Flint had sadly died that summer. He died peacefully, his beautiful twin sons beside his hospital bed. The deadly hands of cancer had snatched him up and taken him from reality. The twins tried not to be sad as much as they could; their father wouldn't have wanted that. With no parents to guide them, the twins were on their own.

Lucas, the youngest by five minutes, has the shy, gentle twin. He had a heart shaped face with a sharp jawline and a skinny, lanky figure. He had a head of neat, well groomed blonde hair, which he either had slicked back or gelled up depending on his mood. To complete his fair, porcelain skin, he had kind blue eyes.

Claus, the elder brother, was the obnoxious, exciting twin. He had similar facial features, and a similar skinny figure, but he was more well built and muscular than Lucas. He had messy, upkept, bright red hair that he never really styled, he just sorta let it do its own thing. Unlike his brother, he had rough skin that was dotted with freckles, complimented by his vibrant, fiery green eyes.

Both twins were seventeen years of age. They lived together in an apartment in the busy streets of a bustling city, an apartment that they'd have to support themselves now that Flint lost his battle to cancer. It had been approximately a month after their father's death, and both were still weighed down by the sadness it brought into their lives.

Things were going well, however. Both boys had jobs, they had food and a roof over their heads, and Lucas had recently been accepted into a private academy for gifted students. Claus, who didn't go to school, seemed to be more ecstatic than Lucas was when he found out. The boys had been homeschooled their entire lives, and this would be Lucas' first time going to a real school.

This particular day was September the second, the day before the first day of school. It was a rainy, gloomy day, but Claus was still smiling and excited. In the small apartment, Lucas sat on the couch while Claus paced around the room.

"First day tomorrow! How cool, your first day! You have everything you need, yeah?" Assured Claus, looking his brother intently in the eyes.

"Yes, I do." Lucas softly replied.

"Binders? Notebooks? Pencils?"

"Yes."

"Pencil cases?"

"Yes."

"Pencil sharpeners?"

"Yes."

"Pencil lead?"

"Claus."

"Alright, alright. I'm just tryna' help." Teased Claus, plopping himself down next to his twin with a huff. "So, you excited?"

"I'm am a bit, but who isn't on their first day of school, you know?" Reminded Lucas. Claus shrugged a bit and put his hands behind his head, leaning back.

"Yah, but you should be ultra nervous. You've never been to a school, like, you know, at all." The ginger told him.

"Are you trying to help? Because that isn't working." Said Lucas, a joking tone in his voice. Claus stuck his tongue out and laid down, sprawling his legs over his brother's lap. Lucas attempted to push his legs away, but Claus moved them back. Lucas eventually stood up and sat back down on top of his brother.

"Oof...hey, Luc! Ack...I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I wont do it again!" Claus half laughed, half begged. Lucas gave in and let Claus sit up.

"I'm going to bed." Stated Lucas, standing up.

"Already? It's only nine."

"School starts at eight in the morning, remember?"

"Really? That's dumb. But whatever, see you tomorrow, Blondie."

Lucas barely got sleep anyways, because the minute his head hit the pillow, Claus turned up the TV's volume incredibly high, and began watching Say Yes to the Dress. But somehow, over the nasal voices of the asshole mothers judging their daughter's tastes in dresses, he managed to catch a few winks.

The morning after was a nightmare. Lucas ended up waking up at three in the morning, and made four cups of coffee to make sure he didn't fall asleep again. An old family friend, Caroline, who was also their legal guardian at this point, came to check on them and wish Lucas the best of luck.

When Flint died, the twins were put into the care of Caroline. However, they were almost eighteen, and ready to take care of themselves. So, Caroline only came to the apartment to check on them, by legal reasons.

"Bye, Lucas! Behave! And Claus? Don't argue with any customers today, I don't want you getting fired." Caroline told the twins as they left the apartment. Claus rolled his eyes. He worked at a local coffee shop, and was very good at it. The only problem was that Claus had an incredibly short temper, especially with middle aged women arguing with him over how "Cappuccino" is pronounced. He had almost been fired many times, but the shop was understaffed, so they just had to deal with Claus and his anger issues.

As for Lucas, he was an assistant teacher for an acting class at a local theatre in the city. The class was improvisation based, for kids ages 7-13. Lucas enjoyed working with kids, especially with acting. He wasn't really passionate about it, but he was good.

"So? Do you think you'll make any friends?" Asked Claus as the two of them travelled to the bus stop. Lucas shrugged and grinned a bit.

"I guess. I wouldn't want too many, though. Maybe four or five friends." Suggested Lucas, looking down at a rock he was kicking along the road.

"That seems like a good goal. I'm sure you make some good friends. And hey, who knows. Maybe you'll find the one." Sneered Claus, nudging his brother in the side. Lucas scoffed and pushed him away.

"Enough with that, I told you I'm not interested in that kind of dating stuff."

"That's not what your diary said."

"What?"

"Nothing."

