Marci Wellington's POV

Never thought that I could sweat this much but with the way my palms are dripping water rapidly; I'd say if you hand me a bucket; I'll give you a small part of the River Nile.

The crowd went wild as the football team brought on their A-game today. They were in it to win it.

Trying not to cringe at my dry joke, I looked up into the bleachers and made contact with a red pin straight-haired girl.

She has a camera on her neck and a pen and paper in her hands. A leather jacket draped across her shoulders while her body is clad in a maxi dress. She nods at me, and I return the favour as a silent message passes across the field.

Currently Giá, Nate, Lucas and I were dressed in our school colours which were black and brown. And you all know me well; I wore the usual all-black outfit. If you looked closer, you would see that I had specks of brown on minuscule parts of my body.

My wrists had brown bracelets, while my black converse had brown shoe laces.

Neat, ain't it?

"Remind me again why we agreed to this?" Giá grumbles from beside me.

It wouldn't be so bad if we sat at the bleachers cheering for her brothers and the rest of the team. But here we are in the tunnel at the other end of the field. This is the tunnel the team uses to enter the field for every game. It was also their exit back to the locker room, so the smell of gym socks and sex wafted all around.

Cue the gag noises.

I turn to look at her, "We're doing something we all love, and it might get us some extra views on our channel."

I go back to watching the game and see Mateo score a touchdown with the help of Diego. Both boys bump into each other's chest while in the air. Their cries of victory were echoed and amplified by the shouts of the student body.

"If you ask me, this might be worth the hassle." Lucas shrugged as he scowled onto the field.

His father sat proudly on the best seats in the house. His wife by his right, Skye by his left and Abigail beside Skye.

Both girls quietly talk among themselves. Skye steals small glances at her father. Lucas notices it and his scowl only deepened.

"You know when you get older, you could take care of Skye better than you do now. For now, you must suck it up and hope you don't get sent to jail for homicide on your father." Nate pats his shoulder.

"It just pisses me off that he won't let go of the fact that none of us wants nothing to do with him." Lucas huffs and finally shifts his gaze off his family.

"You know my mom once told me a secret when she was in one of her sober moments," Nate says while he waves his hand in the air dismissively. "She said that if I ever grow and have a chance to get away from her and my step-father, I should grab it with both hands and legs." He chuckles sadly.

This is supposed to be a happy occasion, not a sob fest.

"Boys?" I walk up to them and place my hands on their shoulders. I hate the fact they meet my eyes with a sad look in theirs. I always knew I was ready to pick them up when they hit rock bottom, and I knew they would do the same.

"Who cares if our parents are poor excuses? They might share your last name and DNA with you, but it's always important for you to remember that Giá and I are also your family, always and forever." I smile when the sad look in their eyes starts to deteriorate.

I pull them into a hug at the same time Giá snorts, "Did you just quote the originals?"

"Snort all you want, but the farm isn't going to come here and look for their pig." Lucas throws some shade at her.

She glares at him before joining the group hug. I hug them tighter and hold back a few tears as a small flashback of my parents hugging me comes to mind.

Half-time shows up faster than I expected. The gang and I share a look before walking onto the field and showing Grim Stone a performance which would be the first of many.

-

To say that the football game was a success would be putting it lightly.

Let me explain.

Not only did the team score the highest number of points that haven't been seen in over a decade, (You don't need to tell me, my high school could rival the age of my parent's anniversary). A scout was present, and he had a few words with Diego. It is why he is running up and down the field like a little child high on sugar.

Giá and Mateo are playing a game of tag to see who can keep their elder brother from doing something that could get him expelled and serve their asses to Abuela on her trusty roll of paper.

Lucas and Nate said something about getting a drink, leaving me to marvel at the students getting drunk on school property. Our principal is nowhere to be found.

Stick it to the man while drunk and face his wrath while sober.

I saw him before he sat down next to me, and to say I felt bile rise to my throat would be an understatement.

"Have you considered my proposal?" His American accent was thick, but the hint of cigars that now coated the air was anything but lovely.

"Do you remember that my daddy placed a restraining order on you?" I say sweetly while my eyes are trained on my cousins.

"No need to be bitter. A simple yes or no would be nice." He stares at my side profile, willing me to turn my head and give him my full attention.

"What would happen to your spawns if I grant you this request?"

"I might allow Lucas to go on living his dream of becoming a priest, but I can't say the same for Skye just yet." He spat.

And he thought I was the bitter one.

"Then my part of the deal is void," I say with a note of finality and stand up.

I finally look him in the eye and give him my parting words, "The only way I would betray my father and everything I stand for is if you end up in prison for everything you have done."

"You could keep up your act and give me an answer at the dinner party at my house. It is coming closer than you think. Your father and mother will be in attendance. I suggest you come along." Mr Stuart dared to smile at me while his silent threat sunk into the air.

He cocks his head and winks at someone behind me, "I best allow you to leave before my spawn shoots me down with his eyes."

I turn around and see Lucas looking at us. A mixture of worry and annoyance coats his face while the rest of my gang had irritation on theirs.

It doesn't get better than this now, does it?

-

The sound of my door opening has me stirring but what makes me jump wide awake is when the bed dips.

"I know you're awake," I feel my pulse die down a bit as the familiar voice speaks up after a few minutes of torturing silence. "Now it's time to fess up, or I'll video call the boys and get it out of you."

Giá didn't even allow me to play her threat back at her before she turned on the lamp beside the bed.

Ironic how we both look like we just got hit by a bus, but I don't think that's the top of her priority list.

"Okay, Paper, what was so important that you have me awake by," I pause to glance at the clock beside the lamp, "one in the morning."

She doesn't look like she is in a relenting mood as she starts her interrogation, "What went down between you and Xena?"

