II: The First King

"What a joke." I scoff, making Gail chuckle. "Lilac, you have no idea what you just did though."

This makes my brows raise, "What's that supposed to mean? I just told a guy off for being rude and put him in his place." 

The brunette breaks into a hearty laugh, "You, my friend, just told off one of the king of Langley Academy on your first day. Thank goodness I was showing you around. If it was someone else--"

"Hold on. hat do you mean 'king'?"

"It's stupid really," she does not forget to roll her eyes when saying this, "There's a Langley hierarchy, and sadly this is your new reality. You'll get a better picture when we get to the cafeteria. Cece is honestly much better at telling stories than me. But since lunch is still an hour away, let's kill some time. Let's walk and talk, I'll show you all the places in school you should know about."

"Won't we get in trouble for cutting class?" I ask, making her turn to me with glimmering eyes, "Perks of being a new student and student body president. Trust me, it's tradition."

"This is the hallway prime. We call it that because it's where most of the interesting people in school have their homeroom in this area. It's notorious for being the foundation of buzz. Our homeroom would be there, in the third room to the right. Room 105." 

As Gail explained this, I observed my surroundings. The architecture wasn't overly intricate, neither was the decorations. It was just a moderately high ceiling hallway, with white walls, painted blue in some areas. There were plants in a few corners, and some portaits of notable alumni and a few windows.

"The locker hallway is over here," Gail pointed, leading me to the left side.

I pursed my lips at the sight of the varying colors of blue lockers; the hue of blue ranged from baby blue to royal blue. It was highly aesthetically pleasing to me.

"Here we are, locker number 89. Don't worry, this is about as much as I know about you. I am not a creep." Gaile mused as she does jazz hands by the said locker.

I laugh and hum, "It's a nice spot. I've always wanted a locker by the window."

I think Gail begins to talk about another scandal, but I'm too distracted to listen to her. I take this as an oppurtunity to ask, or to blurt out, more accurately, "Is he always like that?"

Gail stops and buffers. She then nods her head, "You mean Javier? The guy earlier?" I nod. She lets out a breath, "I can't really speak for the kings' behalf because I don't interact with them, y'know. I'd really rather stay far from things that will cause a headache, you feel me?

I nod at this, "I feel you."

"Good. Well... I only know them my reputation and slightest interaction. I think we can assue he's nice to his friends..."

I release an exasperated sigh, "Great, so he's going to be a jerk to me now. At least he's the only self-proclaimed king here?"

Gail trails off, "mmmmmm, not exactly. Come on, it's almost 12. Priscilla will tell you all about it at lunch."

Part of me thought she was joking when she said it was almost twelve. As we neared the cafeteria, passing a clock that read it was in fact 11:45, it had dawned to me time was moving seemingly so quickly today. I pursed my lips at the thought, well the sooner the day ends, the sooner the next one starts, the sooner I can go back home.

The cafeteria was huge. It had extremely high ceilings, and it was so white and clear. There was deck as a second floor, massive windows, and grand chandeliers that I hope were bolted on well.

And I don't know if it was all in my head, but I like everyone was staring at me. 

"Cece!" Gail called making another dark haired girl talking a group of people's ears off turn to us and flaunt her pretty face.

She waved at us.

Gail pulled me quickly to their direction. We arrived to a table with exactly three people seated. "Guys, this is the new student I was scheduled to show around today."

"Psssh, you were supposed to orient her, not show her around and make her miss class her first day," the only guy in the group spoke. I turned to him and saw his deep dimpled smile. He had black hair, long enough to tie into a low man bun, as well as a pierced ears.

Gail rolls her eyes, "Well how can I orient her if I don't show her around, genius?"

"Alright. Let's pretend you don't just to skip class," a girl with fiery red hair and pale, freckled skin spoke. The entire table then breaks into amused laughs.

Gail chooses to ignore this, "Anyway, this is Dahlberg... I forgot your first name-" 

"Lilac." 

"Right. Lilac Dahlberg of Paramount & Principal Enterprises."

The table falls quiet. "Oh... cool," the guy softly. He straightened himself up and turned to me. "My mom is actually a big fan of yours. I'm pretty sure she's leader of a Bethany Sweeting fan club."

