The two orphans walked into the school, not mentally ready for another week of the “best part of their lives”.

Adam felt like legitimately killing himself every time he heard that shit. 

If this was the best part of his life, then he wanted to die before seeing the next one...

They spotted a familiar face near the destroyed lockers, and Adam rushed to greet her; David followed behind.

“Hey Cassie!” Adam called.

“Huh? Oh, morning, boys, how you doing?” she said with a smile on her face and a fake British accent.

“We’re fine! How about you? Are you better now?” he asked, his cheeks turning a faint pink. 

She was looking incredibly cute today, with a glamorous and chic brown capelet coat with shiny buttons and a bow on the lower back.

“Shut up!” Adam thought.

“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here, no would I?” she chuckled with a hand on her hip. “Although I wouldn’t mind having a few more days to sit around and watch tv.” the girl confessed, grabbing her braid and putting it over her shoulder.

“I wish I had a day to just sit around and watch tv,” David said.

Adam felt some slight discomfort in his guts and excused himself, marching down the hall, headed for the nearest bathroom while his friends guaranteed that they would wait for him.

“So…” David hummed, trying to think of something to talk about.

“You guys tried to clean my locker and fucked it all up, didn’t you?” she said in a sour tone, closing said locker’s door.

“Whaaaaaat? Nooo, what are you on about? Someone destroyed your locker? That's craaaazy…” he lied, scratching the back of his neck and averting his eyes.

“A little rat told me you destroyed my locker, and then you panicked and destroyed the others too.” 

“...Well, whoever told you that is a liar and- Yes. We did and we’re sorry… We just didn’t want you to see what was written on it…” He didn’t feel right lying to her, she was such a nice girl and had been nothing but upstanding with him and his friend since day one, and it was her locker... She deserved to know the truth. And an apology “We were just trying to help…” 

“Thank you. But you could’ve gotten into some real trouble, so next time don’t bother. I’m used to having stuff written on my locker and stuff anyway. But why didn’t you clean yours?”

“We’re also used to it, there’s just no point in cleaning them.” He explained “But you were bullied back home?”

“Yeah… Tripping in the corridors, flipping my lunch tray, the usual.” She said, recalling the time a girl poured acid on her. Fortunately, she had a high regeneration factor, so all the damage from the acid was gone in a few minutes, not leaving a single scar.

“Oh…” David let out, lowering his head a little. “You know, you’re still pretty much the new kid, you could still back down and have an actual social life here...”

“...Are you talking from experience?” she asked, leaning against the locker.

“Well... I’ll admit, I could do without half of the shit Mark puts me through because I hang out with Adam...” A shy smile appeared on his face as he joined her “But he’s worth it, you know?”

“How did you two end up stuck together anyway? No offense, but you just seem like polar opposites to me sometimes. You seem really energetic, and social, while he’s really quiet and... Quiet.” She still remembered Adam’s forced dismissive attitude when she first greeted him, and how quiet he was in the beginning when she began approaching him, only giving her monosyllabic answers for the first few days.

“Well, it is true that we have our differences, but... It’s hard to explain, you know? I might as well just tell you our story... But it’s a sappy one so...”

“Oh, I love sappy stories! Come on, just lay it on me~” she demanded with a smirk. She loved hearing about people's past, so much useful info!

“Ok...” He cleared his throat “So, it all started when my previous orphanage blew up...”

“Huh,” Cassie’s eyes widened, “That’s certainly an explosive start to a story.”

“Yeah I--” David took a deep breath, trying to contain a sensible chuckle behind a tight smile “So, my orphanage blew up, right?”

Adam got out of the bathroom stall, after taking one of his pills, and looked at the urinals.

“Since I’m already here...” He thought.

He went on about his business and heard a pair of footsteps behind him. He glanced in the sound’s direction. It was a slightly older student. He stopped a few urinals away from Adam’s and did what he had to do.

Adam tried to not look at the attractive older teen and failed miserably.

He had slick back black hair, beautiful brown eyes, a clean face, and a sharp jawline. His leather jacket was slightly open, just like his shirt’s collar, leaving his muscular chest exposed, along with a dog tag necklace. He had piercings in his ears, and a mix of vines and roses tattooed around his neck... 

Damn… 

That was a hot mess of a bad boy--

“Do you think this is the appropriate time to get all hormonal, Adam?” Spice asked, her voice full of sass as always.

Adam shook his head. God, his face was burning.

He finished his job and rushed out of the bathroom after washing his hands and face.

As he was making his way down the hall, the orphan heard a pair of familiar and unwelcome footsteps.

Before he could even dare to do anything, a warm and robust hand warped around the back of his neck, and he was pushed face-first against a cold wall.

“Hey #%$#.” Greeted a slightly older boy with hazel eyes and freckles, his voice one that could be considered pleasant, if it wasn’t for the sac of spoiled little shit it was attached to.

“Good morning, Mark!” he said with fake enthusiasm, looking at the pile of muscles with a forced smile “You arrived earlier today, yay…” Did his chauffeur pass a red light or something?!

“Can you just get kidnapped and killed already?” she rhetorically asked the boy with the trendy clothes that made him look like a mix between an e-boy and a jock.

"Of course I did!" He said, rolling his eyes "I just couldn't wait to greet the star dodgeball player that eliminated me, and half of my team! Your aim sure was on fire..." He continued, his tone descending into a growl, while tightening his grip, his nails dining into Adam’s flesh.