Alexsis's POV

My first week was pretty normal. I went to all my classes and went to town with Emma, Julien and Damien during the weekend since they offered to show me around. We went to the mall to 'take a look around' yet ended up staying there the whole morning. Then, we went to a fancy steakhouse for lunch. I really didn't want to go to the steakhouse since I couldn't pay, but they insisted that they'd pay and dragged me there before I could protest. 

I learned a lot about them in such a short time. I found out that Emma didn't want to be a model even though everyone thought that she would become one and that the twins were both gay. 

After lunch, we were just walking around the neighborhood and talking, when we walked by Celeste and her cronies. 

We all made eye contact and she narrowed her eyes at me, yet thankfully they just passed by without a word. 

Emma turned to me after they were out of earshot, and said, "Hey Alexsis, what's up with the rumour about you and Celeste? You don't have to answer if you don't want to, I was just wondering,"

I blanched, unprepared for this topic. 

"Yeah, Alexsis, Damien and I were also wondering," Julien chimed in.

I replied nervously, "I kind of bumped into her on the first day, you know, just being clumsy." 

"But she seems to hate you, I don't think it's just because you bumped into her," Damien observed.

"Uh.. I have no idea why. Maybe she doesn't like the fact that I made it in here on scholarship," I didn't want to lie to my roommates, but something told me that Celeste would make me pay for it if I told them about our past friendship.

"Hmm.. maybe..." Emma wasn't convinced.

"Let's just talk about something else, the rumour is only a rumour," I suggested this in the hope of leading the conversation away from Celeste. "Who were those people walking with her?"

"Oh, them? They're all very well known, I'm surprised that you don't know them." That question successfully managed to distract her, and she excitingly launched into a detailed explanation.

"The tall, black one is Marcus Hermandez IV, son of Matt Hermandez, owner of a clothing brand. I heard that he secretly sells weed here. And the skinny brunette is Victoria Smith, daughter of Derrick Smith, a famous lawyer. There's this huge scandal about her, that she had sex with one of the teachers!" 

Emma paused for dramatic effect and to take a breath, then continued, "The other brown-haired boy is Frank Dulman, son of the police chief Devan Dulman. From what I've heard, if you want alcohol, he's the one to talk to at this school."

Wow, that was quite a lot of gossip. Seems like Celeste hung out with a lot of bad people.

"Oh, that's who they were..." I didn't know what else to say.

"Hey guys, how about we go to a gaming place?" Damien and Julien were both very intent on gaming.

"Sure, how about that one over there?" Emma asked, pointing to a fine-looking place ahead of us.

"Let's go," I replied, relieved.

That was my first time at a gaming place, and it turns out I was pretty good at gaming. I could almost beat Damien and Julien, even though they've been gaming their whole life.

I had lots of fun, and I could tell that we were already on the right path to becoming good friends.

We nearly missed curfew because we were so engrossed, yet luckily, we made it back with minutes to spare. 

This had probably been the best day I've ever had so far. I could get used to this.

I slowly got used to our schedule, waking up early was no problem for me since that's usually when I wake up anyway. I'm also a decent cook, and we all have to be to not starve. My studies were also pretty good, all Bs and As. I did see Celeste around the school a few times, but nothing happened between us, until today. 

It was just a normal day, I woke up at 7:30 as usual, got dressed and washed, and then went to my class. During class, nothing out of the ordinary happened, Mr. Johnson, the teacher, taught us algebra, continuing from where we left off on Monday. He was a world-renowned mathematician. We did several worksheets, corrected them, and then went to have breakfast. It was my turn to cook, so I made waffles and scrambled eggs for my roommates and me. 

They complimented me on being a good cook, and we all dug in. I suppose they never learnt how to cook since they probably had other 'more important things' to do when they were younger. It was quite simple, so I promised to teach them someday how to cook. They seemed very happy about that.

After breakfast, I had French class. It was taught by Monsieur Dupont, a genuine French man. He gave us a long lesson on conjugation and some worksheets as well. I managed to memorize most of the conjugations already, so it was fairly easy. 

All the teachers and workers here were well known for being experienced in their expertise and were probably paid a year's worth of salary each month. The teachers lived in their own 'dorm', in a separate building next to the school. For lunch, I made grilled cheese sandwiches, since I was too lazy to make something fancier.

I went to band after lunch. Celeste and I unfortunately had the band at the same time, but we never talked. She plays flute, and quite well, I might add. I was just warming up, when she subtly walked past me, dropping a note into my lap. I was extremely confused, and suspicious. 

Why would she give me a note? I was itching to see what it said yet didn't want to risk anyone seeing. I quickly stuffed the note into my pocket, looking around to see if anyone noticed. 

Everyone was seemingly too busy minding their own business to notice, which worked in her favour. I decided to read the note later since I obviously couldn't do so right now. I just went back to my clarinet and continued my usual warm-up routine.

Later, when I was in my dorm all by myself (my roommates all had class during my free period), I pulled the note out of my pocket. I was both wary and stunned at its contents. It said:

We need to talk. Come alone to the rooftop at 2:35 pm tomorrow. Do not be late. If you don't come or tell anyone about this, you will pay for it.

Now, I was stuck in a dilemma. Should I go, or not go? Telling other people wasn't an option, and I had no one I could tell anyway. 

This could be a trick. 

She could be waiting with a bunch of people to ambush me. 

Or maybe she was planning to publicly humiliate me somehow. 

Everything about this seemed suspicious and screamed 'danger'. 

However, something in my gut told me that I should go. 

Maybe I was just overthinking things. Perhaps she just wanted to talk. But that thought was pretty foolish, considering everything that happened. I still had a whole day to think about it.

But for the rest of the day, I could barely focus on my schoolwork. I was distracted for the rest of the day.

Even my roommates noticed that something was off.

"Hey Alexsis, you good? You seem distant today," Emma was the first to acknowledge it during dinner.

"I'm fine, just thinking about something," I picked at my food since I didn't have much of an appetite. I didn't plan on telling them about the note either.

That night, I tossed and turned in my bed, restless. Thinking back on it, Celeste had kept a poker face when she told me that she didn't want to be friends anymore. There'd been no sign of emotion. Had she been forced to break off ties with me?

In the end, after careful consideration, I decided that I should go.