"Yeah, sure, then we will head to the cafeteria."

"Thanks."

Angel gave a nod.

***

"Well, this is the last place, the cafeteria."

"Thanks, this was nice," Summer said after visiting every place in the school. As she was about to go in, Angel stopped her.

"You can sit with me if you want."

"Sure, thanks."

Then they went to wait in line, and after taking their food, they went to sit down at a table with some other students.

"Hey," said Summer.

Some acknowledged her with a nod, but some stared at her weirdly. Angel, noticing this, changed the subject.

"Princess, it's shocking to see you here with Jackson."

"I just can't stand Kate."

"Yeah, me too, but I'm here because she's here," Jackson replied. Then Princess continued,

"She's a bitch, I wonder how Jaden puts up with her."

"I heard that the only reason is because she's good in bed," Max said as he chuckled. Then Dave asked Jackson, "You're his best friend, Jackson. Is it true?"

"It's complicated, but something like that," Jackson replied.

The talk continued while they were mouthing in different directions, while Summer stayed quiet, listening to what they were saying until Max asked her a question.

"I have a question, Summer. I'd like to know why you got transferred from your previous school," he said without letting her agree to be questioned.

"I'd like to know as well,"

Princess said, then the rest nodded their heads. "We moved here recently, plus I beat up my ex. He's really wealthy, so they got me expelled, but I really enjoyed it." After Summer said that, the guys were shocked and a little scared, while the girls were approving. "That's really cool. Did you take a karate class or..." Claire said, and Summer nodded. "You must have gotten the red belt then," Princess replied, slightly curious.

"No, I got the black belt." The guys' eyes popped, then they told themselves not to mess with her. They continued to talk until the bell rang for class, then they separated because they had different classes to attend, while those going the same way went together.

Summer and Angel coincidentally had the next class together, so they moved together silently because Summer didn't like to interact with people all the time. Regardless, they still sat next to each other.

Then came Jaden, who occupied the seat next to Summer, but Summer only briefly glanced at him. She didn't know what to think of him, even while trying to convince herself that it's his life. She couldn't help but remember what they said in the cafeteria about Kate and how toxic she is, but she came to the conclusion that maybe he likes toxic people. Then she focused on her surroundings, checking everyone out just to pass the time until Mr. Shapiru, their English teacher, entered the class.

Twenty minutes into learning, Summer's phone vibrates. She takes a peek and notices that it's a message from her sister, Elspeth,

[You in class?]

She replies,

[Yeah, where were you during lunch?]

[I sat with my friends; I saw you, though.]

[Aren't you learning? What do you want?]

[I took permission to visit the restroom; the class makes me feel sleepy.]

[Mine doesn't, so chat later...]

[Wait!]

Summer looks up, then sideways, noticing half the class seems asleep, but the man is still rambling.

[What?]

[Is Jaden in your class?]

[Yeah, why?]

[Can you secretly take a picture of him and send it to me? My friends keep talking about how hot he is, and I can't wait to see him anymore.] Summer let out a small chuckle, then immediately Used her hand to cover her mouth and looked at Angel, who was struggling to stay awake. Summer then turned to the other side and noticed Jaden was staring at her.

"what??"

"I didn't know you were the type to chat with your boyfriend while learning."

"I'm not chatting with my boyfriend, and I know you're trying to find out if I have a boyfriend or not."

Jaden smirked.

"Do you?"

"No, but you have a girlfriend, so maybe you should focus on her."

"You don't? That's shocking," he said, ignoring everything else she had said to him. Noticing this, Summer scoffed and returned to texting her sister:

[Go back to class.]

[You're such a killjoy]

[Just make sure you're outside, ready to go after school.]

[I will, but we have to go early tomorrow; I missed class this morning because of you.]

[I missed the first class too. Now head back to class.]

[Geez, okay. But don't tell Mum about this. See you after school.]

Summer dropped her phone back in her bag after reading that message to focus on her class, as Mr. Shapiru was teaching.

When the bell rang for closing, summer still seated took out her phone and texted Elsie

[Be there in 10 minutes]

She got up and made her way to her locker, where she bumped into Angel. "Hey,"

Summer greeted, but Angel seemed lost in thought, staring off into the distance. Summer followed her gaze and spotted Jaden and Kate making out like they were the only two people in the world, totally oblivious to the fact that they were in a school.

At one point, Jaden even gave Kate a playful squeeze, and Summer noticed a few girls nearby watching them with wide eyes. Turning back to Angel, Summer waved her hand in front of her face to snap her out of it.

"Do you like Jaden?"

she asked, noticing how distracted her friend was. Angel shook her head.

"No, I have a crush already, but I don't think he knows I exist."

"What were you staring at them for, then?" Summer probed.

"Just imagining what it would be like if Dave did that with me-maybe even in the library,"

Angel replied, leaving Summer puzzled.

"The library?"

"Don't worry about me, let's just get packed up and head out."

Since their lockers were conveniently located next to each other, they chatted as they finished up. Once they closed their lockers, they stepped outside together, glancing around for Kate and Jaden, only to discover they had already left.

"Want to join me for a ride?" Angel asked as they reached her car.

"I've got my ride, just waiting for my sister" came Summer's response.

"Wait, you have a sister?!" Angel exclaimed, clearly surprised.

"What's her name, and what grade is she in?" Summer looked at Angel to gauge her excitement.

"She's a freshman. Her name is Elspeth, but everyone calls her Elsie."

Just then, they spotted Elsie walking out of school with a few girls who were laughing and chatting together.

When she spotted her sister, she quickly informed her friends that she needed to leave. Summer then said goodbye to Angel and made her way to her red motorbike.

"Hop on, let's hit the road," she called out, offering her a helmet.

"Did you make any friends? Why the hurry?"