I can't help but laugh at this.

"Yeah, and I particularly am a fan of when your dad called out a bunch of sexist CEOs," the redhead speaks.

I purse my lips into a smile, "yeah. That was pretty iconic, huh."

"Pretty iconic? How 'bout major iconic!" the same girl calls.

"Guys, how about we introduce ourselves before making small talk," Gail says, pressing her hands together.

Immediately, one of them stand up and offers a hand to me, "I'm Priscilla. Corazon Margarita Priscilla Enrique George to be exact, but you can call me Cece, everyone does." 

Her last name George (He-or-he) was Hispanic like Javier (Ha-vi-er).

I take her hand, "Lilac Dahlberg." 

She sits down and I notice her bag with a G&G logo. I instantly realize she was most definitely the daughter and only child of G&G Co.'s Consuelo George.

"Karenina Von Wolff." the ginger spoke out, raising her finger, "you can call me Nina."

Now she, I knew for sure, was descended from the red headed beauty Yvonne Phoenix, the iconic actress herself, and Amadeus Von Wolff of The Howling Wolff newspaper press. Surely she of all people knew what was happening with my family.

"Keanu Antali'i, but you babe, can call me Kai." the guy smirked making me chuckle. 

I turned to him, "Like Keanu Reeves?" 

The guy grinned, "Yeah, but better." 

Undoubtedly, the only Antali'i he could be from was the hipster artists Lili and Kemene Antali'i.

That's the thing about being in schools like this. Even though they were strangers, we probably already know each other somehow.

Gail flicks Kai's forehead, "Don't hit on the new girl."

His chuckling was replaced by a whine. "Hey, I have rights!"

"Relax. He's just a glutton for attention. He'd probably flirt with a tree if he knew people were going to notice him." Nina noted.

"Wow, thanks for making me sound like a pathetic attention-seeker," Kai blurts.

"Enough about you. Girls, guess what, Lilac told off Javier Rosario!" Gail spoke in a giddy and fully amused tone. 

Nina's eyes and mouth went wide, whereas Cece pursed her lips in a small satisfied smile and snapped her fingers, "About time someone new blood told him off."

"Homaygahd, you just got here and I can already tell we're going to get along swimmingly" Nina huffed with a grin. "I guess it just runs in the family, huh?"

I chuckle nervously, "I guess so."

"Cece, you're welcome, because I made her wait until lunch so you could tell her all about the kings."

The brown eyed, black haired girl squeals, and cleches her fists in delight. "YES! Yes! A new listener has come, now listen closely baby, because it's story time."

Immediately, I am pulled down and sat beside Cece. She begins her narration proptly. 

"Once upon a time, in the school that is The Royal Langley Academy of Ashwood International," she bats her lashes exageratedly, making everyone else snicker, "a place where the children of those rich and powerful enough, or smart and hard-working enough to get a scholarship, go to school and learn in harmony. Right?" she chirped with a smile.

"Wrong." she deadpanned.

"Langley Academy is the one most prestigious school in the world, or so principle Kenneth says during flag ceremonies, and yet this school is a battle field. No one is safe for the exact reasons they are. People will point, filter, and scrutinize you for your money, class, family influence, intelligence, grades, fashion, followers, and everything else in between.

"But, no one gets it worse than the scholars," she points to a secluded corner in the cafeteria.

There there was a group of six or seven students, sitting quietly in their corner.

"They may look fine, but trust me, they're probably doing 10 other people's homework so that they can sit there in peace." 

I knit and shake my head at Cece's words, "you guys report the bullies right?"

"It's the sad and pathetic truth this hell hole bares. Every wrist tap that goes on in the school goes undocumented, a) because it'll hurt the school's image, b) the faculty is mostly scared shitless of the power the parents of some of the students here hold."

"I try to be friendly with them, and the girls would too, but then the kings would come after them in spite" Kai explains, motioning around the table, "The scholarsjust can't catch a break though, since there are zombies breathing down their necks."

"Wait, zombies?" I shake my head.

Gail nods, "as in the king's personal wall of muscle."

