Warrior

Drew's POV.
I woke up the next day and looked at the clock. 1:37 pm. Not surprising to me. I always wake up late. I groggily rolled out of bed and walked over to the bathroom. Once I was finished I decided to walk upstairs and get some breakfast. Or Lunch. Whatever you want to call it. I walked up and saw a note on the counter. It read: the kids are out with friends until this afternoon. I'm in Toronto for the day. Have fun. Love you. xx -Aunt Vicki.

I sighed and walked over to the cabinet. I grabbed the lucky charms cereal and poured myself a bowl. /I guess I could find something to do until Lilly and Aaron get home. / I thought.

I walked to the backyard and saw they had a pool. I mean it may be October and in Canada but that doesn't mean I can't go in the hot tub for a while right? I ran downstairs and threw on a bathing suit and grabbed a towel out of a cabinet next to the laundry room. I checked the time on my phone and saw it was 2:45pm. I slipped in the hot tub. I felt so calm. For a while I forgot why I was here. Then I realized was probably in there for ages.

I got out and dried myself off before walking inside. I was hungry again-but then again, I'm always hungry. I heard the front door open before I saw a peppy Lilly walk in with her brother and a boy I didn't recognize. I was still in my bikini standing in the middle of the kitchen. Great fist impression Drew, I thought.

Aaron spotted me first. "Aye look. I see you found the pool." He said with a wide grin.

The boy I didn't know turned his attention from his phone to me. His eyes widened at the sight of me. Then he cocked and eyebrow and smirked at Aaron. "And I supposed this is the cousin that is coming to finish senior year with us?" He said. "You didn't say she was hot."

I scoffed. "As if." I said involuntary.
Lilly snorted and Aaron laughed out loud. "This is Drew Parker. Drew, this is Chaz Somers." Aaron said gesturing to each of us.

The boy supposedly named Chaz held out his hand. "Nice to meet you." He
said with a flirty smirk on his face.

"I wish I could say the same" I said rolling my eyes.

"Feisty are we?" Chaz chuckled.

I shot him a sarcastic smile, "You have no idea." I said. I looked at
Aaron. "I'm gonna go change. Be back in a bit." I said and started walking away.

"I'm coming with you!" Lilly said.

As I was about to turn the corner I heard Aaron shout, "Dude stop looking at her ass. It's weird man."
Lilly and I snorted loudly as we started to walk downstairs. When we reached my room she waited on the bed while I went into my suitcase and found clothes I wanted to wear. I went and quickly rinsed off in the shower before changing into my clothes. When I was done Lilly and I started talking about school on Monday.

"We should go shopping today. We could go find some new clothes for you to wear!" She squealed excitedly. I looked at her. I couldn't say no when she was this excited.

"Sure why not?" I said and smiled lightly. "We could have some fun."

"Yay! I'll go tell Aaron were going out." She jumped up from the bed.
I walked up the stairs behind her and walked into the kitchen where the others were.

"I liked you with less clothes on." Chaz said giving me a once over.

"And I liked you with your mouth shut," I shot back.

He chuckled, "You know you wanna tap this," he said gesturing to himself.

"I don't even know you. Let alone want to get with you." I said rolling my eyes.

"But you still want it," he said.

"Take your herps somewhere else Somers. We have to get going," Lilly interjected. "Come on D."

I walked out the door and into her car parked out front. It was the cutest little V&W bug I'd ever seen. We got in and drove to the mall. We got out and went inside. That's when I realized. "Oh shit Lil I don't have any money with me." I said.

"Don't worry I told mom that I was going to take you shopping today and she left us money to spend On new clothes for you and me. This has to last us until Christmas so lets save at least a little for your winter dance dress and shoes."

I looked at her like she was crazy.
"Winter dance Lil? Really? Like I would get asked to that." I said in disbelief.

She just shook her head at me. "Your a badass rebel chick form New York. Your new to the boys at Stratford. Your 'exotic' and different form The other girls at Stratford secondary school." She said seriously.

I snorted at the thought of myself being exotic. "Yea right," I said walking into an interesting store.

"I'm serious D. You saw how Chaz acted when he first met you. He doesn't act that way around just anyone," she said.

