C H A P T E R F I V E

a/n: hey everyone! so i'm back with another chapter. i have a system while writing this story, at least have one stock chapter before updating. i hope you all my readers enjoy this and this time you're going to meet Marina! she may be a supporting character but she does have an important role in the story. there's also an important easter egg if you read other stories This Is How I Fix You, hehe. enjoy!

Marina Atherton-Pierce let out a long sigh as she leaned her head against the headrest in the bus seat. The first day of going back to Kingston had been more draining than she originally thought, her schedule was already full with the speech she had to deliver during dinner in The Great Hall and making sure that all students had got into the bus. She most certainly did not want the unspeakable incident where a student got left behind on the station to happen again. Her hand tugged the Student Council badge emblazoned on her blazer's sleeve and she closed her eyes. Not even the greenery landscape that flashed through the window calmed the nerves brimming in Marina's heart. Emotional waves made Marina uncomfortable, as she preferred to rely on pragmatic methods instead of giving into emotional turmoil.

Kingston Academy was located at the foot of one of the mountains in the State of Massachusetts and honestly, Marina felt like she attended a magical school like Hogwarts or Ilvermorny. Not to mention that Ilvermorny also located in Mount Greylock, a thought that brought a smile to Marina's face. Despite the small storm raging inside her, Marina always found a way to calm herself down.

The sight of Kingston Academy soon graced Marina's sight, the school stood over the greenery landscape and the forest that surrounded the building. Resembling an old castle in European countries, Marina had to admit that Kingston's long history only strengthened the historical vibes the school emanated.

Scanning her head around, Marina noticed that most of her classmates were sleeping or either looking at the window with a wistful look on their faces. The chatters and jokes had long subsided, the noise in the atmosphere replaced with silence that was currently enveloping the whole bus. There were several other buses that took Kingston students from the private station aside from the one Marina was in. She was relieved that at least Natalya was not in the same bus as she was.

In all honesty, she did not want to ruin the last moments of peace they had before the grueling school year started, but her job as the President called out on her. Dutiful had always been one of Marina's strongest traits and she would do anything possible to adhere to her responsibilities.

"Ramona, you should wake up," Marina decided to give her best friend her forewarning. "I am going to announce that we almost arrived."

Ramona only nodded her eyes still slammed shut. Sighing, Marina realized she should play the 'Spartan President' role to gain control of the whole Student Body.

Standing up from her seat, Marina walked the place close to the bus driver. Grabbing the speaker that rested on the empty seat closest to the driver, Marina pressed the button to turn it on and cleared her throat before letting her voice's volume elevated by the speaker. "To all students, I hereby announce that we almost arrived at Kingston Academy. Students are expected to be prepared the moment the bus stopped in the school's lobby. Setting all formalities aside, wake up before I decide to blast the ugliest music in mankind's history to wake you all up!"

As if Marina had cast a spell to wake everyone up from slumber or the trance that the whole bus was trapped in, everyone seemed to be alert and rubbing their eyes with the back of their hand. She could hear groans and silent protests, but it was subtle. Marina may rule the student body with an iron fist, but she was respected enough not to earn their irritation.

"At least give us warning before you screamed through the speaker," a girl who sat in the front row of the bus seats crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. Marina suppressed an urge to groan and put a smile on her face. Dealing with Naomi Wolfe, Claudia Gale's best friend certainly tested her patience that quickly ran out. "I almost send the wrong text and you know how dangerous it is."

"Naomi, I honestly don't care about what are you doing or even you are going to send the wrong text," Marina answered, still with a smile on her face. She was an expert delivering savage replies while wearing a sinister smile that often pushed her opponents back out of fear. "And I don't care if you are running to your best friend, who will most definitely tell her fiance that doesn't even give a fuck about you."

