Author's Note: Edgar is only a year older than Lydia here and Lydia is still seventeen.

WARNING: Alternate Universe and (very) OOC: don't complain how Edgar isn't like this or that or how Lydia or whoever else isn't like this or that either. You have been warned.

DISCLAIMER: I do not and will not own Hakushaku to Yousei.

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Chapter One: Lydia and Her Lotus Elise

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A russet-haired teenager jumped out of her grey Lotus Elise and slammed the car door shut. "Edgar!" she shouted at the blonde person waiting for her at the foot of the steps that led to the school building: Yousei Academy—a prestigious private high school for those of high class. This girl was Lydia Carlton, seventeen years of age, a junior. "Can you please stop doing this everyday?" she asked, annoyance obvious in her tone. She was referring to what Edgar had been doing since she got her driver's license about a week ago.

She was so happy when she was finally able to drive. But that happiness quickly disappeared the following day, when she was ready to drive her new car and headed off to school. When she was driving to school, she saw that four black cars were "keeping track" of her; two of those black cars were driving in front of her and the other two were behind her, acting as guards. Much to her dismay, they've been doing the same thing every single time she tried to drive on her own: both on the way to school and back home. And it was all because Edgar Ashenbert ordered them to do so.

Edgar Ashenbert was eighteen years old, a senior who went to the same school as her and supposedly fancied her. The teenager with golden hair and mauve eyes stood tall in front of her with his school uniform on was Edgar Ashenbert. He also happened to be the next successor of the largest and most prosperous company in England: Prince Incorporated.

"Lydia, my fairy," he said with utmost joy and held his arms open wide for an embrace, ignoring Lydia's complaint.

Instead of giving him his awaited hug, Lydia just stood in front of him with a look of aggravation and annoyance on her face. Her hands were placed on her hips as she looked at Edgar sternly.

He placed his arms down when it was crystal clear that Lydia wasn't going to hug him any time soon. He walked closer to her and said, "Come on, Lydia. You know that I'm doing this because I love you."

She ignored him and walked past him, going up the steps and heading to class. "You love every girl, Edgar," she muttered to herself.

"Lydia, my fairy!" he called out and followed her. But unfortunately for him, he was he was still being ignored.

"Good morning, Nico," she greeted her best friend, still acting as if Edgar was invisible.

Nico was only a few months younger than Lydia. They've been playmates since they were kids. Nico was a rather short fellow, but wasn't ugly at all. He always said that he's short only because his growth spurt hasn't kicked in yet. He had silver hair and a pair of warm, light green eyes which were similar to Lydia's eyes. Nico disliked being treated like a child and preferred being treated as the gentleman that he was.

They walked to class together, hearing Edgar yell "Lydia!" while being flocked with girls of all the high school grade levels: from freshmen to seniors. This wasn't anything unusual to the school. After all, Edgar was kind, good-looking, smart, athletic, richer than most—if not all—of the students there, and most of all, Edgar was flirtatious. Very flirtatious. Of course, it wouldn't be a surprise for him to have so many fan girls.

Lydia let out a heavy sigh.

"What did he do now?" Nico asked as they continued to make their way to class.

"Still the car thing," Lydia answered. "What's the point of having a driver's license if I can't even go and drive around by myself?" She sighed again.

They went inside the classroom and took their seats. Of course, they sat next to each other, Lydia all the way on the left side of the classroom next to the window and Nico to her right. The person who sat in front of Lydia was Marigold, a close friend of both Lydia and Nico. Their first period teacher was absent, like usual, so they had a free period again. The class didn't really mind since the subject that he taught was just about myths and legends and whatnot, and the class could care less about those things.

"Good morning guys," a girl with medium, blond hair in low pigtails greeted.

"Good morning, Marigold," Nico and Lydia replied in unison.

Lydia stared out the window and sighed once again. An idea then came to mind. A wide grin was plastered on her face and she turned to face her two friends. "What do you guys think about hanging out tonight?"

"Eh?" her two friends looked at her wide-eyed and with disbelief.

