Turning to the side, I stared out the window. The curtains were pushed to the side, giving me a clear view of the sky.

It was raining.

I hated rain. Mostly because it would often be followed by thunderstorms.

I watched as light struck outside, brightening my room for a second.

I clasped my hands against my ears, preparing for the loud noise that would surely follow.

I was more than glad that light flashed before, giving me more than enough time to prepare myself for the heaven shaking thunder.

Throwing the blanket to the side, I jumped down from my bed, my actions swift so I would be able to get out of here before the next lightning struck.

I almost made it to the door when I realized I had forgotten fluffy bear in my bed.

Ezra had gifted it to me. He told me the teddy bear reminded him of me; warm and cuddly.

I was so happy that I promised I would take care of fluffy bear and protect it, always.

And even though I knew if I went back for it, I would be too late, I still did because Kai says we can't break promises. Ever.

Thunder struck again, making me clutch fluffy bear tighter against me.

"I'm sorry." I apologized, realizing how selfish I was being to even consider leaving it alone.

"We'll make it. Don't worry." I assured, doubting my own words the very next second.

Opening my door slightly, I peeked outside, my eyes meeting with nothing but darkness.

The hallway was dark, with ghosts lurking in the corners, waiting for the moment I would step in their territory and they would drag me to eternal darkness.

I didn't believe in ghosts. But Noah swore he saw one last week. He even had a bruise in his hand to prove his claim.

Taking a deep breath, I shut my eyes tightly. If I can't see them, they can't see me either, right?

With my eyes still closed, I blindly sprinted to Kai's room, knowing his warm embrace would take away all my nightmares in an instant.

Pushing his door open, I sighed in relief that I had managed to outrun the ghosts.

Kai was soundly sleeping, not the least bit affected from the thunderstorm outside. I wondered how he did that, so oblivious to the outside world.

Careful not to wake him up, I slowly climbed on top his bed and lied down right beside him.

His eyes shot open in alarm, relief washing through it the next moment when he saw it was just me.

"Lili?" He mumbled, reaching out his hand to pull me closer.

"Did I wake you up?" I asked, remorseful. I really didn't want to interrupt his sleep.

"No, you didn't." He consoled. "Why are you here?" He asked gently.

"I was scared."

"Because of the rain?"

"Mhmm." I nodded, even though I knew he can't see me as his eyes were closed.

"Sleep," He soothed, running his hands through my hair. "I'm here now."

Placing my head on his chest, I looked out his window.

"What's wrong?" Kai asked, sitting up, perching me on his lap in the process. "Why are you crying, Lili?"

I sniffled, wiping the tears with the back of my hand. I didn't want to cry. Diego and Noah would mock me if they knew, calling me a crybaby.

"Why do you love me so much?"

"What's there not to love?" He shot back.

"You are cute and adorable. Your cheeks are chubby, too." He claimed, poking his fingers into my cheeks to prove his point.

"Why don't they love me then?" I asked, leaning away from him slightly so he would stop pulling my cheeks.

"Because they are fools." Kai's response came immediately.

I felt a little better at the knowledge that it was them, and not something I had done that made me detestable.

Even though in the back of my mind, I was well aware, Kai's opinion was biased and not the whole truth.

But I still chose to believe him.

... ... ...

It was rare for me to wake up dreaming such memories. But maybe that's what I needed today.

I was starting high school today.More precisely, I would be in my senior year. Almost no one transferred in their senior year. Being the only new kid in the year puts you in a difficult position. I didn't want to deal with it.

Ezra had delivered my uniform last night. It was a knee length skirt paired with a white shirt and navy blazer. It looked fancy if not for the seal 'St.Johaness institute' stitched on the blazer sleeve.

The uniform in my boarding school didn't include a tie, so I never bothered to learn how to tie one. I was getting late and I still didn't figure out how to wear the red checkered tie.

