'Now that the truth is just a rule that you can bend, you crack the whip, shape-shift and trick the past again'
-Metric
Two years later
An alarm went off, destroying her hopes to continue sleeping. A blue-haired head peeked under the sheets, reaching out to turn off the deafening noise. Once it stopped ringing, she settled back to sleep, until a loud knock on the door made her jump.
"Wake up, Marie!"
She sighed heavily, kicking the sheets to the side. It was a routine that she had; the alarm go off, she would ignore it, and there will always be someone on the other side to bother her until she really wakes up.
She got out of bed and went straight to the bathroom in her room to relieve her physiological needs. After washing her face, she looked at herself in the mirror, noticing her messy short hair. She growled in annoyance, grabbing a brush and combing her hair down to her usual hairstyle.
She proceeded to apply her makeup; the same blue eyeshadow as always, black eyeliner, mascara, and some lip gloss. She looked at her artwork; she now looked paler than usual with her hazel eyes highlighted just like the caramel colored dots running down her cheeks. As a child she always hated her freckles, but learned to live with them considering she hated applying concealer; too much makeup was not good.
She looked down at the object that resided on the table, along with her personal accessories. A fucking collar that she was forced to wear. She was lucky to be able to choose a completely black model with a small addition that allowed her to attach the buckle she wanted. She put on the choker and frowned: the point of wearing it was to signal that she was an Omega that was still waiting to be marked, but at the same time it prevented any Alpha or Beta from doing so without consent. Anyways, there was almost no difference with a dog collar.
It was shameful to wear it.
Although, that was easily resolved by always wearing turtleneck blouses to cover the choker from sight. This time she opted for a black long-sleeved one that she "modified" herself by ripping the bottom to make it look like a croctop. She put on green cargo pants and black boots, and left the room, meeting her younger sister in the corridor.
"Wow, Marie, you're up now. I thought Mom would have to pour cold water on you like that time." May snorted.
"Zip it," she hit her on the shoulder roughly, causing the blonde to stagger to the side and caress the area of the blow.
They both went down the glamorous stairs to go to the dining room. Before entering, Marie was already greeted by a strong aroma of pancakes. Lee was already devouring what was on her plate; her mother was in front of the stove, cooking more; and her father was sitting at the table, reading the newspaper. The two girls went to sit together and began to eat their breakfast.
Marie wouldn't say it, but ever since the results of her subgenre came to light, she couldn't help but notice quite a few things that differentiated her from her family: May was blonde, like her father, and Lee was a redhead, like her mother; she had distinctive cobalt blue hair, inherited from an earlier generation from her mother's side. Her body was different from that of her sisters; Lee was tall and slender, May despite being the youngest was also taller than her, but not as tall as Lee. Anyway, both had the physique of their mother unlike her, smaller but with wide hips. Do not get her wrong, it is not as if she was saying that she is adopted or the result of some adventure, she discovered that her subgenre came from an aunt on her mother's side, she also had features of her mother and father, freckles and eye color respectively, not to mention their temper, only that all of this, together with the fact that she was an Omega, sometimes made her feel like the Black Sheep of the family. However, she should be grateful; She heard stories that her ancestor lineage had a tendency to drive the scum out of the family, she was lucky that her parents decided against that.
"Marie," her father called. "I can smell cherry chewing gum again. Did you take your suppressors this morning?"
The girl chose to ignore the question, sipping her orange juice. Her silence said it all. Her father hit the table with a fist, making the women jump.
"Don't make me repeat myself."
"I don't like taking pills." The blue haired girl protested.
"So what? Would you prefer taking shots then?" Her father replied, drinking his coffee.
Marie said nothing, just looked away to the side, pursing her lips. May looked at her with pity, while Lee just remained silent. Her mother came up with a plate full of pancakes and placed them in front of her, then stroked her hair.
"You know it's for your own good, honey. Your sister takes hers, why can't you make an effort and take yours too?"
She cast a discreet glance at Lee; she still wasn't saying anything, but she could feel her gaze locked on hers despite her hair hiding her eyes, and she suddenly shook her head slightly in denial. Marie finished eating her breakfast and went to collect her things. Grabbing her backpack, she checked that everything was there, including the small bottle of suppressors. She was ready to go with her sisters until her father stopped her.
"You forgot this," he waved a brown leather jacket in the air.
Marie quickly grabbed it, smiling appreciatively, and walked out the door. She ran to the car where they were already waiting for her inside, pulling on the jacket which was remarkably large on her, falling from her shoulders. Her nostrils were filled immediately with the strong smell of tobacco; that garment belonged to her father, who had given it to her. But that had an ulterior motive that she knew about.
The suppressors, which she is supposed to take, were to hide her pheromones and nothing else. The cherry chewing gum aroma was sweet, something normal for an Omega. But this is largely omitted thanks to the suppressors, and the jacket only added strength to her facade, the collar was just a precaution if the truth is known. Her father didn't want them to know what she really was, being a powerful family, and frankly she thought that way too. In the years before her presentation, she had made quite a few enemies believing she had her subgenre assured, seeing herself superior to others. However, the tables were turned and these people ended up being Alphas or Betas, which made her a perfect target for them. That is why no one should know, in the eyes of others, she could impersonate any of those genre due to her doubtful aroma, even more so with her independent attitude not at all submissive. Oh but how she dreamed that that was her reality.
She felt a slight stir in her vision, as if her surroundings were spinning.
"Marie."
Her older sister's voice caught her attention, and everything returned to normal. She turned to her in the car; she had been staring out the window all this time, sitting in the passenger seat. She did not realize that they were already in the school parking lot.
"What?"
"You brought them, right?" Lee asked from her place in the driver's seat.
