by Leon Logos
Friday came quicker than the first time. This day was, by far, the most memorable in Sequim High yet since she first stepped foot on campus. It happened after school. As the bell rang for dismissal, the hallways crowded and the buzz of excitement permeated the air as usual. Serenity rushed through campus, paying no mind to the school mascot dancing on top of the tables. One thing that did pique her curiosity was a mob of students, enclosing two individuals in the center of the crowd. There must’ve been a fight taking place, judging by the shouting, gasping, and recording. She squirmed her way into the crowd. She wasn’t wrong; two boys were on the ground, one of them struggling due to being locked in a tight chokehold. It The one who was utilizing the chokehold was Tony.
“Dario, break out of that shit!” a bystander shouted.
“You’re going to kill him!” another screamed.
“What’s wrong?!” Tony grinned at his victim. “What happened to all that trash you were talking earlier?!”
“Screw you!” Dario gagged, his face turning blue.
Tony looked around at his audience in entertainment, until he spotted Serenity. His smile stiffened. Tony released the boy at once, who fell onto his knees and spluttered, gasping for breath. The crowd dispersed as they realized the end of the fight. Serenity walked away; she couldn’t afford to be distracted by anything else. Unsurprisingly, it seemed Tony was violent. The other boy was on the verge of death, yet it didn’t seem Tony was insistent on releasing him at first.
At home, they found the kitchen to be in dire need of restocking. Serenity was tasked with going grocery shopping (like almost every time) with Kyler. (The brothers had played rock-paper-scissors to decide who would be her companion, since Desmos didn’t trust Serenity enough to go herself.) She didn’t complain at the fact that Kyler lost; he was never hard to put up with, due to his impassive character.
Neither she nor Kyler had their driver’s licenses yet, but Kyler was the one behind the wheel. All of them had learned to drive from a young age, but only Desmos, Agno, and Garen officially had their licenses.
“What do we do if the police pull us over?” Serenity asked, as they drove off the property.
“Police barely patrol this town, so it’s not a problem,” Kyler replied unconcernedly. “Besides, I doubt they would waste their time in doing so.”
The nearest supermarket was in town, which entailed the usual twenty-five-minute drive. She hated how almost every house they stayed in was isolated from the city or town. Gunther intentionally chose houses such as this; they didn’t want people bothering them. When she thought about it, it was logical; they couldn’t afford to have neighbors spying on them or suspecting them of anything. They trained loud and hard and could cause a commotion that would create disturbances.
She didn’t speak during the ride; it was a habit she picked up through a lifetime of traveling with her family. Car rides served as an opportunity for her to zone out and cogitate various things in her life. Whether it be fantasizing or daydreaming, it was quite pleasurable. This also was a defense mechanism against the racket the brothers made during these rides.
They arrived at the supermarket at 4:13 PM. Music played from the speakers in the supermarket like the typical store. When it came to grocery shopping, Serenity usually didn’t know what exactly to look out for, so she got a little of everything to pile into the cart. Snacks for Cackle, lots of meat and protein for Garen, beef jerky for Desmos, and an assortment of other foods (mostly ingredients essential for preparing homemade meals). Acquiring goods that the brothers liked was imperative since they’d get pissed off if she didn’t. She picked out an egg carton from the dairy section, looking around for Kyler. The entire time they were shopping, he had just been following her silently, like an escort, eyes darting in all directions out of suspicion. It was in his nature to be ceaselessly cautious when around people, especially in crowds.
Serenity was examining the prices of several canned meats when Kyler dropped something, almost stealthily, into the cart. She noticed and turned around to see what it was: a box of bandages.
“We’re running low,” he explained.
She nodded and returned to what she was doing. By the end of it, the cart was filled completely and the total cost amounted to over $270. She grudgingly used one of the stolen credit cards provided to her to pay for it all. Whether it was their money or somebody else’s, they didn’t care which to spend.
