“Why are we doing this again?” Alex mumbled to Michael the next morning as they entered the local diner. “I mean, I love Jolie’s pancakes just as much as the next guy but 7 in the morning is just a little too much.” “Do you wanna be the one to tell Izzy that she needs to change her itinerary?” Michael asked with an arched eyebrow. Alex paled and the larger boy grinned wickedly. “I didn’t think so,” he continued as he made his way toward the backroom. Jolie Macdonald, the proprietor of Jolie’s Diner, always saved them the full backroom for their first day of school ritual. “Where’s everyone else?” Trent asked as he sat down diagonal from his older brother. Ryan took the seat beside his twin and shrugged. “Iz left the house ten minutes before us.” “Yeah,” Ryan said with a yawn, it really was early. “But she went to pick up Tess, Leigha, Jessie and Maria. You know how they are. It takes them hours to get ready.” “It takes whom hours to get ready?” Kyle Valenti asked as he too entered the backroom. “Some extremely hyper woman told me to come back here.” “That would be Jolie,” Michael said with a loud yawn and huge stretch. “She owns the place. I guess she has to be pretty hyper to get up and open this place at 5 every single day. And we were saying that it takes girls in general hours to get ready.” “And since when are you an expert on girls?” Isabel asked as she entered the room with the rest of her friends. “Last time I checked women avoided you like the plague.” Michael didn’t honor her with a response. He didn’t have to. All he did was look pointedly at Maria who blushed as she sat down in the empty seat beside Trent and across from him. “Maria certainly seems too,” Alex said with a wiry grin. He’d been waiting to get this dig in for months. “Except for momentary lapses when Michael grabs her and won’t let her go anyway. But when left on her own all she does is slap him around.” Michael glared at his friend while Kyle took the seat on his left, between the two boys. “Traitor,” Michael mumbled, but Kyle was the only one who heard him. “Yeah well,” he added in a louder tone, “at least I’m not classified as the ‘good friend’.” It was Alex’s turn to glare now. “And the breakfast tradition can now officially begin,” Tess remarked dryly as she took the seat across from Kyle and beside Maria and Leigha took the seat beside Ryan. Isabel quickly sat beside her, placing her across from Alex. Jessie took the only seat left, beside her brother. “This happens every year,” Maria told Kyle with a grin. “Michael and Alex have to warm up on their manly insults so that they can scare the other jocks away. It’s quite amusing, like watching orangutans on TV.” Isabel and Tess giggled and even Trenton had to crack a grin at that one. Maria Deluca was his goddess. There was no other woman around who could equal her in his book, and in his book it was written that one day she would realize he wasn’t just a fourteen year-old kid and would love him as much as he loved her. Michael, as much as he idolized his brother, was not worthy of one such as Maria. Trenton, on the other hand, thought he was. “Psst…” Ryan leaned over to whisper to his brother. “You might want to wipe at your chin. In a minute the drool is going to fall on Maria’s shoulder. Jeez you are so pathetic, you know that right?” He asked his brother as he grabbed a muffin that Jolie was now placing in baskets around the table. Leigha, who was sitting beside him, giggled as she grabbed her own muffin. Ryan looked at her and winked as his more troublesome brother blushed uncharacteristically. “Something wrong Trent?” Jessie asked innocently. “You look a little flushed?” If you looked close enough you could tell that her blue eyes, identical to her older brother’s, were narrowed slightly in consternation. How in the world could a boy be so stupid? When everyone turned to look at him, Trent began to blush even more. Finally he shook his head and grabbed a muffin, stuffing it into his mouth. “Trent’s got a little crush on Maria,” Alex whispered to Kyle. “Everyone knows it except for Maria. She’s usually oblivious to that sort of thing.” “What are you whispering about Whitman?” Maria asked with narrowed eyes. “And ya’ll leave Trent alone,” she added as she put an arm around the younger boy she saw as an adorable, if somewhat annoying, little brother. “He’s probably just nervous about starting high school.” “Yeah right,” Michael snorted in his juice. Could the girl be anymore blind, and could his little brother be anymore obvious? “Trent’s got nothing to worry about. Hell, half the seniors are scared of him.” “Only because you made it known that you’ve been shaping him in your wonderful image,” Tess said as she rolled her eyes. She grinned at Kyle, “Wait until you get to school and catch wind of some