Serena's POV
The cafeteria was buzzing, loud enough to drown out my own thoughts. I tried to act normal, tray in hand, telling myself I wasn't the center of attention anymore. That maybe, finally, people were starting to forget about me.
But the second I sat down squish.
A cold, wet, mushy feeling spread against my skirt. My heart dropped. Slowly, I looked back at the chair and my stomach twisted. Mac and cheese. Everywhere. Yellow, sticky, clinging to the fabric.
Laughter exploded around me.
"Eww, cheese butt!" someone shouted.
"Guess she wanted extra toppings!" another voice chimed in.
I wanted the ground to just open up and swallow me, but no, life had to make it worse Enid and Debra strutted over like they'd been waiting for this exact moment.
Enid smirked, her voice slicing through the laughter.
"Aww, look, Debra. Guess the scholarship girl wanted to carry lunch around with her. How… convenient."
Debra's giggle was sharp, like nails on glass.
"Yeah, I mean, at least now she finally has some flavor. Poor thing's been bland her whole life."
The words stung worse than the sticky mess clinging to me. My face burned.
The teasing hit me all at once. My throat tightened. My hands shook as I stood there, staring at the mess dripping down. I could feel my face burning, my vision blurring as tears started building. Not again. Not in front of everyone.
I opened my mouth, ready to say something anything but before the words could come out, Sarah's hand grabbed mine.
Next thing I knew, she marched straight across the cafeteria and stopped in front of Enid, who was smirking like she'd just won a prize.
Then Sarah did the unthinkable. She shoved Enid's face straight down onto the same mac-and-cheese-smeared chair.
The cafeteria erupted. Screams, laughter, phones snapping pictures everyone went wild. Enid shot up, cheese dripping from her cheek, her hair sticking with sauce, eyes wide with disbelief.
"Seraph! Ewwwww,You'll regret this, both of you!" she hissed, her voice shaking with fury as she stormed out with her crew trailing behind.
I stood frozen for a second, still processing, and then it hit me.
The laughter. The sight of Enid's cheesy face. The absolute shock on Sarah's expression, like she couldn't believe she'd actually done it.
I burst out laughing. I forgot all about my ruined skirt, about the tears threatening to fall. I couldn't stop the laughter just poured out of me, loud and messy. My stomach hurt, my cheeks burned, but for once it wasn't from humiliation. It was from joy. For once they weren't laughing at me,they were laughing with me.
Sarah looked at me like don't you dare blame me for this, but the corners of her mouth twitched, and soon she was laughing too.
For the first time since I got here… it didn't feel like the whole school was against me.
Aaron's POV
I saw everything. Yeah, every damn second of it. My jaw almost dropped when Sarah my sweet, quiet, never-raise-her-voice sister snapped like that. If I didn't know her, I'd swear it was someone else wearing her face.
Ace whistled low beside me. "I can't believe gentle Sarah just did that. Damn, I love the new girl's impact on her."
Antonio nodded like some wise old man. "Yeah, she can speak up for herself now.That was so cool"
Then Alex had to open his mouth. "Yes, the cute girl…"
That's where my patience snapped. My eyebrow twitched, and I turned to him slowly. "The cute girl?"
Alex blinked. "Uh… yeah? Can't you see?"
That annoyed the hell out of me. Something about the way he said it. I don't even know why, but it rubbed me wrong. "Alex," I asked, " Do you really have to call her that and Ace what do you know about her?"
Alex blinked again."hmmm…. yeah
Ace leaned back in his chair, smirking like he enjoyed keeping secrets. " Anyway….Her name's Serena Williams. She's a scholarship girl. Funny, well so they say. Fun to be with, too. I mean, you can see how much your sister enjoys her company. And Sarah's in the same dorm with her, so…"
I stopped him there. "Wait. Back up. Since when did Sarah transfer to a dorm?"
The three of them looked at me like I had two heads.
"Seriously?" Antonio scoffed. "You're her brother. You both live in same house.Your parents own half the school, and you didn't even know she moved into the dorms? Classic Aaron."
I rubbed a hand over my face. Classic Aaron, huh? Well, sorry I don't stalk my twin sister's housing arrangements.
