"Where were you last night?" Juliano fires questions at me as we arrive in the classroom.

"Nowhere," I reply. "I went home," I swear he's the nosiest person I've ever met.

"I don't believe that. There must have been at least one person that piqued your interest. Come on, spill the beans," he nudges me with his devilish grin.

"Yeah, tell us," another boy urges. This boy I notice is wearing a Palladian blue crewneck with "Cyrus" embroidered onto the upper left corner. If only everyone had nametags imprinted on them. That would make my life a whole lot easier because I can't for the life of me remember names. By now, the entire class is chanting for me to reveal what I was doing yesterday. Fists are being bumped on the wooden desks and heels are being clacked. I steal and glance at Sander, who is subtly looking back at me. I can tell he looks a little uncomfortable and I don't know what to say. All the students are directing their full attention towards me, beckoning me to reveal the mystery person I was with.

"Okay. Uh– well..." I fumble over my words. "Well..."

"Alright class, sorry I'm late. Let's go over attendance really quick. Kaiden?"

"Here," a deep voice at the back of the class answers. Thank God, I'm saved! Mrs. Rosin's timing couldn't have been any better. A few sighs sweep the room, but I'm let off the hook. We're starting our novel today, which means we'll be taking turns reading aloud. We then will have to discuss what we just read, and our opinions on both the writing style and the plot. An hour later, the bell rings and a swarm of students dart to the door. I wait for the traffic jam to dwindle before heading out as well. We get a brief break before the next class, so I walk outside to enjoy the fresh air. As I make my way past the calendulas in the rock-bordered flowerbeds, I cross paths with Aurora.

"Hey, what's up?" I call out.

"Nothing much, but actually I was meaning to ask you if you're going to the movie night on Friday," she responds as she trots toward me.

"Wait there's a movie night? Sure, I'll be there. What time should I arrive?" I ask.

"9 pm, but you can head in earlier if you want. Do you want to maybe–" She doesn't get to finish her sentence because a sweaty pair of hands suddenly clamps my shoulders.

"Yoooo! What are you guys talking about?" Juliano chimes in as he weasels his way between Aurora and myself. Of course, he once again interrupts my conversation. Typical.

"We were just discussing our plans for the movie night. What kind of films are you into?" Aurora replies.

"Thrillers, obviously. The scarier the better. What about you?" Juliano and Aurora go back and forth debating which genre of movie is superior, so I take this as my chance to flee. They're so submerged in their conversation that they don't even notice I'm gone. I get to class a few minutes early and find Sander frantically reviewing his notes. He acknowledges me but stays focused on studying so I let him be. As more and more students start flooding the room, I take out my textbook and flip through the pages. There's a lot of stuff that I don't know and starting in the middle of the year means I have to constantly catch up to the rest of my peers. It's very stress-inducing but I'll have to make this work because I can't get kicked out of here.

Our science teacher, Mr. Quinn, storms into the classroom. His jaw is clenched and he curls his lip as he barks out the names for attendance. Anger is simmering from his gut like a blazing inferno about to burn. I wonder what happened to get him in such a bad mood. When it finally seems like he's calmed down, he tosses the science test to everyone but me.

"You can skip this test because you haven't learned the material, but don't think you're in the clear. You better start working hard or else I may have to fail you," Mr. Quinn says in almost a threatening tone. I simply nod because saying anything might spiral into another chain of rage. The class falls into an ensemble of pencils scratching and the aggressive scraping of erasers. One by one, papers are being handed in until there are only a few students still working.

Eventually, they hand their papers back as well and now it's a waiting game. I'm the only one who isn't quivering like an earthquake, and I'm glad that I can relax. My eyes meet with Sander when he is called upon to receive his mark, so I give him a reassuring thumbs-up. However, he doesn't look too happy on his way back to his chair. He covers his hands to his face and shakes his head. After class, I find him at his locker so I give him a wave. He approaches me and starts ranting about today's test.

"It's just so frustrating. I studied so much, yet I still barely passed! Like how? How is everyone better than me? All those countless hours of reviewing were for nothing. Nothing! I'm so mad. I don't even know what to say," he fumes. I take a few seconds to let him cool down before offering my advice.

"Sander, it's okay. Don't compare yourself with other people because that's a battle you'll never win. Juliano was actually talking to me yesterday about how he and his friends received easier grading by paying for private tutoring on the weekends. I do think it's quite expensive though but that's just something to consider if you're really that stressed about your grades," I suggest to him.

"I did not know about that, but I'll look into it. You're a really great friend." His frown turns upside down as he squeezes my hand to thank me. We walk together to soccer practice and meet up with the rest of the team.

"Finally, everyone's here. What took you guys so long?" Juliano says looking directly at me and Sander. Juliano is, of course, the captain of the soccer team. He's always been the brawn in our family. Whenever someone talks about sports, his name is mentioned. We begin warm-ups by doing stretches and then jogging across the river. After that, we play practice games while Juliano yells at us whenever we make a small misstep. Even if we ever so slightly place our feet in the wrong direction, we'll hear him loud and clear. I know that he has the best intentions for us, but I think he's taking it a notch too far. After all, our number one priority is to have fun and only our second is to score well enough to compete against other schools.

After practice, Sander and I go over some of the drills to help each other improve. We're about to start a dribbling drill with cones when Aurora cuts us off and pulls my attention away.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you guys, but I was wondering if you could help me with my homework, Nicolas. I know you're naturally talented at math and I've been struggling quite a lot recently," she pulls me aside to ask.

"Sure, I'd be more than happy to help," I say goodbye to Sander and follow Aurora to her room. She's roommates with Brynleigh, who I don't know much about except that she's into palmistry. She also wears these signature space buns. We say hi to each other and then she goes to the other room to let me and Aurora focus.