"Tonight? Why tonight? We could go tomorrow morning or something, you know, since it's Saturday tomorrow and all," Marigold said in her soft voice. "And why is it that I have a feeling that you're planning on going somewhere wild and that you're planning on going without any body guards or whatsoever..."

Shoot, Lydia thought. This girl knows me too much... She looked at Marigold. "Come on," Lydia pleaded. "This could be like, the only time that I can drive on my own and feel free and get a taste of life and being a teenager, you know? If we hang out during day time then surely Edgar's little pawns will be following us around again, but it it's tonight, then we won't have a problem. Besides, it's Friday, so we can stay up as late as we want."

"No!" Nico blurted out. "What if we get in trouble? We're only seventeen, in case you forgot," he said with sarcasm. "Who knows what could happen."

"Nico, you get to dress up however you want and show all the people there how great you are," the russet-haired girl said in a sing-song voice. She knew how much Nico enjoyed being complimented and how he loved to dress up for different occassions to look all nice and everything. "My car isn't that expensive anyway; it's just a Lotus Elise. No one would think that we're rich kids or whatever," she assured.

Nico's green eyes twinkled. "I'm in." He grinned.

"I guess that if Nico is going and if you really want to go, then I'll come along too," Marigold said and smiled sweetly. "It sounds like fun."

Silence.

"...Um, can I bring Sweetpea?"

Both Lydia and Nico's faces paled. "No!" they shouted immediately. Sweetpea was Marigold's cousin. She was in the same grade as the three of them and went to Yousei Academy as well, but was in a different class. She was alright as a whole person. It was just that sometimes Sweetpea could be such a... Bitch. Sometimes people wondered why she was named "Sweetpea" when she wasn't sweet at all.

"Sorry Marigold," Lydia said. "But it's decided. I'll call you guys tonight when I get to your houses to pick you guys up. You can sleep over at my house if you want."

"One more question though, Lydia," Marigold said.

"What is it?"

"Where exactly are we going?"

Lydia's lips curved into a smile. "You'll see..."

***

There were no more classes for the day. Students flooded the corridors rushing to get the hell out of school to get on with their lives or went to their respective clubs.

Yousei Academy really was a school that had a lot—and I mean A LOT—of money to waste. Aside from normal classes like the sciences, world history, and mathematics, Yousei Academy also had 'classes' like flower arrangement for girls, fencing for boys, and ballroom dancing and proper etiquette for both boys and girls.

No, the academy wasn't sexist or anything of the sort. Girls could take fencing classes if they wanted to, but it was mandatory for boys to take fencing classes. The same thing goes for guys if they wanted to learn things like flower arrangement, etc.

Aside from the special classes, they also had clubs that normal high schools didn't have. Some of those clubs were the Fashion Club which received new designer clothes, shoes, and accessories every week, the Host Club which constantly pestered Edgar to join it but he refused every single time, the Foreign Countries Clubs (such as Japan Club, France Club, Argentina Club) which was for those who wanted to know more about other countries and often had trips to those countries via plane or private jet, and other clubs that any normal person would be amazed at.

At the moment, Lydia and Nico were walking together to the Fashion Club since it what they were both interested in; it was more like a hobby for Lydia whereas it was like a passion for Nico. Maybe it's because of how fond he is of dressing himself up. Sometimes he thinks of helping others by helping them stop wearing hideous clothes and saves them from embarrassment. Marigold was part of a club that was probably common in most high schools: the Gardening Club. She just loved growing plants and flowers so much that she even joined the Gardening Club when she first heard about it.

"Lydia, Nico, would you care to see the new things that we've received for the week?" Ms. Smith, the Fashion Club adviser, asked.

Nico smiled toothily and nodded his head with excitement. "Yes!"

Lydia chuckled at his actions and tagged along behind him. Nico really loves to be around these kind of things, huh, she thought.

When they arrived at the "Closet" which was a huge room with all the clothes, shoes, and accessories, Lydia became awed by the sight of the new brand name clothes as well. They were adorable.

