I told her I would tell her the rest of the plan tomorrow at school if she showed up. I didn't miss the look of unhappiness on her face, but it quickly transitioned into a fake smile.

After a brief goodbye, we parted ways, walking back to the places of hell where we came from.

Kaia was still stuck on my head, and how to get her good nagged to be written down. I had said I would make a list of things I did to convert me into the Callum Luther I am. She agreed, even though she shot down my choice of wardrobe. That was Kaia Maverick for you; putting extra attention on the little things.

Entering the house a few minutes before seven, it was louder than usual, sounds of laughing could be heard from the living room. Curious, I stuff my shoes near the door and head over to the racket, confused with the noise. As I recall, there's no such thing as noise in the household.

However, I did not expect to see my whole family, on the ground, screaming like barbarians, while playing twister.

My mom was sitting on one of the couches with the spinner in her small hands, distracted in a fit of giggles as the mess of limbs screeched with indecipherable words. Versace was perched beside her, laughing herself with pointy barbies in her fists. The "men" of the house were scrambled on the ground, shouting at one another over the colors.

You can never imagine the oddness of five nearly grown men tangled on a small kid-sized mat.

"Yer crotch is near my face!" I hear Drew yell, squirming a little bit but careful enough not to topple the tangle. I could spot his mop of gelled hair in the mess of tangled limbs, flopping around like a fish on his head.

"Deal with it Andrew!" Elijah gave out a big laugh, straddling his little brother, who was clearly in discomfort.

"Settle d-down boys!" Instantly, I look over at my father, who was wheezing. Marlon Luther was the man who scolded us for acting so rambunctious. He was the man who was known to tame the untamed. So why is he acting like one of the beasts before he sets them in order?

Suddenly, he looked up at me, his old grey eyes recognizing I was there. I froze, meeting his eyes. I hated how I look just like him. People would say it's a treat to be so handsome like my father, but to me, it's horrible. I didn't want to look like him.

"Oh Cal—oof!" Their pile crumbles as Dad tried to move, all of them falling on top of one another. I didn't smile or laugh like any one of them. I just stood there, watching silently.

"When did you get here Cal?" Dad dusted off his slacks, standing in front of me in his full height of 6'8 that I never got. I had to look up to him, feeling like an ant compared to my father. I felt like shrinking the moment his gaze landed at me, watching me carefully. But, the hostile and disappointed stare I was so used to was gone. It took awhile to register he called me 'Cal', a nickname that existed in the past.

"Just now, sir." I murmur, quickly down at my feet. I could feel the stares of my siblings, waiting for me to do something.

"Well, want to join us? I came home with a new game for us. It's been a while." Dad chuckled, gesturing to the scene behind him.

It certainly has been a while, I thought. "No, I'm good. I have homework." I knew the excuse wasn't believable since I never had homework. Dad looked at me skeptically, questioning me quietly with those unusual peaceful storm clouds of his.

"I will leave you to it then. Join us when you're done?" He didn't make it sound like an order, but a question. I shrug, passing them and hurrying to the staircase, hating the stairs of my siblings.

As I walked up, I didn't miss hearing my mom's words.

"He'll come around love."

▔▔▔▔▔

Once I entered the privacy of my room, I shut the door and lock it, drowning out the laughs and shouts from downstairs. I slide down and sit by the door, covering my mouth with my hands.

It just didn't feel right.

My dad wasn't the family type in the last seven years. He was an astounding psychologist who emphasized family in his novels but he didn't care for his own. All of us strived to be his standards to be noticed by the man who was too involved in work. It was the same for my mother; she was the mom everyone wanted until one day she shut down and became strict with all of us.

I don't remember the last time we were a family. Back then when it was just me and Elijah, my parents were actual parents. All of a sudden when the twins, Andrew, and Versace followed, they stopped doing their duties.

There was a time where all of us wanted perfection, overworking to get the attention we craved for. Elijah went for Ivy League colleges, I excelled as valedictorian , the twins were handed modeling jobs like candy, Andrew was the star lacrosse player, and Versace got trophies for every dance competition. We were robots, very unhappy robots that wanted love.

My Dad can't just suddenly wipe it all away and make it all good with twister.