She reached into her backpack and pulled out the bottle of suppressors, shaking it to show that there was something inside.
"You know the rules."
Marie rolled her eyes. "I don't have any water."
"May." The redhead nodded towards the younger sister sitting in the back seat.
The blonde quickly passed her a bottle of water. "Don't drink too much," she said as she passed it to her. "I want it to last for at least a period."
The blue-haired girl put the pill in her mouth and with the help of the water, she swallowed the suppressor. She winced at the feel of it sliding down her throat. She handed the bottle back to May and turned to get out of the car, but Lee held her back. She pulled on her arm and pressed her cheeks, forcing her to open her mouth to make sure she indeed had swallowed the suppressor and was not hiding it under her tongue.
She felt like one of those mental inmates in a madhouse.
"Ok, we're ready now."
The three of them got out of the car, walking to the entrance and seeing the number of students who were already present, a great amount of aromas mixing. They scanned the area: the school had an infinity of Betas and only a handful of Alphas and Omegas, but the number of the former was considerably more. It's not like they cared, they didn't really know almost any of them by not hanging out with almost anyone by Lee's own decision, who always dragged her sisters with her. Her excuse? She protected them better that way. But Marie really thought it was to control them better. If something happened to them or if they did something that their father disliked, of course it was she who will bear the blame.
They turned a corner and there they were: the trio of boys who inhabited the neighborhood where they lived. To tell the truth, despite the voluntary decision not to approach anyone, not even they themselves had the initiative to do so, and that was understandable. After all, who would want to get close to those who have teased so much throughout their childhood? Especially if they were daughters of the great Milord Kanker, mayor of Peach Creek. And that group of boys just trusted each other. Although there was an exception and May smiled when she saw him.
"BIG ED!" She exclaimed happily.
A trio of boys turned at the call, specifically the tallest one in a green jacket and red hair with a military cut.
"LITTLE MAY!" He replied with an equally loud voice.
Both standing in opposite directions ran towards each other, finding themselves halfway in a strong hug full of affection and longed for love. May jumped into his arms the moment Ed picked her up and spun her around as she wrapped her legs around his torso.
"Oh, Big Ed, I missed you so much!" May said with tears in her eyes, taking a hand to caress his face. Ed put her back down.
"I missed you too, May! I wanted to call you, but my phone broke and neither Eddy nor Double Dee wanted to lend me theirs!" Ed said, holding her hand in his. "Please forgive me!" He hugged her again.
"Oh, Big Ed!" May smiled, she pulled their foreheads together. "Just promise we won't be apart that long again."
Ed smiled back and wiped away her tears.
"Please, they do this every Monday!" Eddy said irritably.
"Stay out of it!" Shouted the blonde Beta, leaning over her partner to glare at the shorter Ed.
Eddy, the shortest of the trio and with a hairstyle that made three strands of hair stand out in the air, only growled in annoyance, grunting something unintelligible in response. Edd, the height mediator of the three with a black beanie covering his hair except for a few strands that escaped at the back of his neck, smiled apologetically at her before noticing that the sisters were approaching them. He stared at them for a few seconds before properly looking away at the lockers, finding them extremely interesting all of a sudden.
"Hiya boys." Lee greeted.
They returned the greeting out of courtesy, but kept saying nothing more. The thing is, there was quite a bit of discomfort between the four of them. Ever since Ed and May are together, both groups were forced to interact, and the tension between Eddy and Lee was quite palpable, so the slightest provocation could unleash them, which it's why it was better to keep quiet. There was history between them, something neither of them wanted to talk about. As for Marie and Edd, neither of them exchanged words for no reason.
They turned to the couple and the quadruple disgust was noticeable when they saw that they were now practically making out in the middle of the hall.
"We'd like to leave anytime now!" Eddy demanded.
Ed broke away for a moment to give his friend a low growl and an annoyed look before turning to May. This made Eddy recoil offended; Edd snorted in amusement; Lee was stoic, and Marie tried to keep the same mask as her sister, but inside she just wanted to get out of there. Ed had spread his pheromones to overshadow those of the others present in his angry moment.
"Look at him, he's rebelling against us, Double Dee." he complained.
"Does it bother you that your faithful pet doesn't follow your orders?" Lee spoke in a mocking tone.
This time, Eddy turned to face her, growling and raising his own pheromones, but Lee didn't remove that slight smile from his face, nor did he back away. A battle of gazes reigned, imaginary sparks of the same level jumping, waiting for one to make a move or retreat. Edd watched Marie, perhaps hoping that she too would react in some way, but no. She just frowned, crossing her arms to sneak a hand up to her face and thus cover her nose as she felt the light dizziness from before again. They were both alphas, just like Big Ed, using their scent to exert dominance and respect over others, especially now that they faced each other. The scent of freshly cut grass of her sister struggling to outshine Eddy's peculiar gasoline scent did nothing but unsettle her. She was about to speak for Lee, but Edd beat her to it.
"Please," Edd walked over and grabbed his friend by the shoulder, pulling him away from the older Kanker. "You know that these confrontations are prohibited on school property, you will only get detention if you continue like this." He spoke calmly. "And Ed can do whatever he pleases, we're not his bosses. In addition, it's his partner, we must not intervene."
"Speak for yourselves, I didn't do anything." Lee scoffed. "Let's go, Marie. May will catch up with us later."
Willing to make their way to their lockers, the remaining Kankers went down the hall. The blue-haired girl couldn't help but feel a gaze fixed on her, but when she turned to look, the students there would be busy with any other activity, until her eyes fell on Edd, who locked eyes with her for a second before turning back to his friend.
How curious.
Leaving aside the questions that moment brought, she returned her gaze to the front. He was looking at her too much.