Giving up, I decided to ask help from Ezra when I meet him downstairs. Stephen had already bought me all the necessary stationary and books. I had packed my bag last night, so picking it up I went downstairs.

"Ezra, can you help me tie it?" I asked handing him the tie.

"Sure, buttercup." I frowned at the endearment he used. But I didn't comment on that.

Ezra helped me tie the tie. I carefully observed him so I wouldn't need to look for him again.

"Aylin! We can't be late on the first day of the term. Hurry up." Eve hollered from the driveway.

"Here's your lunch. Take care, buttercup." Again with the nickname. I should have said something the first time.

Thanking him, I took the lunch and joined Eve outside.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, I turned around to find Kai following me outside.

"Are you going somewhere?" I asked, my mood turning better at the sight of him. He overslept today and didn't join us for breakfast.

"Hm," he nodded slightly, "University."

Even though he hasn't been anything but horrible to me since I returned, I couldn't bring myself to return the favor.

"Take care," I wished, smiling at him.

The corner of his lips rose ever so slightly and for the first time since I was here, he smiled at me.

The smile was gone just as fast as it appeared and with long strides, he left me standing there, still wrapping my mind around this rare phenomenon.

"Why are we standing here?" I asked Eve. Ezra told me they had a chaffeur who would normally drop and pick up Eve from school.

Before Eve could answer, a black car stopped before us.

"Get in. I'll drop you. It falls on my way." Kai said, lowering the window glass.

"Liar," Eve chided in, "Your University is in the opposite direction.

Blood rushed to his cheeks at getting exposed by Eve. "I'm not going to the university. Do want a ride or not?" Kai asked, impatiently.

"As if I'm gonna say no to a free ride." Eveline got in the backseat before Kai could change his mind. I followed her.

"Are you nervous?" Eve asked, taking out her phone to text someone.

"No," I answered honestly. I already had everything planned out. I won't make friends there nor would I interact with anyone. The less people you engage yourself with, the less problems you have in life.

"You're so brave, Aylin. Steph told me he put you in the same class as me. Everyone is really nice there. I can't wait for you to meet my friends. You will love them! We're going to have so much fun together."

Was Eve always this talkative?

She chatted the whole ride to school. I had zoned out most of the way but thankfully she didn't seem to notice, being too busy on naming the fun activities we are gonna do.

I found Kai occasionally diverting his gaze from the road to me through the looking mirror. Was he also worrying I'm nervous?

"Aylin! Aylin, are you hearing me?" Eve waved her hand before my eyes.

"Huh? Did you say something?" I have to stop zoning out like this.

"Yeah, we're here." Eve opened the car door and hopped down.

St.Johannes was a private school only for elites. All my brothers had graduated from here. I am sure Stephen had to pull some strings to get me admitted here.

Its admission was only open for lower classes. They wanted to groom their students from a young age so they didn't accept new students for the upper classes. It was an impossible feat that I got in here much less in senior year. It made me wonder just how much power Stephen had.

"Where are you going?" I asked once I saw Kai also getting down from the car. Shouldn't he be on his way now?

"None of your concern."

Can't he just answer like a normal person?

Eve had already gotten inside. I had informed her I had to go to the administration office to get my class schedule so she should get going because class was about to start.

St.Johannes institute lived up to it's fame. The school building was huge. There was a huge playground beside it. The security was strict as well. The guards checked my I.D before letting me in. I looked back to find Kai following me inside.

"How did you get in without an I.D?" I asked curiously. I knew for a fact my eldest brother didn't own the school. I had done my research last night. So Kai shouldn't be getting special treatment.

Kai just shrugged in response, casually following me.

The hallway was almost empty. Just a few students lingered around their lockers.

"You graduated from here, right?" I asked.

Again, Kai shrugged, giving no definite response. Why was he being so irritating?

"Can you lead me to the administration office?" I demanded. There was no one around whom I could ask for directions.

Again, he didn't respond but instead held my hand and took a sudden left turn in the hallway. After 5 minutes of walking we reached the administration office.

