Yeah I know it has been a while sorry once again but I have reasons- This story took me months to make and of course a lot of editing from my buddy . Not gonna lie this was supposed to be a one-shot but due some writing and advices from my editor buddy  ALotMoreGinger pls check her stories out) This will be a story with chapters and pretty sure it'll be few but yeah that's what I wanted to say.  I also would like to mention this story contains a lot of commons things from my and my friend's experience of our high school so keep that in mind.

"We're friends, right?"

Melody woke up in her bed yawning as her alarm clock started ringing loudly in her ear. With the reflexive movement of her hand, she slammed the top down, then turned back to finish her wonderful dream that was just stolen from her. That is until her older sisters came crashing in to ruin her one person slumber party.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead! Today is your big day!" Ariel squealed with a sense of childish glee, as she flung open the curtains, searing Melody's poor undilated eyes. Arista and Andrina on the other hand started rummaging through Melody's closet to make her the perfect outfit for her special day. Melody grumbled and covered her head with her thick pillow, trying to shield her eyes from the sun and her ears from her sisters, though Ariel excitedly pulled her blankets away.

"Hey!" Melody tried to shuffle them back over herself, but Ariel crammed a lukewarm piece of toast in her youngest sister's mouth, partially gagging her.

"Come on, little adventurer, get your booty out of bed! You really don't want to be late today!" The red haired woman said as she tried to pry her little sister from her cozy half comatose state, not budging her an inch.

"Being late for what? You know I'm not going to boarding school anymore." She groaned while rubbing her eyes and reluctantly chewing her toast. Crumbs begin to spill onto the bed as Melody sits up finally.

"No, of course not. But today is something you've always wanted, and not to mention I may have confessed to Father about it." Her older sister teased, brushing all the kinks and knots out of the thick black mass of hair she had accrued over the years.

"Like what?" The little sister asked quizzically, watching the two even sisters argue restlessly about what Melody should wear.

"Oh come on! This outfit is so cute, and it would definitely make her look like a princess!" Arista held up the pink, babydoll style dress to a hesitant Andrina.

"Please! Melody could really care less about looking cute. Besides she needs something she can move around in, not something that would show off her underwear to every creep that walks by."

"She could wear shorts under it!"

"She's gonna dirty them all up, and you're gonna be the one to complain about her being messy." she rolled her eyes trying to make a statement.

"How can she be messy during school?" Arista threw her hands up in defeat, cramming the dress back into the wardrobe and rummaging through again. Melody choked on her miniscule breakfast as Ariel finally brushed her knots out smiling at her youngest sister's shocked realization.

"School is starting today? Why didn't you say anything, Ariel?" Melody shrieked at her, running around to get her stuff prepared for the public school day

"I did give you a hint." Ariel giggled with that girlish deviance she somehow always radiated. Melody pushed all of her sisters out of her private room, halting the twins squabble.

"I can dress myself! I like my white blouse and trousers, so will you stop bickering?" Melody firmly stated, glaring down both of the girls before they bow out to her.

"I guess it's still cute." Arista pouted while Andriana simply nodded.

"Works for me. Come on sis, let's leave her be. She has to get ready for her first day of school with her friends. And her boyfriend." Andriana teased the youngest, making kissy noises after her sentence ended. Melody's face turned to a bright tomato as she began pushing all of them more from her doorway.