The retort was delivered in a low voice because at least Marina still had the audacity to pity Claudia's current situation. The rumors were brutal in slashing down the layers of defenses that were put up by Claudia and the Gale family. Living in a crumbling glass castle, the whole world (or the student body in Kingston) could literally see that Claudia's family was on the verge of bankruptcy after wrong investments here and there. Everyone could also see that her 'sort of'

engagement to Alexander Voltaire was probably the last resort her family had to save their fortune. Unfortunately, both hurdles did not hurt Claudia's reputation or popularity throughout the school. As Claudia's friend, Marina noticed that Naomi latched on the girl to absorb any kind of benefit from the friendship.

Naomi only sneered at Marina but chose not to reply, keeping her thin lips slapped shut. Claudia who sat beside Naomi stayed quiet throughout the small showdown between her friend and Marina. After all, Claudia may be stupid enough to think that her engagement with Ace would ever work out, but she still had enough brain cells to realize that Marina could vilify and tore down every illusion spell she had cast.

Walking back to her seat beside Ramona, Marina saw that Ramona was still sleeping soundly and softly snored. Marina smiled before she kicked Ramona's shin, prompting the redheaded girl to wake up. Blinking rapidly, Ramona rubbed her eyes before giving Marina the stink eye. Her red-haired best friend hated a sudden jolt from her slumber more than anything and Marina knew that. "You just woke up a sleeping tiger, Marina."

"Mon, you are far from a tiger. You are a freaking kitten," Marina said with a chuckle. "You should be thanking yourself that you are not a heavy sleeper. But then again, living with your sister as a heavy sleeper can cause early death."

Ramona Carrington was one of the rare human being resided in Kingston that did not test Marina's patience. With their matching sense of humor (read: dry humor) and opposing personalities, Marina and Ramona were like two sides of the same coin that complemented each other. Ramona, with her idealism and optimistic (veering to romantic) outlook in life, was certainly an antithesis to Marina's pragmatic and realistic approach to life.

They had been friends since the beginning of middle school, attending Kingston's middle school branch. There had been Natalya as a part of their trio, but Marina's faded friendship with the Russian girl had effectively caused a rift between Ramona and Natalya as well.

"How is your sister by the way?" Marina casually asked. She had met Ramona's sister last summer when Marina paid a visit to one of Ramona's family home in Spain. A fellow redhead like Ramona, Annalise Carrington was one of the most interesting people Marina ever had the privilege to meet. The sisters played a foil to each other, although they clearly had a lot of personality traits that mirrored each other. Headstrong, argumentative and silver-tongued, Annalise certainly had a way with words that Ramona did not. "She's still at Harvard studying law and kicking ass or planning world domination?"

Ramona groaned, but there was a small smile playing on her face. Marina could see that the sisters cared for each other, playing anchor to each other after the devastating loss they experienced beforehand earlier in their lives. "Oh, she is doing amazingly fine at Harvard, making her professor's head spin with her highly critical questions and sharp arguments. You know how Annalise is. Even as her sister for the last 16 years, I don't know how the fuck I survive. She is brutal and she is not ashamed letting the world knows that. I really don't understand how come her college roommate, Melissa can stand living with Annalise. From the stories I've heard, Melissa is a neat freak to Annalise's colossal organized mess."

Marina let out a laugh and opened her mouth to reply, but she felt a vibrate in her school skirt's pocket. Fishing her hand in to grab her phone, Marina pulled it out and pushed the code to unlock her phone. Beside her, Ramona poked her head to see the message, but Marina pushed Ramona's head away. "You are such a nosy person do you know that?"

"Congratulations, you are just repeating what Annalise never fails to remind me about, not even when she is away in Harvard probably buried six feet under the pile of Law books," Ramona easily retorted, flashing Marina a smile that reminded the blonde haired girl of an ingénue. Despite Ramona's romantic and idealist nature, the redhead was far from stupid or an ingénue. "Student Council problems or the Four Kings problem? If Annalise attended Kingston instead of St. Bernard's Preparatory School, she would call their reign as 'Fuckboy Imperialism' and would wipe the floor with their faces."

