WonderEyes- Wonder the world through my eyes

First Day of Junior Year

Listen to the song halfway through the chapter.
Song: Exo- Overdose

Alicia's P.O.V:

The smell of sizzling bacon wrestled me out of a dream filled with sunshine and swaying sugarcane. Junior year. Ugh. I cracked open one eye, wincing at the sliver of harsh light peeking through the blinds. Another year of navigating the social minefield that was Goeth High. But at least I wouldn't be facing it alone.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" A familiar voice, laced with mischief, broke the silence. Lorenzo, my brother (and occasional tormentor), leaned against the doorway, a smug grin plastered on his face. At eighteen, he was already radiating that annoying "too cool for school" aura, complete with a perfectly tousled mop of dark hair and a worn leather jacket draped nonchalantly over his shoulder.

"Ugh, Lorenzo, five more minutes," I mumbled, burrowing deeper under the covers.

"Not a chance, mafungs," he teased, using the Xhosa nickname Mom had taught him when we were little. Short for "Mafungashe" It basically means "First Daughter". It used to be cute, now it just felt like another way to poke fun at my heritage.
"Mom's making her legendary bacon and waffles, and you know the drill - whoever gets downstairs first gets the bigger half."

That was enough to jolt me awake. Mom's bacon and waffles were legendary for a reason. I threw off the covers, a wave of nervous excitement washing over me.
Junior year. New classes, new teachers, and maybe, just maybe, a chance to rewrite my sophomore year social disaster aka my 3rd loss to Isis and her cheer squad. Ugh!

I raced downstairs, two steps at a time, only to find Lorenzo already sprawled at the kitchen counter, a triumphant grin plastered across his face. Beside him, Mom was flipping a stack of golden waffles, the scent making my stomach rumble.

"Gotcha!" he crowed, snatching the biggest waffle as it emerged from the iron.

"Not fair!" I whined, grabbing a plate and silverware. "You had a head start! Mxm!"

Mom chuckled, her warm brown eyes twinkling. "Ungatsho mxm! Don't say mxm! "There's plenty for everyone, mi amor. Don't worry, Lorenzo won't eat it all."

We are a mixed racial family with my mom and I being Xhosa while my dad and Lorenzo being Latino (Spanish Latino to be exact). So our conversations can be very bilingual and that doesn't include the occasional Korean phrases due to Johnathan coming over.

She winked at me, and I couldn't help but smile. Even after all these years, Mom still saw through Lorenzo's tough-guy act. He might pretend not to care, but I knew he secretly loved these little family mornings, the ones where the chaos of the world seemed to melt away for a while.

As we devoured breakfast, Lorenzo launched into a dramatic story about a near-disaster with his, well Johnathan's motorcycle, Brad, (of course, he emerged unscathed, the show-off). Brad was a deal between Lorenzo and Nathan which I have no idea of, neither of them would confess, but I'm pretty sure Lorenzo has the upper hand for him to even touch Brad let alone DRIVE him.

I tuned him out, my mind already flitting through the possibilities of the day. New faces, new classes, maybe even a chance to finally get one-up over Isis and prove I'm the better queen... Stop it, Alicia. Stay the humble queen, one day is one day.