༄ SAM watched her mom speak to an unfamiliar man. She guessed it was one of her colleagues. A teacher at Etril's Boarding School For Boys. Talks like these often made her wonder why her mom was the principal of the boys, and not the girls.

However, a part of her was very grateful for that; she wouldn't have to spend the coming year close to her mom... a strict, frequently stressed woman.

Sam got her mom's genes and was now taller than most girls she passed. The curly hair was what she gained from her dad, and her skin color a mix of both. 

Her mom was pale, with her hair brushed back so tightly Sam sometimes wished to pull that damn bun out. Her father was rather small. A bit stocky. Dark, curly hair, and his face usually got a sweet smile printed on it.

You could say her parents were the total opposite of each other.

And now she sat next to her father, waiting for mom to finish that boring talk about the boarding school she owned so Sam could finish her back to school routine.

"I heard your dorm is gonna include two other girls." Her father leaned closer by tilting his head.

"Hm."

A chuckle escaped his mouth. "Hating humans again. Original."

"It's not that hard." She groaned and let her head fall on his shoulder. "Hey, if I behave this year, can I not get that forced wedding?"

"Everything is set already. Your mom wants this. She—"

"She's not even from our culture."

"She believes it's better for us all, alright? You'll be safe, protected by a man. Our family is stronger... and expanded."

Sam's jaw clenched. "I don't want it."

"Well, unless you find someone else to marry, you have no choice." He sighed.

"Woah, woah, woah." Her back straightened immediately, attention on now. "You're saying that if I find someone else... I don't have to marry that man who's like twenty years older than me?"

"Sure, if your mom agrees."

One problem, her mom was never gonna do that unless Sam showed up with a holy gentleman.

❤︎︎

Jeff greeted his sister with a grin. His forehead was covered in sweat from basketball, and his red team clothes were still on.

"I know I'm divine, but there's no need to look at me like that." Sam raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"

"I got in the team! Etril's Team! Holy shit. And not just me. I'm with Thomas, Minho, and Alby."

"And that are...?"

"My friends!" He nearly made a jump in the air.

"How come you already made friends before the year even started? We moved here two weeks ago. School starts tomorrow. How?"

"Unlike you, I'm not socially awkward." Jeff wrapped an arm around his sister, leading her into their new kitchen. Small but fancy. "Hey, would you bake those brownies again? They're amazing. Don't say it's because of the baker."

"It's because of the baker." She leaned against the wall. Fidgeted with the millions of bracelets on her hands. "But sure, if I have time. Gotta finish my thing first."

"Man, who still has a back to school routine?"

"Literally everyone who isn't a disgusting little rat, Jeff." She sighed as she spoke.

"You're a disgusting little rat."

"Alright, that's it. I won't bake the brownies until the next holidays." Sam clapped in her hands, showing she finished talking.

Except Jeff wasn't, and stopped her from leaving. "The next holidays? That's like weeks from now!"

"Patience is a virtue. Congrats with getting in the team, though!" With a last bump against his shoulder, Sam ran up the stairs and locked herself up in her room.

Even though they had only been living in this house for two weeks, Sam's room was already to her like. And it was already messy, too.

Yet she didn't care. She liked messy rooms better than the neat rooms, unless the messy room was dirty, you know?

Plants were spread all over the place. Some fake, some real. The flowers she dried last summer hung on her wall, next to the ivy that was twisted in fairy lights. Candles were also spread everywhere, but she didn't light them since the chance her plants would catch fire was... very big.

Brown sheets covered her bed, along with a million pillows. Her bookshelf was overloaded with all kinds of books. Some lay on the ground too, but not a single one's spine was cracked.

She treated her books like they were her babies. Gentle, careful, and with an extraordinary amount of love... her mom could take that advice.

Then in a corner, she had lain all her books to study and papers and anything else she needed for school.

School was an important thing to Sam. She wouldn't call herself her a nerd because she certainly didn't like studying, but she always had an annoying itch to get A's, and nothing less.

Mostly because of her mom, too. Sam hadn't cared about her grades until she overheard her parents talk about a few bad ones. When she failed another test, her mom lost it. So Sam decided to never fail again, because if she would, that meant getting yelled at again.

Sighing into the mirror of her bathroom, she pulled the face mask off and decided to deep condition her hair so it wouldn't be a fuzzy mess on the first day of school, as if she had been electrocuted.

Lastly, she lay her uniform down. She was happy it was a decent, pretty one. The skirt had blue and red squares. A white blouse would cover her torso, along with a blue tie. On top of that, a black blazer.

It wasn't bad at all. In fact, she found herself admiring it.

❤︎

The next morning, Sam sat on the backseat of the car. Her mom was driving her and Jeff to school. After that, she would be staying in her dorm.

Ugh, all that work in her room just for her to visit once a week, in the weekends.

In her hands, she held a book. Jeff kept going on and on about the basketball team while their mom spoke of the school schedules. Sam listened to neither and allowed herself to just drown with the book.

Until she noticed Jeff was peeking at the pages, his eyebrows lifted. "Let me guess. Enemies to lovers?"

"I'm honored you remember my favorite, but no." Sam bit her lip. "It's fake dating."

Jeff's eyebrows now scrunched. "Wait." He tilted his head. "Fake... dating? Like, not real? You pretend to date?"

"No, you're married but you call it fake," Sam spat out. "Of course it's pretending to date. An act."

"Right." Jeff focused on looking outside again. "Hey, I see Etril!"

With vague curiosity, Sam followed his eyes to the enormous brown towers of the school. Details curved and curled around the stone. A fountain spat water. It stood in the middle of a big field, where some students were walking on.

It gave her Hogwarts vibe, though it wasn't that spectacular either.

"Here we are." Their mom parked the car beside the school, next to multiple other cars. Sam rushed out of it the second after she stuck her book in her bag; no way she was gonna let people find out her mom was the principal of the boys' school.

When she finished picking the keys of her new locker up, Sam arrived in class.

She sat down in silence, not planning to socialize, and certainly not on her first day. The other girls streamed into the room. And soon, the first period started.

"Hermanas... hijas, whatever..." An unknown voice entered the classroom. Sam looked up at a man. Older, but not elderly. "Welcome to the beautiful subject... Spanish." He ran a hand through his curly hair. "I'm sure not all of you will agree with me on that, but I'd rather have you to pay attention anyway."

Sam rested her chin on her palm as she listened to the teacher. He readjusted his brown shirt and before he sat down on his desk, eyes twinkling.

"My name is Jorge Esposito. Unlike most teachers, I prefer it if you just call me by my first name. Jorge. Not Mr. Esposito or whatever else." He raised his eyebrows. "That alright?"

Everyone simply agreed.

"Perfect!"