"He's not my boyfriend!" She screamed defensively slamming her door. Her sisters were still giggling as Melody headed to her own bathroom to shower.

~~~~~~~~~~

Melody ran down the stairs, frantically pulling her hair into a ponytail.

"No running down the stairs, Melody!" Attina yelled from the kitchen, the familiar and furious pattering of her young daughters feet erupted throughout the entirety of the house. Melody rolled her eyes, having been lectured over twelve-hundred times at this point.

"Yes, mom." She responded, faux curtseying as she jumped down the last step. Alana laughed to herself, scooting aside so that their father could send off his final daughter as warmly as he did with his seven other daughters. Melody thanked Alana sweetly, scooting her seat open to get her actual breakfast on the plate set for her. Adella helped shape and properly fit the ocean blue scrunchie around Melody's ponytail. The girls always sat in order from Eldest to Youngest, creating a large circle with Melody sitting right next to her father. Ariel nudged Melody's arm.

"Are you excited, Melody?" She asked, smiling non-stop. It was clear she was excited that her baby sister was finally going to attend the same high school as her. Melody drank some of her orange juice, the toothpaste in her mouth having finally worn off to the point of easy consumption.

"I guess. I've never met another human being. You know, other than my family or my friends." Melody spoke through a mouthful of eggs and bacon. Her father gave a small chuckle as her sisters continued giggling amongst themselves. Melody was definitely the strangest child in the house, no doubt about it.

"It may be scary at first," Her father finally spoke up, cleaning off the last of his plate. "But this is what you wanted, my little Lyric, and I'm sure with your adventurous personality, you'll fit right in somewhere. If something does go wrong, you know you can always come to me. Your old man has some new trident tricks he wants to try." He stroked her cheek with his thumb, unable to truly believe she had grown up so fast. Melody chuckled at his protectiveness, holding his hand against her cheek a little longer. It was times like this that made her really hate that she would have to live on campus at school.

"There won't be any need for the trident to be used, Papa, you know I can take care of myself." she said with a kind smile, happy to be treated like a normal kid. "Plus, the rest of the girls will be there... Sadly." Melody added, finishing her own plate. Almost directly afterward, she hears the clatter of dishes and choking on food as her sisters speak up in protest.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Aquata slammed both her hands against the table, feeling hurt by her younger sister's snide comment.

"She's just joking, right?" Andriana asked. Melody playfully stuck her tongue out at the lot, carrying her dish to the sink. Attina cleared her throat to grab her attention. The little sister looked up, fully aware of what's coming next.

"Do you have your textbooks in your backpack?" the eldest asked, hands on her hips in the standard motherly fashion she kept. Melody showed her the hand-me-down backpack, opening it up and showing her everything inside.

"Yes. And before you ask anything else, you can check my backpack if you think I've missed anything." she added, snagging an extra slice of bacon as Attina rummaged through her knapsack, impressed the youngest had remembered everything.

"Okay then... Do you have your school schedule?" Melody raised her eyebrow to the older girl.

"I thought that I was supposed to get it at school?" she asked, finally swallowing the strip. The eldest shook her head to alleviate her confusion, nodding at her sister.

"Yes. It's just a reflex since I've had to keep the others in check." Melody shook her head and rolled her eyes, grabbing her backpack as she heard her friend's bike bell chiming from outside the front lawn. Melody practically bolted for the front door, before getting caught in Attinda's grasp.

"Aren't you going to come with us?" She asked, furrowing her brows. Melody instead hugged and kissed each of her seven sisters good-bye.

"Papa said it was fine. I can go roller skating with my friends, right Papa?" she looked at him with those big blue puppy-dog eyes.

"As long as you're on what, darling?" he rolled his wrist, beckoning her to continue.

"As long as I'm on the sidewalk." She finished his sentence hugging him. He nodded and kissed her forehead gently.

"Atta girl. I'll pick you up at your friend's house, alright?" Knowing fully well she wanted to hang out with her friends after school. She hugged him tighter than usual, kissing his cheek as she sprinted out the door.

"Thank you pa! See you, nerds!"

"How come on we couldn't do that in our sophomore year, Dad?" Alana frowned, picking at the rest of her breakfast. Melody always seemed to get special treatment, and the rest of the girls whined in agreement.

"Because she needs to be more out than you little scuttle-butts. She needs to keep moving."Ariel explained, matter-of-factly, finishing off her own drink.

~~~~~~~~

"Hear-hear! Make way for Princess Melody!" Sam mocked as Peter, Jim, and Jane bowed, all were happily snickering. Melody strapped her roller skates on and slapped onto Sam's shoulder, the others shortly following suit.

