CARINA

I woke up to a dark room. My eyes fluttered open and drifted to the clock on my bedside. It read 07:15 a.m. My mind immediately went to the fact that I have to go to school, and I gave a slight groan. I jumped out of bed and went to the bathroom immediately, and brushed my teeth. After taking a quick shower, I got into my new clothes.

I pulled a simple pastel pink dress from my closet and pulled it on. I then paired it with some boots and a beige jumper pulled over so I don't feel cold. Grabbing my bag, I triple checked everything. Books, pencil case, files, and my PE kit.

Everything was in check. I looked at myself in the mirror and was pretty confident I looked great. I picked up my white backpack and went downstairs to join the others for breakfast. I didn't see Genevieve or Ace, so I assumed they were already gone. Romeo and Amara looked ready to go.

"Ready for school today?" Luca asked Alex and me as Alex grabbed an apple from the fruit basket, while I set down for some pancakes again.

"Yes of course!" I nodded. The thought of meeting new people always excited me.

Alex shrugged in response. "It's school," she replied.

Even in the simplest of clothes, she managed to look amazing. Unlike me, she didn't have to try hard.

Once everyone was done with breakfast, Alex and Liam went into his Mercedes, while the rest of us piled into the white car. I was near the window again, Luca beside me, Layla next to him, and Lucas in the driving seat.

"Excited?" Layla asked me, once we were on the road.

"You bet," I replied, grinning. New place, new people, new friends. It's my thing.

"I'm sure you'll do well," Luca said, giving me a warm smile, which I returned.

"I hope so, yeah."

"You'll love the school as well." Lucas chimed in. "It has this amazing huge cafeteria with equally amazing food..."

I zoned out after that. The thought of a new place made me nervous as well. What if no one likes me? What if I don't fit in? Those thoughts kept looming in my head.

But like Alex had a pretty good poker face, I could mask my nervousness with excitement.

"Right Carina?" I heard Lucas say and snapped out of my thoughts.

Then I said something really intelligent like, "Huh?"

"Have you been listening to anything he was saying?" Layla asked with a laugh.

"Nope, sorry."

"There goes my rant on why you'll love our school," Lucas said, laughing to himself.

"Don't worry, you'll do fine," Luca said as if he'd been reading my thoughts.

I nodded, trying to tell myself the same thing. Surely nothing worse than what had already happened recently could start. After all, hadn't we just technically had several car crashes? And my foster father had died, though I didn't care much about that.

"How long till we get there?" I asked, trying to change the topic to anything but me.

"Five minutes, I'd say," Layla replied, looking at her watch.

Sure enough, five minutes later we reached our destination. She was pretty good at assuming times, and I was jealous. It would be a cool trait to have. I started to feel better; maybe it wouldn't be that bad. Lucas pulled up into the school parking lot, and got out first, followed by the rest of us. Just as I stepped out, all the eyes turned to me. I took a deep breath.
 
Here we go.

Suddenly all the confidence I had drained out of me. This could not be worse. Was it the fact that I was new, or was it who I was walking into the school with? I should have asked my siblings what kind of reputation they had around the school before we came. I kept my eyes down and kept moving with my siblings. As we walked to the school's main building, we caught up with Alex and Liam. I was glad to have Alex by my side again.

As we reached the hallways, everyone went their separate ways. Lucas grinned at me before leaving, and Alex and Liam sort of looked at each other before Liam went to his locker. What was that about? I shrugged it off. Luca implied staying with Alex and me, which I didn't mind.

Alex on the other hand had different plans. "You don't have to follow me? I'm capable of navigating myself," she told Luca, who pretended to not have heard what she said.

We finally reached our lockers. My locker happened to be beside Luca's, two away from Alex.

As students passed by, I heard them whispering and gossiping, staring at us.

"Who are they?"

"Oh my god, the one with the white hair though."

"She looks like a slut, hovering around the Di Angelo's as if she's anything."

"They look like Luca."

My nervousness turned into anger.

"What's your first class?" Luca asked us. I resisted the urge to slam the locker close after taking out my maths workbook and guide.

"AP Bio," Alex replied. Lucky her.

"Mathematics," I said, frowning at my schedule, feeling like throwing my books in a trash can. The day had just started and I felt like it couldn't get worse. Hopefully it wouldn't get worse, cause I really don't think I would deal.

 
Luca nodded. "I have maths too. I'll take you there. Alex, AP bio is right there." He pointed towards a door a couple of feet from her locker. She nodded and said she'd meet us at lunch before setting off.

"Let's go?" Luca asked. I nodded and followed him to the classroom.

What a way to start the day. Maths. When we stepped in, everyone turned to look at us. Nervousness swept over me again, but I masked it with confidence... and headed to sit in the back of the class.

"Isn't she one of the new girls? What is she doing with Luca?"

"I heard she came to school with him and the rest of the Di Angelos."