I groan, running my hands through my hair. I had other things to think about than my Dad's sudden decision to be the saint in the family. I barely forgave my mother when she came to her senses.

I crawl over to my desk and climb onto the seat, sitting myself so I could figure out what to do with Kaia. She was more important than my own problems.

My time was varied now that I've found her. She has about two months to change, so by the time she has to confess, Stein will like her. The problem is that the school would be chaos by the time we're done and everyone would react differently.

I took a piece of note paper off one of my notebooks and wrote "Nice Lessons" at the top, starting my list. It was an easy start already. Ideas flooded my mind, plenty enough to not dry out.

This will be fun. I drown out the noises as I scribble down ideas, doing what I do best.

▔▔▔▔▔

School the next day was already chaos.

Stein had removed baking (after delivering Vincent's donuts), the robotics, spelling, and political club. Now the wandering souls of the previous clubs go around the campus, protesting and shouting out death threats to the artist.

Everyone had nicknamed Kaia "Bird", after the fledging she drew. I think they all forgotten my name was "Birdie" but I don't mind. It's just a nickname after all.

The moment I entered the hallways, people started flooding me with questions, asking their favorite Stein Scholar for favors. Of course they will only ask me; Stein's favorite.

I ignored them, trying to find Kaia in the crowd. It wasn't easy to find her, but her clothes gave her out pretty well. I tried to stand on my tip toes, adding an inch to my short stature, looking for Kaia above the heads of students.

I continued letting myself move in the crowds of moving students, hoping Kaia would be there at the end of the waves.

I try to remember what she looks like now, pushing away freshman Kaia since it was outdated. I try to picture her long brown hair that wasn't cut with scissors and reached behind her ear. Her brown eyes coated with mascara she would never wear as a freshman, her outrageous fashion that exposed skin, and Kaia's light brown skin that lacked smudges of dirt from adventures she loved to do.

Then, she was there, standing in front of me with a scowl. Kaia's hair fell around her shoulders and her eyes were layered with makeup Versace would wear. She wasn't wearing clothes that exposed much skin either. She seemed to make an effort with the sweater and tights.

"Is this 'Hey Stein I'm good now' enough for you?" Kaia asked, rolling her eyes. I couldn't miss the smile tugging at her lips.

"You're getting there K. Maybe if the back wasn't open you'd be good." I chuckle, shoving my hands in my pockets. Kaia chuckled along, her hair fell over her eyes while she did. It was so easy to laugh around her. Immediately I wondered why it was a chore to laugh around my own family.

"It's my only article of clothing that didn't much expose skin or looked inappropriate. Be proud I thought of you." She teased. Her little comment sent a shock through me, startling me for a moment before I could reply. She thought of me?

"It's the first time I've seen you around here," I change the subject, biting down on my lip to stop the weird feeling inside, "I guess I was looking around for a girl with short black hair and a natural face."

Kaia stood there, staring at me like I did something wrong.

"What?" I ask, confused.

"Stop biting your lip. It's making me uncomfortable." She pursed her lips, crossing her arms across her chest. Oh.

"Well," I stop like she asked, "Now that's sorted out, let's go talk somewhere where nobody would bother us. I'm tired of being asked for favors." I hear Kaia laugh as I led her to the room Vincent and I came to during boring shifts to play some battleship.

Nobody asked why notorious good boy Callum Luther was leading a well-known bad girl into a dark, unused room even though I knew they wanted to. This was going to be reported to Stein.

As I maneuvered the both of us through hallways, Kaia and I noticed all the stares. I had to tug her twice to make sure she was okay. I'm guessing she wasn't ever out of detention enough to walk around the school.

We finally approach the room and I ushered us in fast, eyeing the security camera and saluting, a sign for quietness. The person who monitors it owes me a great favor since I talked them out of getting kicked out with Stein.

"This looks like a cool hangout." Kaia looked around the room, awe laced in her voice. I flickered on the lights, enjoying the sound of her "woahs".

"We just put some food and games in here. Me and Vincent get bored during shifts and so we hide hers," I say, locking the door and turning around to see her already lounging in desk, "It doesn't beat The Lounge though."

"Who's Vincent?" She asks, tapping the cover to the battleship game.