"I told you guys not to make a big deal of this whole thing." she clicked her helmet on. The group of young rascals laughed as they got back to their respective rides. Two skateboards and a bike. Both Sam and Jim were riding the objectively cooler skateboards, while Peter and Jane squeezed together on a bike made for one behind the rest of them.

"It is a big deal! You're finally going to school with us instead of just writing letters or texting." Peter exclaimed gleefully, as Jane hugged his waist tightly, so as not to fly away.

"Not to mention we're going to have to study together, since we both know the boys can't do any of their school work properly." Jane giggled, teasing them.

"Hey! I do better than Pete does, he's the problem child."Jim retorted back.

"Come on Jim you know you need to work harder. I've seen your report card." Jane replied while Sam and Melody giggled amongst themselves. Melody put her hand on Jim's shoulder, smiling up at him as he shook his fist at Jane, ruing the day that pesky girl was born.

"I'm more than happy to help you study. It's easier when it's taught slowly, right?" she was just happy to be around with him again. He grinned back.

"Well hopefully you'll be able to make it easier to understand. Jane just drones on and on and on." He sneers, watching Jane turn a bright tomato red.

"Why you-!" Jane tried to swat at him from the bike, but Peter nudged her to keep holding on.

"Don't worry, Jane! I don't think your studying is boring,"

"Then why do you always fall asleep?" Sam asked, watching Peter drain of all color.

"Anyway, let's have a race! On my mark! Readysetgo!" Peter bolted down the sidewalk on his bike, Jane holding onto his waist for dear life.

"He is so dead." Jim said as he started picking up speed on his skateboard. Sam followed suit.

"Hurry up, guys, I'm gonna run you into the dirt." she sped up as Jim veered back to watch with Melody for a second. He extended his hand out to her.

"Shall we?" he asked her, watching as she hesitates to hold it, before slapping it down and zooming forward.

"Can't wait to see you at the bottom, James!" Melody skid off, as Jim smirked only feeling slightly betrayed by the gesture.

"You're gonna pay for that, Mel!"

"We'll see about that, space boy!"

"Ugh, please stop flirting with each other. Date already, you goons, you're killing us here!" Sam ruined their intensely playful moment. Both teenagers flushed bright red, now set on trying to catch up to their tomboy friend.

"We're not flirting!" they yelled in unison.

