Sue and I stood under a tree a few feet away from the car, watching as dad tried to drag Jerry out. After several failed attempts to skip the first day of school, Jerry decided that he was going to stick to the car even if it kills him...or if dad kills him, whichever one comes first. I moved further back and whistled while studying my nails.

Note to all passers-by, I do not know these people.

After failing to drag him out of the car dad resorted to threats.

"Jerry" he began calmly "get your lazy ass out of that car or so help me you will be grounded for a month!"

Jerry was unfazed and tilted his head at dad "does that mean I'm not allowed to go to school?"

Dad lost his calm "Get Down Now" he roared.

Jerry puffed his cheeks in a pout. This trick could have softened mum's heart but to dad, he probably looked like a gassy blowfish.

Sue walked towards them with a hiss "Time to end this shit"

I grinned 

Uh oh, Jerry's in verbal trouble.

Dad sighed and sidestepped when she approached

She said "Jerry love"

I choked on my gum and got a tiny heart attack.

Then she continued "get down from that car at the count of five before I show you what pain and suffering truly mean"

Jerry swallowed and I sighed in relief.

Good, my sister hasn't been kidnapped by aliens.

Sue raised a glossy black manicured finger "one, two, four..."

Jerry scrambled out of the car "What the hell happened to three?"

Sue said "It died...just like you would have if you didn't get down"

Dad started the car "Have a great day at school kids" he pulled away "and Jerry"

"Yup?"

"You are grounded for a month"

"What the..."

The car disappeared out of sight.

A few early-bird students already passed by us. Dad was resuming his new job today so he had to go extra early. In such a situation mom would have dropped us off but she was yet to move in with us. She still stayed in our apartment in the city. She was a fully booked surgeon. I don't think she will be moving down here until at least two months.

The three of us walked into the school building. As much as I wanted to hate this town I had to admit that it was artistic. And I have a soft spot for good art. I couldn't paint but I could carve wooden blocks. Sue thinks it's special but Jerry sees my animal sculptures as lame, it's a good thing that I don't give a hoot about what he thinks. The building was twice the size of our former school and our former school was huge. Despite the size, it gave a warm fuzzy feeling. It was the only school in town and was combined, so you could see kids both old and young in its halls. A wooden sign upfront proclaimed it as Lupus Academy.

At exactly seven o'clock on the dot, everyone was gathered in the main hall. Sue and I sat together at the front while Jerry sat two rows behind us. He said something about not wanting people to know that we're related. 

I fiddled with the charm bracelet on my hand. I made one for me and Sue. My tiny carvings on a string.

Suddenly, a shadow fell on us. Sue and I looked up to see a girl about our age with three other girls behind her, sneering at us.

She had shoulder-length blonde hair—I couldn't tell if that was dyed or the natural colour—and green eyes. She was dressed like your typical bitch. She glared at us

"Get up newbies"

Sue eyed her "why?"

One of the girls behind her answered "cuz that's our seat"

Sue turned back to look at her chair "Hmm, I don't see a name here, is there any name on yours?"

I checked mine "nope...so how is this your seat?"

The bimbo in front, obviously the leader, hissed "Don't try to play smart with me"

I grinned "Of course not, one can only play smart with smart people"

Sue snorted "good one"

"Thanks, sis, I learn from the best"

Another girl said, "How dare you insult her she's the next..."

The bimbo raised her hand to silence her and looked down at us. Her nose was so high up that I was sure she must be breathing hydrogen. "You smell weak and pathetic"

I raised my hand to sniff my sleeve "How did you know? The name of my perfume is 'Weak'"

Sue nodded "yup and mine's called 'Pathetic'"

It was obvious that we were making fun of them.

One of the girls behind her, the quieter of the three tugged on her jacket.

"Leave em Sue let's go"

I guffawed "Hey sis your namesake is a bitch hehe"

The two Sues looked like they ate something bad.

"Copy the note and be quick about it"

I looked at the empty whiteboard, then at the teacher before slowly raising my hand "err what note...sir?"

He frowned and glanced down at me, through his iron-rimmed glasses like a king on his throne looking at a dirty peasant.

"Are you deaf?"

Okay, that hurt. What a nasty goat. I was even trying to be respectful. You know what forget that shit

"I wasn't the last time I checked" I retorted.

Veins bulged on his head, and then the girl seating behind me abruptly stood up "Sir! She didn't understand what you meant, ignore her sir we all make mistakes, after all, we're only human"

Ignore me?

I rolled my eyes. Although I liked the town's artistic nature we haven't really been able to interact with its locals since we moved here. Today was my first proper interaction and...everyone we've met has been a different kind of stupid.

