"What do you mean by that?" I asked. Jayden had just ruined my mood.

The school was huge. Tall trees surrounding the campus, which was in parts. Middle school, high school and a whole fucking building for a library!

Rose squealed when she saw how big the library was and she would've ran off and never be found again if Josiah hadn't caught her.

Now she's trying to suppress her excitement and possibly thinking about talking to Lucian. To ask for permission if she could stay there after school every day.

And now Jayden just said we were supposed to sit with him during Lunch.

"Lucian didn't mention that. Nor did Damien." I scoffed. Who the fuck does he think he is to order us like that?

"Because I'm in-charge here. I'm the oldest." He turned to narrow his eyes at me. Rose, who was walking beside him, craned her neck to look up at him.

I clenched my jaw and unintentionally tightened my grip on Josiah's hand, which I have no idea I was holding.

"Our guardian didn't say that. He only informed us that Damien will be telling us the rules and that he did," I said. Rose nodded in agreement.

"Can't you just listen for once, Bunny?" Jayden grumbled.

"No," I said, rolling my eyes. "As long as Lucian doesn't ask us to sit with you, we won't. And he must have a valid reason if he decides to force us."

"I think she's right, Jayden," Josiah butted in, giving his twin a knowing look. Jayden didn't understand that and was about to say something.

"We can't keep them with us all the time and stop them from stepping out of the bubble." Josiah cut him off. That caused Jayden to falter in his step a bit and frown.

"Okay," Jayden grumbled. He pushed open the door after he stopped abruptly.

"When will you learn how to knock, Mr. Mazzanti?" The person inside said in an annoyed tone.

"Why, Liza? Were you doing something that you shouldn't?" Jayden said. Josiah rolled his eyes as he entered behind Rose.

I entered last and saw a middle aged pretty woman sitting behind the mahogany desk with a scowl on her face. She had her elbow on the arm of the chair and her hand on the side of her face.

She was fit and beautiful but you could tell she was in her late thirties or early forties.

"Oh shut it, kid. Go do your homework," she snapped, getting more annoyed by Jayden's calm cool exterior.

Rose and I stood on Josiah's both sides, watching the exchange.

"How's Layla, by the way? She free tonight?" Jayden asked. His palms were flat against the desk as he leaned forward with a smirk on his face.

"Shut up." Josiah smacked his head. "Good morning, Liza. Please ignore my twin."

"Morning, Josiah. Please keep him locked up somewhere. I don't want him being bad influence on my daughter."

"I'm sorry for his behavior." Josiah threw a pointed look towards Jayden to which he rolled his eyes. "Meet my sisters. They need their timetables and subject selection forms."

He raised his hands to rest them between our shoulder blades and pushed us forward.

The lady finally lowered her gaze to look at us. She smiled warmly when she looked at Rose then Josiah then back at Rose.

Rose took a sharp breath in, suddenly more nervous than she was before but calmed down when the lady smiled.

"What's your name, Sweetie?" She asked politely, in a motherly tone.

"Aurora Rose," she said, smiling back.

"That's a pretty name." The lady complimented, before opening the drawer and searching for her file.

"Here you go." She put the file on the desk. Jayden had settled far away from the table, leaning against a wall, while scrolling through his phone.

Josiah extended his hand and picked up the file, handing it over to Rose.

Liza then looked at me and her eyebrows furrowed slightly. Her eyes drifted from my face to Jayden's and she blew out a breath, shaking her head slightly.

She looked back at me and smiled brightly.

"And yours?" She asked sweetly.

"Amira Levi Verlice," I said, out of habit. But boy did it turn dramatic. Her smile faltered a little and resembled a confused frown.

"Mazzanti," Someone gritted from the side. I looked at Jayden to find his jaw tensed as he glared at me.

"Verlice." I clenched my jaw. He can't take my Dad's name away like that. I don't care what they decide to call me, but I will introduce myself as a Verlice.

"Let her be, Jayden," Josiah cut in sharply when Jayden tried to correct me again.

"You're a Verlice. The brave Verlice princess. Your father King Elijah Verlice loves you to no end and will kick their butt, if anyone tries to take the part of me away from you. I live in your name and your heart," Dad said, softly. So soft his voice seemed to be melting and blending into the silence that initially consumed us.

"But Mom changed her name after marrying you. What if I have to change it after getting married?" I pouted, looking into his green eyes, that were bright and pretty.

"Mom changed it by her choice. No one will dare to force you. I will make sure of it. For now, you need lots of hugs and kisses. Come here, my little heart." He said, grabbing my hands when I tried to run away.

"Bunny," Josiah said, crouching down to my level.

"Hm?" I asked, looking into his eyes. "Sorry," I said, when I realised I zoned out.

"No need to apologize, Honey. Here's your file," he said, handing me my file. "Let's go now."

I nodded and took his hand in mine again, ignoring Jayden who was now standing near us.

"Thanks Liza." Jayden said, behind us, as we exited the office. I clutched Josiah's hand tightly in mine.

My chest constricted. I miss Dad so bad. That's why my hand went to my pocket to get my phone out twice.

I want to call Asher. But it's not even been half an hour since we entered school. That's why my hand returned twice and now it hung loosely by my side.

"Do you want to talk it out, Honey?" Josiah asked, stopping in the hallway outside. I could hear the bustle of students from the other side of the double doors, in front of us.

"No," I said, gulping down the lump in my throat and taking a deep breath to ease the knot in my chest.

"Want me to call Asher?" He asked, softly, using his hand to push my hair back behind my shoulder.

