Marci Wellington's POV

Monday mornings.

To everyone, it's the worst day of the week, school starts, adults have to haul their asses to work, and things start happening.

But to me, it just makes me realise that I have been living a lie.

Okay, that's only half of the truth, but you had to see it as I see it.

As my cousins and I pulled up into the parking lot of Grim stone high school, I was greeted by the sight of rowdy students.

We got out of the car and observed the main entrance to our doom.

"It's not too late to get back into the car and go on that road trip we talked about, right?" Giá's voice wavered as she spoke.

"Unless you want Abuela to hand your ass back to you with a roll of paper," Mateo sent a frown to his sister before wrapping a hand around her.

"You'll be fine; we're still here. And when we go, you've got Marci with you."

It's my turn to frown, "Good call, Cuz good call."

I roll my eyes when a grin takes over his face.

Diego says, "Let's get going, guys. I have to meet up with the coach."

That's the cue for us to walk into school. It's like a madhouse here, where everyone has their own little family; think of it as an aquarium. Some people will bite others like Sharks while others will save people like Dolphins.

The sea of freshers in their block immediately parted a way for us to pass. I'm sure most of them were hung up on the fact that the captain and the assistant of the football team were walking with their sister and cousin, who was a Wellington.

You see, as a Wellington, I was more than acquainted with the term 'fake friends.' I've had my fair share of them in middle school. It's why I chose to keep my friendship circle small.

Lucas and Nate are the only people I would let get close to me. Together the four of us were a family of our own, with Giá being a cheerleader and Nate being a part of the basketball team. Then Lucas and I were the spawns of the richest people in the whole school. I think that speaks for itself, so we attracted unnecessary attention without even trying.

Speaking of unnecessary attention, the school had this newspaper titled Grizzly's den. The principal gave Xena -the job of the main editor- the authority to meddle her way into everyone's business, students and teachers alike.

I thought the news of my parent's divorce wouldn't have spread until at least May; since the court case was private and there was nobody from the press.

But I have stayed with Caleb and his friends for a while now, and I know that it's a dream that will never come true.

Immediately Mateo and Diego left Giá and me by our lockers and went to the stairs to get to their lockers. The shark came to bite my head off.

"Marci Wellington," I heard her before I saw her. "How was your new year?"

I don't know how she does it, but she always finds out about other people's business before they come to terms with it.

"Happy new year to you too, Xena," I clenched my teeth.

There were a lot of colourful words at the tip of my tongue, but the school board was already on people's necks for not respecting their superiors. Mind you, the only reason that Xena falls into that category is that she is Diego's classmate and friend.

"My new year was great, thanks for asking," She flipped her hair behind her shoulder. "My parents took me to a remote resort to have the time of my life. How about yours? How did you spend your new year?"

I spent it in an abandoned playground while looking at the sky with Shane.

Instead, I took another route that won't get me expelled and her in the nurse's office.

"I like your hair." I nudged my head toward her hair.

From the corner of my eyes, I could see some students had gathered around us. Some people from the editorial team were already videotaping this.

Where's a Dolphin when you need one?

Xena raised her bright purple-dyed hair and twirled it on her finger, "Thanks, my mom followed me to get it done while my dad took us out for dinner."

She was pretty good at hiding the malicious intent in her smile, but I'd be a fool to be a pawn.

"Interesting, I'd like to visit the salon soon. Hopefully, by then, they would have cleared up the damage you did in their store." I sent a wicked smile her way.

I might have acted like a numb, depressed teen after the divorce, but as far as self-esteem goes. If we're not close, don't expect courtesy from me.

With a raised brow, she looked at me down the tip of her nose, "Cool. After that, I hope our moms could join us to spend the day doing manicures. Our dads could go bowling and bond."

I hate to admit it, but she is hitting the right spots, "Why are you here? Don't you have a class to be in or someone to blow like a balloon?"

I heard snickers from the crowd, but I had my eyes on the prize. The first bell rang, but the drama-hungry students held their ground, wanting to know what would happen next.

Giá came between us and said, "Okay, head editor, class is starting now. As the head, you are supposed to set an example for us and head to class. No hagas el ridículo como de costumbre."

Translation: Don't make a fool of yourself as per usual.

