Wednesday morning was bright and sunny. I almost bounced downstairs to breakfast but my mood was dampened by the awkward silence in the kitchen. My parents were still angry at my brother and he refused to talk to them. This was an average morning in our household. I wish Jamie wouldn't drink. Apart from it being illegal, it's really bad for him and I don't want him to be ill.

I came to sit next to Jamie at the dinner table. I observed him quietly as he dug into his food. He was tall, probably my height maybe an inch or two taller and built like a football player. His blond hair was swept messily across his forehead in no particular styling and his eyes were an ocean blue. He looked nothing like me. I was a mix of my mother's green eyes and my father's dark hair but Jamie, apart from his blond hair resembled none of us.

"Hey bro, you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah." He mumbled, as he spoke a grin spread across his face. "I just want you to know, if Dad kills me you can have my sound system."

I laughed with him Jamie could always find the funny side of things no matter what happened. It was great, especially when I was upset although our parents didn't always find it the most endearing quality.

"So, have you heard?" He asked me.

"No, what?"

"There's a new kid coming to town!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, he's a senior too."

"When he coming then?"

"He'll be in school by Monday, oh and K." He called out to me as I headed out into the hallway. "Don't get your hopes up!" He smirked triumphantly.

I arrived in good time and headed towards my locker. A tall blond haired cheerleader bounced over to me.

"Hey Kalia, are you going to join the cheer leading squad this year?" she asked.

"Um... No Amy, probably not." I replied.

"But Niamh left for Chicago and we need a head cheerleader!"

"Can't one of you, be head cheerleader?"

"But Kalia," she whined, "You're the best gymnast this school has ever seen and you have really good leadership skills!" she coaxed.

"Look Amy, it's nothing personal but I can't. I'm not a cheerleader and I never will be."

"Don't be so negative! You never will be if you never try! Please?"

"Fine, on one condition. You let Mercedes join as well."

"Totally!" she skipped off, her blond hair swaying as she went. Damn, I was such a pushover sometimes.

I met Merche in art. She was already there, retrieving her work from a plastic wallet.

"Hey Merche." I whispered as I took the seat next to her. "How do you fancy being on the cheer leading squad?"

"You want us to join the demon squad?" she hissed.

"The demon squad?" I asked.

"Yes you know, the squad full of bitchy demons!"

"Merche!" I gasped. "You can't say that about them! Anyway some of them are really nice."

"Yeah, a handful of them, the rest... I swear are evil." She shrugged.

"C'mon Merche, I've already been dragged into it." I reasoned.

"That's 'cause you're a pushover." Merche countered.

"Please Merche." I pleaded.

"If you come shopping with me on Sunday."

I groaned, I absolutely hated shopping with Merche. She would squeal far too much and try to put me into all sorts of gaudy and revealing outfits. Unfortunately for me, I desperately needed Merche to join the squad with me. I couldn't let Amy down now and I really didn't want to go it alone.

"Fine." I finally caved in. "But, you have to be polite."

"Yes, of course. I'm always polite aren't I?" Mercedes smiled sweetly.

"No." I scoffed.

"Well that's not very nice." Merche remarked.

I didn't reply and instead began working on my art. I busied myself with sketching out my design for a future painting in charcoal. Once I was set up and had started drawing, I addressed Merche again.

"Did you know there's a new kid coming on Monday?" I asked.

"No! Where did you find that out?" She gasped.

"My brother, the gossip king of Junior Year." I replied pointedly

"Oh yeah, I forgot how he knows pretty much everything on that subject. I swear he knows more than me." I giggled slightly, Merche prided herself in knowing everything about everyone.

We chatted for a while about random things until class ended. After the bell rang, I hopped out of my seat and hurried towards my next class which was with Brent.

I walked into math and took a seat next to Brent. He leaned over to me and whispered, "Hey have you seen Mercedes?"

"Yeah." I replied, "Why?"

"Nothing, I just haven't seen her today." How odd. It wasn't like Mercedes not to hang out with one of us before school.

The math teacher entered the classroom. I had never seen her before, she must have been new. She was a very tall woman with her blond hair scraped back in a tight bun and wrinkled skin. She looked very old and very strict.

"Boys and girls on opposite sides of the classroom." She barked and everyone hurried to new seats. Brent made no attempt to move. She noticed this and paced over towards us.

"I said opposite sides of the classroom." She sneered.

"But..." Brent began to complain.

"I don't care, that you want to sit next to your girlfriend. Now move!" The intensity of her voice made me jump slightly and Brent moved without another word of complaint.

"Now." She turned to the rest of the class, her mouth set in a hard line. "We are going to have a test today."

Everyone including myself groaned. A test on the first math lesson of the year how wonderful!

After that the day didn't get much better. It consisted of lesson after lesson of classes in which we had to work in silence or there was no one to talk to.

We turned up for cheerleading practice at four. Wearing the uniforms Amy had given to us. I was complaining bitterly.

"Can this skirt even get any shorter?" I asked Amy; the skirt I was wearing wasn't even knee length and I felt it was completely indecent. I didn't like skirts in the first place.

