PROLOGUE

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I was having a really good dream and just when I was getting into the good part, I jolted up, thanks to my alarm clock. I’m too sleepy so I fell back to my soft bed to continue roaming around my beautiful dreamland. I am pretty sure that I was dozing off when my sister, Lovely suddenly barged in and literally tried to drag me as if I’m some kind of an object.

“Beauty Smith, you wake up in an instant!” Lovely said. “You don’t want to get late on your first day of class, right?”

“Ugh, who cares?” I answered groggily. “Late or not, I’m still going to class anyway. There is nothing to worry about.”

She didn’t say anything but just threw me a very sharp glare. I heaved a deep sigh and answered, “Fine, fine madame! I’m getting up! Jeez. No need to be grumpy like an old woman.”

“I am not an old woman. We only had a 2-years gap,” she answered. “Anyway, you go and start preparing for your school.”

“Aye, aye captain” I answered weakly.

I watched her as she began heading outside my room but then, she halted and looked over her head. “Oh, and one more thing.”

“What now?” I asked while wearing my eyeglass after scratching my eyes to adjust my vision.

“Be mindful of your attire,” she reminded me. “You don’t want to get bullied.”

“Who cares about what I wear?” I said. “So annoying early in the morning.”

And with that, she made her exit and shut the door. Since I had no choice, I walked up to my bathroom and as I made my way, I shoved my dirty clothes lying down the grown to clear my path towards my bathroom. It’s a really good thing that I have my own bathroom inside my room. There is no need for me to share my stuff and all.

After taking a bath, I went to my wardrobe to pick-up clothes for my very first day.

Jacket, Hello Kitty tops, skirt, polka-dots sock and last but not the least, my ever favorite boots. After wearing my chosen style for the day, I looked at my reflection in front of my full-body mirror and spun slightly and when I’m satisfied, I grabbed my bag and headed downstairs.

I went straight to the dinning area where my mother and my sister were waiting for me. As soon as my mother saw me, she shook her head disapprovingly. My best guest? It’s because of my attire. What is wrong with my fashion sense?

“I knew it,” my sister, Lovely, said. “I knew that you wouldn’t try to change your fashion sense like a normal human being.”

“Hey! I am normal!. There is nothing wrong with my fashion sense!” I answered and angrily sat down on my chair.

“But your sister is life, B,” my mom said as she served our breakfast on our table. “You really have to try wearing normal attire.”

“Mom, my attire is perfectly normal,” I insisted. “There is nothing wrong with my attire. Why are you making a fuss about what I wear? It’s not like I’m going to die if my taste wasn’t the same as the others.”

My mom looked at my sister and said, “L, shouldn’t you be teaching your sister about fashion?”

My sister shrugged and gave up on me. “Don’t bother mom. She wouldn’t listen anyway. We’re just going to waste our energy.”

We chatted for a while about random stuff and my mother gave a couple of reminders about the people at school. She asked me to try being friends with anyone but I just shrugged as a response. After finishing our breakfast, I walked out and headed to my school while my sister L, headed to her school.

My sister and I don’t go to the same school. Sure, it’ll be nice and all but my parents suggested separating us from each other so we could learn how to live independently and how to stand up for ourselves alone in case someone began harassing us. I am pretty confident that it wouldn’t happen to me since I was always doing my best to stay invisible while other people were trying to stand-out.

“Okay, you take care, both of you,” my mom said and gave us a peck on our foreheads. “And stay out of trouble.”

“Don’t worry about me, mom. You know, I am not well-known at school aside from bullies,” I pointed out. “You have to worry about my sister. She was well-known, after all.”

I don’t mean to judge, but upon observation in the popular ones in my school, they’ll either get fans who’d try to protect them or haters who’d try to judge them. I am not interested in both. I just wanted to have a peaceful school life so as much as possible, I’ve been trying to stay out of trouble and keep myself hidden until we graduate.

“I can protect and save myself,” L said. “Don’t worry about me, mom. I got this!”

“Alright then, just take care and again, stay out of trouble”

But it seems that I became a magnet for trouble because as soon as I got into school, I encountered it.

As I arrived at my respective classroom, I made my way silently as I observed other students chatting and laughing loudly that it almost broke my ears literally. Okay, that might be a little exaggeration on my end. I looked for a vacant seat to settle down. I usually take the seat near the window so I could feel the air coming from the outside and so I could watch the clouds and sky as I began dozing off while in the middle of the class.

But today wasn't my lucky day because all the seats near the window were taken. So I had no choice but to look for a different seat. As I explored the room using my eyes, I saw a vacant chair located in the middle. I hated sitting down in the middle as much as I hated sitting on the front and reciting in class.

But do I have any choice? So I decided to take on that seat before anyone else took it. I don’t want to sit on the floor, you know?

I walked up to the middle seat and began settling down my bag when someone settled down his bag the same time I did. I looked at him and for a while, his crystal blue eyes captured my mint-green eyes hidden under a thick eyeglass. We were like that for a while and it seems that no one of us was planning to give up on that seat. Like me, it seems like he was waiting for me to give up and just find another seat.

No. He’s wrong.

“Excuse me, I found this seat first,” I said calmly. “May I please ask you to find another vacant seat?”

“I found this first,” he said. “I’m taking this seat no matter what. Why don’t you find another one?”

“Oh, yeah?” I answered and sat down. As soon as I settled down, I looked at him and flashed a smile. “Look, someone’s already sitting in here. Sorry, this seat has already been taken.”

I could feel that he was totally annoyed by my gesture but he still remained calm.

“I don’t see your name in it,” he said.

“Well, I don’t see yours either” I retorted. I was starting to get impatient! Why wouldn’t he just leave me alone?!

He was about to say something when another guy walked up to us and placed a hand on this guy’s shoulder.

“So, flirting early in the morning, Nico?” he said with a grin.

“Hmp, who would flirt with this nerdy?” he said. “I’m just trying to get what’s mine, Tom”

Suddenly, their names rang a bell. I looked at them further and my eyes widened in surprise after realizing who they were.

The “heartthrobs” of this school!

I suddenly heard other people whispering to each other as they looked at us.

And just like that, my cliche-not-so cliche college story has begun.

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