"Can I help you?" The staff working there asked.

"I'm Aylin Black. I was asked to collect my schedule from here." I told him. He typed something in the computer before him. Handing me a slip of paper he told me to go to the principal's office.

Thanking him, I asked for the directions but Kai grabbed my hand again and lead me through hallways until we reached a corridor.

Why was he being so creepy?

I gave the slip from the administration office to the receptionist. It was middle aged lady. She had a scowl in her face,making me almost unwilling to approach her.

"Black?" She narrowed her eyes at me. "Just when I thought I had finally got enough of the Black brats, they send me another."

I stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say. Were my brothers troublemakers at school? Because I refused to believe the angelic Eve would make trouble for anyone. So it had to be them.

"Just do your work, Stella." Kai finally spoke.

Stella who hadn't noticed Kai standing all this while frowned at his words. Regardless she dialed the phone, scowling.

If she hated the job so much, why not just quit? I rolled my eyes at her mean behavior.

"You can go inside, Black." Stella said, diverting her attention to the computer screen.

Just as I proceeded to go forward, Kai stopped me.

"Wait," he called out.

"Hmm?" I turned back.

"Be safe. And don't be nervous." He said not looking at my eyes. I already said I'm not nervous. Before I could repeat it again he had already turned back to leave.

Regardless, I was a little touched by his actions. He had accompanied me all the way here just so I wouldn't feel nervous.

I knocked at the principal's office. After I heard a faint 'come in' I pushed the door open and walked inside.

I was surprised to find a young man in his late twenties sitting behind the table. He was probably the same age as Stephen. I would have never expected such a young person to be the principal of such a reputed school.

"Take a seat, Ms.Black." His firm voice ordered. Why did he give off the same vibes as Stephen?

I complied and took a seat in the one of the chairs. After the intro, he fished out a large envelope from his heap of documents.

"I'll be honest with you. St.Johannes is the most reputed institute in the country. I can't just let you in. No matter how much your guardian exerts his power we can't admit you through the back door. For one, said backdoor doesn't exist here."

Great, I could already tell he had a bad impression of me. Stephen could have just admitted me in a normal highschool. It really wouldn't matter where I graduate from.

"If it were upto me you wouldn't be here in the first place. But my hands are bound. I can't go against the decision of board. But I still want you to go through the standard test. Every student of this institute had to go through it. So I hope you will co-operate. Try to get the passing marks at least."

He handed me the envelope finishing his speech. I opened it to find a Question paper inside. It was 8 pages long. I scanned the papers to see there were 100 multiple choice questions.

"Start the exam. You have exactly 1 hour and 30 minutes." He set a timer in his stopwatch. He looked bored like he already knew I was going to fail the test and it was just a formality he was forced to carry out.

'Just submit it blank.Will save you a lot of trouble.'the voice in my head advised.

I considered that option but later disregarded it. Stephen had probably worked hard to get me this opportunity to study here. I didn't want to waste his efforts. I should at least give it a try.

Taking out a pen from my bag, I read the first question. I had thought it would be extremely difficult from the principal's warning. But the question was surprisingly easy. Maybe they made the first questions easy and the further we go the harder it got.

But after approximately one hour I was a little disappointed to find all the questions were too easy.

'What else do you expect from these mediocre people?'

For once, I genuinely agreed with the voices. The boarding school I grew up in focused on developing our brains to the highest level. I didn't like studying but there were punishments if you didn't meet their expected level.

"I'm done." I handed the answer sheet to the principal.

"You still have 27 minutes left in the clock." The principal raised his brows suspiciously at me.

"You can go to your class now," he commanded, taking the papers from my hand.

Collecting the class schedule from the still scowling receptionist, I headed to class.

The classes here were different.In my school, all the classes were taken in different classrooms. But here the students didn't change their classrooms for each class. Rather they stayed in the same place and the teachers would come to them.

