"We learn not in the school, but in life" — Seneca

"Should I wear this sweater or this cardigan with this shirt?"

"I like the cardigan with the shirt, plus it's a little warmer outside today." Brooke said nonchalantly as she looked through her closet.

Abigail sighed. "Brooke, you didn't even look to see what I'm showing you!"

Brooke rolled her eyes and laughed. "I don't need to; your holding up a bazaar oversized sweater and a simple cardigan with a tank top. And let me guess, you're going to wear them with leggings or jeans with boots or toms?"

Damn, she's good. "Am I that predictable?"

Brooke turned around and smiled at her best friend through the webcam. "No, I just know you, maybe more than I should."

Brooke stared dreamily as Abigail laughed and continued her morning routine. Her smile is just so….pretty.

"Can you believe it Boo? We're finally in High School!" Abigail said excitingly.

Brooke snapped out of her gaze. "Yeah, I can't believe it."

"What classes do we have together again?"

Brooke walked over to her bed and searched through her bag for her schedule. "We have chorus and lunch together."

Abigail groaned. "Why couldn't we have the same free period together? Who the hell am I suppose to hang out with?"

Brooke sucked her teeth. "PLEASE, you are Abby the Social Butterfly; you'll find someone to talk to."

"Easier said than done. So what are you wearing today?"

Brooke runs to her closet and bits her lips as she ponders. "These jeans, this plaid shirt, my navy blue cardigan with the patched elbows, and these Sperry's."

Abigail smiles. I swear, Brooke is the only girl I know who can pull of a Tom Boy outfit and still look…..sexy. "I love it. It's absolutely you."

"Thank you." Brooke says as she blushes.

"ABIGAIL, IF YOU DON'T HURRY UP I'M GOING TO LEAVE YOU!"

"So, I'll meet you by the flag pole?"

Abigail chuckles. "Yeah, by the flag pole."

Beep Beep Beep!

"Ugh, Amber shut that thing up!"

"You do it, it's closer to you!"

"Yeah, but it's your alarm!"

The room door opened and someone walked in. "You two bicker more than an old married couple, Jesus!" Unique walked over to the alarm and turned it off. "I don't see why you two couldn't just sleep at the dorms last night; you wouldn't have to get up so early."

"First day of school just isn't the same without your FABULOUS mother." Amberlyn said as she stretched.

"Yeah, when you're six." Aaralyn mumbled as she sunk lower under the covers.

Unique snatched the cover off her bed. "Uh no, get up Aara. You guys decided to sleep at home last night and I'm just fine with that, but you HAVE to get to school on time."

"I'm wishing on a star, to find out where you are."

"And there goes your wakeup call from Lise." Unique said with a smile as she picked up the phone and answered the webcam call. "Good morning Diva."

"Good morning beautiful aunty." Annalise answered. Even though Unique wasn't her biological aunt, the bond they shared said otherwise.

"Here's Aara." Unique said as she passed the phone to her daughter.

"Good morning my love, might I ask where Jade is?"

"Jade's is in the powder room getting ready. Where is twin #2?"

Amberlyn jumped onto her sister's bed. "Right here."

"Hello sweets. I still can't believe you guys got to sleep at home last night. How did you get Ms. Matthews to agree to that?"

Aaralyn laughed. "A few fake tears on Amber's part and a bullshit explanation from yours truly will pretty much do for Matthews. She may come off as a pitbull, but she's a cute little yorkie at heart."

Annalise smirked as she turned around to look at the clock. "Oh my Fendi, Aara we need to get ready like now!"

Aaralyn looked at the time on her phone. 6:30am, shit. "You're right. Meet at the café?"

"Of course! You know Jade's got to have her coffee in the morning. The last thing I need is her killing anyone."

Aaralyn rolled her eyes and laughed. "I honestly don't think Jail Bound Orange is her color. See you in a few."

"He's going to kick our asses."

Cayden and Anthony stood in front of their best friend's bed in his dorm pondering whether they should go through with their plan. Lex does love his sleep.

