Getting to sleep was easy, it had happened almost as soon as my head had hit the pillow. Obviously moving houses tires you out enough to pass out at 9:00 pm. What wasn't easy was being woken up by heavy metal music in the very early morning the day I would be starting at Pearlacre High.

Groaning, I sit up and glare at the window across from mine where the music was obviously playing. Nothing seemed to cover my ears from the loud genre of music that would be the cause of my inevitable sour mood in the morning.

Having had enough of my extremely courteous neighbor's late-night activities I aggressively stand up and storm over to my window to open it and yell profanities at the owner of the window opposite mine. I expect that my new neighbor is some pre-pubescent teenage boy thinking he's cool, with that thought in my mind, not even bothering to look up at the owner in my tired state I open my window completely to begin cursing the young boy.

"You're waking up the whole neighborhood!! Can you turn your music off so we can all get some fucking sleep!!!" I yell furiously.

Instead of a reply, I hear multiple deep chuckles instantly making my head shoot up and face the previously thought preteen. Instead of a lanky preteen, I'm faced with 4 incredibly attractive teenagers around my age including the most attractive male I'd ever seen. He had dark hair that contrasted against his tanned skin amazingly and by what I could see, he also had the body of a Greek god, he was tall as well, the second tallest of the 4 boys with the most beautiful brown eyes I had ever seen.

By the smirk on his face, I knew he had seen me shamelessly check him out but I was too tired to care.

"We're enjoying the last day of freedom before school starts tomorrow, you should join us!!!" The shortest one grins, he wasn't as attractive as the greek god but he was definitely attractive in a cute way. He was also presumably the 'outgoing' one of the group. He had dark hair and pale-ish skin with a few moles scattered around his face and dark green eyes which were extremely pretty and supposedly rare only adding to his cuteness.

I didn't reply, the embarrassment finally engulfing me. "By the way, I'm Toby, what's your name" he continues grinning.

"Emily?" I reply questionably, still embarrassed about the unusual exchange.

"Toby, let her sleep," The tallest one says before turning to me, "I'm really sorry, we'll definitely turn the music down" he smiles at me.

This boy was slightly taller than the greek god and had a noticeably smaller build, although he was lankier than the god, you could tell he had his fair share of muscle. He also had orange hair and a similar eye color to the Greek god with a strong jawline.

I smile back hesitantly in gratitude, ready to close my window and return to the land of dreams before the one I hadn't interacted with smirks in my direction.

"Hey babe, why haven't I seen you around before, I definitely would have remembered a face as pretty as yours" he smirks, he had blonde hair and hazel eyes, and was slightly shorter than the Greek god. You could tell that like all the other guys, this one had a well looked after body, although the boys all had a strong build, by what I could see, the greek god's build still stood out to me. It was also blatantly obvious to me that this one was a player.

"I've just moved back here after 3 years" I reply, ignoring his flirty tone.

"Where from?!" Toby enthuses pushing the player out of the way.

"Uhh, just the other side of California" I reply smiling a little at Toby's contagious happiness.

"That's why you're so tanned and pretty!!" he enthuses and then continues, "Can I call you Mills, I'm gonna call you Mills" unlike the player, Toby's tone wasn't flirty as much as friendly.

"Um, thanks, and sure I guess?" I reply questionably, my awkwardness shining through.

"You and me are totally gonna be best friends" Toby yells excitedly.

"I'm sorry about him, he's a little intense, I'm Carter" the nice guy smiles at me, "This is Aiden and the dumbass flirting with you is Blake." I smile at him awkwardly not knowing exactly what to do next.

"I'm gonna get some sleep but can you please keep it down? Some of us want to have a productive first-day tomorrow" I say with a small, hesitant smile, a lot less mad than I was when I got woken up earlier.

"Sure bestie" Toby agrees whilst Carter smiles at me and nods as I shut the window and make my way back to bed.

It was only now that realization hits me about what I was wearing in-front of 4 extremely attractive and doubtlessly popular boys. I had on my favorite pair of pajamas which included flannel shorts that barely covered my ass as well as a plain grey crop top that displayed part of my stomach with no bra on. I could only thank whoever controlled the weather that it wasn't cold, and hoped that none of the boys realized I didn't have a bra on.

The 4 boys were not easy to figure out, obviously Toby was the outgoing one whilst Carter was the sweet one and Blake the player but I wasn't able to figure out the Greek god apparently named Aiden. He had smirked when he caught me checking him out so I was thinking maybe another player but he had stayed pretty quiet throughout the rest of the encounter.

