No Saints

Aria I

Aria walked down the hallway with hunched shoulders. She kept her head down and avoided eye contact with everyone. It was a habit she had developed over the years, one that had become a necessary survival mechanism. Without her sister or Ric around it was a hard to feel safe in this school. She didn't like confrontation, and she'd rather avoid attention entirely.

But she was always a target. The other kids would tease her about her clothes, or make fun of her interests, or simply bully her for being "different". It was worse when they brought up her parents. And Aria would just take it, trying to avoid escalating the situation.

Today was no different. She could feel the eyes of the other kids on her, and she knew that someone was bound to say something cruel. And sure enough, as she turned a corner, she heard a snicker behind her. If possible her shoulders shrunk down further.

"Hey, look at Aria's outfit," someone sneered. "She looks like a hippie from the 60s."

Aria felt her face grow hot with embarrassment as the group of kids laughed and jeered. She tried to ignore them. It was like they were closing in on her, like they were going to swallow her whole. Despite embarrassment and fear there was a part of her that felt relief. She'd rather they target her clothes instead of her parents.

When she moved to push past the growing crowd, one of the kids snatched her phone out of her hand. Aria tried to protest, but it was too late. The kid was already flipping through her contacts, his eyes scanning the names.

And then he saw it - Rita's name on her phone.

"Hey, you know Rita?" he asked, his tone dripping with malice. "She's always been trouble. And you're probably friends with her because you think you can get close to him," he sneered.

Aria felt a wave of fear wash over her as the group of kids started to circle around her. They were drawing conclusions about her relationship with Rita that were completely wrong.

"Alaric's got a rep for being ruthless," one of them said. "You're probably just trying to get in his good books."

Aria felt her heart sink as she realized that they thought she knew Rita because of Ric, Rita's boyfriend. They had no idea that Aria was actually Rita's sister.

The group of kids started to laugh and jeer again, and Aria felt herself shrinking away from them. She didn't want to draw attention to herself or to Rita. She just wanted to go home and forget this day ever happened.

As she walked away from the group, she couldn't help but feel a sense of dread building inside her. She knew that if Rita found out what had happened, she would be furious. And Alaric...Alaric was someone to be feared. Well feared by everyone he didn't like.

The darkening clouds outside seemed to mirror Aria's mood as she walked back to class. She felt like the storm was closing in on her, and she didn't know how to escape.