of the things people think Michael’s done. He’s a legend in this town. You’re dad’s probably going to be on a first name basis with him pretty soon, him and the twins.” “Really,” Kyle said as he looked at the boy on his right in an entire new light. “Michael, I think you are my new best friend. You help me annoy my dad and I’ll help you become infamous.” “Kyle,” Michael said with a smirk, “no offense, but I’m already infamous.” “Yeah,” Alex said with a smirk of his own, “and you have the police record to prove it. Football players,” he added with a wink at Isabel and his sister, “they’re all the same.” “Geeks,” Michael said with a glint in his eye, “they’re all wimps.” “And just which wimp cleared you’re detention record last semester so that you didn’t get held back?” Alex asked with a superior gleam in his eye. “You can do that?” Kyle asked. His interest peaked instantly. It seemed he was making good friends in Willow Oaks. Beautiful cheerleaders, judging from the uniforms that Maria, Isabel and Tess were sporting, popular jocks with more than a little danger mixed in, and now a computer geek that could erase the problems. Maybe his dad wasn’t such as ass for moving him after all. “Oh yeah,” Jessie said with a snort, “you can say Alex is ‘magic’ with his hands.” The others started to laugh and Kyle joined in, albeit a little confused, but he joined in. Jessie’s laughter stopped when her brother kicked her sharply in the shin. “Sorry,” she mumbled for his ears only. “Well, well. What do we have here?” A deep voice said from behind them. They all turned to see two high school boys wearing letter jackets standing behind them glaring maliciously. “Something you wanted Sorenson?” Alex asked. His blue eyes had gone ice cold. For a moment Kyle was scared of the easy-going boy. Even his voice had changed, deepening violently in warning. “We just thought we’d see how the Royal trio’s doing,” Doug Sohn said with a perfect grin on his pretty-boy face. “So how are you doing Maria?” he asked her pointedly. “She’s fine,” Michael answered shortly for her. For once Maria didn’t glare at him for doing it either. “If that’s all you can be on you’re way. You weren’t invited.” “If I recall,” Doug said as he looked at Sorenson who grinned in response. “Only founder kids are allowed right?” “That’s right,” Tess said sharply, her own string of ice princess coming out, “so you can mosey along. You aren’t a founder’s kid.” “Yeah love bunny,” Sorenson said as he looked the petite girl up and down hungrily. Kyle’s hands clinched under the table in response to the look. “But neither is that guy. So if he can stay, so can we.” “Small difference,” Kyle said through clenched teeth. He really didn’t like the way this Sorenson guy was looking at his Tess. “I may not be a founder’s kid, but I live on Founder’s Lane and I was invited. By the way, I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you yet.” “Grant Sorenson, quarterback.” “I think you may have to go talk with the coach there Grant,” Kyle said with a smirk. “Kyle Valenti, your replacement as the new quarterback. Now do you want to leave, you’re kind of ruining my breakfast? And you might want to take your friend with you. Guerin’s beginning to growl over here and I don’t think that’s a real good sign.” Both boys quit glaring at Kyle long enough to glance at Michael. One look at his expression and the two of them began to exit the backroom. “You’ve made a mistake Valenti,” Sohn said before he left. “The Royals will only let outsiders so far in, and you just made enemies of the rest of the outsider population. Not really a smart move there.” “I’ve been alone before,” Kyle said in a grave voice, his eyes turned a dark, disturbing color. “I think I can handle it, with or without Royals, whatever the hell that is.” “Well see just how you do,” Sohn added as he pulled Sorenson out. “Cause alone you will be. They always play nice with the new kids, but it won’t last and then everyone’ll shun you. Enjoy your breakfast.” “Well that was fun,” Kyle remarked dryly. “Anymore of the lovely high school population I get to piss off before the first bell?” He asked with a delighted grin. He hadn’t had that much fun in years. “Michael was right,” Tess said with a far away look in her eyes as she looked past him. Her vision was filled with things only she could see and interpret. “You’ll fit right in with us. Welcome to Willow Oaks Kyle Valenti, get ready for an experience you never expected.” Beside her Maria caught Isabel’s eye and nodded. Kyle shrugged and returned to his food; oblivious to the looks the others around him were now giving the tiny cheerleader. Tess had spoken, and Valenti had been welcomed into more than what he thought. He just didn’t know it yet. They all hoped he never would have to. TBC

Part 8