There was much to load into the trunk of the van. Kyler assisted her in loading it all in, contrary to what any of the other brothers would do. Irked at having to accompany her, they probably would’ve just waited in the driver’s seat of the van, leaving her to do all the heavy work. Raindrops drizzled down from the sky as the clouds grayed, signaling them to speed up. Serenity moved the cart before getting into the van. It started raining heavily right after.
Fortunately, the rained died down as they reached the house. Kyler immediately, right after parking the van, ran into the woods to join his brothers for training. Accordingly, she was left to carry all the groceries into the house herself. Laden with grocery bags, it must’ve taken almost a dozen trips to carry it all in. After that was the tedious task of stocking all the food into the pantry and refrigerator. It was satisfying to see the kitchen look full again.
Coincidentally, the brothers returned from training right after she was finished. They filed into the kitchen excitedly, inspecting everything she had bought. In no time, the kitchen was a mess again. Cackle began snacking on three bags of chips and donuts simultaneously, while Desmos, Agno, and Garen grabbed a chicken breast each before leaving. Serenity watched them exasperatedly.
“You guys are going to clean this all up, right?” she groaned. “I just finished organizing everything!”
They ignored her completely, of course.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The last week of school before Thanksgiving break approached. That Monday, school attendance was appreciably minimal. With a break around the corner, students must’ve felt it pointless to attend school. Most teachers didn’t assign much work, but there were some of the teachers who were relentless in their lesson planning. For instance, Mr. Warden, her geography teacher, didn’t hesitate in handing them a fifty-question mandatory study guide to be completed by Wednesday, the day of the exam. This was something she would surely not do. The ‘Z’ she’d receive for it would be overridden after acing the exam—an impromptu exam nobody wanted to take.
Meanwhile, at home, Gunther had returned suddenly from another unknown trip. He spent hours with Desmos, presumably working on the supposed plan to infiltrate the Aurelian residence. Serenity was unsure if they would follow through with this mission; it seemed both far-fetched and unlikely since the Aurelian HQ was supposedly heavily fortified, and the very existence was questionable. Additionally, Gunther didn’t underscore it enough for them to be anticipant.
He did hint that their time in Sequim would be cut even shorter. Ordered by Gunther, Desmos occasionally advised them to be ready for relocation at any given moment. This gave the impression that he knew something they didn’t, which wasn’t uncommon. Secrets constituted the family life since the beginning, herself being the most uninformed.
Back at school, Amara was unaware of the eventuality that she’d be moving soon. Very soon. But Serenity kept it secret, not wanting to upset her in any way.
For herself, Sequim High would undoubtedly be missed. Agno had made himself known to a great portion of the ladies in the school, targeting the upperclassmen but inadvertently attracting many underclassmen. Garen had joined the varsity football team as a linebacker but was kicked out after his first game upon severely injuring a player on the opposing team. Not to mention, missing practices. Cackle spent more time in detention than ever before, due to being caught skipping, vaping (with the e-cigarette he stole), slacking in class, and even fighting. Oddly enough, the more Cackle misbehaved in a school, the more he liked it.
The Macbeth presentation for Mr. Marshall
went smoothly, no thanks to Tony. She had specifically advised him not just to read off the slides, but that was exactly what he did in his drawling voice. Nevertheless, they received an ‘A’ like everybody else who completed the project.
“Well done, you two,” Mr. Marshall applauded. “I hope Tony didn’t give you much trouble, Miss Carlisle.”
Serenity shook her head with a wry smile, while Tony glowered.
“Damn bachelor,” Tony muttered contemptuously, as he slumped back into his seat with a growl.
Serenity ignored him, already accustomed to his antics. Tony couldn’t leave her well alone, unfortunately.
“Yo, I texted you last night,” he said. “Why’d you leave me hanging?”
“I didn’t…?” she said uncaringly. “I mean, did you?”