"Okay, on the count of three. One…."

"Two….."

"Three!" they both screamed.

Cayden opened the blinds while Anthony began jumping on Lex's bed and singing at the top of his lungs. "LET'S GO CRAZY, CRAZY, CRAZY 'TIL WE SEE THE SUN! I KNOW WE ONLY MET BUT LET'S PRETEND ITS LOVE!"

Cayden joined in with him. "AND NEVER, NEVER, NEVER STOP FOR ANYONE! TONIGHT LETS GET SOME AND LIVE WHILE WE'RE YOUNG!"

Alexander emerged from under the coves with his signature bitch glare. "If you two don't shut the fuck up, you're going to get fucked up!"

Anthony gasped. "Alexander Ashton Hummel-Anderson, language! How would your parents feel about this?"

Lex smirked. "The same way your parents feel about you sneaking Jessica Hills in the house at 1am….oh wait, they don't know about that do they? I would hate to let that slip….."

Anthony kicked him. "Fuck you Lex. I could tell them my own damn self!"

Lex's bushy eyebrows rose. "Oh really?"

Anthony crossed his arms and gave his best bitch stare. "Yes, really. I might get my ass beat, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you use it against me."

Lex chuckled. "Don't worry, your secrets safe with me. Wait, how the fuck did you guys get in here?!"

Cayden shook his head. "How did I get surrounded by such vulgar people? To answer your question, we used the guest pass we got last time since the security forgot to put the date on it."

"Huh, secured school my ass." Lex mumbled as he got out of bed.

"Is everything okay in here? Cause I heard One Direction and lots of cursing." A tan-skinned, black hair muscular boy's head popped through the cracked door.

Lex sat up and chuckled. "Everything's okay Babe, these two idiots decided it was a good idea to harass me at this time in the morning with the words of untalented, played out, use to be teenagers."

"Weston, get your boyfriend before I beat him to a prune for disrespecting such brilliant talented indivuials." Cayden said sarcastically as he laughed.

Anthony scoffed. "And this comes from the guy who said they should all jump off a cliff the first time he heard them."

Weston walked into the room and sat on the bed next to his boyfriend. "Good morning." He said as he placed a kiss in Lex's bundle of curls. He looked over to the abandon bed on the other side of the room. "Where's your roommate?"

Lex yawned. "I don't even know if I have one. No one showed up when I brought my stuff and no one came in last night. But hey, I'm not complaining."

Anthony jumped off the bed. "Of course you're not. That means you can have play time with Weston whenever you want." Anthony said as he winked.

Weston blushed and buried his head in Lex's chest. "Okay guys, enough embarrassing Weston."

"I got to breathe (uh oh, uh oh, uh oh) please, Back up off of me. I got to breathe and just be….."

Anthony grabs his phone out his pocket and answers the phone. "Hello Ms. Annalise, to what do I grant this call?"

"Tony, FINALLY! Brayan has been texting you for almost an hour to head back and pick him up for school! You better get home quick because if Aunty has to take him to school she is going to kick your ass. Where are you anyway?" Annalise explained.

"Shit, I completely forgot about Brayan. I'm at your brother's dorm."

Annalise rolled her eyes. "So you can visit Lex before his first day but I can't even get a phone call? And don't even say we're talking now, cause if I didn't call you would have never called."

"Actually, I was going to call you during your lunch to see if you wanted to chill after school today." Anthony shot back.

"No can do. I have SO much to do after school today you wouldn't even believe. How about on Friday we go to that new karaoke place on Main Street, I think it's called The Mic?" Annalise replied sadly. She really missed her friends. With her at County Day and everyone else at McKinley she always felt like she was missing out.

"Yeah, I know which one you're talking about. That sounds great; you don't mind if I bring some company?"

"Of course not! I'll bring some of my girls with me. Now hurry up and leave before you get in more trouble then you're already in!" Annalise replied.

"Okay, talk to you later." Anthony said as he ended the call. He's in deep shit. His mother hates when she has to take Brayan to school especially since Anthony had a car. "Come on Cayden, I totally forgot that I had to go back to pick up Brayan."