I internally rolled my eyes and decided not to lie to her, "Next question."

She must know this because she complies with my request, "You might be plain Ink, but your scars are starting to show."

She looks me dead in the eye as worry mars her face but continues her interrogation no less, "What of you and Felix?"

"Village idiot and I have unsettled business, but to put it short, he tried to trash talk you, but I think I passed my message of who I am to him very clearly." I pick at my nails while I reply.

Not satisfied, she grunts and waves her hand in the air expectantly.

I groan, "I knew that Felix is digging too deep into what doesn't concern him."

"Do you mean your parents' divorce?" Her brows furrow.

It was a private divorce. For the fact, the press didn't get wind of it. Then how the hell did a slimy bastard like Felix become aware of it will remain a mystery to me to this day.

"Bingo. He had to know the amount of shit storm that would rain on his parade if he didn't stop barking up the wrong tree. Now the next question?"

"I think that's all for now."

I send a silent thank you to God up there for making Giá so busy to not have remembered my chat with Lucas' dad. But since Lucas promised me a little chat over a game of air hockey, I wouldn't say I'm that lucky.

Giá nudged my shoulder as she sank deeper into my bed, "I don't need to pry shit out of you all the time, now do I?"

Like I've said countless times, our bond is so close that Abuelo had to start calling us Paper and Ink. He was getting at the fact that one is useless without the other, but he wasn't wrong back then. As for now, I'm not sure about that anymore.

Regardless of that, Giá and I have had our paths intertwined for a long time now, and I know that with her by my side, watching me make my mistakes, she would be there for me when it was time to pick myself back up, and I know that I would do the same if the case was reversed.

I draped my hand over her shoulders and returned the bumping, "You don't have to Paper, but like Abuelo said, 'some paths have to be walked alone'. But if it makes you feel better; I'm slowly returning to my old self."

She smiles, "I hope so."

So do I.

She flips the back off, and we fall asleep in my bed since Giá is too lazy to go back to hers.

-

The day I've been dreading has finally arrived.

No, I'm not talking about confronting my mom about being a hypocrite. Now that I think about it, I may never get to do that anytime soon.

I'm not talking about going to meet my dad to check up on him.

And I'm not talking about the day Nate and I do the deed.

Get your head out of the gutter, people!

Maybe I should put a restraining order on myself. Maybe that way, I could stay away from Jacob. We all know it won't work, but you can't hate a girl for trying, would you?

I walked side by side with a girl, a blue-coloured bob cut with fringe on her head. A small clipboard is being held close to her chest. I could see her shifty feet, which distracted me from her usual awful perfume.

Curse Caleb for teaching me to have manners, "You okay?" I ask.

She looks at me. I see a tired girl who needs to hit her bed more often than she hits the salon.

She nods vigorously, as if to convince herself and not me, "I'll be okay. Have you talked to Diego yet?" She asks expectantly.

"I think I need a little more time with that, but I plan on cornering him after this," I tell her to ease her nerves.

I'm the one going up in front of a thousand people, yet she's the one that is sweating buckets.

"Thank you." She said in a sincere tone.

For once, I don't see Xena, the vicious editorial leader, the girl who needs to get all her sense organs checked, the girl who takes out all of her problems by making the people around her more miserable. I see a girl who wants to fix what is broken but the question that should be asked is why the act?

"You sure you won't slip up, Marcella?" Her sweet smile is long gone and in place is a smirk. There goes the decent human being I thought was clawing its way to get out of her.

I give her a smirk of her own, "I think I can handle my own perfectly well."

I straighten my back and walk past her into the court. From my side vision, I could see Nate sporting an injured knee, but I had to push that to the back of my mind to be able to handle the mission at hand.

The mix tape of worth it by Fifth Harmony begins in the background. It's a classic that portrays the message I want to pass to the audience.

I begin with a smooth set of tutting, hands and fingers before moving on to a few R and B moves.

The music suddenly dies down while I finish a flip. Lucas enters the court while a new song plays. We nodded at each other, and I had a grateful smile.

It's an afrobeat we've been playing with for a while, and it paid off because Lucas and I were able to do freestyle before matching up to an old routine we did a long time ago.

Giá filmed it while her counterparts were marching onto the court. Lucas and I rounded up the last part of the routine. Immediately the song dies down, I raise my hands into the air to catch my phone that Giá throws at me before she does a side flip to join the rest of the cheer squad that is now on the court.

Lucas and I walk towards Nate, and on the way there, I bump shoulders with Xena.

"You okay, babe?" Nate tries to shift our attention, but the glare I have honed in on his leg has him shutting up.

"You okay, Mate?" Lucas' accent did nothing but mock him properly. The message was passed across because Nate's face went beet red.

I took the ice pack from the Nurse and pressed it to his leg.

"So when did this happen?" I ask while applying a little pressure.

Thankfully the bleeding has stopped, but the swelling needs to go down before it worsens.

"It happened from home, but it got worse when I fell during the first quarter of the game." Nate winces when I apply a little pressure to his knee.

"Did you think playing basketball would solve the injury?" Lucas says in his usual negative tone.

"I'm sure I have Ian to thank for allowing you to go onto the court like this." I huff and pass the ice to Lucas to apply it.

I spot Xena walking up to Ian. From where I'm stood, the conversation doesn't end well because Xena storms off five minutes into the conversation. Ian sips water to prevent himself from mouthing off, but if the red tints on his cheeks, frown lines on his forehead and the way his knuckles turn white from holding the bottle are anything to go by, I'd say he's pissed.

And you know what they say about pissed basketball players?

You can play the hoops better than them.

Never have I seen any high school without a bit of drama! Stay tuned, my people.