The night before, she was away from her phone, in the woods hunting in darkness as part of a pointless training exercise. Since childhood, they occasionally performed training exercises under the moonlight; “Assassins need to operate just as effectually in the night than in broad daylight,” was what Gunther had told them. Of course, that entire night, she was shooting blindly into the trees and tripping over rocks and roots. The training concluded at 1:00 AM, and she went right to bed right after taking a bath.
“Whatever. So, what’s your response?” Tony said dismissively.
“What are you talking about?”
“You didn’t see it? I asked you out,” Tony said bluntly.
“No, thanks, sorry,” she replied automatically.
“No, no, not as in a date!” Tony shook his head. “As in an invite! To my party on Wednesday.”
“What party?” she asked blankly. “Is it your birthday?”
“Hell yeah, your boy is turning nineteen,” Tony said proudly, virtually admitting being held back at least a year.
“Again, no thanks,” Serenity repeated. “I don’t go to parties.”
“Oh, come on, don’t be such a dweeb,” Tony scowled. “I’m inviting a mob of people. At my house, which is one of the biggest in town. My parents are out, too. It’ll be fun. You can invite that friend of yours if you want. What’s her name?”
“Who? Amara?” Serenity chortled. “I don’t think she’ll be interested.”
“If she refuses, she’s tripping. I’m sending her an invite personally,” Tony shrugged. “And, to you, too! Don’t reject me now.”
“Look…” Serenity sighed. “I’m not allowed to go to parties.”
“Lame parents, I feel you,” Tony nodded. “Sneak out, then!”
“Definitely not,” Serenity shook her head quickly. Even imagining being caught sneaking out of the house by Desmos or Gunther was painful. She’d be chained in the Dungeon for days, at least.
“Carlisle,” Tony whispered, lowering his voice as Mr. Marshall turned his head in their direction. Presentations were ongoing. “You’re going to have the best time of your life. Bring your friend and pull up!”
Serenity bit her lip in a quandary. She was uncertain of what to decide. Tony was ridiculously insistent on having her attend. Never before had she received a party invitation. Serenity noticed Lindsey, the brunette girl, giving her bitter looks from the other side of the classroom. She had been doing this for quite a while now.
“How do I know this party’s not going to end in a police raid or something?” she asked suspiciously.
“My house is in the middle of damn nowhere, far from town,” Tony assured her. “I ain’t got no neighbors; we’ll be fine.”
“Also, if you’re expecting me to smoke with you or—”
“You don’t have to do any of that shit. Just be there.”
She thought carefully for a moment. Comparable to the situation with Amara’s Thanksgiving dinner invite, the answer was clear: “NO.” Parties were forbidden in the family, especially without consent. Period. And there was absolutely no way on Earth she’d be permitted such a thing.
“I’ll think about it,” she said ultimately, which was exactly the response Amara had received for the Thanksgiving invitation.
“Goddamn it,” Tony face-palmed. “Make sure it’s a ‘yes.’ Text me your answer by tomorrow.”
Serenity was not keen on attending this party. High school parties, although she never attended one, never ended well. From the illegal activities to the overall atmosphere and frivolity, they didn’t appeal to her. On top of it all, the fact that Tony was hosting didn’t mitigate her disinclination. However, if Amara somehow agreed to go with her, there was at least some incentive. Maybe parties weren’t so hostile or unpleasant after all? Despite the uncertainty, the obstacle of obtaining permission still lingered; and most likely, this obstacle would be going nowhere.
As expected, Amara was totally against her accepting the invitation. Anything that involved Tony was an unyielding “no” for her. They discussed the party invitation thoroughly in Chemistry.
“You’re freakin’ crazy!” Amara hissed. “Why didn’t you tell him ‘no’?!”
“It’s not like I told him ‘yes,’” Serenity said reasonably. “Besides, I get why you’re so opposed to it, but how bad can it be?”
“It’s TONY!” Amara enunciated. “He’s a lowlife and a delinquent!”