I wasn't even able to figure out who actually lived there, I could only hope it was Toby or even Carter. If it was either of them then maybe life here wouldn't be so bad and I might even enjoy their company, that is when they're not playing heavy metal at 1:00 in the morning.

I guess all will be revealed in the morning.

***

The next morning had come quicker than anticipated and before I knew it, I was at school whilst Luke directed me to where he and my cousin had always met in the morning. I was always lucky in how well my best friend and cousin got along, when I wasn't there it was just the 2 of them sitting together.

Both had the potential to expand their group as they were both quite popular. Charlie, my cousin was a cheerleader as well as academically intelligent and because Luke was a football player, they could very easily sit at the 'jock table' together. It made me happy though that 2 of the closest people to me were happy in simply each other. Of course they both had other friends and would sometimes sit with their own friends, but they had always made a pact to spend at least 2 out of the 5 school days together.

I had other cousins as well but Charlie was the only one that attended my school which worked out for me because I was always closest to her, our other cousins were mostly younger than us so we had always gotten along really well and Luke fitted into our little group perfectly.

I had worn a green dress this morning that had short sleeves and showed of part of my cleavage, the dress itself had reached down to about mid-thigh. I had chosen this dress because it was flattering on my curvy body, accentuating my small waist while displaying the curvier parts in a modest but cute way, the color had also managed to show off my tan. While the dress was green, white flowers were printed over the fabric giving the dress a floral pattern. I had matched the dress with a thick black belt and worn small, black, heeled ankle boots. I had left my long, brown hair out in its natural waves and volume, and even managed to put on enough makeup to cover my freckles and make my eyelashes look 10 times longer and darker as well as making my lips glow a little with my trusty tinted lip gloss. My makeup was natural, the only way I ever did it myself and the dress was classy but cute and also very comfortable. All in all, the outfit was very 'me'. Usually, I wouldn't put this much effort into a simple outfit but I had wanted to make a good first impression and look good for my first day at Pearlacre high.

Luke had continued walking down the overcrowded halls of Pearlacre high with my hand in his so he could direct me properly. He was rushing which meant that I had little control of where I was being hauled off to, well at least that's the excuse I used when I ran into a hard wall.

"Watch where you're fucking going," a gruff voice says harshly as I fall over, snatching my hand back from Luke and gaining his attention, I use my now free hand to catch myself.

"IT'S MILLS MY BESTIE" an excited voice sounds as Luke helps me up as his first priority before looking at whoever it was that made me fall.

As soon as I'm standing and stabilized thanks to Luke, I'm attacked once again by an excited Toby who engulfs me in a suffocating hug.

"Hey Toby" I laugh as I return his excited hug as best I can while my arms are pinned at my sides.

I look at whoever I fell over and was not surprised to see a smirking Aiden, I had only met these boys twice but I had already figured out that wherever one of them was, they all were.

"Hey it's that hot chick from last night" the one I recognized as Blake voiced in realization.

"Her name is Emily" Carter rolls his eyes at Blake, as sweet as ever.

"Aiden your fat ass tripped over my best friend" Toby scolds a still smirking Aiden.

Up close and in direct light Aiden looked even more attractive than last night, he stood about 6'2 which would drown my 5'7 form with his killer smirk I had yet to see him without. He had worn a similar outfit to what I had remembered last night constructed of black jeans, a white shirt that clung to his muscly torso and his leather jacket. His hair looked messy, but a good messy.

"Your best friend shouldn't have walked in my pathway" he continues to smirk.

"It's a school corridor genius, not your bedroom" I reply sarcastically rolling my eyes and causing Aiden's smirk to only widen.

"I would love to take you to my bedroom sweetheart, you know where I live so just say the words and I can show you the best night of your life" he replies smirking as he leans in closer to my face.

Another player, great.

Note the sarcasm.

I know where he lives?

My brain works overtime thinking about how I could know where he lives when it suddenly hits me like a ton of bricks.

It was his house last night, not Toby's or Carter's.

Fuck.

Our exchange quickly turns into a staring contest before Luke clears his voice roughly reminding me of his presence.

I escape from my trance and look up at Luke only to see everyone in the hall watching the exchange between myself and who are evidently the 'untouchables' of the school.

I wasn't surprised, the 4 boys were all extremely attractive and no doubt popular. They also seemed to ignore the crowd that had formed making me believe that it was a common occurrence them having all the attention.

"Em, how the fuck do you know Aiden and his assholes," Luke asks me in obvious distaste, also ignoring the crowd.

