The Villain

Alex P.o.V

The first day of school.

How dramatic.

I sighed, watching everyone frolic around me, trying to set up a reputation, climb up the social ladder.

Me? I didn’t bother. I had one friend, and for me, that was enough.

I mean, being the bullied kid in school, I really wasn’t allowed to have high standards when it came to this stuff.

My eyes quickly found my only friend in this cruel world. Josh. I greeted him, and we shook hands, sharing the same pained expression.

Our last year in this dreadful place. Just 365 days or so to go.

“Hey, guys! ” A deep voice from behind us spoke. “If it isn’t for my favourite victims.”

Alec.

Such a shame that our names are so familiar.

We are so different, it makes me wonder how people still manage to get confused with our names.

He thumped his hand on my back harshly, making me jump in fright. Josh flinched beside me, his shoulders hunched as he prepared for the oncoming attack.

“Let’s maintain the old tradition, hmm?” He smiled maliciously.

Every year on the first day of school, we would get beaten up until we started to bleed, have a broken bone or two, or maybe even faint.

Just last year, all of those three had happened to me and Josh had not been there to help me that day.

It did lead to something I now love, but back then the pain was excruciating.

I try and comfort myself with the thought of the gift I received that day.

Alec raised his arm again to punch me but stopped short.

A low hum of an engine caught the attention of literally everyone un the campus.

A dark grey car rolled into the campus. A model that must have been decades old, but looked like it was made yesterday.

From the thrilling sound of it, it seemed to run on actual fuel.

The few electric cars that we see today make a more cartoon-ish noise.

This car has either has been made illegally, or it has been preserved for all these years

The Maverick district wasn’t big on private means of transportation, so we barely saw any cars or bikes unless they were government property or rich peoples’.

All the boys were on the brink of drooling. The car was sleek, and though I didn’t know a lot of physics, I could tell it was very aerodynamic, because of the group of nerds furiously breaking down its features behind me. They kept muttering fancy science words which I didn’t understand, but I’m guessing it is pertaining to the car in front of me.

To put it simply, the car was super-cool. Undoubtedly, the owner would be too.

Alec let out a low whistle. “That is one sweet ride.” He looked at us briefly and I did not like his expression. “Looks like there’s another bad boy in town now. It’ll be fun introducing you two to him.”

The car eased into the parking lot, the engine was off now. The proud owner of the car walked out.

He was not a he.

It was a girl. A tall girl with predominantly dark brown hair with seven different highlights in them.

She donned a navy blue V-neck, black pants, and a black jacket. Her sneakers were also black, but their soles were a single flat strip of white.

The bad boy was actually a bad girl.

And she was obviously-“Layla!” Josh whispered in shock. He wasn’t expecting her to be here either? Good.

Josh had told me about his mysterious twin sister, eager to discuss something that was common between us, but it had been more of a passing thing where he described her appearance and distant attitude, but after that, she was forgotten.

He had been certain that I wouldn’t need to know about his sister as she went to this girls’ boarding school for most of the year.

In fact, she only visited her family once a year, and that too, she was allowed to stay at home for a single day.

Therefore, Josh scarcely knew anything about her, and her quiet and reserved demeanour didn’t exactly help build their bond.

Josh raised his arm slightly, his mouth open wide as if he was about to yell. My eyes widened, immediately realising what he was about to do. With a swiftness I was not used to, I clamped my hand over his mouth, effectively shutting him up. His muffled cry was not heard by anyone except maybe Alec. And even he seemed too entranced by Layla to pay any attention to us.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I hissed.

“I’m calling my sister!” He said with equal vexation.

“That, my friend, would be a big mistake,” I replied.

We both turned back to look at his sister. She was walking confidently, her back resting on one shoulder as she rifled through its contents, searching for something inside it. She was either completely unaware of the attention she was receiving right now, or she knew and was savouring it secretly. I couldn’t be sure.

“Your sister,” I continued. “Is a classic bad guy. Well, not bad bad, but Alec bad. She is obviously one of them, Josh. She might be your twin, but if that wasn’t the case, she would never socialize with people like us.”

Josh frowned. “What are you talking about? She seems perfectly fine to me.”

He jutted his chin in her direction, and we looked at her again.

She had found what she was looking for earlier, and tucked the folder under her chin as she zipped her bag shut, walking towards the school the entire time.

I put my finger under Josh’s jaw, forcing him to look at me. “I know you love her, my boy. Maybe she loves you too. But for our sake and hers, we should avoid talking to her in front of the whole school.”

Josh pouted. “But she is my sister.”

I let out a defeated sigh. I suppose a little interaction wouldn’t hurt. We could test the waters, maybe. “Fine. But we’ll talk to her only in class.”

“But she might not be in our class!” He protested. Layla had disappeared behind the school doors and now that the main attraction was gone, people slowly began trickling into the building.