"Keep saying that to yourself!" Peter grinned, knowing fully well how deeply they liked each other. Maybe knowing more than they know.

~~~~~~~

As their race peters off, all the teens having sweat dripping down their face, Sam heaved a long sigh, looking over at Melody as a new idea saunters into her mind.

"Hey Melody, why not sing? Just for the fun of it." She shrugged, giving the ground another push as she zooms on the pavement.

"Oh no, I'm not good at singing." Melody denied, anxiously giggling. Her friends turned to look at her, questioning her sanity. "What?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Melody. But your family is well known as the 'Siren Soprano's' and you literally sang in competitions, and won 'Best Upcoming Singer' last year." Jane exclaimed to her.

"Well, it's a family tradition, it was just kind of taught to all of my sisters." she tried to retort, fumbling her reasoning.

"You always sang best in our choir classes, lotsa' solo's and the like." Peter defended Sam's decision.

"Would you rather I sing?" Melody blurted, a bit aggressive in her tone.

"Your voice has always been pretty soothing, you know, singing or not." Jim finally gave his two cents.

"You mean like, soothing as in it makes you drowsy?" she questioned.

"That too." Sam said.

"Anyways, it's still a no." Melody crossed her arms, still skating forward

Then the music started ringing through their group of friends. Melody groaned at Sam, the music clearly emanating from her phone.

"That song? Really? Didn't you say that song was stupid?"

"Yeah but you make it funnier." Sam answered chuckling and skillfully turning around to stare at her anxious friend. She rolled her eyes trying to ignore Sam, though she raised the volume even more.

"I'm not turning it off until I get some entertainment, baby." The blonde raised her voice, firmly set in her ways. The fifteen year old girl grinned, shaking her head.

"Making my way downtown walking fast, faces pass and I'm homebound." Melody swung her hips as she sang. Her friends laughed as the music was still booming. "Staring blankly ahead, just making my way, making a way through the crowd." her friends cheered and whistled along, partially off key.

"'Cause I need you" she spinned around. "And I miss you." she moved her hips to the beat. "And now I wonder," she had her arms out. "If I could fall into the sky, do you think time would pass me by?" she skates around her friends, looking at them as if asking them a question. Jim shrugged, pretending to have no idea, while Sam had her hand on her face laughing.

Jane shakes her head at the ridiculous lyrics but enjoying her friend's voice since her name is Melody for a reason. Peter trying to focus on the sidewalk trying not to laugh.

"Cause you know I'd walk 1,000 miles." She jumped and went skating backwards, seeing that she's gonna finish the now timid race. "If I just see you, tonight." she closed her eyes for a split second, just letting the music wrap around her. "It's always times like these, when I think of you and I wonder if you ever thought of me." She suddenly snapped out of her daze, remembering something as she opened her eyes.She was speeding down the hill rapidly, unable to see behind her, but somehow she felt free. Something in those overproduced lyrics stayed with her, as her friends desperately tried to call out to her, to no avail.

"She's gonna crash!" Sam sped up, worried about her crashing into something.

"Why is she acting like this?" Peter questioned out loud, speeding up on his rickety bike. Jim didn't respond, instead reaching out to Melody, hoping to avoid her crashing into the poor sod just strolling down the sidewalk.

"Watch out!" Jim shouted at both of them, just needing one of them to move. Melody tripped on one of the widest cracks in the pavement near instantly losing balance.

"Woah!" With closed eyes, she readied herself to fall and land back, painfully. Her swift kiss with the concrete never came, however. Someone's hands had wrapped around her waist catching . Their gentle grip felt almost familiar, and she finally opened her eyes and turned her gaze up to her savior. He had a bandage across his cheek, and quite a strong and sturdy physique. He had wavy red hair that perfectly sculpted out his chiseled features.With the sun glittering on him, he practically looked like an adonis, a god practically. He looked like the Greeks had made his being from stone.

They both stared at each other for a while, almost as if they were stuck in their own little space. Melody finally broke the unending silence between them, needing her question answered.

"Hercules..? Is that you?" She spoke with the shaking nervousness in her voice she hardly ever felt. Hercules blinked, unmistaken in his initial thoughts; he could never mistake that voice for anyone else. It may have been a while, but he could clearly remember that sweet singing voice anywhere.

"Yeah it's me. It's been forever since I've seen you," He helped her back up onto her feet. Looking at her neck, he saw the small necklace that her father had given her when she was much younger. "Or rather heard you, Melody. You always had a thing for singing." he smiled a bit, happy to see her again after what had felt like years of not seeing one another. She smiled back, still guilty of having two left feet and making poor Hercules catch her.

 "Yeah, it's always been in my family for generations, you know that." She laughs nervously, not entirely sure how to respond to his compliment. It wasn't that she wasn't happy to see him, it was just difficult to really talk to someone who you hadn't seen in years. Not to mention how it didn't end well for them.

"That is true, I thought for sure you guys would do a band or something." Hercules laughs a bit at his own joke, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Melody giggled in response. The rest of Melody's friends just looked at each other, confused as to who may have known about this. Jim, meanwhile, had other plans.

"So... What are you doing over this side of town? Aren't you supposed to be going to some rich kid boarding school?" he asked, a bit caught off guard by her presence.

"Well, not this time around. I'm finally going to a regular high school."

"Speaking of school." Jim cleared his throat breaking between them. "We gotta go before her dad kills us. Or worse, her older sister." he shuddered as he pushed Melody forward, trying to finish up their little rendezvous

"Yeah, you really don't want to see them mad. Trust me buddy, I've been there." Sam told Hercules patting his back with her surprisingly strong hand, skateboarding past him and towards the towering school building. "Appreciate the catch, bro. If we find one scratch on her, though," she ran her index finger along her throat.

"Later, Herc!" Peter rode his bike by him in tandem with the rest of his friends, trying to alleviate the awkward air surrounding all of them.

Hercules reaches his hand out as if trying to get their attention. "Hey wait I-" seeing them vanished feeling disappointed.

"I could walk with you..." he finished his sentence, as his hands pulled back down. This wasn't a dream, was it?

"Okay, so no more singing while roller skating for you, siren." Sam told Melody, whose hands are being held by Jim. Melody wasn't amused.

"It was your idea, and you know how I get when it comes to singing." She tried to defend herself desperately.

"Yeah, but you've never acted like that!" Sam bites back, not liking the aggressive tone she was given. "You looked like you were having a moment. Speaking of that..?" She looked at the rest of the group, silently asking for help. Jane took it immediately, and rolled the ball further.

"Do you know him Melody?" she asked, hugging Peter's neck closer to get a better look at Melody.

"Know who?" she turned to look at her friend.

"Hercules, the guy who just saved you from losing your teeth, or shattering your tailbone." Sam answered, still a bit salty from earlier.

"I wouldn't be surprised if everyone in this town knows him. He's really well liked!" Peter half-responded to the question.

"Not to mention, he's fairly popular. Dude's a cool guy, I must say." Sam agrees.

"That is true. But Melody has been in boarding school for years, how would he have any way of knowing her?" Jim questioned out loud, his tone making it clear how defensive he was. All eyes set on Melody as she had remained quiet the whole time.

"It's a really long story, and I don't think I have much time to explain, so let's just head into school, yeah?" she tried to shove it under the rug, smiling nervously as she began bolting faster towards the school. Sam and Peter took the bait with no hesitation. Though Jane and Jim had an uneasy feeling about how she had mentioned the bandaged boy.

