Disclaimer: Any and all characters and settings that are recognizable belong to their respective owners. My Candy Love is the property of Beemoov and ChinoMiko. OCs like Kailina, the plot and other settings belong to me.
It's finally time... The brunette stared at the sign intended to welcome students and staff in its doors. Sweet Amoris High...
Truthfully, her move here had been a stroke of luck on her part. Whilst her aunt had preferred her to relocate more closer to her, Kailina Xander had always harboured a grudge on the man named Matthew Knightson; a prominent lawyer with two children who currently attended the establishment she was standing outside. People were milling about yet Kailina scantly paid attention to them. She was just glad that she was getting closer to the man who had been the one responsible for her father's prison sentence.
Her fists clenched. One day, Matthew... One day, I'll ruin your life as surely as you've ruined mine...
"Kailina Hart, right?" The elderly woman smiled at her. "How nice it is to meet you! I'm Mrs. Shermansy, the principal of this school!"
Kailina nodded and bowed slightly. "It's nice to meet you."
Principal Shermansky smiled wider. "Well, you should make your way to the Student Council Room; Nathaniel should have all your preliminaries ready. I hope you enjoy your time here!"
Kailina smiled and nodded once again yet had been quick to do so; the Principal left her in the middle of the hallway in order to attend to some other matter. Repressing a sigh, Kailina blended in with the rest of the group of students currently making their way to various destinations; her eyes roaming over each sign on the doors she passed.
Eventually, she found the Student Council Room and moved out of the path of a gaggle of girls currently preoccupied with checking out "that hot military-style guy." She considered knocking yet noticed that the door was slightly ajar, revealing the form of a blond currently engrossed in searching for something.
She had internally reacted to the news of the Knightson male being the Student Council President, of course. She resisted the urge to show her anger on her face and, instead, settled for a neutral expression. No need for him to know how much it hurt her to face her target's son.
So, she entered the room and called his name. He turned around and she noticed his golden-coloured eyes. He might have been Matthew's son, but didn't take after him in the looks department.
With a smile, he addressed her. "Yes? How may I help you?"
Kailina swallowed back her repulsion. "I'm Kailina Hart, the new student."
His eyes brightened. "Oh, yes. I've been expecting you. I just need to finalise some things and then you'll be officially enrolled."
She put on a smile. "Okay. So, what do I need?"
Nathaniel looked to the side. "Well, you'd need to pay a $25 enrolment fee and you'd need to get a picture taken at the Dollar Store for your student I.D."
She repressed a sigh again. "Okay, I'll have to get the money back from my apartment, is that okay?"
He grinned. "Sure, just come back here once you're done."
Kailina smiled and thanked him, but made sure to not lower her guard. He was that man's son: the enemy. And yet, as she left, she couldn't help but think about how handsome she found him.
She had just left the building before a voice had halted her. "So, what reason do you have for moving here?"
She turned her head to regard said figure. With red hair, a nonchalant look on his face and a outfit complimenting his love for rock, he screamed delinquent. Yet, that didn't faze Kailina; as long as she wasn't discovered as being Piero Xander's daughter, she'd make sure to stay in everyone's good graces. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
The boy smirked and placed a hand on his hip. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Everyone's got one; tragic past, running from the law, orphan who's been shunted from town to town to this dump here."
Kailina ignored the majority of his words. "This place doesn't look like a dump."
He scoffed. "Yeah, because you haven't been here long enough; a couple of days from now, you'd get bored of this place."
"I'm sure you're only speaking for yourself." After all, Kailina had a mission to complete. "But, I appreciate the gesture. I'm Kailina."
His half-smile remained. "Pleasure; you still need a photo? Go to the Dollar Store. It's about a 5-minute walk. Louis will get it all sorted." Apparently, that was it for his welcome as he moved towards the inside of the school.
Kailina resisted calling him back. There was a part of her that had yearned for company. Yet, it would not have been prudent for her to carry on talking with the redhead; she'd told herself she'd get through this alone.
She made her way to the Dollar Store, focusing on one thing the whole way there.
For whatever reason – which had nothing to do with a certain brunette he had just met – Castiel found himself making his way to English class.
As he seated himself, his good friend Lysander leant towards him and whispered, "I thought you promised yourself you weren't going to come back to Mrs. Partridge's class."
Castiel refrained from rolling his eyes. "Look, Lys, I'm in a good mood right now. Don't ruin it for me."
Lysander smiled softly and got out his stationary from his bag just as Mrs. Partridge began her lesson. "Well, now that everyone is here, let's begin the lesson. Evelyn is a novel-"
Castiel actually rolled his eyes this time. "Lys, my good mood's gone."
Lysander sighed good-naturedly. "Which is why I was surprised – why did you come?"
Castiel hesitated in saying anything that would answer the question. Wouldn't it seem shallow of him to be so accommodating because of a girl? A girl, no less, he'd only known for 2 minutes...? "Well, Lys, I met this girl-"
"What girl? Is she new? What's her name? What does she look like?"
Castiel almost sighed at the words. Peggy Smith, expert in snooping. He turned his head to regard her and saw no shame in her beady eyes. "Sheesh, what is with you and listening in to people's conversations?"