Sue had a different class so I was stuck here, alone and without a backup.

The teacher used a finger to push the glasses further up his nose. "Oh, I see..." He picked up a heavy textbook from his table and dropped it on mine. "Chapter 10 pages 90-93, copy"

I'm pretty sure my desk vibrated when the book landed. I picked it up...or at least I tried to pick it up. It was so heavy. I looked at the teacher's arm. Although his clothes were slightly baggy I could still tell that there were zero muscles in his arm. But he carried the book with one hand. And I could barely lift it. As if it's not bad enough that everyone was quietly giggling as I tried to haul the textbook onto my lap, I opened the page he had called only to realise that the text was so tiny that I had to squint to see it. And to think I had to copy three pages of it!

I picked up my pen and started. Besides if I skipped some parts and words in the note he might not notice. A few minutes later when it felt like my head will fall off my neck I raised it to see that I was the only one still coping. Mr Teacher was reading a book while everyone else was talking or chatting on their phones. I was also the only one with a textbook on my desk. I frowned.

About half an hour later I walked out of the class. I was so annoyed. For the rest of the class, all I could do was copy the stupid note as fast as I could when I was finally done the bell rang and I couldn't even be bothered to return the textbook to his table, I picked up my things and stormed out. My hands were shaking like a very old lady's leg.

When I got to my locker Sue was already there. She was leaning on the wall. And nodding her head to the song playing in her headset. Her glossy black hair, the same as mine, was no longer in a ponytail. Instead, it was scattered around her head. It looked like she was listening to rock and she only does that when she's mad. She opened her eyes just then and stared at me. 

"I hope your first class was as shitty as mine," she said.

I shrugged and stuffed my books into my locker "I don't know if we compare later, mine might be shittier"

P.E class. It'd be stupid for anyone in a new school to think that their first PE class will be safe. Especially with the existence of...Dodgeball. We changed into our sportswear in the locker room with a bunch of other girls. The sportswear was not flattering in any way. At least ours wasn't. The other girls already had a chance to alter theirs. While ours was still two sizes too big. I picked a pair of shoelaces from my bag. I always carried extra in case I lost mine or I needed to tie something, like my hair. Sue took the one I gave her and we used it to hold up our pants. We tied the balloon-like top into a crop top. We were the only ones left. At the door, Sue shook my shoulder

She said "remember do not cry"

I grinned "even if the ball hits your eye"

We pushed open the doors and slowly walked in like warriors on a battlefield. Everyone was separated into two dodgeball teams. The teacher who was about to blow the whistle saw us and smiled. Not in the 'I'm nice way' but the 'you're so dead' kinda way. She pointed at Sue

"You there what's your name?"

"Sue Andrews Miss"

"I ain't your Miss"

She pointed at the team on the left that had an awfully familiar face "Your name is Sue I'm sure you won't mind joining your namesake," she turned to me "go to the other team girl number two"

There was a collective guffaw

I smiled coldly at her "name's Aria nice to meet you too"

"I wish I could say the same" she returned

Ouch. The teacher's got spunk.

The game started. The game ended.

What happened in between is too painful to remember. All I can say is give me a gun and Bitchy Sue and I will paint the school red.

At four in the evening, the three of us met under a tree some distance from school. Jerry had a small bruise on his cheek.

Sue looked him up and down "you're a mess"

Jerry huffed "it's just a bruise...at least I wasn't bullied"

I cut in "hey let's set this straight" I pointed at Sue and me "we weren't bullied...we just played dodgeball"

Jerry scanned the several bruises on our faces and arms "right, don't you know that dodgeball is the game of bullies"

"Hey guys" Sue waved at us to stop talking "dad just sent me a message it says 'I won't be home tonight I have to work late take care sweetie pies'"

I frowned, on its own, the message wasn't odd...It would be a normal thing if mom sent it...but dad?

Sue frowned "that's weird"

Jerry nodded "yeah dad hates anything pie"

I mumbled "and he definitely doesn't think we're sweet"

There were dark circles under my eyes. It's been two days and dad was yet to return or send another message. A few more hours and we could report him officially missing. We tried to call mum but her number was also switched off. We didn't know the way to his new office so we couldn't even go check on him.

I was really worried but we still had to go to school. It didn't help that Jerry insisted we stay at home, according to him a missing parent was a good enough excuse to miss school. Wednesday morning, we gathered around the dining table slowly eating our cereals. Jerry was sporting a new bruise on his face. Early on he had refused to open his room door, he didn't want to go to school. I got a screwdriver and Sue and I dismantled his door handle. In hindsight, I could have just used the lockpicking set I got for my birthday. But hey. We took apart the door handle amidst yells and curses from Jerry. Once the door opened Sue landed a punch squarely on his face.