"Uggghhh!" Brayan paced from the stairs to the front entrance of the house in frustration.

Mercedes sighed as she got up from the kitchen table. She walked over to Brayan and held his shoulders to bring him to a stop. "Honey stop. Now have you tried texting Anthony?"

Brayan sighed heavy. "Yes Mom! I've been texting him for about an hour and I'm getting no answer!"

"Okay honey calm down. I'll try calling him." Mercedes took out her phone from her pocket and dialed her older son. Rang….Rang….Rang….Rang….Anthony here. For some reason I haven't picked up my phone which is why you're hearing my voicemail. Please DON'T leave a message. "Oh hell no." Mercedes waited for the beep. "Anthony Landon Evans, this is your mother and YES I am leaving a message. You better get your ass to 659 Coral Street and pick up your brother for school and yall better make it on time. Also, you better have a good reason for not answering this phone call otherwise your voicemail will be the only time anyone will hear your voice again."

Mercedes ended the call and sighed. "Brayan, I'll just have to take you to school. Maybe we'll meet your brother in the parking lot that way I can kick his ass."

Brayan laughed. "No Mom its fine, Stephen said he'll come pick me up. Plus you have that meeting with Island Def Jam in an hour or so."

Mercedes eyes widen. "Oh crap, I have to go get ready!" She kissed him on the forehead and ran upstairs.

BEEP!

Brayan ran out the front door and into the backseat of his best friend's seat. Brayan had known the Hart's for as long as he could remember. They always went to church together on Sunday; Him, Dad and Anthony from time to time, Mom, Stephen, Abigail, Mr. Joe Hart and Mrs. Mellissa Hart. "Hey Stephen, Abigail. Thanks for the ride; I have no clue where my brother is."

Stephen chuckled. "No problem. We all know Anthony tends to have his moments where he forgets that he is not the only thing that matters."

Abigail scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Bet you wouldn't say that to his face. You know he'd punch you stupid."

Now it was Stephen's turn to roll his eyes. "Whatever. His need for violence just proves my point."

Brayan started to feel uncomfortable. "Okay guys enough about Tony. You guys it's a new year at McKinley, how do you feel?"

Abigail yawned as she looked out the window. "There really isn't anything to feel. It's the same ol' thing as last year just different classes and a few new faces."

Stephen looked at her annoyed. "You're going to have to take the bus from now on cause your attitude is just depressing and aggravating."

"Sorry everyone can't be like you grinning from ear to ear like a loser who just got a peek at some girl's boobs."

Brayan try to suppress his laughter while Stephen glared at him. "You know what Abby, you're supposed to set an example. Our parents are much respected people in the church."

Abigail suddenly saw red and began to grind her teeth. "First of all, don't call me Abby. Only people I like can call me that. Second, I suggest you don't start that bull with me. Who and what my parents are is their business, not mine. They have their rep and I have mine."

Stephen turned into the school parking lot. Once he parked, Abigail quickly jumped out the car and dashed off towards the flag pole. Brayan and Stephen took their time getting out the car.

"So Stephen, when do you have free period?"

"4TH period; you?"

Brayan frowned. "2ND period. Well that sucks."

Stephen shrugged his shoulders. "It does, but you'll be fine. Think of it as a chance to meet new people."

"But that's the problem; I'm horrible when it comes to new friends. It just doesn't OOOOUCCHHH!" Brayan rubbed the now throbbing spot on the back of his head and turned around. He was met face to face with his brother and saw nothing but red. "What the hell is your problem?!"

"You're my problem! You couldn't text me and tell me you got a ride? Not only was I nearly late, but I had to deal with Mom smacking me up." Anthony yelled.

"He's supposed to text you that he got a ride but you couldn't even answer ONE of the texts he sent you?" Stephen shot back.

Anthony got closer to Stephen. "Look here Moses, I wasn't talking to you. This is between my brother and I. So go build an ark or something, you smell like animal shit anyway."

