Chapter 1: First meeting

My bed is soft, my duvet is warm and fluffy just like my pillow. The headboard is made of wood and painted black like most of the things in my room, but the sheets are pink. I like to have a little contrast in my room. Everything's either black or pink. Some things are white or blue or something different of course, but most of it is still black. Just like my wardrobe; leather, blue broken jeans always, black tights, some flannels, crop tops, high-heeled boots, sneakers. Not that I could see any of those things right now. I can only see the boxes. The annoying brown boxes, ready to roll away with me from my childhood home. To another home, other people, another school.

My parents got divorced a month ago. Why? Reasons. That's what I'm going to tell everybody who is gonna ask. Why are you in Seaside? Reasons. Why do you wear clothes like this? Reasons. Why did your mom decide to move back? Reasons.

Today's the day. We're leaving. Me, my mom, my three sisters, and my brother. Since dad doesn't live with us anymore, we don't have that much money. Why pay for this huge apartment if my mom owns her childhood home in a small town on the East Coast, two hours from New York, called Seaside. My answer was pretty simple when she asked me if I'd be okay with moving. If dad's not coming. That's what I said. She sighed after that and smiled at me sadly. Then she asked the others. Millie, my two-year-old sister, said yes. I'm pretty sure she had no idea what she was even talking about. Kelly said no. Of course, it was a no on her case. She's gonna miss her friends. Ben said that if there are cute guys, he'll go. He's gay and I know how cheesy it sounds if I tell you he's my best friend, but he is. One of them. Ava said no. Friends, again. Collie. No one asked her. What could she answer, bark?

I hear tiny feet pattering against the floor, running into my room. I chuckle and look at Millie as she manages to climb into my bed. "Hi," she whispers with her cute baby voice, seeing that I'm awake.

"Hi," I whisper back the same way and let her climb under the duvet, next to me. She lies down, my arm around her whole body. She smiles and closes her eyes, knowing I sleep for a long time. I chuckle and kiss her soft blonde hair that we all have. I feel Collie licking my toes so I wiggle them, which makes her stop because she always gets scared.

"Girls," I hear my mom's voice and then a quiet knock on my now opened door. I sigh and look at her. She smiles at the sight and comes to sit on the edge of my bed. "We need to start moving in an hour, honey. Is everything packed?" she asks with her usual soft voice that she talks to me with. Well... when she's not mad at me. Which is like fifty percent of the time.

"I will still get my own room, right?" I ask instead.

She nods. "I think you'll take my old one. It's black, so I think you'll like it the most."

I smile. "And on which floor?"

"Actually... I know it might sound weird for you maybe, but it's on the attic. Well, it is the whole third floor."

My face lights up and my eyes start sparkling probably. "I can get my own floor?"

She chuckles. "It's a little bigger than the rest of the rooms, but yes. I think you'll love it, I know I did. Gives you a lot of privacy." She slides her hand over my hair. She knows me the best. I have never really had friends, but she knows everything about me. She knows, why I won't let people in and she knows why I love to read so much. She knows why I cry... well, most of the time.

I look at Millie, who is lying next to me and staring at mom's face with a smile. I tickle her, making her giggle and wiggle next to me. "Come on, let's get up," I say.

"Now?" she asks.

"Yeah," I say, and sit up. She sighs, making me and mom chuckle, and then she pushes herself to sit up as well.

"Belle, can you get her ready too? I still need to pack the last few things and I don't think Ben is ready either."

"Yeah, sure," I say. She kisses my forehead and then Millie's and gets up, looking at Collie. "Come on, girl, I'll give you some food." Collie's up at that immediately and out of the room.

...

I hoped at least the car ride was going to be fun and beautiful, but all I can see is the highway and the other cars, wanting to kill one another. The 'trip' has lasted for a total of 5 hours now. I've read two books with that time and am currently reading the third one. They're all old and surprisingly good. But as my head starts hurting, I lean in against the cold window and look at the cloudy sky.

I think it's time I introduced myself. So, I'm Belle (Annabel), Baker. I'm 16, the troublemaker in our family. I'm the top definition of 'the bad girl', but there are also many other things about me. Yes, I might like black, yes, my grades are bad, yes, I've been drunk, yes, I fool around with guys. But I also love reading, I'm actually really smart, I'm soft for my baby sister and my best friend is the dog I grew up with, Collie.

Ben, who is sitting next to me, in the very back of the big suburban, is my triplet. He's 17 minutes younger than me, the top definition of 'the gay kid' in high school. He's out, has been for his whole life, not really a nerd, but he has good grades and studied hard to get them.

In front of me, there's sitting my baby sister, Amelia, who we all call Millie. She's 2, really loves pink, loves to dance around the room even if she falls sometimes. She loves playing with me. I'm her favorite sibling. Sometimes she prefers me over mom even, but not very often. I babysit her a lot because mom is at work and dad isn't around anymore. Plus I'm the only one who she lets put herself to bed. Well, mom too, obviously, but no one else.

