Silent Poison

Autumn tapped her weekly manicured nails on the mahogany lunch table. The indigo color gleamed from the sun that shined in through the windows. Why the hell was this firewall being difficult? The academy had to make a new password because some idiot tried to hack into the main system. Not her, she could get in and out without a trace. The asshole who had the school boost the security was going to get a brand new asshole. That is, when she found out who it was.

Autumn's eyes lit up right then, the light bulb lighting up above her head. She clicked across the keyboard, biting her lower lip with anticipation.

"Auty, get off that damn thing."

"Bite me, TJ." Autumn sneered, not looking away from the screen as the powerful machine was encrypting the new security system.

"You're going to get caught."

"I never get caught. Don't forget who keeps you and your idiot girlfriend's grades decent."

Autumn hissed harshly as her brother grabbed her wrist tightly. Slowly, the blood circulation ceased. He glared at her, his lips pursed together. She awaited his verbal assault knowing full well that whatever he said, she had a better retort for it.

"You should show a little respect, I'm your brother. I could destroy you here," He said.

"You say that at least once a day."

Autumn ripped her wrist from his grasp with an eye roll. It would bruise later. She closed her laptop and put it in her tan canvas messenger bag. That thing was her life.

"I have my own reputation. I don't need yours," she got up to leave as Cassandra sat down, "and you being my brother doesn't mean shit. It's just means that everyone else hates me because of you."

Autumn's spike bangles jingled as she lifted her Eighteen Visions bag and slipped the strap over her shoulder.

"Auty" she ignored his call like always, "I'm talking to you!"

"I'm ignoring you!" she snapped at him without looking back or stopping.

Her long ponytail streaked with bits of vibrant orange against the dark auburn swished with attitude behind her. People coming into the cafeteria moved out of her way automatically. She smirked to herself then laughed quietly. It was like she was a pariah. That was okay because each of them came to her with problems and she could take care of it. a possible cheating boyfriend or girlfriend? SAT boost? Grade boost? Test answers? Winning class president? Yeah, she had that…for a price.

Nobody stood in her way, not even the teachers. She had an 'in' with each of them. She didn't use her brilliance for evil per say, just her own gain. Nobody else looked out for her, but her. Having the IQ of 173 and having a brother with an IQ of 107 only made her feel that much better. She could outdo him in ways he couldn't think of. He was lucky that she kept his record clean and kept his grades decent. But, every time he complained that she was the one who was ungrateful.

"Careful Autumn. You're getting ice on me from that cold soul of yours."

Chris Cerulli. He always did have something to say to her. He was just about the only one who ventured to speak to her outside of needing anything from her. He came to her last year because like everybody else, he wanted something only she could get. An A in art. She'd seen his work and he deeply needed it. Feeling sorry for him, she gave him the A . He wasn't too demanding of it. He actually asked if he could have the A and it was kind.

"Don't stand to close then." She said not even bothering to notice his existence. Chris watched their nonchalant exchange silently, taking in her daily appearance. The unbuttoned prep jacket, loosened tie, unbuttoned white dress-up shirt with a black tank top underneath, Docs. The black fingernail polish, black eyeliner, mascara. She was not like her brother. It was refreshing especially since she was a hell of a lot smarter than him.

Devin and Richard had talked about her a few times, but only after Chris had gone to talk with her. he expected tutoring or something within that area, but Autumn didn't do tutoring. She didn't like to get close to anyone because they might talk to her and she like talking much with anybody because she didn't want to chance them being as dumb as her brother.

Autumn worked too hard to sit around and socialize. Come this spring, she was graduating alongside her brother at the age of sixteen. She got into high school at age twelve. The provost always expressed how smart and sweet she was whenever he saw her. She had to smile and play the character of sweet, loving Autumn. Too innocent to do anything bad and it worked like a charm every time.

Autumn settled into the back row of her next class and pulled her laptop top.

"Miss Bell, this isn't computer lab."

Others who were settling into their seat looked at her waiting for her reaction. Her brown eyes softened, her mouth parted and let out a small sigh.

"I'm taking notes though," she said, her voice holding a soft defense.

The professor stared at her. Brandon and Chris walked into the class, late as usual to see the exchange. Autumn eyes softened even more, pleading.

"Okay, fine. No fooling around or else that shiny machine is mine and I'll give it to my eleven year old."

Autumn smiled widely and nodded. Her eyes dropped to the screen. The firewall went down. She smiled happy with herself. A chair slid out beside her breaking her out of her small euphoria.

"Hey geek."

"Oh don't be jealous Christopher." Her voice was flat and uninterested in his presence.

She looked over to see that he hadn't sat down. He leaned against the desk, looking down at her. A cocky smirk spread across his lips with a plan that she didn't know about yet. Whatever it was would never be followed through. she was smarter than that and he knew it. She was sneaky, sly, and endearing. There was more, but she never showed her true colors unless somebody crossed her path in a bad way.

Sophomore year a senior who had asked her out, it was a big ordeal since TJ nearly killed him at the end of the date, basically disappeared. He'd tried to take advantage of Autumn that night. She had come to school with a cut cheek surrounded by a bruise hence TJ's attack. Autumn was the one to make him disappear though. The guy land a twenty-five year sentence in jail and everyone knew that she did it. She hadn't dated anybody since.

It took the teacher ten extra minutes to get the class started since the rich kids of Penn State had all the leisure time in the world to get to class.

"I can't help that I'm smarter than you. It's something I was born with." She snorted, "What were you born with?"

An ego bigger than your brain? It was safer to finish that in thought.

"Want to find out?"

He scooted closer to her making a point to reinforce his sexual innuendo. Autumn huffed at his attempt to distract her. He was only succeeding in annoying her. Pushing her laptop back a bit, she stood and faced him. Over his shoulder, she saw her brother walk in. His icy eyes met hers. She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face resembling that of the Cheshire cat. He was pissed. At who? Autumn or Chris.

You really do hate him don't you?

The two battled since before middle school. The reason behind it was still a mystery. But any battle with Chris was a battle with all five Ipswich sons. Maybe it was because he wasn't born as one of the sons of Ipswich. Jealousy rang quite true Autumn. The thing she never understood was that the band let TJ join.

Placing her palm flat on the desktop close to Chris, close enough that she brushed his navy jacket open, she leaned in close keeping her eyes on her brother as his fists clenched. Her lips almost touched Chris' ear. She could feel his anticipation.

"Go eat yourself." She whispered subtly.

Chris fought the shiver against the words that only enticed him to play harder. She was just about the only girl he hadn't had yet. Was there much to have?

Autumn sat back down in her seat and typed away on her keyboard once more. He left her there and moved to sit with Devin. TJ sat below Jessica. She ignored him like she ignored the teacher's lesson. Stephen King, she'd already read Dreamcatcher. She preferred Pet Cemetary.