Stephen scoffed. "I think you're referring to Noah. Try picking up a bible sometime."

"How about you try picking up a hygiene class smartass." Anthony stormed off in the opposite direction and left Brayan boiling with anger.

Stephen looked at him and sighed. "Brayan don't let him get—

Brayan cut him off. "Don't even finish that sentence, just don't. I'm just going to go to the bathroom and calm down. I'll see you when I see you."

Aaralyn looked out the window bored out of her mind as she sat in the café while Annalise and Jade chatter about something irrelevant to her life.

"Jesus Aara, could at least try to look interested in what we're talking about?" Annalise asked.

Aaralyn rolled her eyes. "No I can't. My acting skills aren't up to beat like the two of you. Excuse me." Aaralyn got up from the table and walked away. Honestly, she really doesn't know why she just reacted the way she did or why she feels so annoyed with the world today, but she does know the one person that could change that.

To: Tony Bologna :)

Hey, did you start class yet? I just need to ditch today and I was wondering if you could accompany?

From: Tony Bologna :)

Ditch? Rara, it's the first day of school :/ but since you seem like you really need to….where should I meet you?

Aaralyn smiled wide as she headed towards her car from the back entrance.

To: Tony Bologna :)

By our lake. Thank you so much for this; I'll buy you cheesecake from the bakery sometime this week ;)

"What the fuck is her problem?" Jade said nonchalantly. Honestly, she could care less about Aaralyn's little dramatic scene, but knowing that Annalise and Aaralyn have been close since diapers and Jade actually cares about Annalise, she decided to at least seem concerned for Anna's behalf.

Annalise shook her head and sighed. "I really don't know. She was fine when I called her this morning, but when I met her by her car later on she was just off. Maybe I should go look for her and see what's up."

Jade pulled her down as she got up. "Lise, let her sort this out on her own first. Give her a little time to breath and then you could ask her a million and one questions. Otherwise she'll just stab you in the heart. Literally and emotionally."

"Fine."

"Delilah, I don't think we should do this."

Delilah rolled her eyes. "Look Spice, if you're to pussy to do it you can leave. I'll do this my own damn self."

Spice sighed. If I leave, I will NEVER hear the end of it.

Delilah Hudson and Spice Abrams stood in William McKinley High hallway dressed in their Cheerios uniform. The look on Delilah face could tell you that something was about to happen, something HBIC satisfying. The look on Spice's face would tell you to run as fast as you could if you were Ariela Bethani Puckerman.

Ariela entered the school with her head high and her eyes sparkling. Another thing you would notice sparkling on her was a brand new necklace her parents got her which sported a golden Jewish star and a microphone. One thing you probably noticed that she didn't was the freezing cold cherry flavored slushie that was heading her way.

Ariela looked up as she wiped the slushie out of her eyes. "Wwwhy did you do that?"

Delilah smiled her signature Ice Queen smile. "To introduce myself. My name is Delilah Kaylee Hudson, daughter of legendary cheerleader Quinn Fabray and Glee Club leading man Finn Hudson. I'm a freshman here at McKinley but because of my God given talent, I am the new cheerleading captain. I heard through the grapevine that you were going to try out this year and I'm just here to tell you this; DON'T." With that Delilah walked away with Spice not far behind.

On the verge of tears, Ariela runs to the bathroom and begins to try and wash out the red dye. Who the hell does that freshman think she is? I'm a sophomore here; I've paid my dues as a freshman and the humiliation that comes with it. Suddenly a hand appeared with clothes in it.

"Trying to wash that dye is like trying to climb the highest mountain without an oxygen tank, you'll die trying." Ariela looked up to the source of the voice and nearly died of laughter.

"Hi, my name is Savannah Puckerman and you look so much like my cousin so I decided to lend you some clothes, since her and I wear the same size."

Ariela took the clothes. "Thanks Sav. So I'm guessing you saw what happened out there?"

Sav shook her head. "I came just a little too late. I saw you run off into the bathroom and asked someone nearby for the details. I'm going to beat the shit out of that Wannabe Boss Lady."

