Chapter 1

First Meeting

Be calm, talk what is necessary and be cautious. It’s all I need to keep this year from the three boys and their stupid rules unnoticed. Just three things that will keep Mika McFly from turning his intimidating eyes on me and doing the same thing he did to Patrick.

“Calm, quiet and cautious” I repeat to myself again on the way to school. It’s my first day of class sophomore year and all I want is to remain anonymous walking the halls of Jackson. I know, with total clarity, that if Mika finds out that I am the sister of the boy who confronted him, nothing good can happen. Calm, quiet and cautious.

“Four eyes, are you still here?” The driver asks when he sees me get off.

“I wonder what will happen if McFly finds out you’re Patrick’s little sister?” Surely nothing good. His mocking laugh is heard even as he closes the bus doors and starts the engine.

Calm, quiet and cautious. I inhale deeply. Jackson is the same as he was the year before, when Patrick could bring me in his car. The same guys, the same problems, the same privileged parking for Los Tres.

– ASTRID!

-I feel a blow to my shoulder that causes a pre-heart attack in me. I turn to find James Cooper at my side. You’re still just as skittish as you were last year, Four Eyes. James Cooper;

I couldn’t describe what I feel every time I see it. He is the kind of outgoing and very charismatic guy. It is not within the world of the popular; however, he has no need to bow his head when The Three make their appearance. Thanks to him, everyone calls me by my new nickname…

“Yes. Some things never change… I guess.” I shrug.

“Like you,” he laughs. And these old lady glasses you will never change them, right? I shake my head smiling. Well… if you changed them you would stop being Four Eyes, so you better keep them. Is that a compliment or is it just sarcasm? I keep the question to myself as I listen to the well-known and well-recognized engine in Mika McFly’s car. All the normals present outside of Jackson, including James, we cleared a way for them to the entrance of Jackson

– Rule number 1: Do not touch them without their permission. No one can touch the three most popular and feared kids in Jackson. Do they have a god complex? We all see them get out of the car and follow them until they pass, then out of obligation we lower our heads and look at the ground

– Rule number 2: Don’t look them in the eye. Our “deities” believe they are too perfect for someone who does not belong to the world of “the people” stare at them like idiots. Or in some other way.

My brother made the mistake of doing it and suffered the consequences. Ha, how could a mop like me look at them? And finally, while we see out of the corner of our eye how they walk among us with an air of sufficiency, self-centeredness and arrogance, we all keep a funeral silence

– Rule number 3: Do not talk to them. No one is good enough to talk to The Three. Talk to them? Not even joking! They dominate every hallway within Jackson. They are capable of doing everything to be respected and enjoy their social status. If it weren’t for the fact that this is his last year at Jackson, no one would resist his tyranny. As the school gates close behind them, everyone huddles together to watch as they walk with authority through the school corridors.

“That was… strange,” James murmurs. The two of us are the only ones who aren’t huddled together like chickens in the corn to see The Three. How are you?

“Hurrah,” I smile nervously.

-ASTRID! ASTRID!! Professor Scott’s screams bring me back to the painful reality: the baseball field. I put my cell phone in the pocket of my shorts and look at her. It’s your turn to bat, Fisher. Try this time to hit the ball and not the air like last year. Laughing, Lizzy hands me the bat. Yeah, last year I sucked at sports. I got the worst average and almost failed the bouquet. Who on this planet can fail sports? NOBODY except me. I take the bat with both hands and look for the best position to hit while remembering the advice Patrick gave me last year:

“Imagine that the ball is the person you hate the most in this world.

” And like a slow motion movie, I watch the ball coming right at me; slowly, it becomes the perfect face of Mika McFly. So, I hit with all my might.

-HOME-RUN! The teacher shouts, following the course of the ball with her eyes. Nice shot, Astrid. Now go get the ball. My smile disappears at his command. First time hitting the ball, but I have to go get it at the other end of Jackson’s yard. I sigh in resignation and hunched my shoulders. I drag my sneakers across the field until I’m stopped in my tracks when I discover that the ball is in the hands of none other than him. Standing a few feet from me, tossing the ball into the air and effortlessly catching it with his hand, Mika McFly looks at me like I’m a bug or worse. I lower my head feeling a lump in my chest that contracts and causes my heartbeat to speed up.

-This is yours? -asks me. I hear his footsteps approaching me and I nod with my head down. “Excuse me?” I did not hear you. “

Y-yes…” I stammer, trying not to break my voice. It I feel. He is silent. He walks around me and stops at my back again. His breath moves my hair. With his free hand, he grabs a strand of my hair and brushes it away from my face. “What could I do with you?” He asks close to my ear, I hide my head between my shoulders when he does. “What fun game could I play with a little girl like you?” He stands in front of me and throws the ball to the ground. I think today is your lucky day. Pick it up I don’t expect him to change his mind and bend down to pick up the ball, but as I do, my phone falls out of my pocket and the screen lights up.

The photo of Patrick and I that I have in the background is exposed. Before taking it, Mika grabs my hand and takes the phone for me.

“Patrick Fissher…” he murmurs more to himself. A distorted smile spreads across his lips and he looks at me. You’re Patrick’s little sister, right?

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