"Cheers!" the students all held their varied Coca-Cola branded tin cans up in the air as they toasted for the success their friends' garnered. As expected, Group 1 was chosen for the Fall Event. Definitely no surprise there.
It was already dinner time when the Big Five, along with some close friends and the Group 1 members, gathered around the center ring of the school's grounds to celebrate a job well done. Sure, the Winter Formal is more exciting for most of them, but the Fall Event is the program in the entire school year where the school actually presents something worthwhile for 6 straight hours. The fact that some people from their huge circle of acquaintances are chosen to perform and compete with the other year levels in the said event is truly a delight and something worth perspiring for.
Every year, the Seniors always win in the dramatic role play sector while the Freshmen always come in last due to their inexperience in theater. But this year, since no one else from their social circle chose English for the first semester (besides the winning group), Rapunzel is determined to secure yet another triumph for their hardworking and cooperative cluster. Of course, they didn't let the stress get to them, the event is still 2 weeks away and considering how well put their role play inside the room is, they only need to sway their butts a little more to make the play a perfection, if not, then absolute brilliance will suffice.
In the midst of all the joy, they looked back at the actual performance of the group. Oblivious to the actors, the tech crew actually had the chance to film the entire thing without anyone noticing. So when they played the video, everyone gasped, watched, and applauded how well the dialogues were recited, how realistic the costumes were, how natural the actors acted, how the relatable aspects of the play were simply believable, and basically— how amazing it was.
The two main actors, however, couldn't exclaim along with the rest as they watched how incredulously intimate they are on film. It's hard to believe that that's how they acted earlier considering the awkward happening that occurred prior the presentation. The kind of intimacy they displayed looked like they're a real life couple because it all looked too natural and, it would seem as though, that they're accustomed with the sweet gestures they shared.
Despite Jack and Elsa's bashful dismay, the crowd only kept teasing the two to try and actually date in real life. Cheers just got even more boisterous when the video showed Jack briefly kissing Elsa's cheek. Hiccup and Astrid, having knowledge about Jack's true feelings for the girl, only made matters worse for Mr. Popular.
When the video ended, they remained on the grounds but they all went back to their smaller group of friends to chat to. Eventually, the two main protagonists talked to each other like how they normally would, forgetting the recent discovery they just found out about one another. While Punzie, Merida, Anna, Hiccup and Astrid talked to one another, Jack and Elsa decided to detach from them for a little private talk in the East Wing. Jack insisted on it; something to do with a certain move he did earlier. They sneakily left the grounds and went under the radar.
What they didn't know is that, someone was watching them.
"What. The. F—!" Olivia hurriedly stood up from her spying spot in the shrubs and stomped towards the direction of the East Wing when all of a sudden, an arm grabbed her and pulled her back from taking any more steps.
"Stay put" her older sister, Maria Orson, scolded and clawed her nails on Olivia's arm. "If you don't wanna be embarrassed again, you calm down and shut up" After Olivia's frantic display upon Ms. Oceania's announcement of Group 1's victory, Maria couldn't afford to fix the trouble her sister's tantrum caused. She already felt too dismayed about earlier.
Olivia tried to let loose, heck break free, from her sister's grip but Maria was too strong. The oldest Orson dragged her younger sister towards the direction of their building. Olivia kept demanding to be released and even tried to cut the trip back to their dorm, making it uneasy for Maria not to cause a scene in front of some students who witnessed their little fiasco.
When the two arrived at their dorm, Olivia slid her arm away from Maria's grip and, at the same time, yelled at her older sister. "What the hell, Maria?! You literally just made me let my boyfriend go somewhere dark with that...that bi—!"
"HE'S NOT YOUR BOYFRIEND!" Maria screamed at the top of her lungs. The youngest, Jenna, who was already in the dorm doing her nails, had no other option but to just remain as is and watch her older sisters argue...not that there's anything new about that.
The Mojos may have done some serious bitchy things in the past, but out of the three, Maria is actually the kindest and the most reasonable one. Sure, she may have helped on some of her sisters' ridiculous harmless pranks in Freshmen year, but that's pretty much it. Most people think she's the brain behind every evil things the Mojos do where in fact she's the one who tries to push them off and stop it. Unfortunately, her two younger sisters just had to be just as meticulous and puckish as their Father. Their different perspectives explain her and Olivia's constant fights.