"I did make some friends, but today was just too much. I really just want to lie down," she replied. As they continued their conversation, each holding a helmet, Jaden and Jackson stepped out of the school with Kate and Princess. Princess was the first to spot Summer.

"She looks really cool," she remarked to Jackson. The others turned to see what she was looking at and noticed Summer chatting with another girl who bore a striking resemblance to her, apart from a few differences like Elsie's hair was a deep, ink black.

As they stood there, their attention was drawn to a striking red motorbike parked nearby. The guys exchanged approving glances, while Kate kept quiet, biting her lip and revealing nothing about her thoughts.

"Let's move out, Elspeth."

"Sure, but I prefer Elsie," she replied.

"Maybe I'll stick with Elspeth until we get back home."

With a red helmet secured on her head, Elsie jumped on the bike right after Summer. The engine roared to life, and as they sped away, the vibrant red of the bike caught everyone's eye in the sunlight.

"Mum, Dad, are you here?"

No answer.

"Is anyone home?"

Elsie called out again, a hint of frustration in her voice as she glanced at Summer, who was already making her way toward the stairs. "Are you kidding me? They said they'd be back by the time we got here so we could share about our first day,"

she huffed, following Summer up. Summer turned around and silently mouthed, "Shh!" Just then, they heard the noise coming from their parents' room. It felt a bit awkward, but Summer quickly coughed to break the tension and said,

"They're busy, so-" She trailed off, unsure of what else to say, but Elsie, with a playful grin, chimed in, "Let's just wait by their door for them."

Summer shook her head but still followed her because she didn't want to miss this.

Ten minutes later, the door to their parents' room opened while they heard their mother's voice from behind the door.

"Let's head down and wait; they should be nearby now."

Their father was about to reply while they were still facing each other, not noticing their children until Elsie's loud voice interrupted.

"Mum! Dad, I hope you enjoyed yourselves,"

she said with a smile that was creepy. While the mother was startled by her voice, the father composed himself and asked,

"How was your first day at school?" He was trying to sound casual, but he totally failed when Elsie just kept smiling while Summer looked like she was holding back her laugh.

"How long were you both here?" their mother asked when she couldn't hold back anymore.

"10 minutes"

Summer replied quickly, knowing that Elsie was going to say something stupid if she didn't. Their mother's face turned red while the father just scoffed and said,

"Both of you should get a life. Make friends and go to parties. Don't bring your boring selves home early every time to disturb us."

As he was talking, his wife kept nudging him to keep quiet, but he didn't stop. Instead, he came out of the room fully and closed the door, then started walking down the stairs, and they all followed.

"Wow Dad, that's your excuse for us after hearing our parents - especially Mum by the way - scream each other's names!"

Elsie said, and their father immediately shot back,

"Well, if you had any friends, then maybe you could be at their place right now, and your mum wouldn't be so embarrassed. It's cute though."

He reached the couch and Mr. Collins sat down, pulling his wife into his embrace and saying, "Don't mind them; I like hearing your voice."

"Andrew!"

Summer shouted when she couldn't take it anymore, while Elsie was focused on a completely different thing.

"Does this mean that I can have a boyfriend?" Elsie said, trying to take advantage of the situation, but her mom cleared her throat and replied,

"No way."

"Why? But you allowed Summer."

"Yeah, and when you're sixteen, you can, under our supervision, of course."

"It's just a one-year gap."

The father turned his face to the side and started whistling when Elsie looked at him.

She scoffed, then smiled. "But you said yourself that I can go to parties." "Dad, no taking it back!" She then ran up the stairs while her mother was speechless.

"How was your day, honey?" Andrew said, deciding to let his troublesome daughter Elsie have her way just for today.

"It was okay; I made a friend."

"Girl or boy?" Andrew asked, and his wife hit his arm.

"What! She's had only one or two guys who could catch her interest in all her teenage life. In my day, my looks drew them in; I was totally irresistible. Girls were all over-"

"Shut up!"

"Sorry, darling, I got carried away for a moment. But the point is that I want her to have fun and enjoy herself. Summer, you still have time, just do what makes you happy."

"Thanks, Dad, I will."

After saying that, she ran up the stairs.

"Elsie! Come have breakfast!"

"Two more minutes, Dad."

Andrew sighed and looked at Summer. "Yesterday, She's the one who said we should go early. She's probably doing something irrelevant."

"Okay, I'm ready," said Elsie while coming down the stairs. "Dad, how do I look? Since you said that I could go to parties, I decided to start looking cool so that they would invite me to a party."

"You look good, but I want you to be yourself. If they don't think you're good enough, then Just throw a party and don't invite them."

"Andrew, stop indirectly giving her permission to throw a party when we aren't around."

Eve Summers' mum said,

"I just want what's best for them. If Elsie doesn't do it, Summer never will, so it's a win-win situation."

"Summer, won't you say something?"

"Dad is really cool, Mum. He will win the best parent award this December if you don't step up your game."

"Don't forget I bought you that bike when your mother refused."

Eve was speechless, looking at her daughters.

"We need to go, Elsie, come on."

"We have to take a car tomorrow because you ride too fast."

"Sure"

Once they arrived at school, they parted ways. Summer spotted Angel at her locker.

"Hey, what's up?" she greeted as she opened her locker.

"Not much, just scrolling through Instagram for some interesting news," Angel replied.

"I'm thinking about trying out for the cheerleading team. Are you a cheerleader?" Summer asked.

"Yeah, I am. We can check it out later. I'm not sure if there are any spots available since tryouts wrapped up last week. But they haven't announced the final selections yet, so you might still have a chance."

"Sounds good, thanks! But no pressure, I'm really just doing this to get my dad off my back."

At that moment, the bell rang, signaling the start of class.