boring class that you'll take in your life. Are you new by any chance?
"I'm Sierra," I replied. "Thanks for the introduction of AP Math. And yes, I'm new to this school." She smiled at me.
"Class, quiet down. Today, we're going to be continuing our review of Trigonometry and in the next semester, we'll be learning Calculus. If someone doesn't understand, just ask the person next to you. You're going to be having a quiz next week about the topic. I expect everyone here to get at least an eighty."
After she gave her speech, the whole class remained quiet. No one said anything until the bell rang. Skylar came up to me after we exited the classroom.
"What's your next class?"
"I have Science next. How about you?"
"Same. But beware of Mr. Johnson. His temper is known for being extremely bad. Once, he cursed in front of a bunch of parents when they came in to see their children. That caused a bunch of gasps from the adults and laughter from the students. Ever since then, they stopped doing that activity."
"That sounds terrible."
"It is," she nodded. We hastily made our way into his class before the bell rang. I wasn't nervous about meeting the teacher, but I wasn't enthusiastic about it either.
"Are you Sierra?" he gruffly asked. I nodded. "Go sit with Skylar in the back."
At the table, there were two other girls. One was wearing a skirt with a crop top. The other girl was wearing jeans and a flannel shirt. Compared to them, I looked pathetic. I was wearing black leggings and a navy-blue tank top.
"Welcome to the table. I'm Diana," the girl with the flannel shirt said.
"I'm Layla," the girl with the crop top added. "It's nice to meet you."
"Thanks, I'm Sierra."
"Class, we're going to be learning about biology. For those of you who are currently in health class, pay attention. This is going to come in handy when you're asked to name organs."
Long story short, we had to read about the human body. I was thankful that we didn't have to go into detail – we just had to learn about organs and nutrients. Nothing was too difficult to learn. For homework, we had to research an organ with our table. We had about a week to make a presentation and show it to the class. When Mr. Johnson said that we could talk, Layla spoke up.
"Should we go to someone's house or talk over the phone? I'm going to try out for the Drama Club and I'm not available to work after school."
"We can just do a slideshow and text each other. Do you guys have any social media?" Skylar asked.
"I have Instagram," I said.
"Same, here let's just add each other's accounts so that we can talk." Everyone nodded as set up a group chat. On top of that, we also exchanged contact numbers.
The bell soon rang and we exchanged our goodbyes. Luckily, Layla and I both had Social Studies after Science and she showed me how to get to the room. The teacher was absent so the substitute teacher let us do our homework. To make the best use of time, I decided to do my math homework. I was grateful that I already learned Trig at my old school, so doing the homework wasn't hard. Layla looked at me with curious eyes.
"You know, out of every person that I've seen in the school, you're the only one who actually does their homework when given the chance. That's interesting," she said.
"I guess that's because I'd rather not do it at home. I don't have much of a social life, so I guess doing homework helps past the time."
"After hanging out with me, Skylar, and Diana, that's probably going to change," she chuckled as I gave a small smile. As a first impression, she didn't strike me as the type of girl who joked around. It was refreshing for once to be wrong.
I excused myself out of the class after the bell rang. I now had English class, which was my favorite. In that class, I was relieved to find Diana in one of the seats. She beamed at me as I sat down next to her. A few other students came in and she grinned.
"What happened?" I inquired. Her grin only increased.
"Look over there," she whispered. My jaw almost dropped. Gavin was in the same class as me, but thankfully, he wasn't looking in my direction. He seemed to be talking to another guy. Was he popular or something?
"That's Jace Parker over there, Sierra. He's the Co-Captain of the football team, is in all honors, and has a charming personality. Most importantly, he's extremely popular."
"That's cool, but I think we better stop chatting before someone notices." Diana nodded and we turned our heads to where the teacher was talking.
"Class, we're going to be reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. You will be expected to take notes on the book and I will occasionally give quizzes to ensure that all of you are being responsible. There will be no quizzes this week, however, you will have a quiz next Friday. You may read for the rest of Class, take notes, and annotate. When we finish the book, I'll let all of you watch the movie."
Everyone in the class remained silent and did their work until the bell rang. I had lunch this period and so did Diana.
"Do you want to sit with us at lunch?" Diana asked.
"Sure," I responded.
Making our way to the lunchroom, I saw Skylar and Layla sitting at a table. They waved to us as we sat down in the seats. Remembering my plan from earlier, I excused myself to go to the school store that was open. I found a first-aid kit that included painkillers. I was relieved. When making my way back to the table, I bumped into someone – Jace Parker.
"Sorry," I mumbled.
"No problem," Jace said. "If you don't mind me asking, why do you have a first-aid kit? Are you hurt or something?"