I roll my eyes and shake my head, "and these kings-- as in plural-- they bother you guys as well?"

"They bother everyone. They can't really stoop low enough to the level of the scholars, since, y'know, we've got connections too, but they have gone lengths to annoy you enough to think... it's not worth it to befriend the scholars," Cece adds.

"That's disgustingly cruel," I scoff.

Gail clenched her teeth, "Tell her the rest, Cece."

"Okay, there are three of them, three kings, and each king is one for their own reason. Before you start thinking they're some sort of power trio, let me make it clear that none of them are in friendly terms."

"Nope," Kai popped the p.

Nina shook her head, "Nu-uh-uh." .

"So they're like rivals?" I ask

"Exactly," Cece hums, "each king has a pack of their own. Javier's pack is called Um, which means one in Portuguese; he's Brazilian."

Cece then motions to her side, making me turn to where, lo and behold, Javier sat on the table, laughing with his friend.

I give a shudder. 

"Honey, we feel you." Gail agreed. 

"Now Javier's edge is money. His family owns, like, infinite acres of farm land for fruits and wine. He's pretty good looking, which helps most people succumb to his sweet-talking. To top that, he has a twin sister you should be wary of as much as him. Estrella Rosario is a total diva prima-dona," Cece shakes her head.

I nod, "Duly noted."

"Actually, because his head got too big, Javier and I used to be friends" Cece sighed.

"You mean you had a childhood crush on him," Gail calls out.

I knit my brows, "what happened."

Cece, from her death glare directed at Gail, turns to me, "puberty?"

I can't help but laugh.

"Up next is Marcus D'Froi," she points to a group where the said boy is evidently the one in the center, although he was paying no one else but his phone attention. He had brown skin and a buzz cut. I would say he too was cute, but if he's some sort of king too, I doubt he is any better than Javier. "He's French, thus his pack is called Un, or one in French."

I give out a sound, "I'm guessing they all wanna be number one, huh?"

"Don't even get me started," Cece rolled her eyes.

"Really don't, she'll never shut up." Nina chuckled.

"Marcus, as you guessed, is also also rich and good looking, via world famous doctor mother, Dr. Margaux D'Froi, but what he has is more connections than anyone in the school, or the school itself. It helps since he's Tyson Trade's sole heir, via estranged father, Anderson Tyson. To top that, teachers don't really have a problem with him cause he's smart, smart enough to be a scholar if he wanted. But he goofs off because his parents can pay for the tuition and either way, he's going to graduate even if he doesn't lift a finger."

"Last, but definitely not the least in anyway, there's Lee Dae-Hyun. Now, don't get confused because in Korean, and they say their family name first. So his given name is actually Dae-Hyun and his last name is Lee."

I nodded, "I've been to Korea before, Seoul and Busan particularly."

Nina snickered and Cece face-palmed, "Course you have. Who do you think you're talking to, dummy?" she addressed herself.

Gail snorted.

"Moving on, his pack is called Hana, which is Korean for one. Dae-Hyun is a king because he's rich, good looking, gosh it always gets old the third time around, and because he is a brute you do not want to mess with. He's physically and verbally very able to wound you, and out of all three kings, he's most known and more likely to make knuckle to skin contact. If you're thinking he just some chop-slop, think again because the guys has a black belt in judo, taekwondo, and a ten other type of martial arts known to man, or something. To top that, his father, who's Lee Tan of Lee Inc., is partners with Ashwood International so he basically functions as if he actually owns the place, cause he kind of does."

With that admission, I threw my head back and laughed.

The three girls on the table looked at me funny. "Uh, are you okay? What's so funny?" Gail half chuckled.

Once I settled down a bit, I turned to the three of their confused faces, "Ha," I hummed, trailing off. "Where is this Dae-Hyun?"

"He's absent today. Why do you ask?"

"Because my grandmother owns the school," I sniggered.

They all let out their own gasps of realization.

"I totally forgot Bethany Sweeting is Esther Sweeting's daughter," Kai chuckled.

We all share a laugh at this point.

"I'm pretty sure I could just tell my grandmother what's happening here, and this'll all blow over," I say.

Cece beams at my words, "Oh this is going to be an interesting year."