ALEXIS

I woke early in the morning. The sky was always beautiful at this time, with the sun rising and creating a soft orange glows, and the birds chirping quietly. I opened the blinds wide, and stood for a second, letting the sunlight soak into my skin. It was these times that I cherished, these times that were full of complete peace and joy.

I grabbed my book from yesterday, settling down on the window seat. The sun shines on my skin, the noises of the birds filling the almost empty silence. It was five in the morning; the house was still asleep.

The book was the expressions of a brain still connected to the deepest emotions, and on those pages, the higher brain was infused with the guidance of the soul, of empathy, and the creative gift. It was humankind's intellect at its finest, showing how these logical abilities are only a blessing when they are combined with love. And so they may have only been paper pages, and only ink from a printing press, they hoped in a way I hadn't felt before. That's what a good writer can do... change the world by showing a beautiful perspective.

I looked at the clock and decided it was time to get ready for the day. Taking a warm bath, I relaxed and let my muscles go loose. It had been a while since I had had such a comforting moment alone like this. After way too long to be a normal bath, I dried my hair, pulling the strands into a messy bun. Slipping into a dark green Slytherin sweatshirt, I pulled on some skinny jeans and gave a slight smile. My clothes aesthetic was really great, in my own opinion.

I went over to my desk and put my stuff in a green backpack. It was the shade of evergreen moss, beautiful and everlasting. Flipping my phone open, I clicked on a new message.

Andy: Tell me if you meet any hot guys.

Me: I thought you had a boyfriend? (When are we meeting him btw?)

Max: Yeahhh!

Andy: stfu I told u he's not ready, and I haven't told him that max is not a guy so he thinks you're gonna steal me from him ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Max: jealous bitch. Lmao, Idk why ppl think Max can't be a girl's name tho. I think it's hot

Me: <fanning-myself-gif>
 

Max: Very funny :stuck_out_tounge_winking_eye:

Me: ikr? (School today btw)

Me: and no I'm not going to try to flirt with hot guys. Not sure there will be anyone there who catches my attention.

Max: ur no fun.  

Andy: ^^^ I second that statement.  

Andy: new life, new you right?

Me: No.

Max: whatever I need my beauty sleep and you're hogging it, if I wake up looking like an 800-pound gorilla, it's on you.

Andy:  You always look like that, what's new?

Max: :middle_finger:

Me: :eye_roll: you're guys no help. ily tho

Andy: good luck, love ya

Max: love you too qt.

My heart swelled with overwhelming emotions. I held my phone close to my heart and smiled looking at the wallpaper. Andy and Max. My best friends. My partners in crime. Chuckling to myself, I walked down the stairs and to the kitchen for breakfast.
 
"Ready for school today?" Luca asked Carina and me as I grabbed an apple from the fruit basket.

"Yes of course," Carina nodded excitedly.

As always, she looked great, with her sweet, angelic face and beautiful baby blues. I did admit that sometimes I was jealous of her looks, but she had also mentioned how much she thought I was the beautiful sibling, so I tried my hardest to brush the feelings off.

"It's school; it's a turd fest." I shrugged and hoped my answer would express my extreme hatred for that place.

Scowling, I walked to the garage and waited.

"Are you nervous?" Liam walked behind me and unlocked the car.

"No, should I be?" I gave him a frustrated look.

"Of course not. I just wanted to make sure."
 
"Thanks, but I can take care of myself. It's Carina that you need to worry about."

Liam tutted in disapproval at my statement. I glared at him.

"Not really, no. She's sweet, she'll make friends quickly. It is you that I'm worried about."

I scoffed getting into the car. It was only my first day; he didn't have to be that rude. I was going to fine anyways, and if not, I still had Carina that I could hang out with. The teachers were another story; I had a great disliking for most of them in my previous school, and didn't think that kind of thing would suddenly change.

"Are you implying that I'm a loner?"

Liam started the engines as the car roared to life. "Maybe. What if I were?"

"I'll prove you wrong," I muttered defensively as we stopped. "Thanks for the ride."

