L A N A

FOUR DAYS LATER DURING lunch, it was announced on the speakers (which surprisingly worked) that Everett Weston had been chosen as the student body president for this school year. There was no election because it turned out we didn't have a president and there were no other students who wanted to run for the position. Not surprising at all.

For five solid minutes, everyone in the cafeteria wore the same surprised faces. During the next five minutes, they rolled their eyes, groaned, and laughed at how mad the new guy was.

Everett was definitely an idiot. Brave but an idiot. He was going to get himself killed. A white dude who talked about morals, justice, and the difference between right and wrong in a ghetto town filled people who cheated, stole, spoke the language of violence fluently and inhaled drugs and alcohol like water sounded like a collision course going straight to hell.

"He's stupid if he thinks he can interfere like that and run for fucking student council President. He's a total goner," Isha said, snorting while seated in the chair next to me.

"Only two things will happen now that he's president. Either he'll go down or run back to where he came from," Carmen said.

"If he buts in on our business again, I'll be the first in line to take him down," Jada stated, her expression firm. She was gathering her rage. That was not a good sign.

Everett Weston, you are so dead.

Because of the fresh new bad blood staring to form between The Sirens and the new guy, I didn't particularly enjoy parting ways with the girls and having three hours of advanced math and physics on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with the president himself. But I had no other choice.

"Catch you later, Lee." Isha waved and Carmen and Jada sent me off with a soft smile, and I started heading out of the cafeteria.

When I stepped inside the classroom for advanced math and physics, Ali and Lily were already seated next to each other, chuckling about something as usual.

Our teacher, Mr. Wayne, a tall black man with a polite smile, greeted me with a small wave. When he returned back to write some algebra problems on the whiteboard, I limped across the room to slump down in my usual seat by the window.

After I was settled in my chair and had opened my books and grabbed a pencil, Everett walked into the classroom with his hands on his blue backpack straps. If it wasn't for his tall height, he would've imaged a middle school kid.

Honestly, I found him kinda annoying. No, it was more like his whole existence was irritating. Why? Because he smiled a lot and said thank you a lot. Nobody around here did that.

"Morning, Ali, Lily, and Lana," he said stopping in front of the row the three of us were seated on.

Smiling, Ali slapped his palm against Everett's. "Hey, man."

He exchanged a friendly smile with Lily when she said, "Good morning, Everett."

Afterward, he looked at me like he was suspecting a greet but I dropped my gaze down to my notebook instead and began solving the math problem I had started yesterday. He took the only empty seat in the row. The one next to me. Again.

Fucking hell.

Before Everett came, Ali and Lily sat together with me but realizing I was too good at giving off an intimidating vibe and just wanted to be left we alone, they didn't try including me in their conversations.

Unfortunately, Everett had to sit next to me both during maths and physics, and I knew Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays would be the worst because those days I had one period of English literature, three hours of advanced physics and then two hours of maths. Basically, I had to spend the majority of three whole school days every week seated next to this guy until he got sick of this school and finally left.

After the teacher had given us assignments, Lily, to Everett's right started quietly discussing and solving the problem together with him and Ali.

"What do you think, Lana?" When Everett kept asking me that question every so often, I realized he was trying to make room for me to speak and to engage in their conversation. 

I kept on nodding and murmuring quiet replies, but when he asked me the fifth time, I was starting to get annoyed and the words sped out of my mouth. "This equation doesn't have a solution. If you solve it, the x will be zero. Dividing a number with zero is bullish-"

Arms crossed over his chest, Mr. Wayne arched a stern eyebrow at me.

"-Invalid," I mumbled.

Staring at me, Ali, Lily, and Everett blinked.

"Very good, Lana. Now, I'll help out Ali and Lily. Lana, why don't you walk Everett through it."

"No."

Mr. Wayne ignored. Of course, he did.

While Mr. Wayne turned stepped over to Lily and Ali, Everett turned his head in my direction and his warm brown eyes met mine. That long piece of his hair still concealed his right eye.

"Could you help me out?"

I wasn't good at explaining things. Words had never been my strongest point. They made sense in my head but when they left my mouth, they were a dysfunctional mess.

He stared at me, waiting for a response. His eyes were so foreign to me. They didn't hold any pity, fear, or hatred. Instead, they were filled with gentle kindness.

"Baka," I muttered, tearing my gaze off him.

"What?" He chuckled. "What does that mean?"

When I didn't answer, he sighed and asked. "Can you at least tell me what language it is, so I can google translate it later?"

"Baka."

He rolled his eyes. "Okay. Fine. I am Baka or whatever. Just help me out here, please?"

Please. When was the last I heard that word from someone's mouth in this town?

"Ba-" I started.

He shot me a stern look.

"-Ka."

Everett groaned and threw his head back, running his fingers through his hair. I was almost amused but forced the smile away. He glanced at me and I looked at him. Suddenly, a staring contest had begun. Just a few seconds later, he blinked and his lips pulled into a small smile. This one reached his eyes. "You're so weird, Lana."

I scowled and he pouted, giving me a pleading look. "Now can you please help me understand this. Please?"

Here we go again with, please. And that...pout. What the hell was that?

Eventually, I gave in. "Okay."

His whole goddamn face lit up light a lightbulb. "Okay? Really?"

I nodded.

"Okay, great. Let's do it."

Reluctantly, I guided him through the whole problem while he kept asking questions to make things clear for himself and I kept answering with yes and no.