"He will be mine, you'll see Maria" Olivia said determinedly. "If I have to embarrass that blonde female dog like what I did to Jennifer Hazelton last year, then so be it!"
Upon hearing, Jenna step forth, "You know that kind of display will only embarrass father"
"Ha!" Olivia chuckled, "Father applauded what I did to Jen last year. The man who we no longer live on the same roof with seems to get how my brain works more, unlike you two whom I have been sharing a room with for 3 straight years." she gestured to their red themed room.
"That's because you lied to him." Maria crossed her arms, "You told Father it's because she trashed"—Maria raised her fingers up and made quotation marks—"'the project you worked so hard on' when in reality, she was just mingling with Chris Gregory; the guy you liked before Jack" she placed her hands down.
"And you got suspended for that" Jenna added, "Even though it might get us on top of the social pyramid, we agreed to never expose people like that ever again"
"Ugh! You two are so hopeless!" Olivia exclaimed. "First of all, Father isn't like any Daddy out there! He doesn't care if we get in trouble or cause someone misery! He's an understanding Dad, so I don't know why you two got so worked up when we made an announcement in the cafe on the second day or even when we started giving away those fliers with Elsa's face on it."
"If an admin or even a teacher found out about those, we'll all get in trouble because of you're doing!" Maria accused.
"Like what I've said, we won't! Ever! Father will not side with the faculty. He won't scold us"
"It's not Father we're worried about Liv" Jenna spoke up, "It's the adults here punishing us, thus diminishing our chances at becoming even more popular"
"And by 'we', Jenna meant you two" Maria gestured to the girl in front and beside her. Her eyes remained glued to Jenna, "Don't include me in such statement that I didn't say. I no longer care about our damn popularity, our reputation's ruined anyway "
"Okay, fine! Whatever Maria!" Olivia cursed under her breath. "Now where was I?" she briefly looked away before looking at her older sister again, "Oh yeah...secondly, Chris is history, get over it! And thirdly, I don't repeat the tactics I use" she was about to give another blow when she suddenly stopped.
Maria smirked with crossed arms, "Cat got your tongue Olivia?"
After what seemed like a minute, Olivia slowly looked back up at her sisters with a thoughtful look. "Now that you mentioned Chris Evans...Elsa seems to be befriending him as well" her voice went from annoyed to optimistic.
Jenna raised her brow in confusion, "I thought Chris was history?"
Olivia smirked, "He is...I have Jack now" she walked towards her small canopied bed and sat on the red comforter. She still had an ambiguous smile plastered on which only baffled her sisters even more. Maria and Jenna decided to shrug it off and just go back to their own beds to mind their own business.
Maria took her biology book and started reading what she's supposed to review earlier for the upcoming test she has for the next day while Jenna continued polishing her nails. Olivia, on other hand, got comfortable and only laid on her bed. She looked up at the ceiling, the gears in her brain started turning, collected strategies from what she has learnt in the past started processing, possibilities becoming endless...and these all triggered because of one person.
From the moment she heard about Jack's little accident with a feisty transferee, Olivia saw this as a chance to get closer to him by helping him out. Not only that, she also saw it as a perfect opportunity for her little clique to join the Big Five if her plan of humiliating Elsa, for Jack's sake, works out. Liv knew to herself that the Mojos can never overthrow the reign of popularity the Big Five has over Highland Arts Academy, they are way too nice and helpful compared to them. So, the only way to the top is by joining the ones already on top.
Things were going smoothly, she was positive that her plans will work, that was until Jack intervened her simple act of torture on Elsa. After her confrontation with him, Olivia knew that something was definitely up. Though Jack told her to stay away, she still isn't going to give up. She did some observations on the frenemies; they were too close, they actually shared some laughter, they always sat together in class, Jack always carries Elsa's bag, and they even got paired to be Romeo and Juliet!
Olivia was losing hope and was about to give up, but when her sister reminded her about Chris Evans...her enthusiasm lifted up again.
"Isn't it a little strange that Elsa seems to be getting too close with guys?" Olivia asked out of the blue.
"By 'guys' you mean a count of three?" Maria countered, still focused on the book.
"No, I mean" Olivia sat up and faced her older sister, "Don't you think she's being a flirt?"
"No, that's friendliness. If she was a flirt, she'd be hanging out with different guys each day."