Not waiting for a response, Giá wrapped an arm around my shoulder, and the crowd separated for us to walk through.

We went to our lockers and quickly dropped our stuff before the warning bell rang.

"Another day in this living hell," She grumbled from beside me.

I inhaled because it was our first day, and it would take more than a confrontation to break my composure.

"It's not that bad, Giá. School is kind of an escape for most people." I shrug.

"Says the girl who wants to be valedictorian,"

Her claim was spot on, I wanted it, but it wasn't something I allowed just anyone to know about. It was like saying that I wasn't an airhead with money, although if I had a different complexion, that would be the assumption. Either way, becoming Valedictorian was one of the things I wanted to graduate with, apart from following in my mom's footsteps to become a fashion designer.

I closed my locker and was met with a famous pair of green eyes tucked behind glasses.

I smiled and went on my tiptoes to plant a small kiss on his lips.

"And chopped liver, need salad dressing with it?" Lucas inputs while rolling his eyes at me for not looking away from Nate.

"Welcome to grumpy town, population your lonely ass." Giá smiled at him as they did a fist bump.

"How are you holding up? I heard what happened earlier." Nate ignored the duo that was now stuck in the gossip of the cheerleaders.

I gotta hand it to Giá; she might be in the squad, but her loyalty clearly and would always lie with us. Like a true Lealtad.

"I've been through worse." I shrug.

The warning bell went off. We were officially screwed for the first period.

"It isn't too late to go on that road trip." Gia hummed as she slammed her locker shut.

"If we don't get detention, I'm so in," I told her, and we split.

Remind me to thank whoever planned the outlay of this school. It was smart of you to put the classes beside the lockers.

My first class was Biology, followed by Mathematics which I had with Nate.

I never had any issues with school work, which was why becoming Valedictorian seemed easy. My boyfriend and I took seats in the middle row, close to the window. The teachers drone on about what to expect for the ongoing term. Our exams and tests would be what they would use to see if we were worthy enough to be promoted to juniors. Second terms were always more crucial just because it was the shortest.

I took notes and by the time classes were over, Nate gave me a brief hug, and we parted ways. My English class was the most boring class I had, but it was compulsory. I had no choice but to stay anyway and not get on this woman's wrong side. I hate to say it, but PMS was a disease with no cure at all.

As for my History class, the teacher was absent. The class was a mad house, but I knew that the news of my parent's divorce had already spread like wildfire and everybody knew.

No one came to meet me and confirm it. The only brave person was Xena, which I was glad about.

Then came the dreaded period of all; Lunch.

I wasn't fond of food poisoning, so Abuela took it upon herself to make me and Giá lunch every day. She still thinks we have large appetites and packs enough that even Nate and Lucas could join us for the feast.

Again with the rowdy students, but this time, they were in their own families. Everyone had their lunch table, but the gang and I liked to eat on the bleachers outside that faced the field that was used for games, but on days that we couldn't sit there, we had a table in the cafeteria.

I walked to the fresher's block, went out of the main doors and turned a corner. The gang was already there. They watched how the druggies and the smokers battled for space on the field to do their stuff.

I was against this being our eating spot for the sole reason of witnessing Diego get a blowjob underneath the bleacher the first day we tried to eat here. Blackmail has never felt sweeter.

I dump my bag on the floor and settle beside Lucas, "What'd I miss?" I ask and open the lunch bag that Giá passed to me.

It was spaghetti with a sauce that holds more pepper than the whole of India. Seeing the food of choice, Lucas pulled out bottles of water and passed all of us one.

I took a fork and almost groaned. Abuela could rival Shawn any day.

"Well," Nate said after he had swallowed a mouthful, "The druggies and smokers were decent today."

My cousin snorted, "If your definition of decent is them wanting to gag each other with buds and pills, you need to get your head checked."

Laughter filled the air. Nate tried to see the good in anyone and every situation. Even if there wasn't any good to see in the first place.

"In unrelated news, is it too late to drop out of school?" Lucas piped up and took a fork of spaghetti. He handed the dish back to me.

"Depends. Would your dad blow a fuse?" Nate asked.

"I'm not even going to comment on it." I finalised and swallowed.

"According to Marci, school is the best thing that has ever happened to mankind." Everyone now turned to look at me as if I was deemed demented.