~

After two hours of maths, the school day was over and I pulled out my phone from my pocket and my scratched screen showed the time as 15:55. The school and the parking lot was empty because of the disadvantages of having advanced math was having to stay in school two extra hours after everyone had already jetted home.

I swung my leg over my bike and was adjusting my backpack when I sensed someone approaching me from behind. I whipped my head around and there he was with his hands on his backpack straps and his left eye hiding behind his hair.

Genuine astonishment touched his face. "How'd you do that? How did you know I was behind you?"

I guess it was an instinct. To always be on guard. Being The Sirens' spy thought me to be aware of whoever was around wherever and wherever. Always.

Ignoring him, I swung my leg over my bike and shoved my phone back inside my pocket.

"Oh. Wait. I know. That must be one of the reasons they call you The Wolf, right?"

Turning my head, I glanced at him. He was still standing there but now curiosity was plastered across his face.

"I like your bike," he said, making even more conversation than necessary by adding compliments.

"Do you like mine?" He asked. He nodded to the blue bike parked next to mine. I nodded. I did like it. Unlike mine, it wasn't old and rusty but new and shiny. Next to his, mine looked like a broken car piece from the junkyard.

When he had settled on his bike and we were heading out of the parking lot (together), he glanced at me. "Race you home...or maybe not? Your foot is injured, so probably not a good idea."

"Let's go," I murmured, but I was already way ahead of him as I rapidly peddled down the street.

"What? Lana that's cheating!" He yelled from behind, hurriedly.

I continued down the street but he was surprisingly quick to catch up and we ended up racing towards my apartment building. The trees stood tall but dead and leafless on both sides of the steep, narrow path that we raced down on. The heavy downpour this morning had left a moist and soaked scent encircling the air while the sharp breeze stung the tip of my nose.

When we had slowed and were peddling through the last part of the path, Everett picked up an attempted conversation. "I like your backpack. It's cool. The key chains are nice, too. It's Pokémon and Zelda, right?"

I nodded. My dad bought me the panda backpack and I had been collecting they key chains since middle school.

"So where do you live?" He continued as we passed the end of the leaf carpeted path and turned to the neighborhood I had been living in for the past three years.
The tall building that used to be red but had over the years turned into a mix of faded pink while also have been coated with graffiti.

He didn't seem surprised when his eyes caught the sight of the shady building looming ahead. He was probably familiar with the crooked houses and buildings of this town by now.

"Oh, cool. I think I live on the other side from here. I always forget the way from here. Should I go straight ahead or to the left now?"

I had a choice here. Either I could be the bad guy and point in the direction that led to The Doom, a shortcut but a deadly one that was hard to come out alive from. That's where most of the gangs had their bases located. Or, I could be the good guy and point towards the route straight ahead, which was a long one but much safer.

Everyone would love it if I sent him down through The Doom, and Arjun would get his revenge when he would cross paths with him down there. But I had already enough enemies. Did I feel like adding another one to the list? I mentally sighed.

On the other hand, Everett messed with Arjun and Jada. I had a feeling they wouldn't be very pleased with me if I had all the "fun" with him by myself.

On the third hand, if I sent him towards The Doom, maybe some of the bad blood between The Sirens and The Lions would go away...

"Lana?"

I blinked once, twice. When I was jerked out of my jumbled thoughts, I caught Everett staring at me. "You okay? You've been thinking for a while now? Don't you know the way from here?"

Without thought, I rapidly nodded in the direction straight ahead.

A smile touched his lips. "Okay. Thanks. Let's race again sometime. Bye, Lana. See you tomorrow."

His politeness was starting to crawl on my skin like spiders. I didn't like it. I wanted it to stop. I want to rip out the kindness in him and toss it away. If he held on it for too long in this town, people were going to take advantage of him in the most crucial ways. Naive, nice people with big dreams and ambitions were the easiest ones to trick around here.

My shabby apartment was located in an old building at the very end of the highly shady street in the farthest part of the town. I pushed the heavy door open, letting the smell of tiles and rusty paint consume me. I took the elevator up the third floor and unlocked the door to my apartment.

After safely escaping my landlord's shadow by the bottom stairs and the dirty dust lingering in the air, I let myself in my apartment on the third floor and locked the door. Leaning against the door, I inhaled a deep breath.

Despite cramming this place with the necessary furniture Jada bought me, the voids were still there. However, I had gradually gotten used to living with them now.

Today, I didn't feel like eating, brushing my teeth, or changing my clothes. Instead, I pulled off my Uggs and coat and dropped them on my double-sized bed along with my backpack before letting my aching body crash against the soft bedsheets, my face buried in my pillow.

My eyelids felt heavier and heavier for every second but before sleep pulled me completely in, the sudden vibration against my hip made my eyes snap open and I lazily drew my phone out of my jeans pocket.

I blinked twice at the enlightened screen. A single Facebook notification caught my attention.

Everett Grace Weston sent you a friend request.

I stared at his name and that unfamiliar dorky smile he had on his profile pic on my broken screen as long as my eyes could possibly pull it off.

"Baka, Baka, Baka," I muttered.

Deleting the notification, I tossed my phone aside and buried my face under my pillow, sleep crashing into me as my eyelids slipped close.

****

Authors note: Here is chapter 7! Everett and Lana's story has officially begun. Hope you all are excited for more.

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