In front of Ben, there's Kelly (Tiffani, but I don't know why we've never called her that). She is our other triplet, the oldest one apparently. She's 15 minutes older than me, a nerd. Not like glasses-weird attitude nerd, but a nerd. She studies so much I don't know how her brain memorizes all that stuff. Who she has taken that from? The answer is simple, Ava.

Ava (Pauline) is our older sister. She's 18 soon. Senior in high school now. We're not really close, because she has always preferred Kelly (obviously, she's like an exact copy of her). We talk and love each other, but never really share secrets or anything. For that, I have my dog and Ben, sometimes.

"Okay, kids, we're here," mom says and sounds really happy. I sigh and smile a little. At least she's excited to be back. 'Welcome to Seaside, the town with pep' the sign reads. We drive past all possible places to live. The part of the town for rich people and mansions (definitely not us), a normal living district with beautiful, pastel houses, the high school we'll be going to, a local diner, and now we cross the bridge. It says, 'Welcome to the Southside'. Here, it's even more beautiful. I mean, houses and people look poorer, everyone is wearing either leather or jean jackets, but the nature is beautiful. Everything's so green and all the flowers are blooming under the trees in the woods. We drive past a bar where people in leather jackets are at and all of their eyes go wide, seeing us driving by. Maybe they know mom? A few guys run inside immediately, probably to announce that new people are coming to live here. And then we're back in a bigger zone. It's still the so-called Southside, but there are people a little richer than before. Mom pulls into a beautiful driveway. The house is white and I like it. Not some pink or blue shit.

"That's it, we're here," she says. We all smile a little and get out of the car. All the houses have fences around them, but here's a gate, so I let Collie in the garden and take some of my stuff.

"The third floor is mine," I say immediately, seeing the big window on the attic.

"What? The whole third one?" Ava asks with a protesting voice.

"It's an attic, Ava. All black from what mom told me."

She sighs and nods. "We'll see that." I roll my eyes and she rolls them back at me, both of us smirking at the same time. Mom takes Millie out of the car, onto her lap, and hands her to Ben afterward.

"Let's just maybe think about the rooms later, get our things inside and go to Urd's," she says.

"What's Urd's?" we all ask in unison.

She chuckles. "The diner we rode past."

"Can we walk?" I ask.

She seems doubtful. "Maybe later? People don't really know I'm back and before we go out like this, I'd like to introduce you to some of them... tomorrow," she says with a cheery voice, making me raise my eyebrows and look at Ben next to me.

"I swear to god if mom was like a gang member..." he whispers, making me chuckle.

"She obviously was, Ben," I whisper back and we fist bump, low.

"Mom, here are like 4 bedrooms on the second floor and the third floor," Kelly says, the last one to come back into the car.

Mom sighs, starting it. "Yeah. I was hoping you could share with Ava."

"WHAT?" they shout in unison. I chuckle quietly and look out of the window as the girls start fighting with mom. The whole way to Urd's.

"Why can't Belle share a room?" Ava asks finally.

"With whom?" I smirk.

"I don't know, Kelly?" she asks.

"What?" I laugh. "You and Kelly are like identical, I don't care she's my triplet."

"You two are triplets, both girls, it's kind of unfair that we have to share," she continues.

"No way am I sharing my room with anyone," Kelly says. Now I start fighting with her. We keep fighting until mom parks the car and yells for us to shut up.

"Belle's different, girls. You can't have a room shared with her, you'll both go crazy," she says.

"Why are you always on her side?" Ava asks. They don't know what happened between my dad and I. They don't know the real reason mom broke up with her. But they do know that dad has never liked me.

"I'm not on anyone's side, I just think the room upstairs fits her and only her. You couldn't sleep in a black room, Kelly, I know that" mom says.

"Hungry," I hear Millie saying quietly.

"Yes, we're hungry too. Stop the fighting, girls," mom says and gets out of the car. Ava does the same and Ben climbs out from in front of Kelly, but I glare at her.

"Stop it, you two. Let's talk about this at home," mom says to us, taking Millie out of the car. We get outside too and I try to ignore Kelly, but then she comments something about my clothes.

"These are my summer clothes," I say.

She rolls her eyes. "You have to-"

"I don't have to do anything. You have to shut up," I say and we enter the diner as the last ones.

"Oh so, you don't have to do anything and I do?" she asks.

"Um, yes, you're annoying," I say like it would be obvious. "I'm not you and I will never be like you, so grow up and face the reality," I say, stopping in front of the counter as mom is glaring at me. "What? It's true," I say.

She sighs and looks at the man behind the counter. He's black, but has grey hair, making it contrast and I love him immediately. He's kind and literally remembers my mom's usual order from when she still lived here. Plus he doesn't look at me weirdly because of the black tights under my jean shorts and a crop top under my leather jacket. I end up ordering a vanilla milkshake and a cheeseburger with a side of fries.

We sit down in the middle of the diner, in a booth that fits 6 people. Kelly ends up sitting in front of me, so she keeps the conversation up and I try not to give her good comebacks because they all include swearing and mom will get mad if I do it in front of Millie.