"Good point" Olivia pouted and mentally crossed out the spreading rumor idea she had in mind. "Okay...when she first came here, she already caused a scene, started a short-lived commotion and then gave us a big heck of a drama. What's with that?"
Maria took a deep breath and looked up at her sister, "You realize that Rapunzel wouldn't have gotten so tense if you, dumb, and dumber aren't trying to get in a painting you aren't even part of, right?" she looked at either of her sisters though the youngest wasn't paying any attention.
"Nevertheless, Elsa's action were on her own. It's instinctive" Olivia crossed her arms.
"If so, then that must explain why she stepped on Jack twice; to make him realize the difference. I wouldn't blame her either, Jack was being an ass that day"
"Her actions were all her own" Olivia said through gritted teeth.
"And so is everyone else's. And every action has a purpose for being done...so what's yours sis?" Maria tested with her condescending voice.
"Ugh! Whose side are you on here, Mar?!" Olivia exclaimed.
"The Losing Side" she gestured to the three of them. "You observed it yourself, Liv. If you already thought of that from the very beginning then all those wanted fliers you passed secretly only meant you wanted to seek attention from the Big Five, especially Jack, not to get to the social pyramid you always dreamt of"
"It's both, Mar! So he'll know how sincere and determined I am to help him and if that was accomplished then we would start dating and...and—"
"Don't you think he could've solved his own problems? Which, he did by the way" Maria raised her index finger as an expression of fact. "Face it, Jack doesn't want to be with you. Stop being so delusional" Maria rolled her eyes.
"Dammit, why are you so harsh on me?!" Olivia pushed the comforter aside and stood up from her bed. "You know, sis, you've changed a lot! You used to be on my side, now you're just a bystander"
"Maybe it's because I've always been one, you were just too damn self-centered to realize it"
Olivia gasped in pure surprise at what she just heard. She gripped the side of her shorts and took a deep breath, "So what are you trying to say?"
Maria closed her book and casually walked towards her sister, "I'm saying, you should be cautious with your actions because people are starting to debate on whether you're the devil's spawn or you're merely just a selfish female dog."
Olivia's eyes widened, "What the hell Maria?! How can you say that to my face so straightforwardly?! I'm your younger sister!" she gestured to herself.
Maria smirked, "Are you?" she looked at Liv then at Jenna, who was finally paying attention. Olivia raised her brow, completely clueless if it was a rhetorical question or not.
Maria reverted her gaze back to the girl in front of her before turning around and going forth to her bed, "I'm leaving"
"Wait...what?" Jenna jumped off her bed and stood beside Olivia.
"I'm leaving this room" she took her luggage, "I'm leaving your damned presence and, most importantly, I'm leaving the group"
"What?! You can't leave us! We're your sisters and we're supposed to be all in this together!" Olivia defended.
"This is real life, not freakin' High School Musical"
"Even so!" Jenna exclaimed.
Maria ignored them and started placing her neatly folded clothes in her luggage. The two sisters hurriedly thought of something to make their 'Ate' stay and a statement that Maria can't counter.
"Where are you supposed to stay then?" Jenna started.
"My best friend's dorm, duh" Maria rolled her eyes. "You think I haven't thought this through?"
"Oh, come on Maria! Father will get pissed at you! He paid lots for this room!" Olivia tried.
"No, he won't. You said yourself Liv, Father doesn't scold us" Maria smirked and grabbed the last pile of her clothing. Her products and other necessities were already packed beforehand and some of her belongings aren't even unpacked yet since they moved back in two days prior the first day of classes.
"See you around, Mojos...or should I say: 'Ojo'" Maria slung her sports bag and purse on, held the handle of her two luggages and walked out of their dormitory whilst it rolled behind her.
Olivia and Jenna were dumbfounded, the last thing they'd imagine is their older sister leaving them, heck any of them leaving the group. Olivia rolled her eyes and slid back to her bed, "Forget about it Jenna, we don't need Maria. She's always been a push back of plans anyway"
"Yeah...but...she's still our sis." Jenna sighed and sat on the edge of Liv's bed. "So what now? Will we still talk to her?"
"Of course! Just because she left doesn't mean we no longer share the same blood"
"Such a shame, I like 'Mojo' and 'Ojo' doesn't really have a nice ring to it" Jenna shrugged.
Olivia grabbed a pillow and buried her face there, 'No wonder why Maria calls her 'dumber''