By the time they reached the bus stop, Claus' bus was already pulled up. He waved goodbye quickly, then he was gone. Lucas felt strange not getting on the bus with his brother for the first time in years. He sat down on the bench and took out his phone, pretending to browse things on it. However, he wasn't paying attention to the phone at all; he was worrying about the day ahead of him.

When his bus finally parked by, Lucas stuffed his phone into his back pocket and climbed on, sitting down at a seat in the back. He leaned against the window and stared out at the bustling city around him. As more people piled onto the bus, he began to worry more. He saw someone wearing a similar looking school uniform to his own. He panicked, realizing the uniforms looked slightly different. He wondered if he had received the wrong uniform, until he realized the other student was wearing the female uniform.

In an article that Lucas had read earlier, he learned that the first day at a new school was the most important, because that was your very first impression, and if you mess up, everyone remembers it for the rest of the year. So he had prepared for weeks on end to make sure everyone knew that he was a good person who was worth being around.

The bus finally skidded to a halt in front of a large, posh looking school. Outside, random clusters of students talked excitedly about the new school year, and how thrilled they were to finally be freshmen, seniors, and all the like. Lucas himself was to be a junior, in grade eleven. He was thankful that he wasn't a freshman. That would have made this whole ordeal all the more terrifying.

After he was practically shoved out of the bus by the other students, Lucas made his way through the crowd in the courtyard and through the doors of the school. Blue lockers lined long, white hallways. Posters of the school's soccer team and musicals they had done hung everywhere. A few other students, obviously newbies, roamed the halls as well. Lucas made his way through the hall, looking into the windows of classrooms.

In one particular classroom, he looked in and made eye contact with a boy with jet black hair, who looked his age. Only for a quick second, though. But from this boy, Lucas felt slightly threatened by the angry look in his eyes. He quickened his pace and bolted up the stairs to the second floor, where he toured around more.

"675...676...677...Here it is, 678." He muttered as he browsed lockers and found his own. Glancing at the slip of paper he had written the combination on, Lucas slowly turned the knob on the lock.

"32...16...5." Lucas read out loud. He pulled, and nothing happened. It took him a few more tries before he realized that he had to scroll past 16 two times. The locker was much bigger than he expected. It had a divider in the middle, so he decided he'd keep his backpack and jacket on the top, while supplies would go in the bottom. He spent the next five minutes setting up his locker. He checked his schedule, then double checked, then triple checked. He had Language Arts first. His Language Arts teacher was also his homeroom teacher.

Lucas set up other things, such as organizing his binders and supplying his pencil case, but all the while, he felt the cold stare of that boy in the classroom. The eye contact had only lasted a mere moment, but Lucas got so much hatred, so much annoyance from the boy's dark eyes. The sudden blare of the first period bell alerted him, and he followed the school map to room 11-3, his homeroom. Once inside, he plopped himself down into a chair and patiently waited for the teacher to arrive.

His teacher, named Mrs. Polestar, was a short, chubby woman, with fair skin and short blonde hair cut into a bob. She looked remarkably similar to the girl sitting next to Lucas.

"Alright, very exciting! A new school year is a new way to turn over a new leaf, start with a clean slate! My name is Mrs. Polestar, I will be your homeroom teacher, as well as your language arts teacher. First thing's first, we will all stand up, say our name, age, and three things about ourselves." Mrs. Polestar told the class. Starting alphabetically, each student rose up to introduce themselves.

Lucas nearly fainted when his name was called. Be shyly stood up and looked down at the floor.

"My name is...uh...Lucas Dolray...I'm seventeen years old. Three things about myself? Uh...I am in the advanced level of ballet, I have a twin brother named Claus, and I've been homeschooled my entire life until now." He announced, sitting back down immediately afterwards.

"My goodness, first time at a school in your life? Well, despite how difficult that may seem, I promise we will all cooperate in making your first year a good one. Is that clear, everybody?" Mrs Polestar said. A synchronized chorus of "Yes, ma'am." filled the room.

"By the way; you're welcome to go to my daughter, Paula, for anything. She's right there." Mrs. Polestar gestured to the pretty blonde girl sitting next to Lucas. He grinned and waved a little, she smiled and waved back. As if her smile was magic, Lucas felt a lot better about the day ahead.

And then he had to write.

The assignment was a simple one; turn to page 134-145 in your Language Arts textbook, copy down any notes you suppose would be useful for the upcoming unit. Lucas, who wasn't sure what the next unit was, just copied down everything, word for word. Ignoring the ache in his wrist after about thirty minutes of writing, he began to ignore everything else, too. Including the girl next to him, who was saying something.

"Hey."

Lucas heard the call, but didn't answer. She was probably talking to someone else. But then, she tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hello?"

Lucas jumped, dropping his pencil.

"Ah…! Crap…" He stammered, reaching down to grab the pencil, which was too far away.

"Don't worry, I got it…" The girl leaned over and picked up the pencil, and handed it back to Lucas with a grin. He managed to smile back.

"Thanks, I, uh…"

"No problem, Cupcake. Louis, right?" The girl asked.