I pushed away from the table, because suddenly I couldn't stand still. I needed answers or maybe I just needed to breathe. Either way, I ended up in the cafeteria. And of course, perfect timing, the place erupted the second we walked in. Students buzzing, whispering, staring. Nothing new.
That's when I saw them.
Sarah and Serena, walking side by side like they owned the hall. They passed right by me, Sarah not even glancing my way, Serena keeping her head high. She didn't flinch, didn't care, didn't even blink at me.
Me? I was glaring daggers. A full-on death glare.
And Serena? She walked past like I was invisible.
I don't know what pissed me off more,her ignoring me, or the fact that I couldn't stop watching her walk away.
I didn't even realize I was moving until I was already out of the cafeteria doors, the guys trailing behind me. My jaw was tight, fists clenched, heart pounding. I wasn't letting Sarah just walk past me like that. Not after everything.
"Sarah!" I barked, my voice echoing down the hallway. She didn't stop. Her hand was gripping Serena's like a lifeline, and the sight of it only pissed me off more.
"Sarah!" I yelled again, sharper this time.
She froze. Shoulders stiff, her back rising and falling with heavy breaths. Then slowly almost too slowly,she turned around. And when she looked at me, her eyes weren't soft like they usually were. They were glassy, wet, furious.
"What do you want, Aaron?" she asked, her voice cracking even though she tried to hold it steady.
I faltered. For a second, I almost softened, but pride shoved the words out of me. "Why did you leave? And how did Mom and Dad even let you move into the dorms without telling me?"
That's when she laughed. Not the happy, quiet Sarah-laugh I grew up with. No this one was bitter. Hollow. It punched me in the chest harder than any insult could.
"Let me?" she repeated, her tone sharp enough to cut. "Aaron, they didn't 'let me' do anything. They didn't even notice. Do you want to know the truth?"
Her eyes burned, and before I could answer, she kept going.
"I never felt like I was part of that family anyway. They only care about you. About the son. The heir. The one who'll live up to the legacy." Her voice wavered, but she forced it louder, like the words had been buried too long to stay quiet anymore. "And me? What was I supposed to be, huh? The decoration? The shadow?"
I blinked at her, the weight of her anger hitting harder than I expected. My throat felt dry.
"When I told Dad I wanted to stay in the dorms, do you know what he said?" Sarah's voice cracked, and tears shimmered in her eyes now. "He said he was busy. He told me to go ask Mom instead."
Her lip trembled, but she bit it, angry at herself for even showing me the weakness. "And Mom? She didn't even look at me, Aaron. She didn't ask me why. She didn't care. Do you want to know what she asked me instead?"
I swallowed hard. "…What?"
Sarah's fists clenched at her sides, her tears finally spilling over. "She asked if you'd eaten. You. Not me. You. Like I'm just supposed to protect you, wait on you, be your personal maid."
The words slammed into me like bricks. I didn't even know how to respond.
"I left home, Aaron. And no one noticed. Not for days. Do you get that?" Her voice broke, trembling with anger and pain all at once. "And you…you taunt me at school like I don't already get ignored at home. At least here, in the dorms, I don't have to see your annoying face every day when I go back to my room."
She wiped her cheeks roughly with the back of her hand, her breath shaky. Then her eyes locked on mine, sharp and final. "Any questions?"
I couldn't speak. My chest felt like it had caved in. My mouth opened, but no sound came out.
Sarah stared at me for another second, tears streaming down her cheeks, before she scoffed softly, bitterly. "That's what I thought."
Then she turned to Serena, voice softening like all that rage melted the second she looked at her. "Let's go."
They walked off together, side by side, leaving me standing there with the guys behind me.
I felt their eyes on me. I didn't even need to turn around to know their expressions.Ace, Antonio, Alex,they all looked the same. That mix of pity and awkwardness, like they'd just witnessed something too personal, too raw.
Antonio muttered under his breath, "Jeez… she's… she's broken, man."
And for once, I didn't snap back. Because the truth was, I couldn't put two and two together either. All I knew was that my sister,the one I thought I knew inside out had just looked me in the eye like I was a stranger.
And I had no idea how to fix it.