Swell (Complete)

Chapter One (Part One)

"Cause everything we know is just something we're taught."

....

The headmaster's office was empty, the school's receptionist was typing away at her front desk and Adora hid a yawn behind her hand as she slouched back in the couch.
"Did Dodge say what this was about? Couldn't he have made it for after school?" She turned lazily to look at her cousin seated beside her and raised an eyebrow.
Iain smirked. "Fresh blood, cousin dear, fresh blood, and being the ever kind Dodgers' that we are, we'll be giving them the grand tour of our marvellous facility!" He spoke as if he was rehearsing for a stage play, with over-emphasised hand movements and broad facial expressions.
Adora sat up straight. "Fresh blood? There's new people in town?" The surprise was obvious in her voice and as her older cousin nodded quickly, the door to the office opened.
A tall, blonde man walked into the room, and put a sports bag beside the dark desk. He looked like an older version of Iain; the same messy hairstyle, the same light blue eyes and the same infectious smile.
"Hey kids, sorry I'm late." He ran a hand through his long hair and grinned at Adora. "I take it Iain's told you about the newbies?" He asked as he took off the sports jacket and hung it over the back of his chair.
"Well, told me of them anyway." Adora replied, stifling another yawn. The only time she was OK with being a morning person was when she was walking the dog in warmer weather; being an hour early to school was not OK.
"They should be here soon. Three of them. Sorry about the wake up. I thought it would be easier to do it before the other students arrived." He sat down in the chair and opened the laptop that sat on the desk. A few mouse taps later and he leaned forward. "Thomas, Willard and Martina Taylor. The boys in their last year, and Martina is in your year, Adora." He looked up from the screen and smiled. "So, you can see where this is going..."
"Yea, I'm leading Martina around, and Iain has the boys. Are they city slickers or..." She let her voice trail off, allowing for other options to be imagined.
"Not quite, they're from Richieville." The young headmaster answered, his blue eyes looked up from the screen and let go of a sigh. "Their father has bought the Jones' bakery, so they've moved out from the suburbs."
"Delicious!" Iain bounced on the seat of the couch happily. "I was worried they'd have to close down after Mr. Jones' got sick."

There was a knock on the door and Adora looked over to the window to see two tall boys and a slightly shorter girl waiting on the other side.
"Come in!" The headmaster stood up and moved to lean against the front of his desk. The door opened and the three Taylor siblings walked into the room. "Good morning! I'm Sam Dodgers, Dodge outside of school, but unfortunately, Mr Dodgers during school hours." He extended a hand and shook one of the boy's hands. "This is my brother, Iain, he'll be helping you two get settled, and my cousin, Adora, will be helping you out, Martina." After he had shaken the three hands, he offered the siblings a seat each at the front of his desk; he then sat down in his leather chair behind it.
Iain gave the three a friendly salute and Adora lifted her hand in a wave.
She had never seen three more beautiful looking people in her life. The boys, Thomas and Willard, were identical. Their sister, Martina, shared their strong facial features, and while her roots matched their brown hair, most of her long waves had been lightened.
They all looked like they could be celebrities or models, and Adora had to remind herself to breathe as she took them in.
"Well, welcome to Wheeler Falls High, so who's who?" Iain smiled and pointed to the two brothers in turn.
"I'm Tom." The first Taylor sibling to speak, he put his hand to his chest and then gestured to his brother. "He's Will, we prefer the nicknames over Thomas and Willard, and Marti likes... Well," his laugh echoed on his sister's smiling face as he gestured to her. "Marti, not Martina."
Tom was clean-shaven; he had a white shirt neatly tucked into a pair of olive green skinny pants. If she wasn't looking at it with her own eyes, Adora would never have imagined the outfit to look good; but it did. Will, had some whiskery growth on his chin and under his nose, it seemed he cared a lot less about his appearance. He was simply wearing jeans, a grey shirt and a dark brown pilot's jacket.
"Excellent." Iain looked the three of them over as his brother started to introduce the school's policy to the Taylors.
Adora swallowed a lump and let her eyes take a little longer to study the newcomers. Marti was wearing black tights, a loose grey and white tartan skirt and a tucked in floaty type of shirt with sleeves. Her shoes were grey ankle boots and Adora felt envy slipping into her stomach at the style.
How could one family produce three such beautiful children?
There was nobody in Wheeler Falls that looked as perfect as the Taylors, were their parents just as attractive?
"Adora can help you out with any musical commitments you want to make, Will, and Iain is on half of our sports team, so he can introduce you to Coach Hannah, Tom. I understand you like to paint?"
Adora blinked out of a daze as she heard her name and smiled towards the desk. Will was looking at her, perhaps studying her as much as she had been him. He nodded slowly at the mention of musical commitments and then Adora turned her attention to Marti as Dodge addressed the slender girl.
"There's a pretty good visual arts studio on the main street." Adora suddenly spoke up.
Marti turned from Dodge to her and smiled.
"Really? You'll have to show me later. Richieville's was ok, but nothing special, and the beach right here... Well, much better than the mundane view of the suburbs." Marti chuckled and Adora suddenly realised she had been nervous the entire time the Taylors had been in the room. The anxiety seemed to slip into the background as Marti spoke to her and Adora felt her shoulders relaxing.
She didn't know why she had been nervous, but the relief washed over her entire body and she felt the smile creep onto her face. Fresh blood, Iain had said, fresh blood and fresh friends.