"Mom. Let her share a room with Millie. If it's that big eno-"

"Stop already, you two," mom sighs. "Millie’s two, you're all basically the same age. Two of you will have to share a room and I'm done with this topic."

"Fine, Ben and Belle," Kelly says and starts eating as the food just got here.

"What?" Ben chuckles. "I'm a guy, we're both 16, Kelly."

"You could paint half of her room whatever color you want, then build a wall and-"

"Your ass must be pretty jealous of all the shit coming out of your mouth," I tell her, getting mad already.

"Belle," mom says between her teeth. I feel people standing next to the booth, but I keep glaring at Kelly and she does the same. And then she says something really stupid. I don't even get what's the point of this statement, so I just shut up, looking at her with raised eyebrows. She says something about Ben and Ava sharing a room. "What?" she asks rudely after I just keep staring at her with little narrowed eyes, eyebrows raised up.

"I could shit out better statement then whatever you just said," I say and hear a boy chuckling quietly. Mom gets up to hug someone, but I don't look up from Kelly's face. "Kel, just take the room," I sigh.

"No, it's unfair. You get the whole floor and I have to share my room?"

"The 'whole floor' is like a little bigger than the biggest room downstairs, just take that one and share it with Ava."

"I don't get it," Ava says. "You three are triplets, you share a room."

"How can't you get it? You two really think you'd survive living in the same room with her?" Ben asks. "You can't even share a bathroom without screaming your heads off."

"Yeah, but why us?" Kelly asks.

"Who then? You two are basically identical," I say.

"What?" the girls ask in unison.

"What? You dress the same, you like the same things, you act the same. You haven't noticed?" I ask them as Ben is smirking, clearly noticed, but the girls look at me with frowns on their faces. "Honestly, it annoys me that much that sometimes I think you do it on purpose to get back on me for something. Guess I was wrong," I mumble the last part and sip my milkshake.

"I annoy you?" Ava asks like she wouldn't believe it.

"Honestly, you just annoy me when you're breathing, really," I say, making Ben hold his laugh back and Ava narrows her eyes at me.

"Girls," mom says so that we'd look up probably. We do it. It's a middle-aged man, about as old as mom, with a teenage boy, obviously the popular kid in high school. The man is wearing black jeans, a white T-shirt and a leather jacket on it while the hot guy is in blue- a little broken- jeans, a white tank top, flannel around his hips, the same jacket on the top of all of that. He's hot. His lips are the perfect shape, the perfect shade of pink. And then I meet his deep greenish-blue eyes and melt. This guy is hot as fuck. And he's staring at me.

"What?" I ask my mom, but never take my eyes off of the mysterious boy.

"Guys, this is Steve, my... friend." Now I look at her and the man standing next to her.

"Yeah mom, definitely not just a friend," I say and look back at the boy who is smirking now but still staring at me.

"She's like you," the man, Steve, says to my mom quietly and I assume they're talking about me. Obviously, they are, I've seen the pictures of my mom when she was younger. Kind of the same outfit, but never my attitude. She wasn't as smart or as sassy from what she has told me.

"Stop staring," I tell the boy.

"I feel like you're the one staring at me, princess," the boy says, making me roll my eyes and look away. I hear him chuckling quietly. "I didn't catch your name," he says with a normal, but incredibly sexy, voice, making everything tighten inside me.

"I didn't throw it," I say, not even looking at him.

Now I hear more chuckles and sniggers and one of them is definitely that boy. "I'm Jacob, by the way."

I look at him with a big smile and nod. "Good to know." And back at my food.

"What's her name?" he asks softly from someone.

"Belle," Ben answers, making me sigh, but I still ignore the guy and my brother.

"Well, Belle. I'll see you at school," he says, making me look at him with raised eyebrows. He smiles, happy to have my attention.

"I'm really not the type," I say.

"The type for what, I'm just making conversation," he smirks.

I roll my eyes at him. "Seriously, not gonna happen, you're the stereotypical high school, popular guy. I'm the outcast. Stay away."

"You think I'm popular?" he smirks. I love that little smirk of his.

"Um, yeah," I say as if it wouldn't be obvious already.

"What makes you say that?" he asks, taking a fry from my sister and winking at her afterward, starting to eat it, which makes Kelly look down and blush a little.

"The fact that you're trying to flirt with my sister the same time with me is a good example," I say.

He chuckles. "I'm not flirting with you, just being nice. But I'm actually flirting with her," he says. That hurts, but I don't show it. I roll my eyes at him and look back at my legs. "Well that hurt your ego," he smirks.

"You know absolutely nothing about me or my ego," I say. If he would, he'd know that it's incredibly low.

"I guess I'll know soon then," he smiles. "See you at school, Belle." And just like that, he walks away. I roll my eyes again and keep eating even though the man is here and still talking with mom.

My siblings look at me like I'm an idiot. "What?" I ask.

"The dude is ripped," Ben says. "You're not into him? Oh please."

"We just moved here, I don't want rumors about me being a slut on the first day," I say. They roll their eyes and we keep eating.