I shook my head this time. I'm not that weak. I'll lose all the control over my emotions if I talk to Asher.

Weird effect he has. Just like Dad. Makes me want to open up. Yet not like him. Dad didn't need any persuasion. He never needed to push me, even as little as Asher does, to make me spill everything. All he did was, look into my eyes and smile that sweet smile, I wanted to remember for every time I felt alone. For every time I needed him and he wasn't there.

"Are you sure?" Josiah asked, looking at my emotionless face. I nodded and took a step forward, signalling I was done with this conversation.

Josiah complied thankfully and pushed the doors open. Jayden walked in behind us.

Josiah was so confident, walking with powerful strides. So perfect amd skilled while ignoring all the stares and murmurs. I kept my head up, trying to look like Josiah.

Glancing to my side, I saw Rose looking down while fidgeting with her bag strap nervously. I kept my hands in my pockets and walked beside him until we reached the lockers. We stopped there as Josiah looked into the files for the Locker numbers and codes.

Rose's locker was obviously next to mine. Jayden kept tapping his foot impatiently while Josiah helped us fill the forms and choose the classes we wanted to sit in.

The rule is that the form must be submitted a week before you can sit in your chosen classes. Since Lucian runs the school, we have the privilege to choose now and sit in these classes today.

"Done?" Josiah asked, as we handed him our papers. He looked at the papers and furrowed his eyebrows.

"You're both good at the same classes?" He asked, looking at our subject preferences, which were the exact same.

I shrugged.

We used to have different subjects before Lucas got disappointed that he couldn't compare many of our classes with each other. So he declared that he will go for Rose everytime she messes in those subjects that I didn't study . Messing means, not scoring the highest.

So I gave him a way to compare our scores with each other. I chose all the subjects Rose chose. Not like I had to study for anything. My only goal was to score just above the passing grade.

"Alright. Let me drop you to your first class," Josiah said, helping us up, as we were sitting on the floor, while filling the forms.

Josiah led us through the sea of students again. This time, though, Jayden walked ahead of us. People were moving out of the way as he walked like he owned the place.

Bitch.

"Alright. I'll be outside to show you the way to your next class." Jayden bent down to our level. "Good luck."

Kissing our foreheads once, he left. I sighed and turned towards the closed door, behind which the loud chatters could be heard.

Ew. People.

I turned the handle and opened the door, pulling Rose with me by her hand.

The classroom wasn't different than any normal classroom. People were just chatting and catching up to what they did during the weekend. Some were sitting on the desks while some sat on their chairs. Some were simply leaning against things and some were standing.

And we didn't have any attention like we had outside.

I stepped behind so Rose could choose where she wanted to sit. She looked around before she started walking towards the back.

She chose the last seat by the window. Perfect. I waited for her to settle down before taking my seat beside her.

I crossed my arms, one leg sticking out of the desk, while eyeing students. My fingers tapped against my bicep as I took in how everyone looked like.

Normal rich kids. No bitches, no visible bullies. Just normal kids but rich.

Nodding to myself, I turned to Rose to find her looking at everyone too.

She nodded to herself too and looked away, immediately locking eyes with me.

I put my arm around the back of her chair as she moved to get her book out. The novel she was reading. To pass time. I took my phone out and busied myself too.

About two minutes later, someone sitting in the seat before me and facing us, pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Yes?" I deadpanned, eyeing the girl before me. She wasn't in class before.

This was a brunette with a tank top, denim jacket and a denim skirt on. She looked pretty but the attitude on her nose screamed the opposite.

"I'm Jessica. You can call me Jess," she said, sticking her hand out. I shook it, all the while looking at her closely.

"Amira," I said, watching her furrow her eyebrows at the lack of emotions and interest.

"I just wanted to introduce you to the popular kids here. I'm the most popular in this class. Those are my friends, who are slightly less popular than me." She pointed towards a group of kids hanging in the other corner.

"We're all invited to your brothers' table. So we're friends with all the popular people," she said, like that was the biggest achievement for her. "Wanna join us?"

"No thanks," I said, crossing my arms again. She scowled and turned towards Rose.

"What about you?" She asked, looking at her up and down.

"If one of us decides something, it's for the both of us," I butted in.

She cleared her throat, looking into my gray eyes with her pretty blue ones. She has beautiful eyes.

"Well, I offered it. You can join us anytime. You'll know it's a good offer once you get comfortable and know more about the difference between the populars and the losers."

"Hm. Interesting." I leaned back in my chair and stared at her. I didn't even blink while practically looking through her like she was invisible.

A smirk almost formed on my face when she squirmed a little and shifted uncomfortably.

"Alright then. I'll take my leave," she said, standing up awkwardly and walking away. I allowed the smirk to appear on my face.

"You're so mean." Rose joked from beside me.

"I didn't say anything." I smirked, looking at my phone again.

"Well, you made her uncomfortable on purpose." She nudged me with her elbow.

Letting out a small chuckle, I shook my head and focussed on the phone.

"Levi was so scary and that bully ran away when she stared at her," Rose said, throwing her bag on the couch and herself into Mom's arms.

"That's my girl!" Dad said, kissing me all over my face after he forced me into his arms. "My kids are so brave."

"Ew Dad!" I said, wiping my face on his shirt, when he left a lot of saliva there.

"It's King Dad but okay," He sassed. I scowled at him, before I dropped it, remembering he finds that cute and might attack again.

"Settle down, everyone!" I blinked and looked at the lady standing at the door of the class.

"Great," I muttered. School has officially started.