My face scrunches up in confusion to Luke's blunt hatred for who I'll now refer to as the untouchables. Never had I seen him hate anyone, everyone loved Luke and Luke always loved everyone back.

Before I can answer Aiden puts his arm around my shoulder and smirks, obviously enjoying getting under my best friend's skin. The actions from both the boys make me think that there is something further going on between the 2.

I instantly hear whispers, no doubt about Aiden's arm casually slung over my shoulder.

"I'm her new neighbor, I have a feeling our windows directly facing each other are gonna be a great help when I'm getting to know her" Aiden smirks dangerously.

The whispers get louder and I try very hard not to hear the words coming out of everyone's mouths.

Does this school seriously not have anything else to entertain them?

I step out of Aiden's arm that is still placed over my shoulders and towards a fuming Luke.

"How do you guys know each other?" I ask in confusion gesturing between the boys. The other untouchables were all standing behind Aiden giving me the impression that it was Aiden who was the 'leader' of his little gang. I looked at Toby curiously who seemed relaxed beside Carter, he just grinned at me in response to my obvious confusion.

"Let's go Emily" Luke replies not breaking his glare directed at a STILL smirking Aiden and completely ignoring my question.

Seriously, does his cheek not get tired?

Luke breaks away first and begins dragging me away, I look over my shoulder only to get eye contact with Aiden who winks at me charmingly and then turns to walk down the opposite side of the hall.

Again the whispers get impossibly louder and I already know that some wild rumors about myself and the boys would be spread around the school.

"Hey wait up" an excited Toby yells making Luke and I turn around to face him.

Unlike with Aiden, when Luke sees it's only Toby and Carter he instantly relaxes and even smiles at the 2 boys.

"Sorry for calling you guys assholes, Aiden just really pisses me off" Luke smiles apologetically.

"Don't sweat it, happens all the time but Aiden is actually a really nice guy" Carter replies making Luke roll his eyes and Toby smile at me enthusiastically.

"You guys have to get along again eventually, you compete at the same track!!" Toby groans.

Track?

"What do you mean track?" I ask the boys waiting for any of them to reply to my question.

Toby obviously realizes his slip up because his eyes widen and he puts his arm around my shoulder, "No need to worry your pretty little face Mills," he smiles happily making my curiosity grow.

I had always been a curious person and Luke knew that I would do anything to find out whatever was being hidden from me.

"Come on Emilia, let's go see Charlie, she's probably annoyed at how long we're taking," Luke smiles at me.

I nod my head and turn to smile at the 2 boys, "I'll see you soon Mills," Toby enthuses while Carter just waves politely as Luke and I walk towards I'm assuming Charlie.

"What the fuck just happened?" I ask Luke as soon as we get out of earshot from Toby and Carter.

Luke sighs probably expecting me to ask, "Aiden is the school's bad boy and Tobias, Carter, and Blake are like his little gang, the boys are cool but Aiden is the world's biggest asshole. They're like really popular here and expectantly all the girls throw themselves at the boys which Aiden and Blake take full advantage of," he says in displeasure.

"Tobias?" I ask curiously.

"Toby, his real name is Tobias but he hates it and tells everyone his name is Toby," Luke replies easily.

I nod in recognition "why do you hate Aiden so much?" I ask, wanting to absorb as much information as possible.

"I hate what he stands for, he does stupid things for stupid reasons and uses girls like tissues in the meantime, using them once and then throwing them away." He replies quickly.

I can tell there is more to the story, maybe something to do with the alleged 'track' that Toby mentioned before, I don't have time to further question him as I hear my cousin's loud voice call my name.

"EM" Charlie yells as she runs at me and hugs me tightly while I hug her back and giggle at her excitement. She acts like I hadn't seen her in years when in reality I saw her a few months ago and have spoken to her most days since.

"Hey Charlie" I giggle as she releases me.

Charlie's real name was Charlotte but for as long as I could remember everyone called her Charlie.

"I can't believe you're finally here!!! We can be a full group again and now I don't have to worry about spending time with this loser alone!! She enthuses, softly punching Luke on the shoulder and making him jokingly glare at her.

"Hey, you should feel honored to have all of this to yourself and not have to share with Emilia" Luke replies arrogantly.

"I'd feel more honored to be Em and not have to deal with your obnoxious ass" Charlie mumbles sarcastically, purposely loud enough for Luke and me to hear.

I laugh at my best friends banter, maybe this year will actually be amazing.

I surely hope so.

_________

Chapter 2 done!!!

Please vote!!

- Jade xx