"No," I monotonously said. "I just figured that in case of an accident, I would have something. Honestly, I'm the type of person to be prepared for the most random things which can be a good trait to have. I'm not hurt, but it's good to know that I have a first-aid kit if something goes wrong." That was a lie, but I mentally applauded myself for coming up with something that seemed like the truth. Sadly, my ribs weren't getting any better and I was running out of painkillers.
"Okay then," he said, looking suspicious and walking away. I walked back to my table and hid the first-aid kit in my bag.
"Do you not have any lunch, Sierra?" Diana asked. "I can share some of my food with you. I have kimchi and noodles with me. It's a bit spicy and I understand if you don't want it."
"Thanks for the offer, Diana, but I ate a big breakfast. I actually really like spicy food so I would've gladly accepted, but it's your lunch. Even though I'm not hungry, it looks pretty tasty."
"Thanks, it's actually one of my favorite foods. My mother immigrated here from Korea and makes it every other day in my family. Maybe if you visit my house one day, I can show you how to make it."
I smiled at her as I looked around the lunchroom. Some kids looked to be in the grade above me, others in the grade below me. I would've kept looking around, hadn't Layla spoke up.
"Girls, look, those guys are approaching us. What the hell do they want this time?" I was confused when I saw a bunch of guys, Cole, Gavin, and Jace included, approaching us.
"Why are they approaching you? Are you girls popular or something?"
"I guess you could call it that," Skylar casually said. "Not as popular as the guys, but pretty popular among the people in this high school."
"But why were you being nice to me when I entered the class? Back at my old school, the popular kids acted like jerks."
"A lot of girls want to be friends with us so they pretend to be nice. A bunch of new kids acted like brats before we told them that we were popular. You seemed genuine and we felt like we could trust you. I don't know why, but you seem like the kind of person who's loyal. I can promise you that we're not going to leave you if that's what you're worried about." When she was done with her explanation, the other girls beamed at me.
"Thanks," I gushed as they continued to smile. Our smiles stopped when the boys were at our table.
"What do you guys want?" Layla snapped.
"Who's the girl?" Gavin chided. "No offense, but you don't look like the type to fit in with these girls. Unlike you, they actually have class." I knew what he was doing. He was trying to get me to break down and depict me as a crier who couldn't handle an insult. Sorry Gavin, but you're going to see me get an F on a test before I break down while in school. And trust me, I never got below a B before.
"Fuck off Gavin," Skylar spat. "It's hilarious how you're saying that she doesn't have class when you're the one making petty remarks in order to earn a reaction. Go back to your table." Some of the guys laughed at her words and one gave Gavin a playful shove.
"Dude let's just go," one of the other guys said. "Sorry ladies, Gavin's just pissed because he could lose his position as the Captain of the football team after tryouts today. He forgot to take his daily dose of dating." That earned a few snickers from the guys before Gavin punched one of them. They immediately shut up and left the table.
"Sorry that happened," Diana said. "They're jerks who just try and get a reaction from girls who talk to us who don't fit their pathetic excuse of a 'criteria'. I'm sorry that you had to be the latest victim."
"Yeah, sorry about that, especially with Gavin," Skylar added. "He's usually pretty nice, but I don't know why he was acting like a dick."
"It's fine, considering that it didn't really bother me. I'm used to getting petty remarks."
"Are any of you going to tryouts? I'm going to be trying out for the track team." Skylar asked.
"I'm auditioning for the Cheerleading team," Diana murmured. "You should also try out for the Cheerleading team, Sierra. You seem like you'd fit in."
"Sure," I said.
"As I stated before in Science, I'm trying out for Drama Club. The play is Romeo & Juliet which I'm not too hyped about, but my mom wants me to audition. She thinks that it's romantic. I swear, she watches too many telenovelas when dad isn't home."
"Some of them that I've seen are actually pretty good," Skylar replied.
"Yes but on top of that, she watches them while cooking. One time, she burned the enchiladas since she forgot to turn off the oven."
"That's sad, but enchiladas are pretty tasty," I added. "I wish that I could make them, but I would probably burn down the kitchen while trying. Were either of your parents taught to make them at a young age?"
"My dad's Mexican, so yes, he was taught at a young age. My mother is German, but she learned to cook foods from different countries, including Mexico. She learned from my dad how to make enchiladas, but one in three times, she will burn them. If you were making them, I don't think that you would fail as badly as my mother did in the beginning. At least you don't seem like the type of person to let the food burn while watching television. Sometimes, my mother doesn't care that she has to turn off the oven while watching television. It's gotten to the point where it's just ridiculous."
"That seems relatable," Diana giggled. "But lunch is going to end in a few minutes. What do you have next Sierra?"
"I have my elective which is a Law course. Judging from your facial expressions, I don't think that any of you share that class with me."
"None of us have that class with you, but Jace does. I wish you the best of luck, Sierra." Diana gave me a tight smile.
When the bell rang, I waved to the girls, went up the steps, and got into the classroom. The teacher was already there and told me to sit in one of the further seats. After I sat down in the seat, I saw Jace come in as he sat in the seat next to mine. I remained silent and took out my book.
