Holly's POV

I yawned, wondering what had pierced the fabric of my sleep. Through half-closed eyes, I glanced at the calendar. September 4th. First day of school. Wait, first day of WHAT?! Oh my god! I'm going to be late for school and fail 9th Grade and- I stopped abruptly. Footsteps came this way. Slowly the handle of my doorknob turned and… Leo's face poked out. "Is everything okay, sis?" he asked.

"You scared me!" I exclaimed.

"Everything scares you these days, Holly." He laughed. "Have you checked on Jay?" I shook my head. "Nope." I answered. "Probably sleeping in."

"I heard that!" came an annoyed voice from further up the hall. A very annoyed voice.

"Sorry to wake you up." I said sarcastically. "You obviously needed your beauty sleep."

"I do not need beauty sleep!" That's my brother, Jay. He can be a bit of a hothead at times. Hey! I'm not a hothead! came a voice from out of nowhere. Apparently, Jay can walk in dreams and thoughts of other people. Leo hates that. Oh, and Leo? He is great at sports and can't get injured. Everybody wants to be on his team.

If my brothers have things like that, where's mine? I guess my "power" could be that I'm a great leader. That's according to my mom. I don't mean to boast, but in 4th and 5th Grade I was in Student Council, I got elected class president at grades 6 and 7, and I became student advisor at 8th grade. Nice record.

Let's introduce us. The oldest child is Leo, he's 18. Leo's on the track to become a sports star. I'm next, at 16. I want to be a playwright or an actress. Jay's 15, but he got pushed ahead a grade because he's really good at assignments. He's not sure what he's going to be. My mom's Laurel Fire. She's a teacher at George Kiel Elementary and a part-time author. My dad's Jacob Bramble. He's the Social Studies professor at Warriors High. My school. Oh, and did I mention Jay's blind? Probably not.

"Kids, breakfast!" came Mom's voice from downstairs. "Coming!" shouted Leo. Oh no! I gotta get dressed! I was glad I laid out my outfit the night before. I slipped on my green sequined blouse and a darker blue skirt the ended just before my knees. I felt the faint weight of my green choker with a blue star in the middle. A simple but attractive blue star barrete over my right ear completed my look.

Just to check, I dashed to the bathroom and glanced at the mirror. Right next to perfect. I went out and scanned my brothers critically. Leo was wearing a sports jersey and some shorts. Jay had a white polo shirt with jeans. I nodded. "Come on!" I said. I grabbed Jay's hand but he twisted away. "I'm fine!" he said indignantly. Must still be mad about our argument. He felt his way down the stairs. I leapt past Jay and took the lead. Leo followed suit. We reached the dining table for some pancakes. "Yum." said Leo. "Thanks, Mom."

Mom nodded. "Jay, do you want syrup?" she asked. He shrugged. "Sure, I guess." Mom poured him some syrup and passed the can to me. I added a thin layer and gave it to Leo. After breakfast, I went to the bathroom and added a light touch of lip gloss. A dusting of green eyeshadow. Perfect. "Get on your shoes!" Mom called. "I'm driving you to school." I clicked off the light and exited the bathroom.

Racing to the door, I slipped on my emerald green flats. They had sky blue bows on the toe. Walking to the car, I chose the seat on the far right. Jay was in the middle. Leo got on the right seat in the front row, after some arguing. "I have your backpacks, so don't worry." said Mom. She started the ignition key and vroomed out of the garage.

In about 7 minutes, we reached the high school. She found a parking space and I exited. "Jay, we're going in." I told him. He sluggishly exited the car. "Come on." said Mom. I walked to the big double doors. I pushed one open. I slowly took a deep breath, and walked into Warriors High.