Pick A Side

Chapter 1

Austin

Have you ever had a dream where it feels like you're drifting in and out of consciousness and every time you do, everything you hear somehow influences your dream?

Well, I don't think I have to worry about that because my sleep is always rudely interrupted.

BANG!, BANG! " Get your ass up, you have school today and I'm not waiting on you again, not this year too, you had better be down here in twenty minutes, you need to leave before me." That would have to be my wonderful mother. I guess it's time to wake up.

I drag myself away from my comfy bed that seems to be calling my name but unfortunately today, I am forced to ignore the said call. My room is a mess, my clothes are everywhere from the floor to the desk in the corner of my room. I'm actually really lucky that my mom decided to not come into my room today, otherwise, I would be dead right now.

It's a Wednesday today and yet it feels like it's Monday. That's probably because I have to go to school. I wonder what I'm going to wear when most of my clothes are on the floor and 'partially' dirty but I'll find out later. I need to freshen up first, it's smelling a little funky in here. My bathroom is connected to my room, lifesaver since I don't have to share it with anyone.

I take a shower, the water is pretty cold though. I can practically hear my parents getting ready for work. I shampoo my hair first because it usually takes the longest amount of time as it's pretty long. I love my hair, though sometimes it does look dirty because of its dark colour. I have chocolate brown hair which goes past my eyes when it gets in my face. It is getting really annoying, to be honest I should get a haircut soon. I have a solid build which some (my family) may find weird since they believe it doesn't really match my personality. I'm a very soft person, but I don't mind that. My build makes me look intimidating, usually depends on my facial expressions. I've been in the shower for too long so I decide to exit.

I look in the mirror while I brush my teeth, it looks hazy. I glide my hand across the smokey mirror and the first thing I see is my eyes, a lot of people love my eyes. It's probably because they're charcoal grey. They also change colour at times because of their lack of melanin. Yeah, it depends on my surroundings, when I'm outside with clear sky or near a beach, they may appear blue. When near green lands, plains, wilderness, they appear green and if I'm in the sun or it's really hot and bright, they're Brown. However it's days like these where it's really cloudy and cold, they remain the same.

I'm usually not the person around other people. I only hang around with my close friends. I don't worry about that as it's not my biggest priority but I am trying to be accustomed to new people, I think it is would be good for me to learn to be more social.

I leave the house with lots of time to spare. I begin my walk to school, I usually walk on this route alone since I don't have a lot of friends around where I live or anywhere really. It takes more or less fifteen minutes. Unlike almost everyone at school, I don't have a car. My family can't afford it. My mom is the only one with a car, she drops my dad off at work each day. He's a veterinarian and my mom is an entrepreneur. The place he works at only recently opened so they are still working on getting exposure. My mother, on the other hand, her business isn't bringing in as much as she had hoped but it's doing okay.

They used to live in a small town with my grandparents but were kicked out when they got together. My mother fell pregnant at the tender age of sixteen. When her parents found out who the father was, my father, who is a black man, she was disowned. My parents then on decided to leave the town and start over. My father picked up every job he could while also studying. My mom took care of me full time for five years before deciding to go back to school. My grandparents, on my father's side, help out a lot with supporting us but mom feels guilty because it's their pension fund so we don't accept money from them frequently.

I try to help out as much as I can. I have two jobs, one is at a small coffee shop nearby. If I'm lucky, I have a shift there every day after school. Before the said shift, I run to the daycare to fetch my three-year-old sister, Roe, so I can drop her off at the babysitter's house. I've also managed to maintain straight A's because I don't want my parents to think that my job is distracting me. By doing all of that, I have never had much time for friends. Even those that I do have, it's because they wormed their way into my life.

I may have straight A's but no one classifies me as a nerd. I have been deemed too outspoken to be a nerd but too quiet to be popular. I'm known as the kid who everybody knows but nobody really knows.

•••

I walk through the doors and make my way down the hall. I already hate it here. There is so much chatter in the air, so I'm going to assume that something either happened or is going to happen. I could care less, it's most likely just rumours that aren't true. However, if they are true, they've been exaggerated to a point of no return.

I reach the end of the hall which is where my locker is located. I have had this locker since I arrived here as a freshman and yet it still looks like s**t. The siren rings as I put my bag in and take out my books for my first lesson, English with Ms D.Lewis.

Her name is Dara, she so happens to be my cousin, on my father's side of the family, it's her first year here. She was very anxious about today the last time I talked to her but I told her she was going to do just fine. She has every reason to be nervous though, considering that she is 25. She looks very young and is very beautiful. She has long, straight, jet black hair and forest green eyes. To be honest, she looks very innocent and sweet but you shouldn't be fooled. She will chew and spit out anyone who messes with her. Unfortunately for her, she's trying to be nice and s**t to the students. I warned her against it but the stubborn thing she is, she'll have to figure it out by herself. The students here are different.