"I look forward to seeing your new friends," he said chuckling as if he found that statement amusing, "guess we'll see then, won't we?"

"See what?" Luca asked, approaching me.

"Nothing, let's go."

I didn't glance back at Liam. He could get over this annoying attitude and have some real confidence in me before I started forgiving him.

I opened the door and all eyes turned to me. I stared right back at them as a kid in the front seat jumped a little. I clutched the strap on my shoulder and made my way towards a seat at the end.

Two people occupied the desks on either side of me. A girl who had hair a startling shade of blue with grey eyes and a guy with well-defined cheekbones, a green Slytherin shirt over his torso, and messy blonde hair. I looked down at my own Slytherin hoodie and back up at him, only to see him looking at me.

I smirked again as I plopped down onto my seat.

"You're the new girl everyone's been talking about." The girl beside me leaned forward, anticipating my answer.

"Yeah, my sister and I joined today." I placed my book on my table and looked her dead in the eye.

"How'd you know the Di Angelos? I heard you rode here with them." I snapped my eyes and turned around to look at the guy.

"They're my siblings." I shrugged as the teacher entered the class.

"They're your what now?" The girl choked on her saliva as the guy analyzed my face.

"Now that I think about it, you do look like Luca and Layla. I didn't know they had more siblings."

"I lived with my aunt, we went to boarding school there." I lied smoothly before turning towards the teacher to see her passing out test sheets.

After she finished, she clapped her hands twice before turning towards me. I didn't smile; I wasn't looking forward to this.

"We have a new student. Ms. Alexis Di Angelo. She's just transferred here from her old school and I hope you all welcome her here at Easton High with open arms."

All eyes snapped to me as I waved with one hand before dropping my hand on the table.

'She's a Di Angelo? No wonder she came in with them.' My eyes snapped to the girl in the middle row as she scooted away subtly. I rolled my eyes and focused on the paper in front of me.

It was a test on our basics to see where we stood in the class and frankly it was way too easy for an AP class.

"Done" I handed my paper to the teacher fifteen minutes later, followed by two people beside me.

"I never got your names." I looked at them both.

"You never asked. But the name's Marcelo and she's Haley."

I leaned back into my chair.

"Show me your schedule." The girl commanded, a hand reached out.

I fished it out of my bag and handed it over to her. She scanned it, squinting to read the small writing. I watched as she compared it with hers, before handing it back to me.

"Cool! You have AP chem and gym with me, and the rest of your classes with Marce."

"I told you to stop calling me that."
 
"And I told you that I never will."

Their bickering reminded me of Max and Andy. I missed them. And Damien and Rhys. A voice reminded me from the back of my head.

Marcelo turned away from her and turned towards me. Smirking, he said, "Did it hurt?"

"Did what hurt?"

"When you fell from heaven?"

"Sorry. I dug my way up from hell."

Haley howled with laughter as everyone else turned to look at us and she stopped, trying to cover it up with a cough. I smirked at Marcelo turning red. Cute.

"I think we're going to be fast friends." I declared, tipping my chair back a little as the bell rang and the teacher dismissed us.

All three of us got out of the classroom at record time to see other people fill the hallways. I glanced down at my schedule and groaned.

Mathematics, here I come.

Marcelo went to grab my hand as the hallways started clearing only for me to take a step back. His eyes widened. "I'm sorry. I was just taking you to class, I don't-"

"It's fine, I'm not a touchy person. Can you just tell me next time you want to start dragging me somewhere, it makes me more comfortable."

"Of course, I'll keep that in mind." He smiled up at me. Huh, his eyes weren't brown as I'd assumed. They were more hazel with flecks of gold and green in them. You could get lost in them. I planned to. But later, of course, not now.

"Should we get going then?" He pointed towards the other way as I nodded. "See you later!" Haley called out from behind us as she left for her class.

"So, what do you like to do? Apart from stealing my breath away." His eyes crinkled as he smirked.