Peggy was unaffected. "That's how I get the latest scoops!"
Castiel shook his head as the teacher resumed her lecture, seemingly unaware that not all her students were listening. "You'll meet her sometime, anyway. Maybe in the halls or something, so stop nagging me about it."
"Psh. Do you really think I want to be the last one in the know?!"
"Well, too bad for you. I'm-"
"Castiel, Peggy! Do pay more attention in class or else I'd have to take drastic measures." Mrs. Partridge looked just like the principal with her murderous glare and dishevelled hair. The two immediately stopped paying attention to each other to regard the usually-meek English teacher. She exhaled before starting again. "Good, now, let me resume from my previous train of thought. So, the character Celestia-"
"Is she pretty?"
"Shut up, Peggy."
Kailina made her way through the halls. Another encounter with Nathaniel meant that she had conflicting feelings to sort out. His generosity and easy-going smile completely contrasted with the family from which he came from. A part of her softened at the thought; she honestly shouldn't judge him because of his father's job. Her inner conscience, however, did not agree with that train of thought. He's a Knightson and that's all there is to it. She stopped walking when she heard a couple of voices further down the hall.
"Charlotte, you look fine. I don't see why you're-"
"Because it's Nick; it's not just anyone, Amber."
"Urgh, fine, Nick'll love it. Now, let's go. I want to see Castiel!"
"Okay, okay."
A group of three girls exited the women's toilets and made their way past Kailina. The blonde of the pack shot Kailina a cursory glance before exiting the building.
Kailina raised an eyebrow. Were those three allowed to miss class? And what was the deal with the blonde?
"It's nice for us to meet up like this every now and then."
The quartet of girls was currently seated behind one of the tables outside Cafe Bluebird. Kailina had been exploring as much of the town as she could and planned to familiarise herself with all the attractions and services that Sweet Amoris had to offer. She'd hardly been pondering the likelihood that she would meet some fellow classmates out and about as well.
The green-eyed girl was the first to turn and regard Kailina. "Hey, new girl, you busy? I want to introduce you to some friends!"
Kailina almost hesitated at that. Her sole purpose had been to get as close to Nathaniel as possible – without him discovering her true identity – in order to gain some sort of victory over Matthew Knightson. Friends hadn't really been on the agenda. Nevertheless, she moved towards the group of girls, who had resumed chatting but were stealing a couple of glances towards the obvious 'outsider' of the group.
"So, you're here. I'm Kim; this is Rosalya, Melody and Violette." The green-eyed girl had gestured to each of the girls as they had been introduced. Melody and Violette had nodded their heads in welcome and Rosalya had placed a big grin on her face.
"So, you're Katrina, right? I'd heard some girls chatting about you."
Kailina had to smile at that. "It's Kailina. And, it's nice to meet you all. Is this your usual hangout?"
Kim waved a hand at that. "Yeah, I suppose. Only when we can meet up, though; there are usually other things that need to be done, so we don't meet up that often."
"How are you enjoying your time at Sweet Amoris?" It was Melody who spoke this time. Her smile was genial and she'd folded her hands on top of each other, looking every bit as professional as her role as class representative required.
Kailina smiled and nodded as she seated herself beside Violette. "It's nice. The place is similar to Meadowvale, in many ways."
Violette lifted her head to regard Kailina with an expression of satisfaction. "So, you're from Meadowvale. Have you lived there all your life?"
The brunette nodded again. "Yes, I've never actually travelled much in that regard. Although, there are times-"
The buzzing of her phone alerted her and she stopped talking as she stared at the screen. The caller ID was blocked and she'd automatically assumed the worst. What if someone knew of her plan for revenge? But, she halted that train of thought and silently excused herself from the table as she moved to answer the phone, but away from the prying eyes of her new acquaintances. "Hello?"
"Kailina, it's me."
She almost gasped at the sound of his voice. It was her father, Piero Xander, still sitting in a rotten cell. "Dad..."
"I got this opportunity to talk to you. How are you doing?"
She smiled, albeit reticently. "I'm fine, Dad. I... I miss you."
He sighed softly. "I miss you more, I'm sure. I still have some time to s-"
She gritted her teeth at his unspoken word. "It's not your time to serve, Dad!"
"Kailina, please..." She suppressed the urge to say any more on the matter; her father sounded disapproving of her outburst and she noted a couple look her way. "Just don't get yourself in trouble and promise that you'll meet me sometime."
"I promise, Dad." Then, tacked on as a reason for her actions, she continued. "I love you, Dad."
An hour or two must have passed with the girls getting together and conversing about various subjects. The sky had gradually darkened and Kailina found herself taking a separate route from the rest of the girls. Unfortunately, they all lived on the other side of the neighbourhood. Yet, despite this, Kailina made the most of her walk; her eyes still absorbing the sight of her new home.
She had almost completed her journey when a hand grabbed her arm. "Hey, what-?"
"Don't say a word."
Her eyes widened as she ceased struggling. Why was he manhandling her...?
Author's Note: Hello, my fellow Candies and Sucrettes. So, I've been playing My Candy Love for a while now, yet had all these ideas running around in my head. I've only been brave enough to write about them now, though... .;;
Please read and review, and give constructive criticism if you have any, haha!
Much love! xx