The next day was different. Sabrina walked into the kitchen to see her father glaring at the newspaper, like usual. The odd part was that her mother was also glowering at the paper like it had personally offended her.
Sabrina's mother was a nice lady. She was always helping others; she loved her family, and was an active part of her daughter's lives, for the most part. She was in wonderful shape at thirty-five, due to the fact she exercised every day, a habit she had formed while she was a cheerleader. She was a minister's daughter, and tended to be overly religious, which was her only downfall, in Sabrina's opinion.
It was a bit weird that a woman like Cathy would look at a guy like Alex, let alone marry him. Alex was an overweight bum who took no notice in his children except when discipline was needed, and drank with his buddies every moment he wasn't drinking by himself.
So when level-headed Cathy was glaring at something like it had just eaten her first-born child, you knew something was wrong.
Lexi, who had been walking behind Sabrina, pushed through the doorway, knocking Sabrina into the wooden door frame.
"Mom, are you okay?" Lexi asked in a sickly sweet voice.
Lexi was the baby of the family, the one who could do no wrong. When she and Sabrina were younger, they had been best friends, always by each other, until high school happened. All of a sudden, Sabrina's sweet little sister decided she wanted to be a cheerleader, which meant they couldn't hang out as much as before, because she had practice. Sabrina had understood she was busy as well; she had just joined the school band.
Then Lexi didn't want to sit with her at lunch. Then Lexi started ignoring her at school. Then she started whispering rumors about Sabrina that spread like wildfire throughout the school. Then the bullying began in earnest at school, and that quickly made its way home. Lexi started feeding their parents lies, talking about the horrible things Sabrina supposedly did.
"Look at the paper!" Cathy shouted, an accusing finger pointed at the paper. A glare was fixed into her eyes that Sabrina had never seen her mom wear.
Their dad handed the paper to Sabrina, a natural glower set on his face.
Lexi yanked the paper out of Sabrina's hands. Sabrina pushed Lexi to the side so they could both see what it was; ignoring the dirty look Lexi shot her.
"Country-Wide Analysis to Start"
'Early Friday morning Alfred Jones, America's personification, officially announced the nation wide search for the ten teenagers who will have the option of becoming a country, if they so choose. All people aged fifteen through eighteen will be analyzed, and if they are selected, will be contacted through the mail. If an individual does not respond within three days, a representative of Jones' will be sent to get him or her.'
"Oh," Sabrina said, trying to think of something to say that would diffuse the tension in the room.
"Oh is right! I was hoping that this was a joke!" Cathy shrieked hysteria in her eyes. Alex stood and held his wife.
"Go to school," he said, his voice sounding around the kitchen. Lexi walked out of the room, rolling her eyes. Sabrina grabbed a granola bar for breakfast and ran up the stairs to her room to retrieve her backpack.
Sabrina walked down the street to the bus stop. She was the only one there; Lexi always got a ride from one of her friends. She shoved her headphones in her ears and turned up the volume as high as it could go. Super Junior songs always made her feel better. The bus soon came. Unfortunately, there were no open seats, so she had to sit next to a pervy-looking kid, a judgment that was confirmed when he tried to look down her shirt.
When she got to school, Sabrina smiled for the first time that day. School always made her feel better, oddly enough, despite the fact that Lexi and the rest of her tormentors were there. Her friends were there, and so was her boyfriend.
Carter was Sabrina's boyfriend, and the star football player. The super popular football player falling for the band nerd may seem like something from an ABC after-school special, but for them, it wasn't. Sabrina and Carter had been dating for a year, despite the dubious start to their relation ship. During pregame at one of the football games, as Sabrina and the rest of the band was marching off the field, Carter was pushed by one of his friends. That joking push had disastrous consequences, however, when he fell into Sabrina, knocking her to the ground.
"You asshole!" Sabrina had shrieked, "You broke my reed!"
