Pick A Side

Chapter 2

Dimitri

You don’t know about me, I’ve never been much of an extroverted person. I’m usually private, it's always been that way. I’ve been homeschooled since I was in kindergarten. Interacting with people is not one of my joys. I never felt the need to, home is such a good place for me.

I have amazing siblings though they are irritating most of the time, I don't know how it feels to be alone. My parents are incredible too, they’ve always been there for me. No one has ever made me feel like an outsider in any way but this year is a whole new ball game. My parents recently decided, 'no, you need to go see people, you need to explore the real world.'

I know the real world, I’ve read and learnt about it. I don’t need to necessarily be there in order to comprehend what takes place. I also play a lot of sports such as football, basketball, cricket and golf so basically, I am a bit of an overachiever.

Well, I think I found an outfit, just went with a white shirt, some normal grey pants and some white sneakers. I exit my room and the first thing I hear is shouting.

"I can’t believe you decided that it was alright to invade my personal space, " he shouted, "I really thought you were better than that but then again, I should expect nothing less."

"What are you talking about? I did not take your stuff. Anyway, I would not even be caught dead wearing such an atrocity." She barked at him.

"You would, you're lying, why are you still denying it?" He accused with a clenched jaw.

Oh, it’s merely another quarrel between my siblings. I didn't think they would be fighting so early in the morning. Who am I kidding? Of course, they are. They’re constantly fighting. I make an effort to not be in the middle of such disputes. My siblings are what I would call, an acquired taste.

My siblings Alec and Abigail. My brother is a bit of an airhead. He may be in college now, on a football scholarship, but it feels like he still lives with us. He has a powerful build which is good for him since he's more brawn than brains.

My sister, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. She’s a bit younger than him by only 11 months. Personality-wise, they are essentially the same. They are both stubborn and hot-headed. Although Abby is quite small, only 5', compared to Alec, 6'1, she can be intimidating and steely. She is sarcastic and sharp. She has a remarkable mind. Abigail is still being homeschooled as a senior because it seems I’m the only one who’s different. Mind you, I’m not weird. I just pick up on certain things that other people don’t. I guess it's because I, at times, am a bit anti-social and to some, mean.

"What is it now, Abby? Is there something wrong?" I question though I don't truly care.

There always has to something wrong with these two?

"Alec is accusing me of stealing one of his shirts because obviously, his clothes are so remarkable that I love stealing them now." She exclaimed sarcastically whilst rolling her eyes.

"Of course, you did." He glared with his ice-blue eyes, " You said you needed a green shirt for the Carnival and immediately after my green shirt goes 'missing'." He turned to me as though he had proved his point and I should be on his side.

Unfortunately for him, I don't pick sides. I don’t even want to be involved, I’m just going to leave because I am on my way on becoming late for school and it’s my first day, so yeah.

"Where’s mom so we can leave?" I inquired while I ate an apple and looked around for her.

"Oh, you still asking about mom, she left bro." He explained tonelessly.

I stopped mid-bite and turned to him, "What do you mean she left?" I exclaimed, looking at him in shock.

"I mean she got in the car, pressed the gas and left your ass behind," he replied carelessly.

"How am I supposed to get to school?" I complained in a taut voice.

He looked at me emotionlessly at first, and then snickered, "Well, that sounds like a personal problem." He smirked.

I can’t believe this. I’m already late and now I have to deal with this. What the hell am I supposed to do now?

"I mean, you could have hurried up. That was also an option." He suggested smugly.

"First of all, I don’t take that long and second, shut up." I scolded. I already have enough going on. He wasn't calming me in any way.

"Good luck bro, you can keep shouting at me, but last time I checked you were late for school." He chimed then proceeded to make his way to the stairs.

"Thank you for reminding me. I almost forgot, thank you." I spat sarcastically.

"You’re welcome, bye." He responded as he walked up with a goofy smile that I wish I could wipe off his face.

Fortunately for him, I have more important matters to attend to. I need to find my way to this school.

I’ve never been to the school, I never had to until now. How amazing, what a great way to start off. My car privileges were taken away recently because of a small dispute I had with one of the neighbours. I decided I needed to take my dad's motorbike to school because I didn't have time to come up with anything else. He is most definitely going to be angry but not my problem right now, I need to get to school. I mean it's not my fault they decided to leave without me.

I decided to look it up quickly, just to make sure I wasn't making a mistake. It's really close, I'm pretty sure that's why they left me. It's walking distance, but since we already have the motorbike with us, I might as well take it out for a little spin.

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I enter the parking lot and it's pretty full. I guess I didn't make it on time after all. I park and sling my backpack. I make my way up the stairs, to the front office. The hallway is quite empty so I'm going to assume that class has begun. I walk up to the front desk to a woman who could not be older than 18.

"Excuse me, Ma'am, my name is Dimitri Perez, I'm a new student," I stated politely.

She looked up from her books and almost immediately flushed. She became flustered and proceeded to mumble.

