/// Lulu ///

"Do you girls want me to drive you?" Mom asked, sipping her coffee with a small smile on her face.

"No thank you mom, I think I can get us there," my sister Trixie reassured her, her hand hovering over the key rack.

Mom had an uncertain look on her face. "Are you sure?"

Trixie rolled her eyes. "I'm not that bad, mom. Trust me, I wouldn't want to go alone if I wasn't confident in my driving," she picked up her car keys, fiddling with them her her hands.

I took one final bite of my toast, thinking carefully. Trixie had only recently gotten her G2 licence, but still was a bit rusty when it came to her driving. Thankfully, she had not gotten into any accidents yet, but she had come very close to hitting a stop sign a couple months ago.

"I don't think I mind if she drove us," I spoke up, my voice soft. Mom glanced at me, genuinely surprised. She sighed. "Fine. But no coffee trips on the way up, deal?"

"Deal," Trixie responded, half of her attention drawn to her car keys.

"Trixie?" Mom asked again, her tone serious.

"I said deal," Trixie groaned, walking over to place a hand on my shoulder. "And if you don't trust me, you can always use Laurel to rat me out,"

Mom glared at Trixie, and I felt a pang of guilt. I wanted to reassure Trix that I trusted her, or at least protest against her words, but I stayed silent and stared at my plate.

"You ready, Lulu?" Trixie asked, her voice softening. I gave her a small nod, and got up. Putting my plate on the counter, I went to my room to grab my bag.

I double-checked the contents. I had my binder, pencil case, schedule, water bottle, lunch money... plus back up snacks in case the lunch was nothing but utter shit.

Grabbing my stuff, I walked downstairs, where Trixie waited impatiently. She had already got her shoes on, and had put on her spring coat. "You'll wanna wear a sweater," she informed me. "It's kind of chilly outside this morning.

I took her advice, putting on my own grey spring coat and black Vans shoes. Grabbing my duffle bag, I turned to see Mom standing close. Smiling, I hugged her. "Bye," I spoke, leaning out of the hug to see her happy yet worried face.

"You girls have a good day, alright?" She told us. "I better hear that you find friends or-,"

"We will, Mom, can we go now?" Trixie interrupted, looking rather eager to leave the house.

Mom laughed a little, seeming in a much better mood. "Alright, alright. Off you two go!" She opened the door for us. We went outside, and Trixie ran excitedly over to her used red Toyota Corolla.

"Get in, Lulu!" She called to me. I followed slowly, walking around the car and climbing into the front seat. Trixie was practically grinning ear to ear, and turned the keys.

Immediately, the sound of Set It Off blared in the car's speakers. Trixie seemed to be very into punk bands at the moment, and was making it her goal to collect as many CDs for her car as possible.

Immediately, I fished my pink earbuds out of my pocket, and hooked it up to my phone. Like I was going to listen to whatever shit she liked. It wasn't really my style. Going into my Spotify, I chose a cottage-core playlist. A calm playlist before whatever storm Trixie has planned that lies ahead.

*****

"This must be it," Trixie said, turning off her music. At last, I slowly took out my earbuds. The school building was a tall and wide brick building. A sign just ahead of us said:

WILLIAM HUNTER MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL: "UNITED AT HEART,"

"A memorial school..." I frowned. Mom hasn't said anything about it being a memorial school.

"Yeah, I did a little digging around, and it turns out this William Hunter guy is a big deal around here," Trixie informed me, turning into the student parking lot. "From what I heard, he was the son of a founder of this town. Apparently he was killed in some kind of accident, but I couldn't quite figure out what the exact cause was,"

"Really?" I replied, baffled.

"Well, to be fair he passed away sometime in the early 1900's," she clarified as she adjusted her parking. "So it makes sense the details would be at least a little fuzzy,"

I pondered on that thought as we got out of the car. If William Hunter was important enough to get a school named after him, then how come no one knew how he died? Was that what made the whole situation tragic?

Trixie was practically skipping ahead, heading towards the entrance. I followed cautiously, feeling strange. I wasn't sure what was causing me to hesitate, but I couldn't be anything good. It was like a sickening hole in my stomach. Taking a deep breath of the cool, outside air, I followed Trixie inside.

The interior of the school felt rather nice. The walls were a soothing creamy-white colour, with big windows revealing the room to the outside world. I sighed a quiet sigh of relief. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

A few students were mingling further into the building, clearly eager to find their classes, I assumed. I stuck close Trixie as she stood in the front, nervous.

She must've noticed, as she gazed at me with confusion. "You gonna be okay?" She asked. I nodded quickly. "Yeah. I just didn't expect it to be so... fancy?"

Trix rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, it's pretty... normal, I guess," she replied carefully. "I was talking to a girl named Mitzi who goes here. She's gonna be showing us the way to our home room, since we all have the same one,"

I relaxed. This wouldn't be so bad. Hopefully the strange pangs wouldn't come back.

Fuck. Nevermind. It's back, god fucking dammit.

The girl who I presumed to be Mitzi approached us. She had long, strawberry-blonde hair, and was wearing a light, baby blue cardigan with a matching blue choker.

I was baffled by her outfit. How could someone walk around in that in public? At least she had a white tank top under the sweater, but it was still mildly concerning how loose the cardigan was.

"You two those Castillo girls?" She asked, her voice having a bit of an edge. Trixie nodded. "Mhm. I'm Trixie, the one you were talking to, and this is my step-sister Laurel," she gestured to me, and I gave a friendly wave.

Mitzi eyed me up and down. I stared at her, smiling a little nervously. What did she have to be suspicious of?

She then turned to Trixie, smiling. "Follow me. I'll show you to our home room. We'll be heading to Mr. Watkins' room," her voice was friendly yet firm as she lead us through the school.

People seemed to stick in groups, and eyed me and my sister with curiosity. Others glared at Mitzi and rolled their eyes. Mitzi must not be liked here, I figured.

All of the eyes on me made me want to freeze up. But I knew I couldn't. I did my best to look unassuming, my eyes on the destination up ahead.

Trixie, on the other hand, relished the unspoken attention. She walked at Mitzi's side, smiling with pride. I had been vaguely aware that Trixie was talking to someone from this school for a while, but I had no idea they were close friends already.

"Here you are," she said, stopping at a classroom labeled with Mr. Watkins' name. She turned to face Trixie, and whispered something to her. I blink, wondering what she could possibly have to say to my sister.

Mitzi stepped away from Trix, and glanced at me. Without saying a word, she walked into the classroom. Trixie stopped herself to look at me. "Mitzi wants me to sit with her... friends. Do you mind?" She asked, sounding half bothered, half sympathetic.

"What? I thought you said you were sticking with me!" I protested in a harsh whisper.

Trixie frowned. "I know, but... well... it's complicated. Just be good, okay?"

My eyes widened. "Fine! See if I care!" I snapped, stomping past her into the classroom. I couldn't stay mad for long, as the separate groups of students immediately began whispering to each other. I gulped. How would I survive seemingly vicious cliques?