4.

"What the hell? He fucking multiplied?" I heard my sister whisper/yell in disbelief just as I've thrown my backpack inside my locker, my gaze instinctually snapping over my shoulder.

The fuck...

My eyes widened, totally thrown aback as they fell on none other than Nathan Darkhart, his sides flanked by two boys and three girls as they so confidently walked down the hallway as if they owned the place, their build and appearance almost as equally strong and flawless as his. Almost. Between the three of them, he was still the tallest and most heavily built, the other two boys looking rather similar in height and build. And they weren't wearing black like him.

The three girls though were lean, equally tall and beautiful, their flawless features and curvaceous bodies making any other girl from our school look like scarecrows, compared to them.

"Who are they?" I heard Kayla quietly ask from right next to me as we all four gaped at them like idiots until the leader stopped right in front of me, his cold emerald eyes meeting my own as his clique surrounded us like a pack of wolves, with me and him in the center.

What the fuck was going on? What was he doing?

"So this is the famous Carina Evangeline DeLuca," The platinum blonde one from the three girls said out loud as she stepped closer right next to Nathan, her sparkling brown eyes trailing over me with a raised brow.

The fuck? He told them my name?!?

I stared up at him in utter shock and disbelief, for some odd reason feeling so damn betrayed and exposed.

"She looks like a freaking malnourished child," Another one commented as she approached to have a look at me as well as if I were some fucking exotic animal for show, making me so angry that I wanted to claw her eyes out.

"You listen you motherfucking giraffe-" My sister and Kayla quickly held me back as I tried to take a step in the bitch's direction, earning myself just a superior glance from her.

"She bites too," One of the boys mocked, all of them breaking into a fit of laughter. Excepting him.

"That is enough, Christian," Nathan's firm and authoritative voice abruptly ended their fun, giving me one last look before turning to walk away, his pack of wolves quickly following suit along with the majority of the school's population as they seemed so weirdly enchanted by their "godly" presences.

"What in the fucking hell was that?!?" Kayla was the first one to voice out what we were all thinking, her expression completely bewildered as she turned to openly gape at me.

"Do you know them?" Jess followed, earning herself an incredulous look from me.

"Are you crazy this is the first time I have ever seen them in my entire life!"

"Then why did they seem to know you?" She only continued, making me feel a little bit irritated by now.

"I don't know!!"

"And why did they call you like that? Carina... whatever?" Kayla questioned with a raised brow, my anger fastly deflating and being replaced with mild embarrassment and vulnerability as I slowly lowered my gaze and turned to face my locker again.

"That is my full name," I muttered rather uncomfortably, feeling my sister's hand take ahold of my own into a comforting way.

I turned to look at her and gave her a small smile.

"Your name is actually Carina?" Jess butted in as well, receiving a glance from me before lowering my gaze again.

"Stupid, I know..."

"No, it actually sounds kinda cool," She replied with a warm smile, receiving one from me as well.

"Why did you never tell us? We've been friends for five years for fuck's sake!" Kayla said with a little bit of disappointment.

"We weren't allowed to," My sister answered before I could, earning ourselves puzzled looks from them both.

"What? Why?"

"Our father instructed us to do so. He never told us why," She simply said with a shrug.

***

For the rest of the day, we watched almost the entirety of our school population kiss their asses and try so hard to get even the smallest ounce of attention from the "fabulous" six, some of them even losing their dignity in the process as they were sent back on their merry way with cold looks, blatant mocking and even downright humiliating remarks.

First day and they were already ruthless.

I watched as a boy tried to offer one of the vipers a rose, the bitch not even looking at him once as she forcefully ripped it from his hand and threw it on the floor, her bright red stilleto crushing it before she made her way towards the table they had taken by force from other kids.

"What a fucking bitch," I commented, my gaze following her as she sat right next to Nathan and wrapped her arm around his bicep into a rather claiming my territory way, the guy however not even minding her presence as his dark and intense gaze remained trained on me the entire time.

"Seriously what the fuck does he want from you? Why does he keep staring at you like that?" My sister wondered as she noticed his line of sight as well.

"Beats me," I shrugged, raising my brow in an openly defiant way as they were all watching me now from their table.

I will not be bullied into intimidation.

I stubbornly held my ground as they kept watching me like a pack of crazed wolves, confronting each of their heated gazes.

"I don't like this. Not even one bit," I heard Jess say from her seat next to me.

"Seriously this is so weird. Why now? Why did he come back to Green Hills all of a sudden and why does he seem so damn fixed on you?"

"Fuck if I know. But I don't give a shit. He can stare all he wants for all I care," I muttered dismissively, choosing to have my lunch and ignore their faces when the sounds of heels clicking against the tiled floor suddenly reached my ears, noticing Jess' shocked expression first before my head turned forward again, noticing that same bitchy blonde walk straight towards our table with grace and confidence, her platinum blonde hair sashaying from side to side like silk in the wind.

They were beautiful, I could not deny it. Almost inhumanly beautiful.

The blonde stopped right in front of our table, her sparkly brown eyes falling on me as she rapidly talked,

"I would appreciate it if you stopped staring at my boyfriend,"

We stared at her for a moment, bursting into a fit of laughter as she weirdly stared at us, seemingly failing to understand why we were laughing in the first place.

"Don't worry honey, no one wants him here. You can keep him, we're not dying to have a go at that," I told her, wrapping my hands around my throat and mimicking choking myself to death for emphasis while the girls burst into another fit of laughter.

Her flawless features contorted into an angered frown as she looked between us, intending to say something more when that thunderous voice suddenly echoed through the cafeteria,

"Estefany,"

She immediately halted as if she'd been freaking zapped or something, giving me one last nasty glare before turning around to walk back to their table, my gaze finding Nathan's again and colliding into another silent battle.

"Good doggie," I heard my sister say in a baby voice from her seat next to me, breaking into another fit of giggles when Estefany suddenly turned back around with a murderous look plastered all over her face.

Fuck.

A downright terrifying glint appeared in her eyes, her attention zeroed in on my sister as she rapidly walked back to our table, giving me that strong impulse that she was in danger so I swiftly stood up, pushed my chair back with my foot and jumped over the table before she could even reach Dre, adopting a defensive stance as I stared right back into her sparkly eyes.

The whole room went completely silent, hearing my own deep and rhythmical breath as we stared each other down into a silent battle, waiting for her first move when I made the stupid mistake to blink once, failing to notice the exact moment her hand rose to strike me.

However, before that hand could even touch me it abruptly stopped mid-air as another, larger one wrapped around her wrist, effortlessly putting a halt to her oncoming actions.

"My betrothed, MY plaything,"

He rather silently growled under his breath as he stared her down, the girl immediately shrinking under his gaze as she quickly lowered her hand and eyes as well, scurrying back to their table as soon as he let her go.

He then turned around to face me, our gazes at the same level as his emerald eyes met my blue ones, giving me one cold and menacing look before turning away to leave.

I deeply exhaled, letting out that breath I didn't even know I was holding in as I climbed down from the table, my gaze trailing after his retreating back.

His...what?