"Sav, you and that mouth of yours. But really, there's no need for that. Just leave it alone."

"But Ella—

Ariela cut her off. "No buts Sav. LEAVE. IT. ALONE.

Savannah sighed. "Fine." But she knew deep down inside, this was far from over. Payback is a bitch little miss wannabe.

"Damn, Hudson soaked Ella." Jocelyn said as she headed towards her locker.

Jordan scoffed. "Obviously. I'm a little pissed off that Ella didn't do anything about it."

"You know how your cousin is Jo. She lets people walk all over her. I'm not saying that it's fair, but if she chooses not to stand up for herself, she chooses to be stepped on."

"I guess you're right. Here comes your brother." Cayden walked in their direction and stopped in front of his sister.

"Good morning Jordan, fellow Lopi."

"Lopi?" Jordan said in confusion.

Jocelyn chuckled. "Lopi is short for our last names, you know Lopez-Pierce."

Jordan's eyebrows rose. "Oh. Wait, Cayden are you now getting here?"

"I just got here a little while ago. Tony and I lost track of time when we stopped by Lex's dorm. Then we had to go pick up Brayan from the house, which was a waste of time since he got a ride anyway."

Jordan and Jocelyn both looked at each other. "Whatever."

Cayden shrugged her shoulders and walked away to find Anthony.

"Well, I'm leaving." Jocelyn said as she closed her locker.

"Uh, leaving to class" Jordan asked confused.

Jocelyn smiled and shook her head. "Nope. The front office messed up my schedule and gave me my free period for 1st period, so now I have no class to go to. Dean Nancy said since I'm a senior she would just mark me present in the computer and let me come back 2nd period just for today."

Jordan sighed. "Lucky. Now I'm stuck in this hell whole with no partner."

"We wouldn't even have the first same period anyway so quit bitching."

Jordan took in a big breath and gathered himself together to head to class. "Well. See you when I see you Joce."

"I really miss this."

"What is this exactly?"

Aaralyn sighed. "Sitting at this lake, cuddled up together, with no words spoken yet so much still said."

Anthony laughed softly. "You make it seem so…..magical."

"But it is. I can't do this with Lise or Jade. Well maybe Lise, but not when she's around Jade. She's so different when she's around her. It makes me feel left out." Aaralyn said as her voice trembled. She really didn't mean to get so emotional, but she felt like she was losing her best friend and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Anthony turned on his side to face her. She was crying. "Hey, what's going on in there?" Anthony said as he caressed her head.

"You know how when you got here and saw me staring out into the water all you did was hug me? No words, nothing, just a simple hug? Annalise use to do that for me. I wouldn't have to say a word and she'd know what's wrong. Now I feel like we've disconnected."

"This has to do with today doesn't it?" Anthony stated.

"Elaborate."

"You snapping on Annalise and Jade this morning, being moody, wanting to come to the lake; this has to do with what this day is." Anthony said as he looked in her eyes.

Aaralyn simply nodded.

"And the real reason you're mad at Annalise is because she didn't remember what today was, or didn't seem like she cared?"

Aaralyn nodded as she cried.

"Rara, you should talk to her about it. Maybe she just didn't think it was the appropriate time to bring it up or was giving you your space." Anthony said as he hugged her tight.

Aaralyn sniffed. "I guess."

"So, how bout we get some cheesecake to cheer you up?"

Aaralyn laughed. "Don't you ever get sick of that stuff?"

Anthony scoffed. "Uh, NO!"

BIIIIIIINNNNNGGGG!

Brayan sighed as he threw the basketball at the wired fence. Great, now it's time to have a nice day at school. NOT.

Surprisingly, 1st period went a lot faster than he predicted. Since it was his free period, he decided to head back out to the outside court. Brayan didn't play ball for the reasons everyone else did; to get a scholarship or to make it to the Pros, he simply played because it soothed him. Brayan didn't even know if he was decent, though others seem to think he was pretty good. Maybe he'll try out for the school team this year, maybe not.

