Brick's POV

Two hours earlier

They let us out of confinement extra early this morning, so we could get a chance to get familiar with the high school and meet the principal. Her name is Mrs. Keane. I think I remember seeing her around as a kid but i don't know. I don't remember much from my childhood, and i don't want to. When we met her, she gave us our schedules and smiled, not a fake "these boys are juveniles but i still should be polite" smile, but an actual genuine one. The first one I've seen in years, aside from they mayor's. She sat us down and talked to us about the rules, the dress code, college credits, and other normal school stuff i guess. All of which were just noise in my ears as she explained, because my mind was elsewhere.

"You're not still...scared of me are you?"

She never answered me...

"Brick?"

My head snapped up to find Ms. Keane staring at me. "Any questions Brick?" she asked and i scratched the back of my head,

"No, thank you." I say and she smiles again.

"Ok then boys, I'll let you leave now to get ready for school." she says and begins to get up. She escorts us out her office but pauses in the doorway, "I-I know this may be a surprise but ... well I... I'm going to have each of you in all the same classes as your counterparts so they can watch you.". Ms. Keane says quietly. She looks up at us with sad eyes, and I have a feeling this wasn't her choice. She confirms my suspicions only seconds later. "Sorry boys but... these are the school board's orders." It's not like i minded it, i was actually happy as fuck inside, but i guess she thought we would be upset because she quickly added, "It's only until you guys get more...comfortable around the school. It's only for a little while! I-" she stops talking when I put a hand on her shoulder,

"It's alright , we don't mind" I said. She smiles a small smile before nodding and letting us leave the office. The two guards by her doorway nod at us,

"Alright boys, lets head back so you can get ready." They say and walk us down the hall.

Blossom's POV

Present

We land in the busy school parking lot and I look around. Students were everywhere, laughing, talking, goofing off. I find myself hopeful that i spot a red baseball cap while I look around, and try to ignore the feeling of disappointment in my soul when I don't see it. A small, tinkly voice comes ringing from behind us,

"Hi Girls! Hi Bubbles!" I turn around and see Robin, a friend of ours (specifically Bubbles') since kindergarten, running towards us.

"Robinnn!" Bubbles squeals and runs to her, the two embracing in a hug. Robin goes out of Townsville every summer to stay with her dad, so Bubbles doesn't get to see her. The two go off in their own direction and Buttercup turns to me,

"You think we'll see them?" she says, not needing to specify who "them" is, and looks around. I itch my arm, a compulsive nervous habit of mine, and shrug,

"If we do let's hope it's not for anything bad." I say and we both walk up the stairs of the school and enter. There are numerous "hey girls" and "Hey Bloss/ BC" as we walk down the hall, but my mind was so wrapped up in other things that i don't even know if i said hi back. Buttercup whips out her schedule and groans,

"Ugh i got Mrs. Haggard for Analytic Geometry." she says and rolls her eyes, "She hates me." I pull out mine and am about to tell her what I have when a hand plucks it out of mine. I turn and I'm face to face with Ms. Keane, our principal.

"Morning girls!" she says and takes Buttercup's schedule too. A worried look crosses her face as she suddenly starts looking around, "Where's your sister?" she asks. Buttercup and I exchange looks

What did we do? It's the first day of school! Buttercup's voice enters my mind. We developed telepathy as another power long ago, I think at the age of 9?

I don't know! Try and find Bubble's mind will you?

She snorts " Pft. That'll be easy. Her's is the only one filled with rainbows and bunnies."

As Buttercup was preoccupied i turned to Ms. Keane,

"Are we in some sort of trouble?" I ask and her eyes widen,

"Oh heavens no! I just need to talk to you girls about an...arrangement." she says and her eyes shift away.

Hmm.

I hear a woosh at my side and Bubbles was right there next to me,

"I'm sorry I-"

"It's alright we just need to quickly talk about this," she says, "Follow me to my office." Seeing the three most well known girls in Townsville being escorted down the hall on the first day of school caused many baffling looks in our direction. We passed by Robin and she shot me a confused look.

She just needs to talk to us about something, We're not in trouble. Spread the word. I send to her mind and she nods before beginning to whisper to her group of friends. We reach Ms. Keane's office and when she opens the door, i feel my heart speed up. Already sitting in her office were the RowdyRuffs, and next to each of them was an empty seat.

"Sit down girls." she says and i slowly make my way over to the seat next to Brick, carefully avoiding eye contact. Even when i sit down he's still looking at me, and though i try to stop myself, i look at him. I decide than that maybe I should take a quick peek into his mind...for scientific reasons.

Does she still hate me? Should i say hey? He looks down as I cross my legs in order to try and look like I'm paying attention as Ms. Keane starts talking.

I like her skirt. Then he looks back up at me, I like her face even more

I can't help it, I giggle quietly into my hand and look at him. He raises his eyebrows and I quickly look back at Ms. Keane, just in time to catch the end of what she was saying,

"-and so it's been decided you girls must have the same classes as your counterparts this year. For...safety precautions ok? Now let me sign a pass for you guys to head to class." she says and turns around to her desk drawer. I look at the girls and they look back at me. Buttercup looks more pissed than usual and Bubbles was chewing on her fingernails, a nervous habit of hers. Ms. Keane sighs, hands us our late slips, and tells us to have a good day. It all happened so fast, it felt like I was in a daze. I would be having the exact same classes as Brick all year? We get up and exit the office and before I could say bye to the girls, they already disappeared with their boys down different halls, leaving me with Brick.

"Hey." He says, smiling slightly, and looks down at me. I never noticed how tall he was before. He looked about 6"0 ft tall and I was only 5"5! If we got in a fight, it wouldn't be how it was when we were kids...he has an advantage over me now.

"Hi" I say quietly and tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. "Listen I don't want any trouble this year ok just-" but he cuts me off

"Blossom." he says, and his voice makes a shiver go up my spine, "The boys and I...we're gonna try ok? We're not what we used to be.." I look up at him and took in every inch of his face. The red stubble on his chin, the piercing i never noticed he had, and the softness in his eyes.

"Ok. I...trust you." I say and he shakes his head,

"Don't say that. I know you don't mean it yet." he says and I'm at a loss of words for a moment. Because I didn't, i couldn't. They tried to kill me and my sisters but...I...I wanted to mean it. We walk the rest of the way in silence to our classroom and when we reach it, I lift my hand to knock on the door but he stops me. "Wait I wanted to know...what were you laughing at in Ms. Keane's office?" he asks and I grin,

"Let's just say i got some more powers over the years and," I motion for him to lean down, "I like your face too." I whisper in his ear before knocking on the door. As the teacher opens the door, I look back at Brick to see he had pulled his baseball cap down over his flaming red face.