Broken Bridge

6

The barbecue was fun. Me, my sisters, and my cousins were sitting together and talking. Yes, even Rose was with us but she wasn't talking much. She was just picking at her salad. Leo offered to bring out a card game to play but Autumn heard him and said no.

"You should spend more time with your sister and cousins!" She said.

"I am!" Leo said. "Playing a card game is spending time with them!"

"You're not playing a card game." Autumn said. "That's final." She turned and walked away.

"She's always like this." Leo said. "She lets me play games with her, Rose, and Marc but not anyone else."

"Marc," Rose said. "Is your dad. So call him dad."

"Oh my god Rose!" Leo said. "I can call Marc whatever I want!"

"You're a brat." Rose said. "A big brat." Leo rolled his eyes.

"That's big coming from the biggest brat of the family!" He said. Rose got up and stormed off.

"You're probably going to get in trouble." Cassie said.

"Yeah but it was worth it." Leo said. "Totally worth it."

It was the first day of school and things were exactly how I expected. People flocked around Rose like she was the only life boat left on the titanic. She instantly became popular. And a bully. She made a lot of enemies that day. But a lot of friends.

At lunch there was a fight. Not a big food fight but an actual fight. Well, not the throwing punches kind of fight. The football team captain Shawn was pushing a muddy haired boy with glasses out of the way.

"That's not your spot!" He almost yelled. He stepped out of the way and Rose sat down in the now empty spot. The muddy haired boy didn't protest, he was subject to a lot of bullying. Mostly if he tried to stand up for himself he would either find himself headfirst in a trashcan, or stuck in a locker. I looked away from the scene as the popular kids sat down around Rose. Shawn was sitting next to Rose and talking (most likely flirting) to her.

"Eww." Leo said. "I think Shawn is trying to flirt with Rose."

"Obviously!" Olive said. "Shawn's flirted with like, every popular girl in the school!"

"So," Leo said. "Who are the popular kids?"

"The sports kids." Aurora said.

"The cheerleaders." Jack added.

"The rich kids." Willow commented.

"The really pretty bratty kids." Olive informed. "Yes, they're the same as the rich kids, I know."

"And the instagramers and ticktokers." I finished.

"And then theres the rest of us." Willow said. "Counting the losers club."

"The losers club?"

"That's what the popular kids call the nerds." Aurora said. "It kinda caught on and now everyone calls them that."

"Except us really." Jack said. "We call them that sometimes but usually we call them the nerds or selectively by their names." Leo nodded.

"Okay." He said. "Thanks." We all nodded.

"Hey, how much do you guys wanna bet that Rose and Shawn get together?" Willow asked. We all looked over at the popular table and saw Shawn and Rose chatting and laughing. Shawn dragged his hand through his blondish brown hair and winked one of his emerald green eyes at Rose.

"Five bucks says she doesn't." Leo said.

"Why?" We all asked.

"Mom and Marc probably won't want her dating. They'd say stuff like 'she's only fifteen' and stuff like that." Leo said.

There was a collective "oh"

"Well, I'm still putting five dollars against you." Willow said. "Autumn and Marc could say yes or they could date in secrecy." Everyone agreed and went back to finishing our lunch.

After school I saw Leo talking to someone. Everyone was already in the large car and waiting for Leo. I was sent to go get him.

"Hey Leo." I said, coming up to him. "It's time to go."

"Oh, okay." Leo said.

"Who's this?" The boy with him asked.

"This is my cousin Luna." Leo said. "Luna, this is Aric, Aric, this is Luna."

"It's nice to meet you." I said, extending my hand. Aric repeated the gesture and shook my hand. I turned back to Leo. "Really Leo, we have to go, everyone's waiting."

"Okay." Leo said. "See you tomorrow Aric."

"See you tomorrow Leo." Aric responded.

"So," I said, walking with Leo to one of the cars. "Friend of yours?"

"Yeah." Leo nodded. "We were paired together for a little get-to-know-you activity in first period."

"That's nice." I said. Leo agreed and closed the car door behind him.

"So," Mom said, pulling out of the school pickup and drop off zone. "How was the first day?"

"It was great." Willow and Aurora said.

"It was fun." I said.

"I enjoyed it." Leo said.

"My first day was amazing." Rose said. "I made so many new friends."

"Oh, that's nice." Mom said.

"Hey mom, where are our aunts and Marc?" I asked.

"Their at their homes." Mom said. "I told them I'd drop you all off."