~~~~~~~~

Melody was a bit nervous when she entered the school doors, taking in the hundreds of minor differences between this school and her old one. She could clearly see there were not only girls, but boys too. No gross plaid and skirted uniforms as far as the eye could see. She slipped her regular shoes on and placed her roller skates in a separate bag, following her friends to get their school schedule.

"Nice! We got almost all of the same classes together." Jim said as they looked over their schedules, huddled up together as they did last year, this time with Melody sandwiched between Sam and himself.

"Think we would be able to have a five person group with science projects?" Peter asked, hopeful in his thinking. He wanted to be in a group with people he liked, and who he knew would do an equal amount of work.

"As long as the teacher would let us, then yeah, probably." Jane answered him, looking over her own classes.

"So when does the bell go off, usually?" Melody asked looking at the clock, ironically hearing the bell moments later. All students started careening towards their classes.

"Like now." Jim grabbed her hand delicately, and they ran like hell while the others followed suit. They knew damn well that it was going to be crowded. Every freshman class was crowded for the first couple weeks of class. They made it to their first class breathing a sigh of relief, and went to take their unassigned seats. Peter and Jane took seats side by side, as did Melody and Jim. Sam started towards one of the empty seats between both couples of her friends, only to notice a familiar height sitting there. Somehow they hadn't noticed him there before, but it was undeniably Hercules. All three of the previous students knew he typically sat in the back just because of how tall and bulky he was. They mostly questioned how he got there before they had noticed, though.

"Morning Sam." Hercules smiled at Sam, and Melody perked up a bit, only now noticing the bulky figure splitting their friend group into two halves.

"Uh, morning my dude... Aren't you supposed to be in the back of the class..?" she asked, unknowingly condescending towards him as her skateboard rested on her hip. Hercules felt his face burn up, almost completely unaware of his jockish body type. He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling it start to burn up.