"My name is Lucas, actually. But Louis is close enough. So is 'Cupcake'." Lucas corrected.

"Right! Sorry...well, my name is Paula. I'm the teacher's daughter." Paula introduced herself, laughing.

"Paula Polestar. Catchy name, I like it."

"You flatter me! Anyways, I just wanna know if you're doing okay? Never being to a school before must be...tough."

"That's a little bit of an understatement, but, yah. It's pretty tough." Lucas admitted. He actually felt comfortable talking to Paula. Maybe making friends would be easy.

"Ouch...Well, look out for Ness." Paula warned, flinching.

"Who?"

"Nothing."

The second period bell suddenly blared. As Lucas gathered up his things and began to pack up, Paula tapped him on the shoulder again.

"Hey, if you'd be willing, would you maybe join me and my friends at lunch? That is, unless you're busy." She offered. Lucas blinked, astonished.

"Um…! Yah, okay! Are you sure it's no trouble?"

"Nah, my friends are gonna love you. We're at table #5 if you have trouble."

As the class emptied, Lucas continued to wonder. Was this planned? Did Paula actually want to be around him? What if this was just to be nice, or just to get a reputation? Whatever the reason, Lucas decided that any chance to make friends had to be taken.

Upon leaving the classroom, he bumped into another peer.

"Watch it!" The other person snapped.

"Sorry." Muttered Lucas, who sped forward to avoid a confrontation. However, he was pulled back by a strong hand.

"Hold on, buster. I didn't get a good look at your face."

Lucas met the gaze of a familiar face. He recognized the hateful eyes of the student he had seen in the classroom that morning. This student was much taller than him, having to bend over a bit to hold eye contact. He had dark, mocha skin, messy black hair, and dark blue eyes. In fact, they didn't even look blue. They looked almost violet.

"Huh...you're one of those pretty boys, aren't you?" Asked the boy, giving a lazy half smile that was half intimidating, half attractive.

"Um...I guess?" Replied Lucas, fidgeting nervously. He tried to tell himself to calm down. Maybe this boy only looked threatening? Maybe he was nice.

"I don't think I've seen your face before. You new to this school?" Observed the boy.

"Well, I'm new to this whole 'school' thing in general, actually." Responded Lucas, immediately regretting mentioning it. The grip on his shoulder loosened a bit.

"Oh, I know you...the homeschooled kid. I suppose you don't know the rules yet, huh?"

"Um...the rules? I read the student handbook, so…"

Lucas paused when he noticed the boy sniggering a bit. He glanced around nervously; what did he say? The boy turned and called to two other boys.

"Oi! Pokey! Picky! Come check this Small Fry out!"

The two boys grinned and walked over. They were both blonde, with round, smooth hair that covered the top halves of their faces. Horrifyingly ugly haircuts, Lucas observed.

"Alright, newbie. These two are my partners in crime. The taller one is Pokey, and that's his little brother, Picky." The raven haired boy introduced his friends, who smiled menacingly, "As for myself? I'm Ness."

Lucas froze. Wasn't that who Paula mentioned for him to avoid earlier? He began to put two and two together, and realized that maybe this wasn't the person he should hang around.

"Umm...hi? I'm Lucas." He stumbled with his words a little.

"Nice to meet you. Now, when I say 'rules', I don't mean the school. I'm only talking about my rules." Said Ness.

"Uhhh…"

"Let me spell it out for you. I won't take the time to list all of them, but they all narrow down to one. Don't disrespect me." Ness growled, eyes darkening.

"Well, of course I'll respect you. But why do you specifically have to make a rule of it? Why should I follow them?" Challenged Lucas, backing up a few steps in precaution.

"Here, let me rephrase my introduction. My name is Ness Wyman. Does that last name sound familiar?"

Lucas froze and suddenly lost any bit of courage be had. That last name graced the whole town. It just so happened to be the name printed on the sign standing outside of the school.

"Y...your family…" Breathed Lucas.

"...Owns the school! Exactly. So, now you know. My entire family is involved with the school in some way; not to mention that my mom is the principal. She is in this building right now, and I can go ahead and tell her about a certain student who was bothering me." Ness explained, voice dark.

"Yeah, all three of us." Added Picky.

"I...ah...um…" Lucas wasn't sure what to say. He knew this was a battle he couldn't win. Suddenly, the five minute warning bell rang.

"I'm sure you get it, now. It's simple; don't disrespect me, and you'll be okay. This includes ramming into me in the goddamn hallways." Ness raised his voice a little bit.

"I will respect you if you pay me the same back." Insisted Lucas. The taller boy grinned and snickered a bit before leaning in real close.

"I don't have to pay you shit." He murmured in a honeyed voice, before violently shoving Lucas into a wall and walking away. The blond stood there for a moment, ignoring the pain in his back. No wonder Paula had told him to avoid Ness, he was terrifying. Lucas decided he'd learn more about the dark haired boy at lunch. Forcing the shock from his confrontation out of his head, he stalked to his next class.

It was going to be a long day.