If you remember anything from this story, remember this. If you ever encounter someone who plays a woodwind instrument, don't break their reed. It is what makes the instrument work, and if you so much as chip it, you will be wished to the seventh circle of hell, to burn there for all eternity. *
Needless to say, Sabrina had hated Carter, and he had hated her, until one fateful day when their English teacher had gotten so fed up with their bickering that he cast them as Romeo and Juliet in the school play. Kissing on stage had warmed them up to each other, and a relationship was born, one that had been going a year strong.
Sabrina walked up the stairs, heading toward the small section of one of the hallways that was dubbed "The Band Hallway." It was where the choir and band rooms resided, along with the practice rooms, lockers for storing smaller instruments, and the closet where the larger instruments were stored. Most band kids hung out there, in the morning, after school, whenever they had time. Sabrina and her friends sat around the bend in the hallway, underneath trophy cases that were full to the brim, due to the school's exceptional music program.
"Sabrina!" a high pitched voice squealed. Sabrina braced her self for impact as a tiny body collided with hers. Sabrina looked down to see her friend Lily attached to her.
"Hey Sabribri," a familiar voice said.
She smiled and turned around, "Hi Carter!"
A collective sigh came from her friends. They had never liked Carter or Lexi, going at lengths to keep Sabrina away from them. Apparently it hadn't worked this morning.
Sabrina shot a look at her friends, momentarily ignoring lexi, who was clacking her way down the hall in her high heels. She was surprised to see that Lily had dyed her hair a rich brown, an abrupt change from her usual fire-enging red color. Despite the hair change, Lily still wore her contacts, something she had done from freshman year. One contact was purple and the other was red, accentuating the gothic style of her black skinny jeans, red checkered shirt, and combat boots lace up to her knees. She didn't exactly look like your typical flute player, but she was one, and first chair at that.
Tenshi looked like a fallen angel. She had been dying her thick hair bleach blonde since eighth grade, and had started using blue contacts in seventh. She had met Sabrina at band camp the summer before freshman year. They both played clarinet, and had been placed next to each other. The first thing Tenshi had said to Sabrina was also the first piece of advice she had given her.
"Never get your lip pierced the day before band camp," she had said.
Tenshi had since added two nose rings, a belly button piercing, and six ear piercings to her daily jewelry.
Tenshi's boyfriend Dray stood behind Tenshi, resting his head on hers, wrapping his arms protectively around her waist. He was the drum major, but during concert band he played trombone. He had red hair that fell into his eyes, and had gotten snake bites when Tenshi got her last nose piercing.
Lexi was wearing a miniskirt that slid up and down the tops of her thighs as she expertly walked down the hall in her heels. She had a lacy shirt on that hardly concealed anything from anyone who cared to look, which, judging by the stare of the guys she passed by, a lot of people cared to look.
Carter had his white, black, and yellow away game jersey on, which Sabrina thought he looked absolutely delicious in. His blonde hair fell into his brown eyes.
As Lexi neared, he reached out and wrapped her in his arms, a little too long for Sabrina's liking.
"Lexi, darling, what brings you here on this fine morning?" Tenshi said in a sweet voice, anger evident in her posture and eyes.
"None of your business, freaks. See you, Carter," Lexi said in a hard voice, flipping around and stalking back down the hallway. As she and her friends giggled, Carter turned to follow Lexi.
"Carter, where are you going?" Lexi asked.
"I'll be back!" he called over his shoulder.
Sabrina didn't know why, but she thought she felt a weight lift from her chest as she saw Carter walk away.
A few minutes later, the bell range, and the hall became crowded with people pushing toward their first classes.
Tenshi hugged Sabrina tightly. "Don't worry! I can share Dray with you! Right Dray?"
Dray didn't say anything from his position against the wall, he simply smiled.
* This is true. I play clarinet, I would know.
Beta's Note- Sorry this took me so long! My work ethic is crap, and I was working on my own Hetalia fanfiction! I won't pimp myself out here, but if you wanna check it out... I'd be totally okay with that!
As always, this was written by the lovely Luna Black, and edited by myself, so any mistakes are my fault, feel free to point them out! Please review, favorite and come back for more!