"He's my fat friend. Everyone needs a fat friend to keep you in good spirits during Stein stuff." I joke, joining her in the desk opposite of her. She was looking through the battleship and tapping the desk as her eyes darted from piece to piece.

"I never had a friend. Nobody really liked me but you." Her brown eyes meet mine for a brief moment, making the tingling feeling rise to my cheeks again.

"There's plenty of things to like about you." It was her turn for her cheeks to get that tingling feeling.

"No, not really." She whispered, driving us into a silence.

We sat there, staring at the battleship game, not bothering to speak. I watched her discreetly, figuring out if freshman Kaia I knew was still there.

I can't help but think what had changed Kaia since the day she fell out of the window and into my cabin. When we used to talk while eating potato chips in the dark, she told me everything she hated about girls and their petty needs.

Kaia used to go on and on how makeup made her skin pimply and fake when all she looks like is a goddess now. Her hair used to be real short and unkept, the reason behind it was because long hair meant she had to use lots of shampoo and it was a hassle. She still dressed the same, except her wardrobe consisted more of skin than baggy shirts borrowed from who knows who.

"Can you uh, teach me now?" She asks, her cheeks tinted pink through her makeup.

"Oh! Yeah, I will," I get up and go towards the white board, picking up the trusty purple marker, "this is the list of nice. You have to follow all of it to be a Stein Scholar."

She bobbed her head, listening while she balanced her chin on her palm.

"First, you obey Stein. You follow her orders, you're polite to her, and agree with her. If you disagree," I interrupted her before she can comment, "argue with facts so she'll maybe think twice."

Kaia rolled her eyes, her chin slightly moving on her hand.

"Next, stop smoking and drug use. I looked through your records — don't give me that look, I had to — and saw you were thrown in detention for smoking on campus. So tell me, how much do you smoke?" I narrow my eyes, watching her gears move.

"I smoke when I'm bored." She shrugs like it's no biggie.

"So...?"

"Depends. I smoke one to four." Kaia sighs, covering her face.

"Well then, step three: new wardrobe. You can't wear this everyday. I have a trusty sister to deal with that." I smile, knowing Versace will do good with her fashion needs. My sister aspires to be a fashion designer one day.

"You have another sister? Man your mom pops out babies quick." She snorts, slumping her shoulders and adjusting her position to lean back.

"It's still Versace. Please do not pronounce it as ver-sace. It's pronounced ver-sach-e." I point my marker at her. My little sister hates it when people say her name wrong, ending up with her screaming at them for a good long time.

"Then you gotta work on your grades, which are good, but to be a Stein Scholar you need all A's and a GPA higher than 4.0." Her jaw dropped as she realized this, the look funny on her face.

"What's your GPA?" She asks, an eyebrow raised as she recovered.

"4.37," I answer, grinning at her next jaw drop, "Step four is you gotta enforce rules and not break them. We will go over the whole rulebook soon."

Kaia raises her hand jokingly, "How big is the book?"

"The size of the Deathly Hollows," I chuckle, "Step five: you got to spend less time in detention too. There's nothing else to it."

Kaia sighs, rolling her eyes again and tossing her brown locks over her shoulder. I couldn't help but notice her shoulder slipping off her shoulder, revealing a black bra strap. An odd feeling of invasion knocks me off course for a moment, making me advert my eyes away.

"Step six is to learn how to draw on paper. You're good at drawing K, but you have to draw on drawing material." I slap the board with my pen, resulting with Kaia flinching.

"Finally, you have to fix your reputation. Be nicer and be polite is all you can do. Participate in clubs or events and help around. I'll bring you along with me during my student body helping shifts." Kaia groans loudly, flopping on top of her desk. I snort, crossing my arms, finding her toddler breakdown amusing.

"I have to do this in two months?" She groans again, the sound muffled as she faces the desk.

"Yup."

"When do we start?" She lifts her head, her eyebrows creased.

"We start tomorrow. I'll take you to the mall after school with Versace in hand. We're giving you the full womanizing shopping spree. All articles chosen by Versace Luther and judging by Callum Luther." I smirk, watching her eyebrows crease even further, the lines on her forehead deepening.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." She slams her face on the desk, muttering an "ow".

I can't believe you're agreeing to this, I think, a big smile on my lips.