"That's the uniform length." She replied.

"And the top is way too tight!' I added

"Don't be ridiculous, the uniform looks amazing on you! It's a good job the footballers aren't here or they wouldn't know what to do with themselves. Half of them would just faint." Merche interjected.

"They're over there." I pointed out.

"Yeah, they are." Mercedes replied, gazing wishfully over to where Brent and his friends were running drills.

"Okay girls." Amy yelled, jumping up and down "Meet our new head cheerleader Kalia Cobrava!"

As she did so I saw each and every one of the guys turn their heads to stare at me. I even heard a few whistles, much to my embarrassment. I hid behind Merche.

"Hi guys, Nice to meet you all." I smiled timidly.

We spent the hour getting to know each other. We were a small squad of only sixteen girls. It was nice though and certainly made it easier to learn names. I didn't know a lot about cheerleading therefore I taught them all some gymnastics moves that they could use and Amy taught me some of the basic cheers. Quite why Amy thought I would make a good cheerleader I'm not sure. I didn't know a thing.

At the end of practice I headed towards the girls locker but I was stopped by Jamie. Unfortunately for me, he was on the football team.

"Hey bro, what can I do?"

"For starters, you can put some proper clothes on; I don't feel like punching anyone today." He smirked.

"Well, this wasn't exactly my idea." I retorted.

"Can you tell mom I'm going to Mark's?"

"Another party?" I asked

"No we're just gonna watch some movies, I'll be back by ten."

"Sure, lil bro."

"Hey! You said you wouldn't call me that!"

"Did I?" I asked faking shock. I walked off whilst Jamie gave me death glares into my back his friends laughing and joking.

I spent the week balancing schoolwork, gymnastics and cheerleading. On Sunday Mercedes and I went to the mall. We spent hours trawling around shops. Merche insisted that we looked in every single store and tried to convince me into buying something. I politely declined. Merche's idea of fashion certainly wasn't mine. Merche like to dress in bright colours and designs that were often cropped or figure hugging. I tended to stick to my trusty, baggy jeans and dark hoodies.

Finally we stopped at the ice cream shop. We each got a cookie ice cream. These cookie ice creams were massive and each had a whole cookie inside. Mercedes had peanut butter; I chose fudge.

"The new senior will be here tomorrow." Mercedes told me.

"I know, Jamie's talked about nothing but that."

"I hope he's hot!"

I scoffed. "Oh Merche, Merche, Merche, You really never learn do you?" I shook my head.

She mumbled something incoherent.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Nothing." She muttered shaking her head.

We sat in the food court talking for probably another hour. Eventually the mall began to clear and we left. I dropped Merche off before heading home.

When I got home, my parents were curled up on the couch, half asleep, a movie on the screen. Jamie arrived a few hours later. I was in the kitchen making myself a snack when he entered. I was glad to see that he was perfectly sober. I leaned on the kitchen isle as he took a seat on one of the bar stools.

"Good movies?" I asked as I began to whip up some milkshakes.

"Yeah not bad. For once Mark didn't invite some chick over as well." He replied.

Mark Johanson was Jamie's best friend and his main concern was impressing girls. He was certainly a looker with his dark hair, soulful eyes and pale skin. He wasn't tall, quite a bit shorter than both Jamie and I, but he was built like a panther. He was flirty, humorous and a great to Jamie.

"So no more scary movies then?"

"Nope. Doesn't seem so. Knowing Mark though it was only because everyone was busy." Jamie joked.

I passed him a chocolate milkshake over the counter. He took it and began to glug it down.

"So, the new senior's here tomorrow!" I sang.

"What's got you so happy?" Jamie laughed.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I just feel like I can't be sad."

"Ok, good for you." He shrugged in return.

"I'm gonna go to bed Jamie. I'll see you in the morning." I rounded the isle and high-fived him as I walked past.

"See ya later sis."

Sleep came easy that night but the sleep wasn't dreamless. I was constantly stuck in the dream world. The last dream however was the most vivid.

The room seemed to be floating atop the water. It was light, airy and made almost entirely made of marble. In the room sat on a throne of pearls was a beautiful woman. She was impossibly perfect with no flaws in her ivory skin, figure or hair. Her eyes were a deep ocean blue and her hair was golden. The dress she wore was a rose colour and hung from her body as if it had been draped over her rather than sewn as a garment. In the sea behind her dolphins played and a single white dove sat on the armrest of her throne.

She smiled at me and beckoned. "Come child. Do not be afraid." I took several steps closer. She frowned slightly. "I expected you to look more like me."

"Who are you?" I cautiously asked.

"Dear child, I am your Goddess and Guardian." She replied with kindness.

"What do you mean?"

"You will learn soon enough. I have come to warn you child. Beware of him."

"Beware of whom?" I questioned but she was beginning to fade.

The room slowly became darker and the woman faded. This happened with all my dreams. I never woke with a start. The dreams would fade out until my eyes would eventually open or I would fall into an undisturbed sleep. For the first time I didn't want to wake. I wanted answers.797Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm39F21PLBt