"Dad might be fucking missing and all you can do is act like a fucked up baby" she yelled and stormed out.

I stood by the door looking at Jerry. Although I wanted to smoothen things out his angry and wronged expression just annoyed me. I threw the door handle and screwdriver at his feet "fix that when we return" I turned to leave before throwing them over my shoulder "and Jerry at some point in your lifetime, grow up"

So you can imagine breakfast a few minutes later was quiet. Jerry stood up to pick up his bowl and noisily dumped it into the sink. Sue opened her mouth to yell at him, but I shook my head at her to just let him be.

Before he left the kitchen he turned to us "I hate how you just assume that I don't care just cuz I'm not sulking around acting like the world's about to end"

Sue stood up and stalked to him in a few steps. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pushed him against the wall

"If anything happens to mom and dad, our world may as well end" she released him and her fist flew towards his head again. I stood up thinking she was about to hit him again but her fist landed on the wall a hair's breadth away from his head.

She turned and took her phone off the table she waved it at him. "I called mom's office when her number didn't go through, do you know what they said?" She didn't wait for a reply and continued "They said that her new replacement came early and she already left the city on Sunday. They even threw a going-away party for her. I had to make up some stupid excuse so they don't notice anything's wrong, do you know what this means?"

I reacted this time "She was supposed to be here since Monday which means...Mom's missing as well?"

Another period ended I didn't even have time to be annoyed at the teacher's rotten behaviour. Even when Sue and I met her namesake on the stairs I had to drag Sue away before she ends up being arrested for bitch battering and assault. We went our separate ways for the last period. I had natural science while she had arts. I entered and sat on the first seat I saw. A few minutes later, the teacher entered and another class began. For some reason today we were once again learning the biology and nature of wolves. Somehow the class sounded more mystical than scientific.

As our teacher pointed out the different changes in a wolf's genes during the full moon the door opened with a bang and someone walked. The class went so quiet you could hear a silent fart. I raised my head to see who came in this late. 

Okay, first of all, I have seen many handsome men and guys especially after coming to this town but 'oly guacamole he was...Dang!

I was almost excited to see how the teacher will scold this Adonis. It's an instinct to want bad things to happen to people who are too good-looking. But to my amazement, she didn't even say one word to scold him instead she even respectfully greeted him "Sir please take your seat" 

It seems like he's a big shot around here. But Sinbad barely spared her a glance instead he walked directly towards me. My maiden heart went all over the place and I had to resist the temptation of clutching my chest to keep my racing heart in check. There were hushed whispers and muffled laughter in the class. I frowned and looked around. At some point in time, Bitchy Sue had taken the seat beside mine but I ignored her because I thought she just wanted to bug me but now, she was smirking at me and soon I knew why when I heard the deep voice above me

"Get up, that's my seat"

Again?! What's it with these people acting all territorial with their stupid seats? Well, bigshot or not I'm not moving an inch and no one's gonna make me.

So I turned to him and said in my best Royal British accent which if I may add is the worst British accent, ever "Pardonne Moi my good sire but alas I do not see your name on this here chair. I'm afraid you will have to scram now"

Don't even ask me why my British had French in it

He raised a perfect brow at me "so you won't get up?"

He didn't seem angry so I acted even more haughty "I most certainly will not!"

He nodded, and I smiled in triumph, one point for Aria and zero for Adonis. But then he dumped his bag on my desk and held my shoulders. 

My accent fled "W-what are you doing" I panicked

He lifted me like paper and dumped me in the next seat like trash. I felt like a ragdoll being moved from one toy box to another. My face burned red and it was either from anger, embarrassment or the fact that a guy was so close to me. Boys didn't come near me and Sue after what happened two years ago at our old school, something that led to both of us nearly being expelled.

He sat down in his seat. Bitchy Sue leaned into him, her oversized unmentionables were nearly spilling out. She sneered at me before turning to flutter her whip-like lashes at him. I'm surprised that one of those Peacock feathers didn't poke his eye out. Although he barely paid her any attention, he didn't stop her either.

Not that I care. He's stupid. Boys are stupid. It's general knowledge, really.

Urgh is the teacher not gonna stop this nauseating PDA? I turned to look but the teacher continued with her notes on the board. I'm sure that she definitely saw them, and she was ignoring the whole thing. I turned to look at Sinbad, just who is this guy?