"Why does the school always go bat-shit insane on the first day. Like, look at those two. It's like they haven't met in five years when actually they were out clubbing last night," said Carla with absolute disgust on her face as she looked at Natalie and Emily hugging and sniffling at the front door.

"To be fair, they were too wasted last night to actually notice the other person's presence," I said with a snort as I pushed open the front doors. Almost immediately, I was greeted with the lovely smell of men's deodorant, sweat and the sight of people everywhere. Some things never change.

"Seriously? First thing in the morning," I asked with a groan as I noticed Xavier in the middle of a fight with someone else. The usual, jeering crowd formed, egging him on and he gave them a victory smile. Like he'd won the freaking Olympics. Teenagers, they were always so melodramatic.

"You do realize you're a teenager too," said Carla and I realized I'd said it out loud. I shot her an incredulous look.

"Yeah but I'm one of a kind babe. When's the last time you saw me be melodramatic," I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"When you got into a fight yesterday with your brother over the TV," said Carla, raising her own eyebrow in return. Ah right, that. Sometimes I forgot that Carla was usually everywhere I went.

"Oh come on. That was the perfect opportunity to talk about sexual discrimination," I said sarcastically and she punched me in the arm. Not that it hurt in any way. She was too petite to inflict any kind of damage.

"I think your brother's going to get thrashed Rach," said Marcus as he brushed past a couple of the others to stand beside me. He was an acquaintance, a handsome one with the ego the size of Mount Everest. Pretty much like most teenage boys I'd had the pleasure of meeting.

"I got this," I said with a roll of my eyes as I shoved my way through the crowd. Not too hard when you were 5ft12 with a pair of heels on as well. A few kids groaned and a couple of them checked me out, to which I stuck up my middle finger. Dealing with stupid lustful preteens was the only thing school had managed to teach me in the last 17 years.

In the center of the crowd was my brother, currently egging on some new kid, a hot new kid, with jet-black hair and blue eyes that caught my interest. Very few boys had caught my eye since, no, not going down that road.

Of course, all that interest went out the window when he took a swing at my brother and missed. I mean who misses a swing at my brother. He had slower reflexes than a snail.

"Too slow pretty boy, too slow," I said, adding a tsk in time with the click of my heel as I stepped in front of my brother with my head cocked to the side. I could tell the moment when interest flared in his eyes as he took in my appearance before rapidly looking away. Huh, that hadn't happened before. Most boys needed a reminder, and some even a punch before they had any kind of courtesy to look away.

"Sorry to cut this fight short boys, but it's not like it was too good anyway. Come on brother," I said, tugging Xavier's hand as I led him through the crowd. As I passed by the new guy, I made sure to look straight at him, to see if he was as good looking up close. His eyes, they were filled with hurt. For a second, even my heart clenched.

"Did my brother hurt you cause I will kick his ass," I said seriously, stopping just next to him. He looked up in surprise, those baby blue eyes wide with innocence and doubt.

"I know my brother well enough to know that he starts the fights. Next time, aim for the knee," I said. God knows why I was giving this stranger advice on how to take down my own brother. Maybe it was because I enjoyed seeing my brother getting his ass handed to him. He was an arsehole, after all, the typical player who didn't have an ounce of sensitivity. We weren't too different on that latter fact.

As I moved to walk away, his hand shot up to grip my upper arm to stop me.

"Thank you. For stopping the fight," he said, his blue eyes wide with sincerity. It blew me away how morose and serious this guy seemed. Like he hadn't had an ounce of fun since he'd come out of the womb. Maybe that was why I said what I did next. Or maybe it was just cause he was even hotter up close than he'd been before.

"Perhaps as a thank you could take me to dinner sometime," I said with a wink and he flushed. 

"Actually, I have a girlfriend," he said and as if on cue, a girl appeared, clinging to his arm as she looked at me like scum. I couldn't blame her. I'd just hit on her boyfriend and I'd been pretty forward about it.

"Oh well, in that case, a thank you will suffice," I said, smoothly recovering and went on my way, dragging my brother to his first class. All I could think was how pretty boy could do better. That girl wasn't nearly as beautiful as he was. Not that looks should matter.

"Did you have to break up the fight," my brother whined and I almost forgot that I was still gripping his upper arm. I released him with a scowl.

"First day back and you're already causing trouble," I said with a frown as I whacked his head. He scowled right back.

"I didn't even do anything. That chick kissed me and then that new guy came out of nowhere to beat me up for kissing his girlfriend." Yep, blue-eyed boy definitely deserved better. Whatever, it was none of my business anyway. It was a shame though. Black hair blue-eyed pretty boys were rare to find.

"Let me guess, even after he found you, you said some pretty shitty things to his face," I said with a frown. He grinned sheepishly.

"I may have told him to keep an eye on his woman," he said and I whacked him across the head, harder than I'd intended to. Something about my moronic insensitive brother hurting that guy put me on edge.

"What the hell was that for," he said with a scowl, and I realized he even had a few tears in his eyes. I burst out laughing, almost doubling over.

"Are you, are you actually crying," I asked, gasping for breath.

"What, that actually hurt! I'm telling mom," he said and I laughed even harder.

"Oh no. I'm so scared," I said sarcastically, and he made a move to punch me but I caught his arms easily.

"Seriously. You actually thought you could hit me," I said incredulously, lifting an eyebrow. At moments, my brother's brain took a trip somewhere, leaving him incapable of making any kind of rational decision. Just like now, as he tried to actually punch me.

"It was worth a shot. Just to see if you were off your guard," he said.

"Bro I'm never off my guard," I said, a bit too seriously for a second and he stepped closer, his brow furrowing with a hint of concern.

"Rach are you," he started but I'd already walked off. I don't do concern. It made my throat close up and think of things that were best forgotten. No need to start bawling like a baby on school grounds. I'll save the tears if there were any left when I got home.     

First part's up! I'll be updating around once a week and since it's short story, it will be getting over pretty soon. 

I had a lot of fun writing this one. Nothing too serious. Just a bit of fun creating characters that weren't too intense or serious. If you're into that stuff then keep reading, cause you'll love what's coming up. 

BTW, if you've read Four Broken Pieces then no need to worry. The updates for that will go on as before. I won't be discontinuing it or anything. 

If you liked this chapter, vote, comment. Do all that good stuff. I'll catch you guys next week for another chapter. 

-ASH