Sunny Moore Times Four

Slutty Sunny and the New Kid

I was so proud to be a momma. I couldn't help but post every single pregnancy thing on my social media. From clothes to daily bump pics, it was too exciting not to share with everyone. But that also meant that some people had some not-so-nice things to say, especially when I walked in the door on the first day of school in a cute frilly crop top and high-wasted shorts that really showed off my baby bump.

Luna was super self-conscious about being the sister of "the pregnant girl," so she spent the summer saving for her own car so she wouldn't have to drive with me. She always got to school way before I did.

"Slutty Sunny!" said someone as I walked down the main hall.

"Slutty Sunny!" said someone as I rounded the stairwell, which took me forever to get to the top of.

"Slutty Sunny!" said someone as I walked out into the seniors-only picnic area of the courtyard.

I just let all that bounce off of me. Everyone else was having lots of sex, or at least they all said they were. But yet I was a slut? How could I be a slut if I was literally only sleeping with one person, who I'd been with for the past six years? People were just...silly. Also, so much for not slut-shaming people.

"Whoa! That's a fit if I've ever seen one!" Rosie said, sitting there with Max.

"I just thought it was super cute!" I said.

Rosie chuckled. "I wouldn't have the courage. I'd be in leggings and an oversized sweatshirt. You're something else, Sunny."

"I'm not gonna be ashamed of my boys! No way!" I said, taking a seat. "Wow...I can't believe we're seniors now."

"Same here. I'm glad I'm here to see it," Rosie said.

"Me too," Max said, taking her hand.

"Aww, you guys are just too cute!" I said, noticing Ella walk by inside the building.

"It's still the honeymoon phase. Give it time," Rosie said. "Where's Leo?"

"He's actually gonna miss today. He's busy with more of that Rancho Cucamonga stuff," I said, averting my eyes.

"If you say so," Rosie said, totally not believing my lie at all.

"He'll be back on Monday," I said, my voice shaking a little as I tried to think of a way to change the subject. "It's totally cool that the seniors get an extra day off. Only one day of school, and then it's the weekend!"

"Hopefully this won't suck," Rosie said.

"I'm just hoping I can make my way around. I'm getting out of breath just going up the stairs. Doctor Andrews said I'm almost the size of someone who is full term with one baby."

"And you're just gonna get bigger," Rosie said. "In a good way. Not like you're getting fat, like you're growing four babies."

"I knew what you meant," I said, giggling.

The ding of the homeroom bell went off, and we went our separate ways. I took a sigh of relief when I was able to get into my desk. Most of the other kids were looking at their phones. A few were staring and whispering. I quickly sent Leo a "good morning, I love you" text. It was how we usually started the day.

I knew he was busy with the FBI or whoever he was working with. Now that Georgio was behind bars, Leo was working to take down Giovanni, Luigi's oldest. He was the second in command, as far as we knew. Luigi's youngest son was only fourteen. Lucian just found out he had another child. This one was from a different wife, which was why. But due to his age, he wasn't someone we needed to worry about. Not right now, at least.

I got my laptop out so it was powered up and ready to go for the day while the morning announcements played on the board up front. We were getting a second resource officer this year. One would be for the underclassmen section downstairs, and one would be for the upperclassmen section upstairs.

Little did they know, the Dark Angel was here with us too. I knew Ella wasn't here to protect anyone else, but I was at least glad to have another layer of protection. Aunt Linda told me when she was in high school twenty years ago, nobody really worried about school shootings. They didn't even have metal detectors, resource officers, or bulletproof backpacks.

"Sunny?" I looked up and noticed my homeroom teacher above me. "Are you still part of the buddies program this year?"

"Oh, for the new students? Yes, absolutely! I'm a bit slow, but I can definitely still do it!" I said, perking up.

"Great. The office just called me. They have a new student downstairs. An incoming freshman."

"Um...okay. Aren't all freshmen new though? I don't mean to be condescending about it at all," I said.

"He's new to the country, so he's never been to an American high school."

"Cool! That sounds great!" I said.

"Perfect. The office wanted to match you with him because he'll be in orchestra with you," she said.

"Awesome! I can't wait to meet him!"

"I'll call down to the office and get you an excuse for your first class," she said, walking back over to her desk.

I breathed a sigh of relief. My very first class on Friday's was literally gym. It couldn't be at a worse time of day. Aunt Linda tried to get me out of it and have me take another elective, but it was mandatory, even though I had a doctor's note to excuse me from everything other than walking laps around the track.

My homeroom teacher gave me my pass, and I went down to the front office to meet the new kid. When I walked in, I saw a young boy sitting on one of the benches with a very particular instrument case.

"Hey, Sunny! Thanks for coming down," said Pam, one of the ladies behind the desk. She worked here all the way back when Aunt Linda was still a student. "Here's your new buddy."

I walked right over to the kid so I could introduce myself. When he stood up, I could see that he hadn't hit his growth spurt yet. I was only five-foot-four, and he was even shorter than me.

"Hi, I'm Sunny! I'm gonna be your buddy. It's so nice to meet you!" I said, right before pointing to my baby bump. "And these are my four boys. We don't have their names picked out yet."

"Giuseppe," he said with no hesitation. He didn't have an accent at all.

He wasn't even staring at my bump at all. What a polite little gem. He was just adorable. All the freshmen honestly looked like babies to me though.

"I'm gonna take you on a tour, but let's stop in Mr. Houston's room first so you can drop off that case," I said. "He'll be so happy we have another viola player! We only had four and two graduated last year. So unless we have any more coming in this year, we'll most likely be stand partners!"

"Oh, okay," he said.

"Let's go! We're a pretty big school, so there's a lot of ground to cover."

We walked down a few hallways to the music wing. Mr. Houston's room was empty. He usually got in later in the day, since orchestra wasn't until right before lunch. I showed him the wall of cubbies where those of us with smaller instruments kept our things.

"What's your last name, so I can find your spot?" I asked.

"Ca...Campbell. Giuseppe Campbell," he said, looking along the wall of cubbies. "Found it!"

He slid his viola case into the cubby, and we moved on to the next part of the school tour, but I was already so worn out. It was going to be a long day.  

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