After a lot of staring at each other for a while, she eventually calmed down. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone to make conversation with me, " she looked to her hands nervously, " My name is Jade, our school secretary is off sick at the moment so I was asked by the principal to help out." She introduced herself with a friendly smile.

I'm quite surprised they asked her to take the job. I can already tell that she is very smart but she seems to be dealing with social anxiety and low self-esteem. I am genuinely concerned about her. I am absolutely sure, I won't be the last to come through that door and others may not be as thoughtful.

A student walked up to the desk as well and as soon as he arrived, I watched as her mouth set in a hard line. "Hey Jade, since you're here, draw up a late slip for me." He commanded in a grating voice.

"Sure, why were you late?" She asked quietly.

"That's none of your business, shrimp, just write the slip so I can leave."

She looked down and began looking for a slip.

He looked at me and held out his hand, " I've never seen you before, I'm Bryce, what's your name newbie?"

I shook his hand, "I'm Dimitri."

He laughed, "Quite a tight grip, I think I'm gonna like you, you seem cool."

"Thank you, I guess," I stated flatly.

"A man of few words, I like it, " he says as he turns to Jade once again, " How long does this take, are you writing a whole essay?" He said whilst looking beyond annoyed.

"I'm sorry, here's your sli-i-ip, " she said fumbling on the words.

"About time, " he took the slip and walked away.

"No offence, but you don't seem like the type to volunteer for such so why did they make you do it?" I asked as I leaned against the desk. She looked up once again with flushed skin and a bashful smile. "My father is the principal. Not a lot of students volunteered for the opportunity and even those you did, could not be trusted. They only wanted to use this as a way to get out of class."

I leaned on my elbows. " Where do you come in?" I further questioned. "Well, my father was stressed and I just wanted to help, I really don't know what I'm doing but it is only for today so how hard can it be?"

"I'm not personally in a rush but I think I'm late and I don't know what class I'm going to so if you could, please help me." I pointed out awkwardly.

"Oh, you should probably be going, here is your schedule and all the information you will need for the day, I have also given you a map in case you get lost later on when I'm not there." She babbled while handing me a lot of documents.

I grab ahold of my timetable first, I have Mathematics first in Room 26. Wait, " what do you mean by, 'when you're not there'?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow.

She looked at me in unenthusiastically and with a long sigh furthermore explained, " I will have to be your tour guide for now since you gave me no time to prepare one for you with your lateness."

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"This is Mr Braxton's class, he is your mathematics teacher, he's really strict so be careful, make sure nothing happens while you're in his class." She said warningly. " This will be your introduction to everyone so don't mess it up, I hope you really enjoy the year. I think you'll really like being here. Some places are better than others. I'll catch you after class, if I'm not busy, to show you the rest of the school. If I don't, I'll send someone else to do so. Good day." She leaves and walks down the hall.

I walk into the classroom and people turn to look at me. The teacher turns to me with a glare, " Who are you?" He says.

"I'm Dimitri, I'm new here, I just started today," I said.

"Would you like to explain why you were late, " he said.

"I was a bit confused by the classes and I got lost, my apologies sir, " I lied. He beamed and said, " Finally, I have a well-mannered student, I will forgive your lateness this once because you're new here. "

He put his marker in a mug on his desk and sat down.

"How about you introduce yourself to the class, Son, " he said as he gestured for me to stand in the front of the room.

I looked towards everyone and faked a big smile. Most of the class stared at me unblinkingly, most of them being girls. There are two girls in the front that I noticed most. They are gorgeous, unfortunately, their faces were caked with outrageous makeup. I also see Bryce who decides to wave at me. The guys surrounding him pay attention to me once he waves. I awkwardly smile at him then turned back to the girls and smirked at them.

"My name is Dimitri Perez, as you already know, I'm new here, I was previously homeschooled by my parents," I said quickly, " My mother is the CEO of Rez Corp which is a multi-million dollar trading company. My father is a professor at Lakewood University. He also owns multiple chains of hotels." The girls seemed to get more interested at that part but then again so did the guys.

"I am a straight-A with a 4.9 GPA, my father wanted me to have more talents so I also play football, golf, baseball and of course, basketball since I am 6'4. My hobbies also involve art and singing, " Bryce appeared to be impressed and so did Mr Braxton.

Mr Braxton stood and walked over to me slowly. He then proceeded to firmly place his hand on my shoulder.

"Well colour me impressed, I think you're going to be a great addition to the school, " he said then pointed to one of the girls I had noticed. "You may take a seat next to Autumn."

I moved then placed my bag on the desk and sat down. Mr Braxton began the lesson and I felt a tap on my shoulder, I turned to Autumn. She side hugged me and then moved to kiss me on the cheek.

"My name is Autumn, if you want to, you can stick with me. This school is a roller coaster but I'm sure you'll have an amazing experience." She said as she smiled airily.

I smiled back and said, " I'm looking forward to it."