let's skip to the aftermath

Chapter 1

It is safe to say that if Cora were to be described as one thing, it would be nosy. It's not like she MEANS to be in people's business all the time, but that's just the way it's worked out. To be fair, she's grown up in a very boring town with very little to do so in her defense, finding entertainment in other people's "omg I need to tell you something" is the next best thing to Keeping up with the Kardashians.

Cora's currently in the passenger seat of her friend Melissa's car driving back home from school. She found out about today's big news like this: "Oh. My God." Melissa said, "Have you seen the hot new bombshells that have come into school?" Apparently, Greenwood High had acquired not one, but THREE new students for the majority of the student body to thirst over. And to make matters more interesting, they were triplets!

"I can't believe I don't have a single class with the brothers everyone has been talking about all day," Cora says "I don't even get to have a glimpse of them in the hallways." She never really cared much about coming involved with anyone that is deemed to have a high social status but if the subject of their arrival has not died down, then her interest is definitely peaked.

"Lucky for you," Melissa says as she makes a turn into a street Cora does not recognize, "I overheard them talking about settling into their new house, so I thought we could pay them a welcoming visit! Show them that this neighborhood is not as bad as they say."

Cora stays quiet while processing the absurdity of what Melissa just told her; 1. how did she even get their address 2. now that she thinks about it, this neighborhood could not be farther away from where she and Melissa reside, and 3. from what she's heard, this neighborhood is anything but welcoming. They are quite literally currently having problems with a pair of teenagers going around houses and not only messing with their property, but also terrorizing the habitants in the process. The local news recently said that someone had to go to the hospital after being hit with an iron bar for coming home from work earlier than expected and arriving at his house right as his garden was being dug up for god's sake!

"Melissa... TURN THE CAR AROUND." is the response she finally gives after a couple of minutes of silence. The car begins to slow down and Cora thinks that this is finally the day where her friend listens to her better judgment instead of going through with ideas that quite honestly give her a heart attack and make her question why she's even friends with Melissa in the first place. However, she is quickly proved wrong when Melissa sighs and with pitiful jazz hands says "We're here!"

—

It wasn't really in Cora's afternoon plans to be standing outside the gate of the Sturniolo triplets (apparently that's their last name according to Melissa) house... but here she is. She gets out of the car before she quite genuinely slaps the sense back into her friend's head and waits to hear what horrible idea Melissa has on what the best way to introduce themselves would be. Except that when Cora turns around the idea Melissa has is so much worse than what she expected. She lowers down the car window and with a slightly teasing smile on her face she says "I already introduced myself so I don't really see the point of doing it again, you should totally do it though, they seem like more of your type." Before Cora even has a chance to interrupt her, Melissa starts the car, says "Call me when you're done so I can come pick you up. Thank me later!", and then proceeds to drive away.

Oh, she is so gonna murder her when she comes back.

—

There have been many times in her life when Cora has wished she minded her own business. However, this definitely takes the icing on the cake, she has never gotten struck by karma this hard before. She cannot believe she's spending her Friday afternoon outside of some random kid's house all alone, and to make matters worse, in a sketchy neighborhood.