"I enjoy various activities. Killing people and leaving them in a ditch to rot is undoubtedly one of them. Care to engage?"

He shook his head laughing. "Here we are then." He opened the door to the classroom and let me in before coming in himself. All eyes snapped to me again and I mentally groaned.

If I could take a shot every time someone stared at me, I'd die of alcohol poisoning. 

______

Over the next few hours, Marcelo and I developed a system. He'd throw cheesy pickup lines at me and I'd disarm him at every turn, then he'd blush red for a minute before regaining his posture and going back to his flirty self.
 
When the bell rang for Psychology 101, both of us ran out of there to reach the cafeteria. But I forgot to keep my book in my locker so I told him that I'd meet him there before turning on my heel and rushing towards my locker.

When I made it to the cafeteria, I saw Carina and Haley waving from two different tables. I held up one finger at Haley and told her that I'd just be a minute before rushing to Carina.

She was sitting there with a guy with short curly hair and a girl with beautiful long locks and tan skin.

"Hey!" Carina smiled at me.

"Hey" I smiled back at her and slid into the bench on her table. "This is Carlos and Rosé." She told me, pointing at them. I looked at them for a brief second before turning back to my sister.

"Listen, I know I said that I'd sit with you but would you mind if I don't?" I looked at her bouncing my leg up and down.

"Ofcourse, can I meet your new friends? Are they nice?" I chuckled.

"Later perhaps. Don't want you scaring them away now." Both Carlos and Rosé burst out laughing as I rushed over to Haley who seemed to have an extra slice of pizza for me. I thanked her before sitting down and taking a bite into it.

"Who are you looking for?" Haley asked me halfway through her pizza.

"My siblings, I know that Luca was in detention but I can't see the rest of them," I told her.

"Oh! They usually come around the end of lunch and everyone here is so dramatic, they always stop to look even though they've been here four years. I personally think it's stupid."

Marcelo nodded in agreement before turning to the food on his tray. A burger and some cherry coke.

After Haley finished her pizza, she decided to indulge us in a game of 20 questions to which I obliged as long as there was nothing insanely personal. We were at question four when the door banged open.

Liam, Lucas and Layla were standing there in all their 'Di Angelo glory' as everyone apparently named. Lucas and Layla made their way over to Carina while Liam practically stormed over to me.

"Hey!" I waved to him as he halted to a stop. On his way here, he glared at everyone who looked away and started speaking in hushed whispers.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your new friends?" His eyes were dead set on Marcelo who was smirking up at him. Idiot.

"Right of course, this is Haley and this is Marcelo," I told him waving towards them.

"Marcelo is it?"

Marce nodded in uncertainty, now nervous at being singled out.

"Listen here buddy. You better keep your fucking hands to yourself before you I have your head on a pike." Liam straightened up and nodded towards Haley before smirking at me and leaving.

I shook my head, laughing at what Liam said before turning towards Marcelo.

"Don't mind him." I told Marcelo who was laughing too.

Haley was just watching everything with wide eyes. I looked over to where Lucas and Layla were. They were coming my way.

"Hi! I see you made some friends." Layla spoke excitedly. "Yes. This is Marcelo and Haley."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both." Layla slid into the seat beside me and started questioning them. I groaned. If I'd known that siblings are this embarrassing, I would've never asked for any.

Five minutes later, when the bell finally rang at the end of lunch, I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

"Sorry about them. I didn't know that they would turn it into a full-fledged interrogation session." I told both Haley and Marcelo. 

"It's fine. I have siblings too, and they're all embarrassing as fuck." He shrugged as Haley stared off into the distance. I followed her eye-line to see her looking at a girl. She was standing by her locker, oversized sweater, big doe eyes, adorable glasses, and a book in her hand.
 
"She has a crush on Valarie there," Marcelo told me.

"You do? Why don't you ask her out?" I asked her, glancing at Valerie.

"Because she's too scared to."

"Shut up asshole." She whacked him behind his head right before the three of us headed off to AP chemistry.

This was a great start.