Brayan was overjoyed to find the court empty. He picked up the ball and let his body take control. As he spun around after he had a shot, he nearly jumped out of his skin when an unexpected person sat on the bench watching.

The stranger chuckled. "Sorry if I scared you, you just seem really zoned in. You're really fucking good."

Brayan blushed. "Thanks. So, how long you've been there?"

The stranger looked at his watch and pondered. "I'm going to say 15 minutes."

Brayan's eyes widen. I was playing for that long. No way. The stranger laughed at Brayan's facial expression and walked towards him. He has a really nice laugh. No homo. Wait, why are you saying no homo to yourself? Why are you even talking to yourself?

"Hi, my name's Kai Chang. I'm a sophomore, but I just moved her from LA."

"Hey Kai, the names Brayan. Brayan Evans. I'm a sophomore too." Brayan smiled. Now that the boy was closer, he was able to get a better view of what he looked like. He was tan skinned with chocolate brown eyes. His black hair spiked in all different directions and he probably stood at 5'8. "So, I'm guessing you have free period right now?" Kai nodded his head yes. "Cool, wanna play some ball?"

Kai grinned from ear to ear. "Sure."

Caleb Puckerman walked into the lunch and observed. "Yo, Cal over here!" Caleb walked towards the voice at the table in the center of the cafeteria. He said his greetings to everyone at the table, put his backpack down and joined the lunch line.

"Hey dude, where were you earlier this morning?" Jordan, his cousin, said.

Caleb rubbed the back of his neck. "Woke up late. Why something good went down?"

Jordan sighed and shook his head. "Not exactly. Delilah Hudson slushied Ella this morning."

"What?" Caleb growled.

Jordan looked at Caleb worried. "Dude, calm down. From what Savannah told me, she said she's fine. She gave her some clothes and a pep talk."

Caleb rolled his eyes. "That's beside the point Jo. Who the fuck does that freshman bitch think she is?"

"I don't know, but from the look in your eyes you're going to try and find out. I'm not gonna stop you just….don't do anything reckless."

Caleb chuckled. "I promise." Little did Jordan know, the promises that Caleb make are meant to be broken.

Chase sat in the back of his last period. Only 3 minutes left. Suddenly he felt his phone vibrate and slowly took it out his pocket.

From: Spice

Dee slushied Ariela Puckerman and Caleb is PISSED. I don't think he'll physically hurt, but I think you should know just in case.

The bell rung and Chase gathered his stuff and left the room. Honestly, He could care less about what Spice texted him. He knows Delilah is his little sister and all, but if she wants to go picking fights with upper classmen girls who have short tempered older brother then that's her problem. He decided he'll keep an eye on her from a distance incase anything happens.

Delilah came walking in his direction with Ariela and Caleb not far behind. Speak of the devil.

"So Coach said we won't have try-outs until Friday, so let's go home." Delilah said as she pulled him to walk out with her.

"Delilah, wait up!"

Chase turned around as Ariela and Caleb raced up to them. "My brother wanted to talk to you." Ariela said as she looked down.

Chase took that as a clue to slight drift away. Dee gave him a dirty look but we didn't mind her.

Caleb sighed. "Look, I'm cool with your brother and all so I don't really want to cause any problems with you that will affect how the two of us play on the field. But you do need to understand that throwing slushies at my sister, cheerleading captain or not, isn't cool. If this is a part of some plan for you to make it to the top, Leave. My. Sister. Out. Oh, and I already talked to coach about her trying out for cheer. She said yes and that you will have NO SAY in whether she makes it or not. You guys need as much help as you can get, and my sister's all you need." With that he and Ariela walked away.

Chase laughed and put his arm around his sister's shoulder. "This is going to be a LONG year for you."

HELLO WORLD! lol. Yes, i have FINALLY posted the 1st chapter! I just realized that I left out 1 character on the Prologue; Chase Hudson. Just know he's related to Delilah. I have a tumblr for this story which is located in my bio on my profile. PLEASE REVIEW! i LOVE you guys feedback? toodles :*