Jade Mountain High School

My Stalker-Glory

Mornings never quite agreed with Glory. It was a different story for her little sisters, the twins, Kinkajou and Tamarin. The morning before her first day of senior year, Kinkajou and Tamarin rushed into Glory's room to wake her up.

As soon as she heard their voices, Glory was up and throwing pillows at them. They ran out, laughing, and Glory shivered. Why did Grandeur keep it so cold in the house? She was wearing a white silk tank top and green and black pajama shorts, so not exactly a winter parka, which she needed.

"You couldn't have let the alarm clock do its job?" she called after them. Then she went into her closet. She had no one to impress, even though her boyfriend Deathbringer might think otherwise, but she still wanted to look nice for her first day of senior year.

She chose a soft blue-gray sweater and ripped denim shorts. She stood in front of her mirror for a second and brushed out her hair. The orange, green, blue, and pink seemed too bright today, like the colors were jumping out at her and pushing aside the blonde parts.

Glory decided she didn't care and went downstairs. Tamarin, Kinkajou, and Jambu were all in the kitchen, the twin sisters sitting and talking about cute people at the school — since when did Tamarin have a crush on Tsunami's little sister? — and Jambu was helping (or trying to help) their grandmother, Grandeur make breakfast, despite how much she insisted that fruit sundaes weren't a complicated thing to make. She studied her siblings.

Kinkajou wore a gray tank top, black leather skirt, and denim jacket. Her pink, yellow, and green hair was down and curled. Tamarin's blonde and blue hair was down and curled as well, and she wore a beige sweater and jeans. Jambu wore a white T-shirt, red and white checked jacket, and jeans.

Glory sat down at the table with her little sisters and took out her buzzing phone. She was receiving a call. And, unsurprisingly, it was from Deathbringer. "Hello?" she said cautiously, holding the phone to her ear. Just calling to make sure my queen is having a good morning, said his exasperatingly charming voice over the phone.

"How many times have I told you to stop calling me that?" she asked him, rolling her eyes. I'm not sure. Perhaps a kiss once we get to the school would help me remember. "You can dream," she scoffed. Oh, thank you. I already do, you know, he said, and she could tell he was smirking on the other end of the phone.

"I have to eat breakfast, okay? So, bye, Deathbringer," she lied. The truth was that Grandeur wouldn't be done making their sundaes for a while, but she was scared if she stayed on the call with him for too long, she'd start blushing uncontrollably.

Okay. Bye, my love. See you at school. Then she hung up as he was saying something extremely stupid about her being his queen again. Glory sighed and put the phone down. "I see that blush," Kinkajou giggled. "Tamarin, Glor-Glor is blushing." "No, I'm not," Glory protested. "It's just hot in here, that's all."

"Yeah right," Tamarin laughed. "Not with the way Grandma keeps it like a freezer in here." "I heard that," Grandeur remarked, coming out with four bowls, each filled with watermelon, pineapple, kiwi, mango, yogurt, granola, mint, and agave syrup.

"I was so helpful," Jambu said proudly. "He wasn't," Grandeur said, greatly opposed. "Jambu," Kinkajou said, taking a huge bite of pineapple. "Don't talk with your mouth full," Grandeur reminded her. Kinkajou nodded and swallowed before continuing. "Are you excited for your sophomore year of college?"

Jambu nodded, putting a spoonful of yogurt in his mouth. Tamarin, of course, couldn't see them, since she'd been in the car accident that had killed their parents. Both her eyes had been damaged and she'd lost her sight completely soon after. But Grandeur and Glory could see the badly mannered Jambu and Kinkajou and they exchanged eye-rolls.

"Well, if you guys would stop eating like a pack of hyenas, I have news," Glory said. "I'm finally going to run for student council president this year." "That's wonderful, Glory," Grandeur said. "You know, back when I went to Jade Mountain High School, I was the president for sophomore and junior year."

Breakfast was deluged with Grandeur's stories of "the good old days" until it was finally time for the kids to go. Jambu left with Kinkajou and Tamarin in his Jeep while Glory mounted her motorcycle, pulled on her helmet, and took off.

She adored the way the wind whipped through her multi-colored curls and felt the sleeves of her sweater rustle around her arms. She reached the school and parked in the designated motorcycle area. Even as the bulky motorcycle helmet came off her head, her hair was perfect and there wasn't a single smudge in her makeup.

Her friends were at a picnic table, and there was Deathbringer. He was wearing a white T-shirt and jeans that he looked distractingly good in. He grinned his charming, rakish grin when he saw her and jogged over.

He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. When he pulled away, Glory slapped him. "Ow!" he cried. "What was that for?" "For kissing me without my consent," she replied simply. "You're my girlfriend!" "No labels," Glory reminded him. He sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets, following her back to her friends.

"Hey, Glory," Fatespeaker said, looking up from the book she'd been reading with Starflight. "Hi." Glory sat down at the table. Sunny was across from her, engaged in conversation with someone Glory didn't know. Deathbringer stood behind her, eyeing the surrounding students suspiciously.

He took out his sunglasses and put them on, looking so ridiculous that Glory burst out laughing. During the time until the bell rang, Tsunami and Clay arrived, each bombarded with questions from Sunny about the upcoming year.

Glory took out her phone and started to make a TikTok, but it was photobombed by Deathbringer, who (she refused to admit) was unimaginably photogenic. His black hair contrasting with his pale skin and ocean eyes—she could feel herself start to blush. "Go away," she said, batting him away.

"Try to get rid of me all you want," he whispered in her ear. "I'll always be with you." Then the bell rang, she went to class, and he followed.