I See You [REWRITING]

chapter 1: glass box

There is nothing quite like the whispers in the hallway as I walk down the corridor with my brothers on either side of me. Especially when those whispers are about me. It isn't a surprise that the information was leaked, and unlike all the other gossip that had flown through these halls — this gossip is fact.

We're different from our classmates, our lives on display in a glass box for the world to judge. I've grown used to it, but right now, I want nothing more than to turn around and leave. Leave the stares. The judgement. The quiet whispers. The not so subtle jabs directed at us.

For most people, when their parents separate they can keep it to themselves. Pick and choose who gets to know the information. That isn't the case for me and my brothers, not when you're the kids of a legendary musician. Not when every gossip tabloid out there is trying to exploit your private family business every waking moment of your life. Not when the "inside source" shares the information.

I want nothing to do with this.

None of us do.

"We'll catch you later, E," Riker hums after pinching my arm lightly to get my attention when he spots his red-headed girlfriend and our school's class president, Lena at her locker.

I nod my head as him and his twin, Isaac leave me to continue my way down the halls alone. Isaac peeking over his shoulder to give me a reassuring smile, making the same blue eyes we share brighten as he stops at his own locker and a sigh falls from my lips before heading for the junior hallway.

"Stevie!" Isla shouts from the end of the hall when she spots me. My eyes widen at the sudden attention as she runs to reach me, but not before being swatted by our other best friend, Robyn.

Isla and I have been best friends since the age of three when we met in pre-k. She was an outsider, and so was I. The two of us instantly gravitating towards each other. She's been with me through every bad thing that's ever happened in my life and I, her. Robyn came in a little bit later. We met her when we started high school, but it feels like we've known each other our entire lives. They are my saving graces from all the stares and whispers in our Malibu high school. Without them I'd probably drown.

"How are you doing?" Isla asks as she wraps her arms around me the ends of her black hair tickling my cheek when she pulls back, the dark bob reaching the bottom of her jawline.

The separation isn't news to them. Nor me. It happened three months ago and both of them knew the day my parents told me but still it's a tough pill to swallow knowing everyone else around me knows now too.

"I've had better days," I shrug as I reach for the dial on my locker, tucking a piece of my fallen blonde hair behind my ear. "Thanks for the added attention, by the way. I really think the shouting helped. It's not like I haven't had enough of that for a life time."

"Sorry," she frowns, scrunching up her nose. "I think my mom's rubbing off on me."

"Yeah, her little Korean heart means well," Robyn smiles softly from the other side of me, resting her head against the metal door while folding her arms over the top of her cheer uniform.

She isn't your typical looking cheerleader, not by a long shot. Robyn is bold. Courageous in everything she does, and never stops to care about what others think about her. When she joined the squad, she tried to appeal to how everyone else looked. Taming her long lion's mane with too much product and an unhealthy addiction to a straightening iron, but she eventually got bored with trying to succumb to societies beliefs on what a cheerleader should look like and decided to do things the way she wants. She didn't even give it a second thought when she brought the razor to her head, riding herself of any worry.