I: Welcome To Langley Acadmey

"LOURDES!"

I huffed at the sound of my middle name being yelled out. I shuffled where I stood, frantically fixing the braid I pleated on my hair. "LOURDES!" the voice of my grandmother called out once more. I whined in frustration then quickly put on my new school blazer, grabbing my red boots as I descended downstairs.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I swear I don't mean to be late on my first day." I muttered as I advanced to where the voice and an amazing smell came from.

 Upon seeing the dining room table contained my grandmother pouring my father some coffee while he read the newspaper, my mother slicing her pancake and my brother with a fully amused smirk, I realized that I was not late.

"Whoever said you were late? It's 6:15" my grandmother frowned slightly. "I was merely calling you down for breakfast; have a seat."

I catch my breath and whip my head to Roux. He had his arms crossed, thus his toned biceps seemed buldging. His blonde haired head was tilted down slightly. I turned to the rest of the blonde in the table, my father, my mother, then my grandmother who then continued, "You are aware your class starts at 7:30? Raiden said you were awake, so I called for you."

I blow the strands of hair I was unable to get out of the way and pull a smile, "No, yeah. I totally knew I wasn't late."

Roux snorts. He then begins to dig into his pancakes, "Thanks for the food, Gran."

I glared at him and growl, shoving his head as I went to a vacant chair. 

Roux protests at the action, and releases his cutlery to retaliate. It is then we begin to have a brawl at the table. Though he was undeniably stronger, he was also undeniably much more annoying, and so I had to just beat him into a pulp.

I rapidly start assaulting my brother's shoulder. He pretends he is immensly hurt and blocks my punches. My parents continued on in indifference while my grandmother practically lost her wits. 

"CHILDREN, NO FIGHTING ON THE TABLE!"

"HE STARTED IT!" I shouted simply making the he-devil laugh and catch my wrists in his large hand. He then begins to poke at me and I growl, getting even more annoyed by him. 

"Alexander!" my grandmother shouted to my father.

Dad then pulls his newspaper down only slightly, quickly looking between the two of us. It's not much, but there's a reason why my Alexander Dahlberg was both well respected and feared in his industry. I've heard how his employees talk about his killer looks, as in some find him attractive and some are incredibly terrified of him.

We instantly pull away.

By the time I begin to eat my breakfast, I turn to my parents and ask, "Who's gonna bring me to school?"

"Roux is," dad speaks, nonchalant, "and after, he's going to bring Periwinkle to school and pick both of you up."

Roux chokes on his food and I begin to turn to him, looking smug. He turns to dad and clears his throat, " but... I'm taking the day off, as in I'm not going to go outside today."

"Hmm, weird that you thought you could do that," dad says, giving him a look between flipping his pages.

Roux clenches his jaw, feeling annoyed that his plan to pig out and waste away for the day was going to be a no show.

My mother then turns to Roux and stresses, before taking a sip on her mug, "You heard your father."

"Considering you went to school there before, I thought you'd be more excited," dad added, glancing at Roux. 

Before moving to Magnolia, our family used to live here in Ashwood. I was barely in preschool then, so I don't really remember much.

Roux knew better to go up against mom, dad, and my grandmother so early in the morning. He instead sinks in his seat like a scolded child who just threw a tantrum. 

I smirked fully as I took another bite of my pancake, telling him, "I'll be ready in twenty."

"Okay, when dad said you'd bring me to school, he meant drive there Roux! DRIVE!" I huffed and stomped on a few leaves that were in my path. 

He chuckled and hip bumped me forcefully, "Quit yapping, I used to walk there all the time, and lucky you to get to have your darling brother accompany you."

I rolled my eyes and gripped the straps on my backpack, "I swear if you don't shut up I may resolve to murder."

He chuckled with an eye roll, "Aww, but how'd you live without me 'round?" he teased and attempted to pinch my cheeks. I pushed him away before he even got a hold of me.