"I don't know, Mon, but those four boys are a handful for me to deal with," Marina replied, irritation lacing her voice. After meeting Annalise along with her close friend and roommate Melissa Darnell last summer, Marina almost wished that they were here to aid her maintaining control in the student body from the Four Kings. Although remembering the crazy story of their high school days Annalise had shared, Marina erased the thought. Annalise's rule-breaking nature was opposing to Marina's rule-abiding one. On that, Marina could relate to Melissa's headache keeping Ramona's older sister on her rein. "I wish I'm as crazy as your sister, sometimes."

"You're already crazy enough and no, the world does not need another Annalise Carrington, dear God," Ramona groaned, leaning her head against Marina's neck. "You may be too busy with your AP classes and Student Council meetings to realize, but those four boys are actually afraid of you."

"They're the one who had powerful parents, Mon. Well, not saying that your dad is not because we both know how he is."

Ramona went silent, prompting Marina to almost ask her friend but the cheerful disposition was back on Ramona's freckled face. "Ah well, yeah you are right. Your mom is a former model and current fashion designer who owned one of the biggest fashion retailers and your dad practically owned half of New York."

"But I don't sink that low into their level by using my parents' influence, Mon," Marina said as her eyes squinted seeing the message displayed on her phone's screen.

CHARLOTTE BISHOP: You might want to know the info Headmaster Burgess just tell me. As your VP, I am obligated to tell you as soon as your bus arrived at the school. It is about the new girl, Johanna Patterson. Not on text, we might not want to risk records or someone hacking into our text messages.

"Wow, this seems interesting," Marina mumbled to herself, but not low enough for Ramona not to hear. The redhead poked Marina's shoulder, asking for elaboration. "Well, apparently the new student Johanna has something interesting kept under her sleeves."

"What does Charlotte tell you?" Ramona asked curiosity filled her voice. Charlotte Bishop was Marina's Vice President in the Student Council and they were quite close although not to the extent of Marina's friendship with Ramona. Charlotte, with her reliable nature and the ability to listen to Marina's orders only smooth their working dynamic.

"She does not say, out of fear that our text was hijacked by hacker or something," Marina replied. "Honestly, that girl is more paranoid than I am and I am supposed to be the President."

"I am not blaming her," Ramona grumbled. "Annalise took computer sciences and coding class out of fun and she self-taught herself to hack. Charlotte is a smart girl to be cautious, Marina. Thank God that I am not my sister's twin because Annalise is a handful I swear."

"I have a feeling that the school year will be an interesting one, Mon, somehow," Marina whispered. The school iron gates loomed over and a sinister smile played on Marina's mouth. "Even if your sister is four years older than us, doesn't mean life in Kingston is not interesting."

Ramona groaned as she playfully punched Marina's shoulder. "This is why you and Annalise get along. You both are crazy motherfuckers, only that the world thinks you are sane while Annalise quite literally announced that she was dropped on the head as a baby."

"That is what I would call class, Ramona."

"No, that is just pure insanity. My sister really is a bad influence towards your goody two shoe tendencies."

The smile on Marina's face widened. "You know what they said about crazy people. They are the best."

***

"Please wake me up if the Hell already ended," Natalya groaned as she banged her head against the wall. "I cannot stomach another lecture veiled in the name of an announcement and welcoming new students by the Burg. I just want to get back to my dorm to sleep until tomorrow morning and skip dinner."

Sophie turned her head to face Erika and gave the Japanese girl a look, a gesture asking for an explanation. They were currently standing near the corner of Kingston Academy's lobby. Scanning around, Sophie realized that the school really did resemble the combination of hotel and boarding school into one. The medieval architecture design certainly did not help to downplay the old-school boarding school vibes. The crystal chandeliers hung high on the ceilings and gray colored bricks, Kingston Academy was like a fantasy boarding school coming into life.