"What's your name?" he asked me. I stayed quiet. "Never mind, it's Sierra isn't it? You were the girl who was sitting with Diana, Layla, and Skylar at lunch. I have to say, they seemed to really like you. I've never seen them welcome someone with such open arms. You must be pretty special."
I rolled my eyes, as I concealed the fact that I was happy that he didn't get the reaction that he probably was expecting. The teacher shushed us after he spoke so that he couldn't talk to me anymore for the rest of the period. The content that we were learning now was nothing difficult. I already read about the Constitution so having a quiz next Wednesday didn't bother me. Jace, on the other hand, didn't give me the impression that he shared the same knowledge.
The bell rang and I rushed to Italian class. Surprisingly, Jace was also there. I tried my best to ignore him, but my plan backfired as the teacher made us sit at the same table. At my table sat Cole and Layla, which was a good thing; at least there was someone who I liked. I wasn't sure if Cole knew about Gavin's remarks so I stayed quiet.
After Italian class ended, I went to gym, which was the last class of the day. I was glad to know that people only had to change into gym clothes if the clothes they were wearing weren't suitable. Diana was in the same class as me, which was a good thing.
"Class, today we're going to be doing the Pacer test. This test will be used to measure your stamina while running. This test has been done since elementary school so I expect that all of you know what to do. If you don't know what it is, you run to the line and when there is a beep, you run back to the other line. Keep doing this until you fail twice and then sit down. Your partner will record your score." When the teacher was done with his explanation, Diana and I agreed that I would run first and she would go second. Much to my dismay, Gavin and Jace were running with me during the test. Jace smirked at me as Gavin leered at me. I was good at running, but if both of them had their way, I would be the laughingstock of the entire school.
While running, I was shocked to see that I was still in the race with a few of the guys. Some of the girls were good at running but were upset that they got sweaty so they gave up. A bunch of guys gave up. Because I used antiperspirant, I wasn't sweating nearly as much as everyone else. A few laps later, I managed to out-run Gavin who looked pissed at me. If Gavin wasn't my half-brother, maybe he'd compliment me, but that wasn't going to happen.
After a few more runs, my legs gave in as a bunch of people applauded me. The same time that I gave up was when Jace also stepped to the sidelines. We had a tie where some people were shocked and others, like Diana, were extremely proud of me. When she did the test, she did remarkably well as she was one of the later people to finish their test. Because school was ending now, I texted Adrian that I was going to try out for the Cheerleading team and he gave me the approval to do so. I followed Diana to where the tryouts were being held.
"Just remember Sierra to keep breathing and don't let anyone get to you. Even if you don't get in, you can try out for track or another sport."
"Sierra, you're up now," the Coach shouted. "One of the twelfth graders will do a routine. I want you to try and copy it. If you do well, you'll make it. At the end, feel free to do an original move that is not included in the routine or that is difficult."
The routine wasn't hard to imitate, but it wasn't easy. First a twirl, then a jump, followed by a forward roll. I then had to wave the pom-poms which wasn't difficult to copy. I ended my routine with a backflip which somehow worked in my favor. The Coach gave me a warm smile as Diana auditioned after me. At the end, she called our names as Diana and I were both ecstatic that we were accepted.
"I never knew that you knew gymnastics. Doing a backflip isn't easy," Diana exclaimed.
"When I was younger, we had a gymnastics unit in school. I guess jumping and doing flips just came natural for me? Nevertheless, you had an amazing audition."
"My mom's here, but it was nice to meet you Sierra. Promise me that you'll give me updates on what goes on with Jace."
"You too and I can't promise that for sure," I laughed as I made my way to Adrian's car. He grinned as I got in. Cole was indifferent and I could tell that Gavin was trying his best not to let his anger get the best of him.
"Jace told me that you were buying drugs. When we get home, we're going to have a serious talk," Gavin whispered, gritting his teeth. "Stefano, Jett, and Adrian won't be home while Cole will be going out with his friends. If you don't listen, you're going to regret it."
"But I wasn't –
"Don't lie and shut your mouth. You don't know what I can do."
I might've made friends today, but Jace just had to ruin my soiled relationship with Gavin by claiming that I was buying drugs. I guess in the medical field, painkillers were classified as drugs, but I wasn't buying things such as cocaine or weed which were considered more dangerous. Damn you, Jace. Maybe when he grows up, he should work for a reality television show considering that he's exceptional at stirring the pot when it comes to drama.
I wish that I could say that I wasn't afraid of Gavin or his threat, but the I would be lying. For the first time in my life, I was truly afraid of what he was capable of.
Author's Note:
Hi guys, I just wanted to thank you for 500+ reads! To be honest, I didn't even think that 10 people would read my story and it's nice to know that people are reading my content and voting on Chapters. Your support means a lot to me!