I step into class, there are only a few people here. I sit down at the corner in the back of the class and set up my work. Dara walks in and sits down at her desk. She doesn't even notice my presence so she must still be nervous. Learners start to pile into the classroom. One group, two people, in particular, drag themselves into class last and I immediately recognise them. Diane and Luca, the second 'hottest couple' in school, accompanied by Carmen, Sasha and Max. Carmen is the school rep and one of the smartest person in school. Max is the football co-captain. Sasha is the co-captain of the cheerleading squad and she is also rich as hell so that's also something.

We have a system at my school as any other school does. The typical popular, you know the cheerleaders and football players. They are Jamieson Preps' pride and joy. They don't make it apparent that they're popular but you just, know. You can read the room, everyone is secretly terrified of them. Well maybe not secretly but everyone is overly nice to them.

They are quite a mixed bunch though. We have popular nerds as well. They are the brains of the group. They are part of the reason why everyone is afraid of them. There was once a girl, Amy, who revealed that Carmen's dad was cheating on her mom to the entire school. Carmen had also made it seem like her life was beyond perfect in every aspect so everyone couldn't stop talking it until they had something else to talk about. Carmen exposed Amy's nudes, that she had sent to Max, on social media. Amy was thereafter sexually harassed by several guys at school and eventually, she transferred. There still isn't any 'proof' of who did it so nothing could be done. I learned that you do not want to get on their bad side, they can ruin your life.

Last but definitely not least we have the rich and famous. They've invested a lot of money into the school or should I say, their parents did. They bribe all the teachers so you'll never hear of them getting into trouble no matter what they did. They also host the best parties, or so I've heard since I've never been. You don't need to necessarily be invited, you just need someone who was invited, to vouch for you. I'm not friends with any popular people so you can tell I wouldn't have gotten in even if I wanted to.

Don't get me wrong, some of them are really nice but they're only ever nice to each other.

"Since everyone is seated, let me introduce myself, " Dara stands up and slowly paces around the front of the class while trying to make eye contact with everyone, "I am Ms Lewis and I will be your mathematics' teacher for this year." She said as she sat on side of her desk then proceeded to softly smile.

"I'm sure we will all have a great year together." She said.

Everyone including myself gave a round of applause to welcome her.

"Does anyone have a question before I begin teaching?" She asked.

Max picked up his hand. She pointed at him, "Yes, you have a question? ..." She asked.

"It's Max, you don't look old enough to be a teacher if anything, you look like you could be our age." He announced confidently and with a hint of seductiveness.

"Well first of, that was more a statement than a question," she informed him. "And secondly, I'm way older than I may look so please, never mistake for one of your peers because I'm certainly not." She said while staring pointedly at everyone. "That goes for all of you, so does anyone have a question?" She asked again.

Carmen, as well as the girl sitting in front of me, raised her hand. Dara looked to Carmen and nodded.

"I heard from another student that you are related to Austin, is there any truth to that?" Carmen asked blankly. To say I was surprised that she knew my name would be an understatement.

"Yes, he is my cousin." She answered then turned to the girl in front of me.

"Isn't that a bit wrong, doesn't that mean he gets an unfair advantage, " the girl said then leaned back into her chair and turned to look at me.

She looked back at Dara and said, "You could help him in tests and stuff."

"I understand your concern but you don't have to worry about that, I do not live with Austin and on top of that, I am very capable of being professional at my workplace," She assured her and everyone else.

"Austin wouldn't need my assistant, in any case, I've seen his marks and he doesn't need my help," she said and smiled fondly at me.

She began to flip through her booklet to what I'm assuming is supposed to be today's work. The intercom interrupted, "Ms Lewis, please make your way to the staff room, your assistance is needed immediately."

"I will be back as soon as I can, while I'm gone, here is your work for today, I will answer any questions you may have when I come back." She explained as she began passing out worksheets but ended up giving them to a student, to pass out the rest. She walked out of class in a hurry, I could hear the sound of her heels as she walked down the hall.

Only twenty minutes had passed before Max decided to speak up. "So, the new teacher is hella hot, " he said and looked around the class, "How much you wanna bet I can tap that?" He said and bumped fists with the guy next to him as everyone snickered.

He looked back to me and grinned, "So Austin, what does your cousin like?" He asked.

"She likes a lot of things, none of them include you if that's where you're heading, " I said and looked down at my work.

"Stop being little b***h Austin, don't you want your cousin to get a man in her life?" He said teasingly.

"Of course I do, unfortunately for you, you're only just a little boy, especially to her," I declared in a rough voice. "And anyway, I'm not a b***h for wanting what's best for her, you're not it," I said while glaring at him.

"Very funny, unfortunately for you, your cuz won't be able to resist this, " he said while gesturing to himself.

"Ms Lewis is our teacher. You need to respect her as such, her age or how she looks does not concern you." I said while rolling my eyes.

Carmen stared at me for while before smirking at Max, " Give the kid a break, it's not like he can stop you from banging her, " she said.

"Of course, I know that but I want him to learn his place, do you see the way he's talking to me?" He said to her with an artificial smile. His smile dropped as he turned to me.

I don't want to fight him, I can't risk my parents, they would be very upset with me. He's really not worth the time and effort. I don't think he will initiate a fight, he's trying to provoke me. The annoying part is that, it's working.