We started walking. I pushed the door open, the noises of people having fun and complaining and doing everything a group of students would do on the first day of school, overwhelming us.

“Exactly my point.” I grinned in triumph.

Biology followed by math. Could this day get any worse?

Had this been any other school, I wouldn’t have minded that much, I suppose.

A normal school where you got to move to a different classroom for each subject, where you could choose what to study, share classes with others and have some room for a change of environment and maybe even be entertained.

But this was not a normal school.

This was dad’s school.

Maverick Public School.

That meant staying in a single room for the whole day, waiting for your teachers to walk in, sharing the same class with the same thirty-five people for a whole year. Monotonous.

First the sister-surprise and now this. Our last year of school was not off to a good start.

There was no way I’d be able to reach my locker to put my biology books back in and take my thick and extremely heavy math book. The result of which was me dragging myself, carrying what felt like the weight of the world in my arms.

Thankfully, I made it to class on time. One did not want to be late for Miss Clarwood’s lecture.

No one really paid any attention to me. Hardly a surprise. Just because my father was the Principal doesn’t mean I’ll receive special treatment. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Josh and I were the perfect targets for bullies. What in the world would I do without Josh?

We had met last year, both socially awkward messes, and well...we enjoyed each other’s company.

I nodded to him in acknowledgement, too tired to speak. He gave me a weak smile, nursing his sore arms too.

I dodged his heap of books which now lay on the floor beside his desk.

There was no room to keep them on the table itself, nor was there any desire to put them there as a constant reminder of our worsening fate.

Biology, followed by math.

I sighed. This was going to be a long day.

Miss Clarwood entered the class, not even waiting for our sing-song, half-asleep ‘good morning’. She dived right into the topic. Anatomy and physiology. Ugh.

Around five minutes into the class, the students had long resumed their chatter, not bothering to pay attention to what was being taught.

Well, that was quick.

But it didn’t last long.

Suddenly, a silence fell in the room. I felt it too. Almost as if our subconscious minds sensed something amiss. I followed the gaze of my classmates to see that there was a girl leaning against the doorframe.

Layla.

Well, that’s just fantastic!

She had been smart enough to carry her backpack, I’ll give her that.

But she didn’t look even remotely as tired as she should’ve been. If she was carrying the right books. All of them.

I was actually expecting a cocky smirk of some sort but a poker face presently graced her features.

I don’t know why, but I hated her instantly.

She reminded me of the bullies that laughed when my face slammed against the lockers under the force of their punches.

She made her way towards Miss Clarwood, her gait suave, and the fact that she didn’t move her shoulders and hips a lot kind of shocked me. Being in this school for so long, I just assumed it was a girl thing.

She smiled apologetically, producing a slip of paper from her pocket. I couldn’t help but notice how she seemed more mature than us. Though I could tell she was seventeen, like most of us, there was a certain seriousness that was beyond her years.

The class was dead silent. This girl demanded attention without even trying.

“Sorry for being late, Miss Clarwood.” She said, looking truly sorry. I didn’t buy it for a second. “I am new here and I had to meet the Principal.”

Wait, Dad met this girl and still granted her admission? She didn’t seem that convincing. I would have to ask him about it at home.

Miss Clarwood frowned, squinting at the slip of paper. She grunted, which was her way of telling students to take a seat and pay attention.

Josh smiled as soon as he saw his twin, clearly resisting the urge to call out her name.

Layla made her way towards the empty seat and stopped briefly beside her brother’s side. “Hi, Josh.” She whispered with genuine delight, kissing him on the cheek fondly. Had I not been seated right beside him, I wouldn’t even have heard her speak.

Well, then.

She really did love her brother, despite what Josh had told me. For that brief moment, she seemed warm and loving, but I couldn’t help but feel that something was off.

She seated herself quite close to the corner of the room, but awestruck eyes kept following her.

A girl who wasn’t girly was an extremely rare occurrence at this point in school.

And most of the students must have seen that impressive car as well. That was definitely a conversation starter.

I didn’t think she was actually paying attention to what was being taught but was soon proved wrong when she took out a book and began scribbling notes with a sleek black pen. Somehow, I felt that the pen was specifically chosen to match her persona.

Without even interacting with me, she had proven me wrong. She didn’t seem like a bully. Obviously, she was not petty enough to create a scene. She didn’t crack a joke like Alec did when he entered the class. And yes, Alec was in my class. Just my luck.

She didn’t smirk, she didn’t walk all girly, she was not rude or attention-seeking either.

Well, she didn’t ask for attention, but she got it anyway.

And maybe that was because she did the unexpected.

She didn’t want to fit in, she didn’t want to win people over.

She was being herself when she brought the car, when she wore these clothes, and when she walked with such confidence.

This wasn’t a walking bad-guy label, this was a real personality.

I still felt that she was the bad-girl, tough-person types, but just by not being cliche, I felt like giving her a chance.