The Academy of the Elite

The sound of my alarm wakes me up, getting me irritated already. Why did I even set the stupid thing if school doesn't start for another week? I dismiss the alarm and go back to sleep. I slept in pretty late - until 11:53. I knew I would be in trouble for missing mandatory school breakfast but I am sure I could think of a good reason to tell JT if he asks. I sit up and rub my eyes; I still couldn't believe that I was in this school. I loved waking up in this room, to look outside to the beautiful perfect patch of grass surrounded by flowers. In my very own bed, on these Egyptian cotton sheets, with silk blue curtains and did I mention my own bed? I pick up my phone to text Max, happy to start my day and have a late breakfast, really lunch, with him. Just as I'm about to hit send, I remember our fight from yesterday. That instantly ruins the mood I woke up in. I wish he hadn't messed things up; I was really looking forward to having something with him. I need some fun to get him off of my mind.

I meet up with Lizzy for lunch at the cafe, and she reassures me that I'll be fine, and that Max will come to his senses and apologize. I am not sure why she was even saying any of this when he acted like such a creep with her yesterday. Either way I refuse to let it be that easy for him. I shouldn't just take him back if he apologizes, that would be so dumb and go against everything I said. We finish eating, hug, and agree to meet each other at the studio for rehearsal later. I know I rushed down my food because I didn't want to stay on the Max topic but she seemed pretty preoccupied herself, so I am sure she didn't even notice. She recommended for me to try out the arcade, since she said it was "loads of fun". So I guess that's where I'll be spending my time since I didn't have any better ideas.

When I get to the arcade, I marvel at all the games.. This place is awesome! I run straight to the racing section and pick a motorcycle racing game. I was a sucker for a good motor cross game. I play for what seems like hours before someone taps on my shoulder. I was in the zone and not in the mood to be interrupted but I forfeited this race anyway.

"Hey." I freeze at the sound of the familiar voice. I turn around to find Max, of course.

I stare at him, speechless. He had some nerve just walking up to me like this. I wondered what gave him the guts to speak to me again.

"Okay, look. I'm really sorry about yesterday. I just want you to know that I thought about what I said. I admit that it was wrong, and what I said about your sister is not true."

He kept his eyes on me, but I couldn't help but look away. I was disgusted with his behavior; I just couldn't stand the sight of him. I would even prefer Kellin right now and I really don’t like Kellin. I swing my legs off of the vehicle and begin to walk away, but he grabs my wrist and insists that I forgive him. I was getting ready to tell him off when Jack shows up, goofy grin on his face.

"Hey you two, what goes on?" He asked casually, slipping his arm around my shoulder.

Max's face tightens. "We were talking about something."

"Actually we weren't." I overlap his sentence.

"Okay, well, I'm going to borrow Ally for a second." Jack says, pulling me away without waiting for a response. "I heard you guys got into a little fuss yesterday." He said, looking in Max's direction to make sure he hadn't followed us.

"Yeah, we did." I say, rubbing my temples trying hard not to stress over Max.

"Well you can thank me right about now for saving you." He says, smiling slightly.

"Yes, you are the best." I hug him.

I look in Max's direction to see if he was still there. He was, and he looked pretty upset. Good, let him be mad. I feel a small sense of satisfaction fill my chest as I leave the arcade with Jack, not even sparing Max second glance.

I headed into rehearsal smiling wide for my sister as she tuned her guitar. Lizzy’s hair fell slightly over the concentrated look on her face, as she focused on her task. I cleared my throat and she straightened up and gave me a feeble grin. I could tell this whole Vic and Zac thing was really getting to her.

“I am thinking about changing the third song.” She said while handing me my bass for the opening number.

“Well since I didn’t know the third song in the first place, I'm okay with it.” I placed the strap over my head.

“I just don’t know what to do anymore Ally.”

Those were her last words before launching us into a rehearsal. We sang through the two songs so many times before she shooed me off an hour early, saying she got special permission to perform the mysterious third song by herself. I shrugged; I wanted to explore some more before dinner anyway. I watched her for a second but she was zoned out, so I headed off towards someplace new. Since I had nothing better to do I decided go to the unexplored student lounge. I didn't really expect to have time to kill alone so it was the best place I could think of, and I heard good things about the place from Jack this morning. Plus I really wanted to meet some new people, people who aren't Max.

On my way there, I noticed Vic sitting by a tree, writing in a notebook. His brow furrowed and hair flopping in his face, for a moment his pose reminded me of Lizzy’s earlier. I wondered if she knew how alike they were. I hadn't seen him all day so I walked up to him and he smiles up at me when he takes note of my footsteps.

"Hey Ally." He said patting the space next to him.

"What you got there?" I ask curiously, while lowering myself next to him.

"Mm, nothing." He says coyly, while trying to slip it into his bag.

"Let me see, please?!" I stretch across him to try and retrieve the notebook from his hands, but he puts it out of my reach. "C'mon man!" I quit and cross my arms.

“Fine, I will let you see it, since you are going to be such a baby about it." He teases, handing me the notebook. "It's where I write my songs."

"Cool." I flip through the pages passively; I could tell me looking through the book made him a bit uncomfortable.

"Good stuff." I hand it back to him.

"You really think so? Thanks." He grins at his notebook and places it in his back pack. "So where were you headed to?" He turns his attention towards me.