"Really," I said skeptically.

She looked at me, "Ok well ya he does but just you wait. When tomorrow rolls around you will see that they want you."

•••••

We arrived back at the house around 6:00 pm and by then Aaron had another friend with them. Chaz was the first to hear us walk in. "Hey look who it is. It's the hot one and the twin."

Lilly glared at Chaz, "Oh shut the hell up Chaz. Your not going to get into her pants. Stop trying," she said.

Aaron and the other boy started to laugh. Chaz turned around and punched them playfully.

Once Aaron settled down enough he turned to me and said "Drew, this is Ryan Butler. Ryan this my cousin Drew Parker," he said.

"I hope I make a better first impression than Chaz," Ryan said holding out his hand.

I shook it, "So far, you have."
He smiled at me.

"Aye, Aaron have you heard from Justin?" Chaz asked Aaron.

"He said he can't make it. He's got important meetings about his new single in LA all weekend. He'll be back for school tomorrow," Aaron replied as he reached for the TV remote.

"Wait what?" I asked, very, very confused.

"Oh ya you probably forgot. You know Justin Bieber. The teen pop star?" Ryan asked me.

I nodded.

"Well he lives next door. He is going to school for his senior year because he want a to graduate 'normal'" Aaron finishes. "We are all good friends with him."

I shrugged, "Thats cool I guess."

•••••

After about an hour or two of
watching TV, Lilly dragged me downstairs to 'pick out my first day of school outfit'. As if I cared. But I didn't want to disappoint her anymore than I probably had.

We pulled out all of the clothes that I brought from New York and the clothes we bought today. And it was A LOT. I tried on so many different outfits my head started spinning.

Lilly made me try on a colorful floral dress we bought today with a pair of brown, distressed combat boots. I looked in the mirror. "It's pretty but I don't think I'm gonna wear it," I said staring in the mirror.

"Why not?" Lilly whined as I went to my close to take it off.

"Because it's not me," I stated simply.

"If you don't wear it I will never forgive you," she said as she turned her head and crossed her arms.

"Lils. Don't do this now. It's not that I don't like the dress, it's just that it's a little out of my comfort zone. I'll wear it eventually but I want to start at my new school wearing something a little more me. Does that make sense?" I said as I sat down next to her on my bed.

She looked at my with a sorry expression, "I guess I can understand that," she sighed, "well if we are gonna find a 'you' outfit, we should start looking." She said standing up off the bed and walking towards my walk in closet. "We'll what would make you feel most comfortable on your first day?" She asked, shifting through my clothes.
I thought about it for a minute. And then I remembered. I bolted over to my only unpacked bag. It was small. It was the only thing I carried on the plane with me. It just held my laptop, some money, and my brothers old beanie. I took it with me everywhere. He gave it to me the night before he died. The night that I told him... I pulled out the navy blue hat and hugged it close. I missed him.

Lilly came over and sat next to me. "You wanna wear that tomorrow?" She asked sympathetically. I simply nodded and looked down at it in my lap. "Alright," she said "lets go find and outfit. Shall we?" She said holding out her hand.

"We shall," I said smiling slightly as I grabbed her hand. We walked over to my closet and shifted through tons of clothes before I found a pair of my favorite shorts. They were faded, distressed short jean shorts. Then she pulled out my red flannel. I grabbed a black shirt. It was short but only short enough to show a little bit of my stomach. Then Lilly grabbed the brown combat boots. I smiled. And put the outfit on. "It's perfect." I said.

She I saw her smile in the reflection of the mirror. "It's perfect for you. You look great."

I closed my closet doors and took off my outfit and changed into my pjs. I came out, put the outfit on my dresser and went to the bathroom to take off my makeup. Lilly stood in the doorway and looked at me.

"Are you excited for tomorrow?" She asked.

"I don't know," I answered truthfully.
"I guess it's just another new school that my parents have shifted me off to. It's another reminder that my parents have given up on me."

She looked at me with sad eyes, "Get some sleep D. You've got a big day tomorrow."

"Yeah. Alright. See you tomorrow." I said not even looking away from the mirror.

She sighed. "Goodnight."