Two periods were already over. I had one more class before lunch break started. Finding the designated classroom I knocked on the door.

"Yes, dear?" The teacher paused to look at me.

Instead of answering, I politely passed her the note I was given by Stella.

"Oh, you are the new student!" The chemistry teacher exclaimed in recognition once she read the note.

"Everyone, we have someone new joining us this term." She directed her attention to the students. "Introduce yourself, dear."

What? Isn't it something only kindergarten students do?

I looked ahead to find everyone staring at me with excruciating eyes.

"Aylin Black," I introduced. Why were they still staring? I turned to the teacher who was silently smiling, encouraging me to say something more.

What else should I say?

"Find a seat, dear. We just started the class so you won't have difficulties in understanding." She sighed, realizing I wasn't going to say anything else.

Almost all the seats were occupied. I was searching for an empty seat when I saw Eve enthusiastically waving at me. "Aylin, here! I saved you a seat."

I looked where she was pointing. There was indeed an empty seat beside her. I was really glad because it was directly beside the window.

"It was soooo hard saving this window seat. Where you sit for the first day becomes your permanent seat for the rest of the term," She informed in a hushed voice so the teacher wouldn't hear.

"Mhmm, thanks." Taking out my chemistry book I concentrated on what the teacher was saying.

But I soon zoned out, I already knew the topic she was teaching. It was taught in my school ages ago. I looked out of the window. There were kids running in the ground. I guess they had recess before us.

I felt someone kick my chair from behind. I immediately turned back to see the boy who sat behind me looking blankly at me. "She's calling you."

Who?

"Aylin," Eve called.

"Yeah?"

"Let's go to the cafeteria." She proposed.

"No thanks. Ezra packed me lunch." I told her, taking out my lunchbox from my bag.

"Let's go sit in the cafeteria. You can eat lunch with all of us there." I didn't refuse a second time and stood up to follow her to the cafeteria.

Eveline enthusiastically introduced me to her friends. They didn't share the same enthusiasm as her though.

Her friend circle consisted of four people including her.

All of them were in the same class as me. The rude boy who had kicked my chair was also one of her best friends. Besides him there was one more boy and girl in her group.

They seemed a little hostile towards me. I didn't comment on that. Eve seemed really close to them, I didn't want to create misunderstandings between us based on my assumptions.

Halfway through the lunch a student of junior class approached our table. "Are you Aylin Black?"

Our noisy table instantly became silent as everyone's attention focused on me.

"Yeah, why?" I asked munching on the fries Ezra had packed me along with a homemade hamburger.

"The principal asked me to give you this." She handed me a small note and left before I could further ask any questions.

"What does it say?" Eve asked, curious.

I didn't answer instead passed her the note to read for herself. The principal had asked me to go to his office as soon as I am done with my lunch.

"Did you do something?" Eve asked, worried. I heard her friends snicker at that.

"Not that I know of. I'll meet you later." I picked up my lunch box to leave the cafeteria.

I went to the principal's office and was once again faced with a scowling Stella. She really hated people,huh?

"Aylin, sit." Why did the principal shift on first name?

"I have called you for some urgent matters." He started. "I want you to sit for another test."

Did I do that bad in my previous test? I thought I answered fairly good.

"Okay," I nodded. At least he was giving me a second chance.

He took me to another classroom. It only had one chair in the class room aside from the teacher's table. A stern looking man sat behind the teacher's table.

I was handed a set of questions. The time was 1 hour this time. The questions this time around were harder than before. After I submitted them,the teacher on duty gave me another set of questions. Did they increase the difficulty level in each test?

'I guess they are not that mediocre.' The voices commented after I submitted the set of paper.

I waited for him to give me another set of questions but nothing came.

I was soon called in his office again. I was surprised to see Stephen there. He had one of his legs placed over the other, a cold look in his face. They seemed to be arguing about something.

Why was he called? Did I do something wrong?

"Sweetheart, are you tired?" His cold face instantly became warm at the sight of me.