"The student lounge," I reply, slipping grass between my fingers. "I want to see if I can get myself a friend with ovaries." I laugh to myself and look back at him, who looks confused. "I want to befriend a female. The only friends I have here are guys."

"Ahh, well that makes sense." He nods and gets up. “All girls need a good gal pal, at least that’s what Roxy tells me.”

“Who?”

He reaches out his hands to help me up. I wipe any dirt that may have been on my butt and take out my phone to check the time, it's 5:18. I was already hungry and had no desire to wait until dinner. I huffed to myself and vowed to wait until then, I didn't want to slip into comfort eating.

"So when are you planning to woo my sister?" I say while nudging him in the ribs with my elbow.

"When I get the courage to, I guess." He looks down at his feet.

"When you get the courage? You need to get some courage right now!" I say, poking him in the chest. "She went on a date with Zac last night and-"

"What? A date, with Zac?" His once happy and sweet smile turned into a snarl in an instant.

I was taken aback by how fierce he actually looked. I was sure he would have known since Lizzy said she had spoken to him briefly that morning via text. Okay, maybe I should have put more thought into what I was going to say before opening my big mouth.

"Well she said it wasn't a date, but she told me they went bungee jumping in the amusement park. I am the one who called it a date." I say casually. I could tell he was upset; it was probably not the best idea to talk about it anymore.

"I guess I'll talk to her today in person, alone for once. I can't let that Zac guy get to her. He is no good for her; I don’t want Lizzy to get hurt, especially not after what Kellin told me yesterday." He mumbled looking past me. "Thanks for letting me know."

"No problem." I smile at him to reassure his actions.

"I'll see you around." He hugged me then walked off.

I continue my journey to the student lounge and I am surprised at the amount of people there when I walk in. I thought that everyone would be at the amusement park or mall, but I guess this is the "spot". I take a seat next to an obvious couple. They were cute, but that annoyingly cute couple that everyone knows, and is sure would never break up. I knew this ounce of information because Naomi Hamilton, the girl sitting to my left, told me this. She smiled and walked over to me unexpectedly. She is about 5"8, a bit taller than me. What I instantly loved most about her appearance was her hair. She had shoulder length, beautiful messy curls, with the an ombre effect of black to a dark magenta that fades into dark hues of purple. Her skin was a warm beige color, which looked even lighter when she stood next to me. She had adorable dimples and small soft rose colored lips. She had almond shaped amber colored eyes, surrounded by thick black eyelashes and slightly thin curved eyebrows. She wore a light shade of brown eye shadow and soft blush swept on her cheeks. She wore a black sleeveless lace top with brown skinny jeans to match her eye shadow and all black chucks. I noticed that she had both ears pierced, and a cuffed dove helix piercing on her right ear. She also had a black beanie and like, five wristbands on.

The moment she sat down she said that the couple had been dating for over 3 years, now that's commitment. I wondered how she knew I was thinking about the couple next to me, it was probably the awkward glances I kept throwing towards them every once in a while. This led Naomi and I to have small talk, well more like we had a long conversation. We quickly established a friendship, which I was happy about. I felt like I have known her forever, even though I had only spoken to her for the first time today. It was one of those things where everything felt natural and right. This made the whole thing easier for me. I knew I wouldn't have to stress out over Max with her because she had no idea about us.

She told me how she has a little brother and a pet Siberian husky back at home. I was instantly jealous. I always wanted to have a dog but we could never afford one. I told her about my large family and sister who goes here. She told me that she grew up in Connecticut and moved here to Georgia when she was ten, which was eight years ago. This has always been my home, so naturally I had a lot of questions about Connecticut. Then she told me about her love of being around water and how she once worked at a marine preserve agency with her parents for a few summers. I thought all of that was pretty cool but when she told me that she was a Culinary major, I practically freaked out.

"Do you know what this means?" I say, splaying my hands out and widening my eyes.

"What?" She giggled.

"You have to cook for me! Like every single day!" I exclaim, emphasizing the last three words. She laughed and shook her head.

"I don't know about that. But I can make you something today, for dinner if you like." Yes, she offered to make me dinner.

"This is the start of a beautiful friendship." I dramatically wrap my arm around her shoulder.

Though we still had an hour before the school’s dinner, I accept her offer. I will just go to the cafeteria and talk with Lizzy afterwards. I want talk to my sister and get her to smile today, but first I needed to eat. I can’t focus on making my sister happy on an empty stomach. I look at her wristbands again.

“Why do you have so many wristbands on?" I eye her as I stood up.

"My favorite number is five." She said while playing with them.

"Cool,” I say while placing my hair behind my ear. “I think you are the first person I met with a favorite number.”

She laughs, "That's weird, everyone I know has one. Anyway, let’s go make some dinner!"

She pulls me along happily while hooking my arm with hers. I can't wait to tell Lizzy about my new friend, I could already tell that we were going to be close. She chats with me some more while leading me into the student kitchen. We both knew we couldn't skip out on being at dinner, so she fixes up a pizza with broccoli, feta and spinach and we chow down. I try not to drool too much over her epic pizza but I knew this would not be the last time I asked her to cook for me. We scurried to the cafeteria barely making it on time when I spot Lizzy crying as Vic walks away from her. This can’t be good.