I narrowed my eyes at them, "Don't you lot look at me like I've lost a few marbles, and school isn't that bad if you're cut out for it."

For some reason, I enjoyed school despite some certain people in it, and I don't mean it literally when I say it's an escape for some people with home issues. Some people find their passion in school, and for what it's worth, that's what we all need to survive this world.

Giá matched my stare with a sly smile, enjoying seeing me riled up, "If you say so. Coach called you guys yet?" She directs her gaze to Nate as he gives her the dish they shared.

I make a mental note to not strangle her in her sleep tonight.

Nate nodded, "Yea, he said practice begins for all sports teams today to catch up."

"Are we staying?" Lucas asked me.

"It's not like we have anything better to be doing," I shrugged.

"Did you guys hear about the love triangle of the last term?" Giá asked as she packed away the dish while I did the same with mine.

"The coach was caught in a love triangle between the gymnastics teacher and the first-grade teacher, a triangle indeed." Lucas finished with a grim tone in his usual negative attitude.

"Would it kill you to appreciate things more?" Giá asked with a roll of her eyes.

"Would it kill you to not be a gossip?" He remarked.

"Touché," She tipped her water bottle to him and took a sip.

"I think he could have handled the issue better than he did," I said.

Even though I should feel relieved that Miss Beatrice has stopped pining over my brother, that doesn't mean I would take joy in her sorrow.

The bell went off. We took that as our cue to go back inside.

Già and Nate walked further up the stairs to the art clubs while Lucas and I went into a classroom for our Economics class.

"So, who did you think deserved the heart of our beloved coach?" I was straddling the back of my chair and looking at Lucas.

The class was still filling up, and our teacher was nowhere to be seen.

"Don't know, don't care. All I know is that the football and basketball studs will burst their nuts if they don't win this term's championship." He shrugged as if he was talking about something as simple as the weather.

"What makes you say that?" I cock a brow.

In this school, both teams are important, but there is always that silent rivalry between them. You would see it between the two if you looked closely.

"My dad offered a record deal or scholarship to the captains of either team. The stakes are for who comes out of this term with the most points for the championship league."

"Since when did Daddy Stuart start caring about sports?" I ask.

"Since he discovered that his only son wants to join the priesthood."

Laugh all you want, but the most negative person I have ever met in my life wants to become a priest. If that doesn't scream the ending of the world; I don't know what will.

"Besides," He continued. "Do you think Skye would want to become a singer after the accident with her vocals last year?"

"Nope, I'm not even sure Gail would want to see her best friend in that condition again."

He nodded his head as if to say, 'Exactly'.

The teacher walked in at that moment, and I spent the next hour learning about the bright field of economics. Note the sarcasm.

After that, Lucas said he would meet up with me by my locker before we went to the bleachers in the gym.

My last class for the day was Home Management, it didn't apply to what I was going for, but it was either this or I joined a club. No, thank you, I have enough things on my plate.

Giá was already there, stabbing her worksheet with her pen while muttering curse words in Spanish.

When I sat down, I eased the pen out of her hand, "What'd the poor worksheet do to you?"

"El capitán de porristas exige que todo el mundo deba bajar de peso porqui soy demasiado pesado para que me carguen en la pirámide," She rants on.

I rolled my eyes, "English Giá." I said.

"The cheer captain demands that I need to lose weight because I am too heavy to be carried on the pyramid."

"Since when did you care about what that girl had to say?" I furrow my brows.

Last time I checked, neither Giá nor I could stand her, but she had to tolerate her while I didn't.

"Since she claimed I might lose my spot to the new freshers trying out for the team."

I would have offered the solution of going to meet her brothers, but what Mateo said this morning started making me think.

They wouldn't be there forever, and we needed to fight our battles by ourselves, and that's when I realised I had been living a lie.

If I wanted to graduate as Valedictorian, I would not only need to up my game but make sure my friends upped theirs.

"I'm just going to say off the hat that you have a plan in that wicked brain of yours?" Giá looked at me unsurely.

"You got that right."

Okay, Guys, how are you liking the book so far?

Please tell me what you think and feel free to ask any question and correct me on anything.

Also, just out of thought, who's your favourite character so far?