"Keep your filthy hands to yourself. I will cut you."

He chuckled and placed his hands in his pocket. "And besides, dummy, it's not like my cherry baby's here." That, my friends, is the name of his stupid cherry red vintage car. It's stupid because it's his.

I roll my eyes as continues, "It's not like you haven't walked farther."

"Yeah, but I'd rather not have to be around you for an unneccessarily longer amount of time, Roux."

After crossing the street and winding up walking to some sort of forest-- why was there a forest here? I do not know myself-- I turned to my brother and knit my brows, "We're lost, aren't we?"

He pursed his lips slightly, "Ye of little faith."

I scoffed and crossed my arms, "Fine, but if I get late on the first day, you're SO getting it."

 And out of nowhere like magic, a grand building was before my eyes and I was met with beings dressed in the same clothes as I walking around, greeting friends, and whatnot. I could tell we weren't by the main entrance but therw was an entrance nonetheless.

Roux snickered and wiped his nose obnoxiously, stretching his arms out quite like the redeemer, "What'd I tell ya, huh? Welcome to the tenth chasm of the inferno, Tulila."

I laughed softly, shoulder tensing slightly, "Gee, just what I wanted to hear."

Roux nodded his head in disapproval then threw his arm over my shoulders, "Don't sweat it, I'm always happy to beat someone up if anyone messes with my baby sister." he spoke only half joking as he then lead me inside.

Upon entering the principal's office, we were greeted kindly by the woman in charge herself.

As soon as we were met with the school's face of authority, my brother's demeanor shifted and before we even got close to the premise of the office, his posture straightened and his walk lost its cokiness and retained all confidence. I could try and say it was fake, but he really was just like that. He was like a chameleon that morphed into what he needed to be.

"Good morning, Mrs. Kenneth. I'm Roux Dalhberg and this is my sister Lilac," my brother spoke, smiling politly as he shook the woman's hand. "You spoke on the phone with our father, Alexander Dahlberg, not too long ago with regards to my sister's enrollment."

"Ah, yes, Dahlberg. You're Mrs. Esther Sweeting's grandchildren, correct?" Mrs. Kenneth spoke as she straightened her well-ironed vest and moved stray red hair away from her pale, neatly painted face.

We both nodded and spoke in agreement. 

"Right. Well, everything has been arranged. Mrs. Sweeting came over and did all the paperwork needed herself." She straightens her posture and turns to me, "I'm Olivia Kenneth, principal of this institution, and I welcome you to The Royal Langley Academy of Ashwood International.

"I've contacted a student council representative that has the same schedule as you to show you around. She should be here any moment. If you like you can wait here or outside the office, so you can see her."

Upon hearing this, I nod, "I can wait outside."

"Alrighty then," Roux speaks, "I'll be on my way."

Roux and I bid a goodbye, then head out of the office.

"Don't forget, I'll be picking you up, okay. Don't be late," my brother spoke as he walked away backwards. I nodded and waved him off. He continued, "Call me."

I nodded furiously as he smirked, blowing a mocking flying kiss before leaving.

"Gosh, I wish I had a boyfriend like that," a random voice called. I snap my head to the direction of the sound and knit my brows, "definitely date him if you're into the blonde, cocky, and obnoxious."

I suppose this girl with dark hair and green eyes was my guide. She wore a dark blue sweater underneath her perscribed uniform coat with matching colored pumps. In contrast, I was wearing a brown turtleneck and red booties. 

Academies like this, rich and prestigious, with equally so studens, were extremely lax with their uniforms. The only thing we had in common was the coat we had, and though both our skirts were a-line and black, reaching above our knees, they were most definitely different.

A smile hatched on her lips, "Soooo, does that mean he's not your boyfriend?"

In an automatic response to the horrifyingly disgusting assumption, I threw my head back and feigned vomiting, "Hell no! You can have my sorry excuse of a brother." I began to wheeze, "I must warn you though, he's not from this world. He's 100% crazy."

