A GOLDEN EMPIRE

CHAPTER TWELVE

AURORA PERCHES HERSELF PERFECTLY on the foldable wood chair that is a fixture in nearly every auditorium, waiting for their headmaster to speak. He's quite the interesting man, with graying hair, an obvious case of crow's feet, and the awkward inclination to sneeze into the crook of his elbow at various intervals. The raven has never liked him. Don't ask why. She just doesn't.

"Ahem." He announces over the loudspeaker, the intense feedback that sounds soon after sending everyone reeling. "I am your headmaster CHANDLER FOUNTAINE, and I would like to welcome you back to..."

Aurora zones out as the man continues to drone on, surveying the people around her with a scrutinizing eye. She spots ALYSSA SINCLAIR easily, the caramel-skinned beauty sitting only a few rows behind her in the senior section. She looks gorgeous as always, her clique, looking too-bored-to-focus, surrounding her. The younger queen bee looks away as she catches the redhead one staring at her, her eyes facing front.

The speaker had now changed, replaced with a tall blonde, with interesting cheekbones and a strong jawline. She wasn't ugly, however, just...interesting. "Hi, I'm LAUREN LOCKWOOD, class president, and I'd like to welcome all of you, especially the freshman, to a new year at Los Angeles Prep. Here at LA Prep, we believe..." She continues and Aurora zones out yet again, her mind preoccupied with other things i.e. her schedule and Justin.

Thirty minutes later and it's all over. She smiles artificially up at the podium and grabs her bag, wanting to be out of the ornate ballroom-style auditorium as soon as possible. She's greeted by a crowd of people, all bustling in different directions as if they know where they're going. The only thing keeping her sane as she's jostled about is the hand gripped firmly in hers. The Empire had formed something of a human chain on the way out, hoping they wouldn't get lost in all of this chaos.

"How the hell are they this excited for school? There's no need for this shit." Kingsley says in exasperation.

After some fighting against the wave of children, they make it to the main office without too many issues, all breathing harder than normal and a little shaken up. Not to mention the enormous line of excited freshmen looking to get their schedules.

"We've been here for-," Autumn checks her phone for the time. "An hour and I already want to go home."

Mario pulls her into yet another one of his bear hugs, this time also rubbing her back to calm her down and to his astonishment, it works.

Aurora leans into Justin and levels the group with a small smile. He rubs the nape of her neck, leading her to look up at him with a grateful smile.

"What classes do y'all have first?" Avalon asks with a somewhat nervous look in her eye, hoping she has at least one class with each member of the Empire.

Kingsley looks at his schedule. "I have English with Mr. Carson. I'm hoping I don't get bored and fall asleep."

"Oh thank god. I do not feel like being by myself today."

They compare their full schedules to find out that they actually have every class together.

"Knowing we're in all of the same classes together makes today more tolerable."

"And a lot less horrible than you thought it'd be?"

Brandon nods and turns to Adrianna with a smirk on his face. "See, you get me."

"You're annoying." She pushes him away and walks off to find the bathroom.

Aurora is anxious as hell right now. It may not be showing up on her pretty face but she is. Why? David. Seeing as she ran into his stupid ass at brunch yesterday, she's truly hoping he doesn't try some shit with her today. You're probably going 'I thought he graduated or something.' And yes, surprisingly he did graduate but that's not going to stop his trifling ass from popping up every day. All she wants to do is have a peaceful (let's face it. It'll be nothing of the sort.) year, ruling the school with her boyfriend and the most incredible best friends a girl like her can have.