Rose Tinted Lenses

Chapter 1

Kendall could feel her brother's eyes on her as she ate her breakfast.

She whipped her head round to face her twin. "What?"

He met her gaze and snickered quietly, "What's wrong, little one?"

Austin called her 'little one' because - even though they were twins - he was two minutes older than her and much larger in size.

She scoffed. "It's Monday morning. Must I walk around with a beaming smile on my face for you people to be satisfied?"

Austin threw his hands up in mock surrender, "Alright, alright... didn't mean to poke the beast."

He got up from the kitchen table and took his bowl over to the sink.

"Oh, and what's with you taking Megan to school today?" Kendall asked as they grabbed their school bags and trudged out to the driveway. "Are you guys back together?"

"Something like that, why?" Austin answered with indifference.

"Weren't you making out with some red-head yesterday at the beach?"

"Yeah, what's your point?"

"Man-whore," Kendall muttered as she unlocked her car.

Austin simply rolled his eyes and hopped into his black Audi, driving down the long gravel path toward their front gates.

Kendall stood for a moment, watching him with a smirk, before ducking into her vintage red Ferrari and following him out of the driveway.

The car was a gift from her Grandfather who wasted no expense on birthdays. It took him months of searching around Europe to find the exact make and model that he wanted for her. Kendall didn't have the heart to tell him that she would have been just as pleased with a Ford. Cars were never her area of expertise. Regardless, it became her prized possession and she secretly adored the attention she received when she took it out.

It was a warm day and Kendall had put the roof down by the time she arrived at her best friend's house. Pulling into his driveway, she watched as Ethan opened his front door with his usual dazzling smile.

He had the happiest spirit she had ever encountered. Ethan was tall and buff with dark skin and blindingly white teeth. They had actually begun their friendship by chance in freshman year when Austin and Megan first began their on-again-off-again relationship. Ethan was originally Austin's best friend, and Kendall was Megan's. They gravitated towards each other in their individual solitude and clicked instantly, a fact that Kendall became infinitely grateful for as Megan began spending less time with her and more time with her twin brother.

He hopped into Kendall's car and placed a kiss on her cheek, to which she smiled in response.

"Hey, pretty girl." He said sweetly as she drove them to school.

His unrelenting positivity radiated off of him from the passenger seat, much to Kendall's dismay.

She scrunched her nose. "Ugh, why is everyone in such a chipper mood today? I was counting on you being as unenthusiastic as I am about this Monday morning."

Ethan chuckled. "No can do, babe. First day of senior year, today is a good day." He received an eye roll in response.

"Aren't you supposed to be a cheerleader? Peppy and full of life? Or did you leave your school spirit in Barbados this summer?" Ethan asked with a head tilt.

"I still have it. I just save it for occasions," Kendall countered.

"You mean like cheering for me as I annihilate the opposition on the football field?"