"Oh, uh, I just thought I would do something different this year, you know? I'm always kind of in the back." Sam wasn't buying it, however. Despite him being the nicest jock, she knew he wasn't stupid. Something was up with him.

"Alright, I guess..." she crossed her arms, finally putting her skateboard by the door and searching for another empty seat. Melody bit her lower lip, not wanting Sam to do anything explosive on her first day. Jim got up and patted Jane's shoulder, signaling her to scoot her desk over, just to show Sam the additional seat. They knew she was going to make a scene if something felt even slightly suspicious.

"Come on, you hot head, there's nothing wrong with a little change once in a while." Peter said, lackadaisical in his composure, looking at Hercules who seems to have taken the disposition of a small dog with its tail between its legs. Sam sat next to Jane, though didn't peel her eyes off of Hercules' back. Hercules sighs in relief, fully aware of how suspicious Sam could become at times. Melody scooted her chair closer to the tall ginger, shielding her mouth from Sam's view.

"Sorry about that, she's always really protective of us." She felt nervous and apologetic, despite having no control over her friends emotions. He smiled at her making her feel the old times back then.

"Don't worry, I'm very aware of that. I've seen her when she's passionate. Looks like her punches could kill, if I'm honest." he laughed, trying to ease the tensions

"Oh so you do know the consequences?" She queried, giggling with that sweet girlish air she always had, even despite her tomboy appearance.

"Yeah, but it was at least worth the shot." he stares at her, a gentle smile crossing his lips. Melody felt her knees and chest turn to gelatin at that sweet smile he had, though she caved in to her anxiety and looked away from him.

Jim watched from beside her, his heart angrily pounding in his chest. Why was he feeling like this? What was the relationship between them? Why were they being so friendly? The questions continued to pile into his mind, though they were left unanswered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alright spill, dumb-dumb. What's going on?" Sam asked Melody, finally confronting the long standing question from the comfort of the gymnasium's bleachers. P.E. class was lazy today, considering it was the first day, and was focused on getting students comfortable with the syllabus, giving them all ample time to chat. Melody tried to look confused.

"What do you mean? Nothing's going on." she kept her gaze away from Sam. They all knew this was her bluff, and something was definitely going on now.

"Look me in the eyes, princess, and tell me that again." Sam glared at her, staring more firmly at her timid friend. Melody tried looking at the group, only to nervously have begun sweating, looking away from their stabbing gaze. They were not buying any of her bluff. She finally sighed in defeat.

"Like I said it's a long story." She tried to avoid confrontation.

"We have lotsa time, Mels." Peter sat next to her, patting her back in the hopes of easing her tension. It was hard seeing her like this, only ever seeing her like this when they watched her enter that claustrophobic boarding school.

"Is it that guy bothering you?" Jane nearly whispered, cautious about her wording. Melody shook her head, defensive of the tall boy.

"Oh god no! It's not that it was just, well... You could say before I knew you guys, he was my only friend for a long time, and after getting busier with school, we just lost contact. We got busy, you know?" Melody pushed back a loose strand of hair as she told that faded half-truth.

"Well, why are you guys being awkward around each other, then?" Jane asked.

"Not to mention, this is kind of the first time Hercules has ever seemed nervous. He's always been so suave and easy to talk to, but then... I dunno, he seemed weird." Peter tried to explain.

"Oh, you know, it's been a long time.We had no idea what to say to each other, since it's been so long." Melody said, rubbing her arm anxiously.

Jim stayed quiet as she explained. He was analyzing every little movement, every tonal change, every little word. Everyone was seemingly satisfied for the time being, but he wasn't. But he wouldn't press.

"Well if you say so." Sam said laying down and stretching out against the cold metal of the bleachers benches, still tuckered out from waking up so early. Jim sat next to Melody, placing his hand on hers and squeezing very gently.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell us right now, but we will listen when you want, alright?" he quietly rubbed his thumb over her hand, his lips parting like the petals of a delicate red flower. Melody smiled and relaxed her shoulders, thanking him as genuinely as she could.