"Natalya, we just literally arrived and waiting for the Student Council members distributed the dorm keys back to us," Erika said, the usual sunny-like disposition that Sophie had come to associate with her was gone replaced with subtle tiredness. "Oh crap, I almost forget that Johanna is a new kid and she has to ask the Student Council President which dorm she got sorted into."

"Wow guys, I legit can feel the Harry Potter, but not quite Harry Potter vibes," Sophie wryly piped in, could not resist the urge to at least threw a sarcastic jab. "But really, you guys are sorted into the dorm houses with a sorting hat because that means I am just a muggle who got stuck in this weird universe."

In a sense, Sophie had said the truth and Lord did it release the burden on her shoulders even if it just a little bit. She had been like the lost traveler (ahem, not so forced given Vivian's ruthless manipulation), that was unfamiliar with the ways of forest (or in this case, Kingston Academy).

"Cut the crap with the sarcastic, we don't need more sarcasm in this small circle of friends," Erika warned and Sophie only snorted. She was too tired to take Erika's warning tone seriously and the Japanese girl was probably too tired to project the usual cheerfulness into her voice. "Since Natalya is not likely to gain her sanity back after 3 hours of the train ride and an hour of the bus ride, I should take the mantle of the only sane person."

"You do realize that if you claim that you're sane, a lot of people will protest," Natalya mumbled, with her forehead still against the wall. The energy that fueled her through the jokes and stories she exchanged with Erika and Sophie in the bus ride had been eroded to almost nothing. "And no, we are sadly not Hogwarts and we live in this lame and boring Muggle world called the ordinary high school life in a hellish school. Well, the students are sorted according to the Headmaster's decision. Usually, athletes got sorted into Elmhurst, scholars aka nerds like Erika got sorted into Atwood while the artisans got sorted into Riverton. But worry not, that was how it used to be before most people or the students' parents complained about how unfair it is so now how students are sorted is completely random."

"Let me guess, there is annual competition between the dorm houses where students got scarily competitive and bloody involving crazy pranks," Sophie concluded, to which Erika nodded. "Wow, I guess Kingston is the real jungle, eh, despite being a castle in the middle of the forest."

"Dear God, you have not seen the brutal election for the Student Council President," Natalya added. Her pale blue eyes glazed with something Sophie recognized as mad happiness when her eyes spotted an empty seat beside the receptionist table. "Fuck, I need to sit down and clear my head. Erika, please get my suitcases for me and ask Johanna too if you need some help." Without further ado, Natalya plopped herself down on the seat, her hand holding up her head and she grunted with frustration.

"She's right," Erika said with a shrug and she nodded at Sophie, gesturing the girl to follow her. "Natalya can be very cranky if she is tired or mad. Honestly, I think she is angry all the time but she is very good at fooling herself into thinking that she's not angry, hence why she seems very placid and soothing."

Sophie chose not to reply, not because she wanted to save her energy from giving a meaningless reply, but she genuinely did not know how to. After her parents' divorce (that somehow was more peaceful than the actual marriage), Sophie's social awkwardness seemed to escalate to impossible levels. Making friends in middle school was a hard time and after several failed attempts that resulted in two girls crying after Sophie pointed out several ugly truths they did not want to hear, she simply stopped trying. Her aversion to her peers in Pine Creek did not help the case.

The school's lobby resembled a sea of human beings with teachers running here and there, making sure that no one got left behind in the station or not there in general. Sophie's eye caught a middle-aged woman surrounded by students that seemed like they just entered high school. Those students had a letter on their grasp and they talked in such urgency that could evoke panic. However, the woman replied in a calm manner that proved effective in dousing the children's panic away.

"That's matron, by the way," Erika explained, noticing that Sophie's gaze was trained at the middle-aged woman. "She took care of the kids from all three dorms and I think without her this school will fall apart. I know you feel like this is a British boarding school, but Kingston is weird that way. Our school assimilated British and American educational cultures and it is one of Kingston's very own charm. Okay, we should get to the spot where our suitcases were put at and usually it is around the opposite corner of where