I looked in the direction the voices came from, and they went quiet. I sat in the corner-most seat on the left and mentally sighed. So much for a confident start. I looked to the girl next to me.

She had dark brown eyes and dark hair. She had a tanned skin tone and looked really pretty. She smiled at me, and I smiled back. She was the first person in the school who had acknowledged me without whispering, and I appreciated that.

The boy sitting in front of her turned around to look at me. He had short, curly, brown hair, which seemed to be very unorganized. He had brown eyes and a tanned skin tone as well, but slightly darker than the girls.

"You must be the new girl everyone is talking about." He said, looking at me. I frowned at him. Everyone had been talking about? We've only been here for fifteen minutes.

"I'm sorry, I should've introduced myself first. I'm Carlos." He said, holding out his hand. I shook it.

"Nice to meet you, Carlos, I'm Carina."

He grinned at me, "So, you came here with the Di Angelos?" Ah shit. I should've listened to what Lucas was going on about in the car.

"No shit, Sherlock." the girl said, then she turned to face me. "Hi, I'm Rosé." She held out her hand and shook it as well.

"So, you're related to them?" Carlos asked.
 
Rosé rolled her eyes at his question, as if to say 'No shit, Sherlock' again.

"Yeah," I said, "we're siblings." Carlos almost fell off his chair, as Rosé looked at me wide-eyed.

Then she seemed to recover from the shock. "Oh. So, where have you been until now?" She asked, then quickly added, "Sorry, that came out kind of rude."

I smiled, "It's fine."

"So?" Carlos asked, who seemed to have recovered now as well.

"What?" I asked.

"Where were you?" Rosé smacked him lightly on the back of his head. He turned and glared at her.

It would've been funny if I wasn't trying to remember the excuse Alex and I had made up. "I um..." Carlos raised his eyebrows at me. Thinking under pressure was NOT my thing. "I uh, lived with my aunt in a boarding school."

I cringed at my own answer.

"What?" Rosé asked, looking genuinely confused. "I mean, I lived with my aunt and we went to a boarding school," I replied, too quickly. Rosé nodded.

"Wait, what do you mean 'we'?" Carlos asked.

"I meant me and my twin sister. It's her first day today too."

"Now that you have said it, you do look a lot like Luca." Rosé said. Just then the class went silent and our teacher entered.

I had never been so happy in my life to see my math teacher. Her entrance saved me from further explanation. She didn't have to wait for the chatter to die, because the class went silent as soon as she entered, which gave me the red flags.

She cleared her throat, and then said, "Good morning class, now before we start, I'd like to introduce you to a new student, Ms. Carina Di Angelo. She has been transferred here from her old school. I hope you all welcome her and treat her as a part of our family." She gestured towards me, and all the heads turned to me, some with a shocked expression on their faces. I gave an awkward wave and avoided eye contact with everyone.

"Di Angelo? As in the Di Angelo siblings?"

"Makes sense, she came in with Luca."

I looked over at Luca, who gave me a reassuring smile. "Settle down everyone. Now, we shall get on with today's lesson." The teacher passed worksheets to everyone. After everyone had their worksheets, she went back to her desk and turned to us.

"You are allowed to talk, but do so in a low voice, and complete your work along with it. Tell me when you are done with your worksheet and I'll collect it. You can start now." I looked at my worksheet, and as much as I hated math, it looked easy.

The class immediately broke into whispers again. "So," Carlos said, turning back to me again, "you said you have a twin?"

I nodded silently, trying to get my work done as fast as possible. "And you and Luca are in the same class, so I'm assuming he's your age?"

I nodded again. "Does that mean you guys are triplets?"

"Of course we are triplets." I looked up at him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, which it was.

"That's cool."

I nodded in agreement and turned back to my worksheet.
 
"Where did you live with your aunt?" Carlos shot me with another question. How many questions does this guy have? "Um..." Again, I couldn't think of any place. Luckily, Rosé unintentionally came to my rescue.

"How about you actually pay attention to your worksheet, Carlos?" He stuck out his tongue at her but went back to work anyway.

I chuckled at that, and then went back to work. In no time, I was done. Which was surprising. It was a surprise for Luca as well, because when I raised my hand and said, "I'm done." he turned to look at me with the most quizzical face I had ever seen.

"Very well." The teacher said as she took my worksheet with her. Soon enough, Carlos, Rosé, Luca, and almost everyone was done. Once the bell rang denoting the end of the class, everyone scrambled out of there as fast as they could.

"What do you have next?" Carlos asked as we reached our lockers.

I looked at my schedule and said, "History." "I have history too! We can go together." Rosé said, looking at her schedule.

"Good luck with that." I heard Carlos mumble.

I shrugged. "I like History." "I don't mind it either." Rosé chimed in. Carlos made a face at us, before saying, "Well, I'll meet you guys at lunch then." We nodded and went our separate ways. As we entered the classroom, everyone turned to look at me again.