She chuckles and nods, "Seems right up my alley. Anyway, hi newbie! I'm Gail Alonso, short for Abigail, and before I got distracted by your hot brother, I was going to tell you that I'm the student body president, who was given the exact same schedule as you, meaning we have to be friends."

I release a huff, "that's a lot of pressure." 

"Nah," she flaunts her pearly whites. She then comes over and links her arms with me, "Believe me, I'm probably the least pressuring person in school." After saying this, she begins to lead us off.

I chuckle, "sounds exactly like what someone who'd pressure you would say."

She laughs at this, and I laugh because of her laugh. "I like you already newbie. What should I call you then?"

"Well, my full name's Lilac Lourdes Dahlberg. You can figure it out from there."

She suddenly halts and turns to me, "Wait. Are you that Dahlberg?"

I hesitate and clench my jaw.

Gail gets the message and further clarifies, "As in Paramount & Principle Enterprises Dahlberg?"

I lick my lips and nod slowly, "Right. That would be my... father's... business." 

She pulled back and let out a breath. She then offers me a smile, "hey don't be glum. Family scandals are the least scandalous thing here. Trust me. Last time, we had a transfer student from Zurich whose family got into trouble with some royal family, and no one bat an eye."

She begins walking again, as she continues rambling about other 'non-interesting scandals' that involved students here. I jolt up however when she pulls away sharply and gasps, "WAIT, THAT MUST BE ROUX DAHLBERG THEN! Stylish Magazine's reccuring hottie of the month!"

I groan and roll my eyes, "the only thing hot about him is his head."

Gail eeks and giggles, "ooooh, you have to introduce me to him, sometime, m'kay."

I huff, "Sure. Don't regret it, okay."

She then begins to look at me funny. I return the look. She nudges me, "I haven't read much about you as your brother, but from what I hear, you're a girl with a thousand knights, back home."

"HA! That's an ever bigger lie than my brothers. The only guy who I thought was my knight in shining armour, turned out to be a collossal jerk-face."

"Ahhh, well, if that's the case, I do believe there are some diamonds in the rough here for you."

I shake my head, "Not necessarry. I... don't think we're going to stay here long anyway."

Gail nods and gives a pout, "call me clingy, but I kinda hope you stick around, not because of anything else but you end up liking it here."

I examine her smile and decide her friendly demeanour was probably genuine. I smile back as we walk down the empty, well-polished hallways.

"There are a lot of rules you must familiarize yourself with in order to keep things around here in their place. I think I can get you a seat next to me in every subject. Strategically speaking, since I'm always near Emeraude, the eyes and ears of the school, and Michelangelo, the smartest kid in school, you as well will be in a good seat. That's also on top of being next to me obviously." she spoke with a playful eyeroll and hair flip. 

I laughed. 

"And what do we seem to have here?" a voice interrupted. Gail and I stop in our tracks as a boy comes into view with an expression I was wholly sure meant like he was looking for some trouble. 

He was tall and mocha skinned man. His hair was fixed so that it looked like he hadn't fixed it. He looked cute.

"Well, well, well, it seems like we'll be having fresh meat on the menu today." He spoke with a tinge of what I could distinguish as a hispanic accent and raised his brows as his eyes raked me from head to toe. 

I pull my head back.

Sorry. Did I say he was cute?

I meant he looked like a human trash can.

"Excuse me?" I raised a brow at him.

"Get lost, Javier," Gail scoffed, tightening her hold on me.

Human-trash can ignores that. "We're not properly introduced, the name's Javier Rosario." he purred making me chuckled dryly.

"I asked for a clarification for your offensive statement, not for your name," I retorted. 

He chuckles and turns away in amusement. He clicks his tongue in a reprimanding manner when he turns back, "I'll let you off cause you're cute. Remember me, okay, bonita?"

With that, he walks past us.

Both of us make annoyed sounds. Gail shakes her head, "And that's Javier Rosario in a nutshell."