"It's just some stupid trigonometry problems I can't understand. I touched on it last year but the cos sin tan stuff is too confusing for me," she explains. I take a look at her paper and there's a bunch of illegible scribbles.

"Ok, we can start from the basics. We can first review the right-angle triangle concepts." We spend the next hour going over and over all of the concepts until she has them down packed. I spend the rest of my day studying and relaxing in the evening. I must admit that this place is growing on me. I was too quick to judge it and I've learned my lesson.

The following morning, my eyes slowly flutter open. I'm a night owl myself, so waking up early is something I will always struggle with. No matter what I tell myself, I always end up falling asleep past midnight, when the sky is already a starry black. Consequently, I set up four alarms to make sure I don't sleep through them. This morning was no different. I groan as the first beam of sunlight hits my face. Stretching my arms wide, I yawn, still half asleep. My eyes are still closed as I fumble to find my phone.

There's a text message from my brother. Hector is seven years older than me, but he treats me like one of his friends, which is something I love about him. With him, I'm no longer the little teenager that needs to be taken care of. I swipe up to read his messages. He's written that he misses me and he'll call me later. I scroll through my other contacts and land on Sander's name. Somehow, I always find myself gravitating toward him. I go to his Instagram and see that he's posted more pictures. They're mostly of himself, but when I look deeper, I find us together, playing soccer. It's such an adorable picture, and I can't help but grin sheepishly at the screen. A loud knock discontinues my thoughts, followed by the squeaking sound of my door opening.

"Rise and shine, sweet cousin," Juliano says into my ear, making me jump. I instinctively turn my phone upside down and shove it under the covers. He doesn't need to be knowing everything I do 24/7. He eyes me suspiciously like I've been caught, but keeps to himself. Instead, he starts discussing plans for the upcoming party. He waits for me to say something when my phone rings. I drag it back up and place it to my ear.

"Hey, Nico!" The familiar voice of my brother speaks.

"Hey! I got your message. What did you want to talk about?" I ask.

"Who's that? Wait, is it my dearest cousin Hector?" Juliano cuts in. He swipes the phone and starts chatting like I'm not there.

"I haven't talked to you in ages but it's good to finally hear your voice", he adds.

"It's wonderful to see you too man," Hector replies. "I hope all is well with you. Oh, by the way, my mother sent you a letter. It's in regards to a ceremonial dinner," he tells my cousin.

"I'll go check that right now, so I guess I'll leave you two be. See you later, Nicolas," Juliano says while exiting the room. As soon as he's out of earshot I let out all my blazing feelings.

"Ahh, he is so annoying. He keeps on following me around like my babysitter and he's not even two years older than me. Can't I just be left alone?" I complain.

"Come on, he's not that bad. Go easy on the guy. He's had it rough," Hector responds.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, his father killed himself. He's still in a stage of grief. I think you should be more considerate because it's tough on him, he answers. Wow. That was not what I expected to come out of his mouth. My brain takes some time to process this new information and I have no words.

"Oh," I reply. "I'm sorry I didn't know about that," I end up mustering.

"It's alright, now at least you know."

"Someone probably forgot to tell me as usual," I murmur beneath my breath. We talk a little more before Hector has to go. He hangs up and I lay back down.

I want to stay in bed for a few minutes longer, but I know I can't. If can't risk sinking into another slumber. Gradually, I crawl my way out of the tangled sheets. I rub the sleep out of my eyes and groggily stand up. I throw on a collared shirt and pair it with an indigo sweater. As a member of the royal family, I am constantly being looked at. That means appearance is everything, unfortunately. The school day goes by as usual and in the afternoon, I study with Sander in the library. The cold metal chair is pressing against my bare skin, which causes me to shuffle constantly in my seat.

Other than that though, this place is like paradise. Shelves of ancient volumes expand over the wall, forming a rainbow barcode that extends from one window to another. Upon the shelves are a banquet of books, ranging from Shakespeare to The Hunger Games to Orange Is the New Black. I could spend all day in here, just browsing through the endless pages of possibilities. However, I still have stuff to do so we wrap things up.

"How about I meet you at the garden this evening?" I suggest. "That way I can walk with you to soccer practice."

"Oh, I'm sorry I can't go today. I have to attend something."

"Do you mind if I ask where you have to go?"

"My friend has her first official rugby game. We've been talking about it for a long time now so it's kind of a big deal. Tag along if you dare," he smiles while walking away. I gather up my school supplies and carry them to my room, all the while thinking about what he just said. To go or not to go? Sitting on the edge of my end, I weigh the pros and cons. The only con I can think of is that Juliano will get irritated with me. On the other hand, going means I'll be with Sander, meet his friends, and have a blast. I can't pass on this opportunity. Now I'll just have to come up with a viable excuse. I settle on the old-school faking sick strategy. It's worked like a charm against my mother, so I have full confidence it will work again.

Counting down the time, I hear footsteps approaching my door. I yank a portion of tissues out of the box and then crumple them before they're thrown on the floor. As the stomps on the wood increase in volume, I jump into my covers and rest my eyes.

"Oh, dear god. Are you alright?" Cyrus, the co-captain of the soccer team says in a high-pitched voice. I was expecting my cousin to come crashing through the door, but this is even better.

"I'm fine," I cough, purposefully choking on my words. I made sure to bathe myself in hot water before this so that my entire body is scorching hot as a furnace. When Cyrus comes closer to me and touches my forehead, he shakes his head.

"I think you should get some more rest. Don't worry about practice, I'll handle that. The team will understand," he reassures me. I give him a feeble nod and immerse myself into the covers.