"Lydia, what kind of clothes am I supposed to wear tonight for wherever we're going?" Nico asked, barely keeping his excitement in. His eyes darted back and forth from the men's clothing to the shoes. How he wanted to go and grab them all and try them on—especially the ones that made him like a more sophisticated person and a gentleman.

"Let's see... Casual but flaunting and sophisticated at the same time," Lydia answered and turned to Nico, but he was already gone and had disappeared within the mass of clothes, looking for the perfect outfit to wear. They were allowed to take anything that they wanted but had to let the club adviser know. She always just smiled and nodded, so that was a good thing for the Fashion Club members.

Lydia browsed the expensive clothes and ended up taking a casual, spaghetti-strap, midnight blue party dress which reached just above her knees and had a intricate design that she adored. She picked two-inch, open toe high heels of the same color. She took something for Marigold as well; a white tank top and a ruffled, medium-length, light blue skirt and a dark blue jean jacket. She also picked out leather, white string sandals with low heels because she knew that Marigold absolutely hated wearing high heels since she always tripped and fell over whenever she wore them. She picked out a few accessories here and there, but she didn't think they were that important.

As for Nico... He didn't want to tell what he was going to wear: he wanted them to see what he was wearing tonight instead.

***

"Bye, Dad!" Lydia said just before she ran out the house in her dress. She heard Professor Carlton yell "Have fun! Don't stay out too late!"

Oh, I'll have fun alright, she thought and hopped into her car. She couldn't wait to just go and have fun already. School has been boring and the same as usual. Lydia needed a little excitement in her life at least once in a while. She practically sped on the way to Marigold's house. On a side note, Marigold looked really cute in the outfit that Lydia picked out for her, and her eyes were brought out a bit more than usual.

When they got to Nico's house, the guard immediately opened the gates for Lydia once seeing her familiar face. She honked, meaning for Nico to hurry up and come out already. She called him a couple of minutes before she got there, so he should be ready already. Within a few seconds, out came Nico in his glory.

He really did know what clothes to wear. His clothes were simple, yet he looked exactly how he wanted: "sophisticated and flaunting, yet casual," like Lydia told him to dress. If he were taller, then he'd definitely be hot. He wore a white gold chain necklace, a black shirt with a skull on it, boot cut faded jeans, and black and white shoes. His hair was messy yet he looked . . . amazing.

"Look at you," Lydia teased when he climbed in the backseat of the car.

Nico simply grinned at her, "Aren't I great?"

"Like always," Lydia admitted.

"Yeah," Marigold agreed.

Soon enough, they were off again. Only Lydia knew who-knows-where they were headed.

***

Lydia parked the car and got out. "We're here." Nico and Marigold came out of the car and gaped at the place.

"A night club?"

"Uhm, yeah," Lydia laughed nervously. "Well, we're here anyway, and it's not like we're going to drink, so let's go!" She dragged her two friends with her cheerfully. She was just happy that she was somewhere knowing that Edgar wasn't watching her every move. It felt good.

"Uwah! It looks great in here!" the blond girl with pigtails exclaimed after entering the place.

The music boomed loudly, and people were chatting and dancing the night away. Most of the people there were their age as well, in their early twenties tops.

"I'll see you guys later," Nico said with a huge grin. He already had two girls on either side of him, and they weren't bad-looking at all. They just arrived at the place and look at that, Nico was already well-liked. It can't be helped now, can it?

Marigold ran off to the dance floor with much vigor and excitement. Lydia chuckled at how both of her friends were. She took a seat near the bar-like place. "Let me get a drink, please," she said to the bartender.

"What kind?"

Lydia shrugged. "Just any soda, I guess."

"And a glass of mojito for me," a masculine voice came. It sounded so . . . velvety. And arousing. And just so damn hot . . .

The girl turned to see the source of the voice. Much to her surprise, the guy who took a seat beside her was hot. He had a tan complexion and had raven hair.

"What?" he raised an eyebrow, his dark green eyes staring down at her.

Author's Note: Yes, another story. How was it? Hope you guys enjoyed it. :D I'll try to update "Flowers" soon! Sorry... Well, that's it for now.

Review please! Flames are highly accepted.

Ja,

Aimee.