Chapter 1

Standing in front of my medium sized mirror with my brush in my hand, I made an odd pose that matched the odd smile I managed to squeeze in and pretended it was a microphone.

"Good morning, America! It is your favourite newscaster, Jade Parker coming to you live from A--"

"Jade, hurry up!" My twit of a brother, Cameron interrupted. His furious knocks on the door seemed to vibrate through the bathroom walls. "Jade, I swear, if you make me late for biology class, I'm whooping your ass."

I rolled my eyes and quietly chuckled to my reflection in the bathroom mirror. My brother really was a character. He reminded me so much of that annoying kid, Stewie in the Family Guy Tv Show.

When the loud knocks continued, I placed my brush on the basin and frowned at my reflection.

"Sheesh, Cammie, I'm coming! Why don't you just bang down the door already?" I questioned, my gaze moving to the white door in case he actually went through with my taunt.

His groan sounded from the other side of the door. "Trust me, if I could ensure that mom wouldn't punish me, I would have done that already.

"Momma's boy," I teased, straightening my attire just as the door bell rang.

The banging on the bathroom door finally stop, so I knew Cammie was being a good boy and answering the door.

"Finally," I sighed, bending to tie my shoelaces to the white sneakers I made an obligation to keep just as white as the day I bought it. My lips tilted upwards at one end slightly at the white texture it still maintained. "Aah, it's the simple things," I mused quietly to myself.

My hand involuntarily moved to the same place it always did, the hook of the shower, seeking out my comfort during bad times. My anchor to happiness. The necklace my dad gave me on my sweet sixteenth. I never wore it when i showered, but find me anywhere else, be sure to spot the necklace. It really was a beauty. Simple, but beautiful.

Knowing that Cameron was no longer standing behind the door like some sort of a bathroom cop, I proceeded to open it only to roll my eyes at a familiar face standing on the other side with her arms folded and a glare on her face.

"What the hell, Butt Face?!" my best friend spat. "Did you just finish getting ready? Do you know what the time is?"

Maya moved out of the doorway so that I could pass and she threw a quick glance into the bathroom. "Were you giving birth in there or something? I swear people in labour finish up quicker than you do."

"Butt face, huh?" I wore a smug smile as I descended elegantly down the stairs with Maya hot on my tail. "Did your mom not teach you to greet when you see someone in the morning?"

I heard her scoff from behind me.

"Besides," I said, glancing back to meet her gaze, "you know I need to look beautiful. I have a reputation to maintain."

As we rounded the corner to enter the kitchen, Cameron came into view.

"Even with the time you spent in there to do God knows what, you still managed to look ugly as fuck," he smirked. "Congragulations."

I raised my eyebrows at my brother. Someone clearly woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Everyday, cause God only knew he was a typical jerk and pain in the ass 24/7. It seemed he made it his life mission as an older brother to insult me. I smiled at his unwanted comment.

Maintaining my smile, I walked over to the dining room table and stuffed a brownie in my still smiling face. I made sure to lock gazes with my brother as I did it, my smile widening as his grimace deepened.

"Very ladylike, sis," he scoffed.

Flashing him another upwards tilt of my lips, I turned to the amused looking woman sitting at the head of the table, her phone seated securely between her shoulder and ear.

"Good morning mom..." I stuffed brownies into my bag. "... Goodbye, mom."

"Bye, mom!" Cameron shouted from the door. My mom dismissed us with a wave and it reminded me so much of the position she held at work. So much power. Her very aura held authority. That was who I wanted to be. My own boss. The ability to go to work as I pleased.

"Where's dad?" I asked no one in particular as I ran back to gulp down a glass of milk.

"He left early," Mom whispered as she moved the phone away from her ear for a quick second. "Now bye," she waved again with a weird looking air kiss, "Love you."

"Love you too, mama," I responded, sending a mocking wave back at her. Yup, I definately wanted to be my own boss some day.

"Bye, Mrs. Parker," Maya said.

We stepped out of my four bedroom Haven of a house.

"I got a lash in my left eye." I complained, fanning my eyes. Cameron shot me a death glare. "Can you get that petulant expression off your face and help me not become blind?" I snapped.

He complained about my lateness, but I gave him deaf ears and was more concerned about my eyes.

"You were in front of your mirror all morning, you should have at least used a tweezer to pull the hair you noticed was going to fall out," he hissed, while Maya blew some air into my left eye.

"You have to let me take it out."

"With your finger?" I questioned and she nodded. "Hell no! You wanna blind me?"

"Stop being a fool and stand still." Maya growled.

Cameron asked me to stand still or get blind.

After some minutes of madness she finally got it out! It wasn't just a lash, a tiny, black insect was in it too. No wonder it hurt so much. I sauntered behind them and pulled out a hand mirror from my backpack to check if she ruined my face.

"Jade!"

"I'm coming." I ran after them.

"Great, we missed the bus." Cameron scoffed, referring to the bus that was already moving ahead of us.

"What?" I asked, already tired of running.

"I said we missed the bus," he reiterated. I tittered with guilt written all over my face.

I was breathing heavily at the back, while Maya and Cameron shot bullets at me with their eyes.

"Hello! We're already in mom's car to school. Can y'all stop looking like I killed someone?" I snapped.

"We're late and it's your fault."

"What? No it's not my fault!" I objected.

"Yes, it is!" They yelled in unison.

"I'm not the one that was giving me a death glare when he was meant to be getting a lash out of my eye."

"You should be thankful I waited for you." Cameron hissed.

"I'm not the one that was too lazy to run after the bus and neither am I the one that couldn't get a simple lash out of my eye." I sneered.

"Oh, so I'm at fault?" Maya bleated.

"We're here already." Mother cut us off. "Cut it out."

We got down and walked very fast to class.

"Scum," I muttered to the two people that wouldn't let me Glam in peace. Okay, it's my fault that we're late, but I hated to admit I'm at fault.

"Please, don't be in class," I offered a small prayer before peeking through the door and was excited there was no teacher in class.

I rested my head on the desk. I was so tired and late, but luckily for me, Mr will wasn't in school, phew!

"Jade, is everything okay?" Taking off my hoodie, I raised my head up and was dumbstruck.

Don't screw this up! Compose yourself woman. My subconscious said.

"Shut up!" I commanded the voice in my head.

"What?" He eyed me with confusion written all over his face.

"Oh, n-no Bellamy not you, I'm fine."  I stuttered.

"I do see you around." He smiled and I took in his features.

There he was, Chris Bellamy–the hottest school basketball player there was. He wore skinny jeans and a Lacoste shirt. Jordans shoes completed the outfit, making him look hot! I bet he would look good in anything, even rags.