“I don’t disagree, but—”
“Why are you even considering it?!” Amara asked incredulously.
“He was really insistent on me coming. Like, sincerely. He even invited you to get me to go,” Serenity said.
Amara blinked twice, dumfounded. Mr. Ramos could be heard in the background vehemently lecturing on the biography of Antoine Lavoisier.
“M-me?! He doesn’t even know I exist,” she said scornfully.
“He knows we’re friends; I guess it was considerate of him to invite you too, so I wouldn’t feel like a complete alien.”
“Oh no…” Amara interrupted grimly. “Please, no…”
“Huh?” Serenity said, perplexed.
“He got you…” Amara whispered.
“What are you saying?” Serenity replied, mystified. “You’re—you’re not into him, are you?”
“You’re joking!” Serenity grimaced.
“It’s obvious that he likes you, now you’ve fallen under his spell!” Amara said frantically. “I bet he doesn’t like you! He just wants to—”
“You’re overreacting!”
“Then give me one legitimate reason why you think we should go!” Amara said, completely unconvinced.
It was a simple question; but even after fifteen seconds of thought, no answer popped into her head. Amara was right. There wasn’t any reason to accept the invitation. Doing so would just result in trouble. The accusation regarding her attraction to Tony was preposterous.
“Fine, you’re right,” Serenity said, raising a hand guiltily. “Forget we even talked about it. But something makes me curious; has Tony every done something to you…?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know…you hate him so much, yet you’ve never even spoken to him…” Serenity said skeptically.
“I don’t need to!” Amara snapped. “You know what Tony’s done? You haven’t been in this school long enough.”
“What has he done, then?”
“A bunch of shit!” Amara urged her. “How about rape and assault for starters? Didn’t know about that, did you?”
“Woah,” Serenity recoiled, aghast. “That’s just…how do you know? Shouldn’t he be in jail?”
“They’re just rumors. But everybody knows he did it,” she added, at the doubtful look on her face. “What you’d expect from a womanizer.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me if he did do those things. Look, forget it. Let’s just finish our work.”
Amara wasn’t convinced that she had gotten over it. A frown remained on her face throughout the class period. She had never seen her this upset before. The fire alarm rang mid-period, scaring some students. Most likely a drill, the class rose from their seats and exited the classroom lazily. They lef
t their bags in the classroom. Students from the neighboring classrooms flooded the halls simultaneously, jamming the stairwell. They were to head to their designated zone, which was in the back of the school on the lawn, to wait out the drill.
“I wonder if it’s a real fire,” Amara said, as they descended the stairs slowly. “They usually announce fire drills beforehand in the morning.”
In a matter of minutes, they were all out on the lawn outside of school. Hundreds of them. They waited idly, perceiving the fire drill as time out of class. The teachers looked ill-tempered, irritable at being interrupted in their lesson plans. Mr. Ramos, in particular, was visibly disgruntled.
“Hey!” a voice hollered.
Lindsey and two of her friends approached them. She had the same acid look on her face that was present every time they were in the same room. Serenity strongly had the feeling that Lindsey disliked her for some reason.
“I’ve got some advice for you,” Lindsey said sharply.
“More…?” Serenity asked, referring to the “advice” received in the locker room on her first day.
“Stay away from Tony, you slut,” Lindsey snarled forthrightly.
It was immediate. The “advice” and the escalation of the conversation. Amara, too, felt the sudden shift in tone and reacted in puzzlement.
“Sorry, what?” Serenity asked, taken aback. “What’s your problem?”
“You heard me loud and clear,” Lindsey said disdainfully. “You don’t think I’ve seen you? He’s mine, back off.”
Serenity exchanged looks with Amara to let her know she was just as stunned. Lindsey wasn’t kidding around. Her two friends stood smugly behind her, their arms symmetrically folded, like cloned henchwomen.
“Then go and take him, he’s nothing to me,” Serenity affirmed. “Why come at me like that?”