I mentally groaned and found a seat with Rosé at the back. A couple of kids turned to look at us but quickly turned away when the teacher entered. This is going to be an interesting day.
 
_____
 
"And that's it for today since we have finished the lesson before time, class ends early." My Geography teacher, which was led by a cheer from the class. "It wasn't that bad." Rosé said, as we gathered our stuff and left the class. "I still prefer History though," I said. "So, should we wait for Carlos? Or should we go to the cafeteria?" I asked.

"Let's go to the cafeteria. It should be quite empty because it's not lunchtime. Carlos can meet us there." I nodded and we went to the cafeteria. As Rosé had said, it was almost empty, except for a few other kids.

We went to the lunch lady, who gave me a weird look as if to say, 'Have I seen you here before?' We got our slices of pizzas and sat at a lunch table, waiting for Carlos to show. While waiting, we heard the bell for lunch go off.

A few minutes later, Carlos showed up and got his lunch. As other children started filling in, I looked for any familiar faces. "Who are you looking for?" Carlos asked between bites.

"My siblings," I replied.

 
As if on cue, Alex walked in. I waved at her to get her attention. She saw me and then held up one finger towards two kids a few tables away from us. "Hey!" I smiled at her as she came to us.

"Hey." She replied, smiling back, sliding into the spot next to me.

"This is Carlos and Rosé." I said, referring to my new friends. Alex acknowledged them for a split second and then turned back to me. "Listen, I know I said that I'd sit with you but would you mind if I don't?" She looked at me bouncing her leg up and down.

"Of course, can I meet your new friends? Are they nice?" I asked. She chuckled.

"Later perhaps. Don't want you scaring them away now." Both Carlos and Rosé burst out laughing as she rushed over to her friends. I gave her a mocking glare, then laughed along with my friends. "Hey, you sister's kinda cool," Carlos said, taking a bite out of pizza.
 
I nodded in agreement. "I still have no idea where my other siblings are tho." "They'll come along in some time." Rosé said. "How do you know?" I asked. "You'll see. How about we get to know each other?" "20 questions?" I asked. "20 questions it is."

We were on question six when I heard the doors bang open, and there stood Lucas, Layla and Liam. Luca had told us he had detention earlier. I turned to look at my friends. "You're telling me they do this every day?" Carlos chuckled and nodded.

"It's a daily routine." So dramatic.

Lucas and Layla made their way towards my table, while Liam went to Alex.

"Hey!" I waved at them. They slid onto the empty bench. "Hey! How has your day been going?" Layla asked.

"Was alright," I replied.

"And I suppose these are your friends?" Lucas asked, gesturing at Carlos and Rosé. I nodded and introduced them to my new friends, who waved at my siblings.

Layla and Lucas immediately started interrogating them, making me wanna die then and there. I could see Carlos trying not to laugh looking at my expression. Rosé did not seem to mind being interrogated. After a couple of questions, the two of them got up to leave.
 
"Well, see you around then!" Lucas said, giving me a smile. I awkwardly smiled back, ready to shoo them away.

"Where's Alex?" Layla asked. I pointed at the table where Liam had gone and instantly regretted it. The two of them grinned at each other and went to Alex. I made a quick apology to Alex in my head.

While they were going to Alex, I could've sworn I saw Lucas turn back and glare at my friends, and Layla narrowing her eyes at them, but they quickly turned away.

"Sorry about that." I said, "I didn't know they would be in full interrogation mode."

Carlos and Rosé both laughed. "It's fine." Rosé said. "Although," Carlos chimed in, "they now do know more about us than you do." Which sent us into another laughing fit.

"With that said," Rosé said, once we had calmed down, "we still have a couple of minutes in hand. Shall we resume our game? We can get our books in the process." We nodded and left the cafeteria while asking questions. Once we reached our locker, I looked at my schedule.

"English next," I said.

"I have English too," Carlos said, looking at his schedule.

"Me too." Rosé said. "We have the same classes!" She exclaimed, comparing both of our schedules.

"You guys are so similar, it's scary," Carlos said, actually backing away from us.

Rosé laughed. "Come on, drama queen." And dragged Carlos with her, while I chuckled and followed them.
____________

"That will be all for today, don't forget to turn your work in next week. Class dismissed."

We got out of the class as fast as possible. "I never thought an English lesson could be so boring." I said as we walked down the hallway.

"I agree, they usually are a lot more interesting than that." Rosé replied. Carlos shrugged, "I don't know." "He finds every lesson boring." Rosé said, rolling her eyes, making me laugh.

Once we reached our lockers, we exchanged numbers and promised to text that evening. Then we said our goodbyes and went our ways. I met Alex near the parking lot, waiting for the others to come. We talked about our day, and from what she said, I figured she also had a nice day, even though she won't admit it.

Maybe a new start is what I needed.