♜𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝐏𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞♜

Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ １: 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕘𝕚𝕣𝕝

Peirce walked in the room, his eyes glued to the book he was so meticulously reading. Tristan, Adrian and I were sitting cozily on the couch, awaiting for him to join us.

" A little faster!" Tristan jeered impatiently.

Peirce muttered something inaudible under his breath and took a seat near us.

" Romeo and Juliette only exchanged 3 phrases yet fell in love and gave up their life for that zest. Why?" 

Typical Peirce, to wonder. " The forbidden fruit is always the sweetest. Maybe they were in love with the deviance towards their families." I answered casually. I had read that play countless times before.

" Hun. Thanks, Ace." He said as he returned once more to his reading. Adrian yanked the book from his hands and put it on a nearby table stand.

" Hey!" Peirce protested.

" Calm down. We're together, the four of us even with our schedule jam packed. Now appreciate it and read that clichéed romance some other time."

Peirce huffed and he grudgingly accepted his fate. It isn't clichéed, he thought to himself, If only Adrian could fall in love at some point! He smiled mischievously at that thought. 

" What do we do now?" I asked, receiving a tired meh from Tristan. " Can we just go to-"

" The arcade!" Interrupted Peirce, his eyes gleaming. 

" I was going to say the museum." I corrected, but his beaming smile told me the battle was lost. We left, grabbing our jackets, off to being mercilessly beaten by Peirce.

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I swung my feet repetitively under the cafeteria table over come by all the chatter. Things seemed to be going better, smiles frequently marked my face. Probably due to the project in Social Science class that thought us the value of the present. Those sort of projects always got the best of me. 

Johnny had his arm around Harper affectionately. I wonder when they got together. Suddenly I felt a pang of guilt for not being there.  

Mina stuck her tongue out and made fun of them but they seemed care-free about it. I let my gaze wander around the cafeteria, all the way to the table of kings. King, singular, now.  Tristan was tapping his phone, his food barely touched. Many people tried to approach him after the incident but in vain. Sure sometimes he joked around with his friends and a couple of gushing girls, but that was far from the friendship he had before.

Out of the blue, a girl came closer. she seemed just as lost as I was on my first day, confirming my intuition she was new. And then the unexplainable happened.

She sat down with Tristan.

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                     Ａｎｎａ 

Oh. My. God. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! Trinity -Kingsburry was so much colossal than it was online. So regally. I sure was lucky to win that scholarship.  After the " incident " ( that's what the letter of admission said) concerning a student, they decided to have him replaced. 

This was incredible, even though I know high-society wouldn't welcome me with open hearts, it was worth a try. I mean, how many times will a prestigious high-school worthy of royalty offer me a scholarship?

Hehe, that was the problem. Me. Actually, the invitation wasn't for Anna Reeves specifically, per say. It was destined to one Laurence Stanford, the arrogant, vegan little miss perfect who won a national contest with her recycling idea, which wasn't hers in the first place. So when I found a letter on that little cheat's desk, that's where I got my idea. Not one I'm proud of.

That's why I'm here right now in the cafeteria full of preppy teens. Every one had their gangs to sit with, something I could not really relate to. All except on boy sitting in the middle. Quite too handsome to be alone, I joked to myself.

I skipped over to his table and played down my tray. " Hello, there! I'm An- I mean Lauwrence." I needed to get used to my fake name. The blonde haired guy sent me annoyed glares.

" Don't you know who I am?" He said hastily. I shook my head, making him sigh. " I'm the king of Trinity-K."

" Yeah, sure, and I'm the queen of New Zealand." 

I laughed at our exchange, but my laughter died down when I saw his serious face. I retreated back and began poking in my luxurious dish. 

" Can you go now?" He said after a while. 

" Now I understand why your sitting alone." More glares. " Not a chance mister-"

" Just go." He interjected.

" Not a common name but I'll adjust." I teased.

Still, he remained bothered. Does that guy have a sense of humour? 

" Listen Lauwrence, I don't have time for this. I have a basketball practice in 10 minutes."

It was clearly an attempt to get rid of me, but it wasn't working. That's what he must be thinking when he saw my face light up with joy.

" Are you kidding me? I ADORE basketball! I didn't know there was a team."

" Well it's masculine only." He countered.

" So be it." I shrugged it off and after a couple of comments of persuasion, in which I mean nagging him, he finally accepted.

We headed towards the gym, which was just as you might expect: extremely well equipped and shining newness. Blondie took a ball from a nearby rack and threw it into the net with the utmost precision, the one only found through hours of practice.

" Not bad." I said, clapping my hands slowly. 

" What? Can you do any better?" Challenge marked his tone as he threw it at me.

I grabbed the ball, aimed carefully and threw it in the air. Perfect score. The ball went directly in the net, not touching the rim and all. Swoosh. " You learn this in Philly."

For the first time, I saw him smile. " Not bad." He said with a grin " I'm Tristan."

" Nice name. It'll better than mister Justgo." He chuckled a little. 

For the rest of lunchtime, we took our time shooting balls and joking around. " You're lucky." 

I gave him a confused glance. " That I'm offering to teach you."

So cocky, I thought while smiling. " Lucky? Now that's an exaggeration." 

I expected more glares but he looked unfazed. " But thank you, I would love that." 

He broke into a warm smile, a genuine one. Something about it sent tingles down my spine. Maybe he isn't so bad after all.

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Hello fellow readers! 

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)

What do you think on Anna and Tristan?

What will Ace's diary lead us to?

See you next chapter,

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