Unspoken Vows

ONE thing that Kassandra "Kace" Larson learned in life was to never trust her brother in cooking. Seeing the over six-foot tall guy attempt to flip the egg on the pan infront of her triggered something inside her, but she just let him do his thing as she fixed her long dark hair up in a bun.

"We should've just ordered something outside, brother," she commented, not even disguising her lack of excitement for the breakfast.

"Don't even try to comment Kace 'cause you're far worse than I am." Her older brother, Kristoff would always insist to cook, and yet he never made a decent meal ever.

Kace nodded in agreement. "Yeah, well you're not wrong about that. Let's just grab something to eat while on the way to school, then."

Kris heaved a sigh. "Fine."

Even though Kris wasn't her full-blooded brother, she appreciated the fact that he would always visit her, despite knowing how much hatred their stepdad had for her. She didn't want Kris to be stuck in the middle between her and his dad. But, her brother never listened and continued to pick her up and drive her to school every single day.

After their real mother died three years ago due to a heart attack, Kassandra's only close relative was her brother. Her read dad passed away when she was still a kid, and since then, she had been living alone in an apartment, which their stepdad generously offered.

As they reached outside the building, a black shiny Ferrari came into view. Kace stopped walking and admired the new car of her brother.

When Kris noticed this, he turned to his sister. "What's the matter?"

"I just..." Her voice trailed off, not knowing what to say exactly. She walked towards the car and stared at it for a minute. "Your dad's really something."

"I didn't even ask for this." Kris was not really the type of person to ask for material things, even though his dad was really well-off. But since he was the only son, everything was being given to him.

Kris opened the car door for her. "Now if you may?"

Nodding, she stopped admiring the car and stepped in as she let her mind wander on the start of a new school year.

***

WHEN they finally reached outside the school grounds, Kace signalled Kris to stop the car.

The guy gave her a disapproving look before slowly pulling it to a stop. He managed to stop her by the arm and spoke, "Kace, I don't understand why you still have to do this."

"Here we go again..." She mumbled, knowing exactly where the conversation was heading. "Brother, how many times do we have to argue about this? If everyone in school finds out that I'm your sister, you're screwed with your dad."

"I don't care, Kace..." He paused, his thick brows furrowed in disbelief. "...and you should know that by now."

"Maybe you don't. But I do. I don't want your dad to hate you because of me." Opening the car door, she quickly stepped out and waved at her brother. "Bye. Thanks for the ride."

Kris sighed in defeat. He just couldn't win any argument with her. Peaking out the window, he yelled, "See you around!"

She smiled, hearing her brother. "Will do."

***

THE entrance of Wyndham International School boasted a huge wall, barricading the buildings inside. Students flocked at the park, probably catching up with each other, but she had no time for that. Her first class would start at 8 am. If she was lucky, she would still be able to catch up and avoid getting late on the first day of her junior year.

She looked at her watch. It was already 7:45. Accelerating her pace, she jogged past the open field and almost tripped as she ascended the flight of stairs, leading towards the entrance of their building.

Bending down, she fixed the knots of both her shoes, not noticing the person who was behind her. As soon as she stood up, her body collided with someone, making her lose her balance, her bottom landing on the concrete. "Hey!"

When she looked up, a guy stared back at her with his doe-like eyes as he ran a hand through his messy, chestnut locks. "Watch where you're going," he muttered, his low voice resonated in her ears.

Creasing her brows in disbelief, she pulled herself up as she prepared to throw a remark at him. But the moment she opened her mouth, the guy already turned his back at her, not even apologizing.

"Who the hell is that guy?" She mumbled to herself, dusting her uniform.

She didn't have time to spare so she doubled her pace, going up the second floor, until she saw a tall, familiar figure walking towards their room. "Stephen!"

"Kace!" The guy stopped in his tracks, waving at her.

Panting hard, she finally reached her friend, holding his arm for support. "Is Professor Tan in?"

Stephen shook his head. "Don't worry. He's still not in. Come on."

She sighed in relief. "Oh thank god."

They both entered their room. Everyone was loud and noisy as per usual. Kace sat down and fixed her bag. Suddenly, she got startled when someone spoke behind her. "Hey. Way to start the year without being late!"

Kace looked over her shoulder and saw her bestfriend, Nicaella "Nix" Campbell grinning at her. She was busy fixing her long, wavy hair as she interrogated her. "Stop teasing Nix," she answered back with a glare.

"And why did you come in with Stephen, by the way? Did he pick you up or something?" Nix had a questioning look on her face, knowing that Stephen Oliver had been crushing on Kace since middle school. They all knew that the guy was very aloof and he never talked to any girl but her. Unfortunately for him, Kace wasn't really interested in boys.

"What? No! I just saw him at the hallway." Kace defended herself.

Nix raised both her hands up in defeat. "Okay. Whatever you say."

Just then, someone tapped Kace's shoulder making her jumped from her seat. "Seriously! You all need to stop scaring me." She faced the culprit who was now chuckling.

The guy continued to laugh at her expression. "I'm sorry Chief." Chester Knight, one of their classmates took a seat at Nix's armchair. "I just wanted to let you know that our photojournalist transferred to another school so we need to find a new one as soon as possible."

Kace's eyes widened when she heard her Associate Editor's news. As the Editor-in-Chief of their school paper, she knew she had the responsibility to recruit another photojournalist which was a big problem since no one wanted to join them. Everyone saw it as being a part of the Loser's Society.

"I don't believe this," Kace muttered as she face-palmed herself.

"Prof's here. Fix yourself." Nix pushed Chester away.

"We'll talk this over later, Chief," Chester said, walking back to his seat.

Everyone in class fell silent as Professor Tan entered the room. He settled his bag on the table and fixed his thick-rimmed glasses over his eyes before he spoke. "I trust you all prepared for the class today." He started with a smirk. "I only want to see your pens on the table."

They all complied with their teacher's order. Just then, someone knocked on the door. They all stopped and turned to the guy standing near it. "I believe I belong in this class sir," his melodic voice captured everyone's attention.

Kace almost dropped her pen when she saw the guy entering the room and handing their professor his class schedule. So, he is a new student... she thought to herself.

"Luke Travis Hansen." Their teacher read the paper. "Yes you belong here. You can just take the seat on the last row."

The new student nodded his head and made his way towards the last row. He caught a glimpse at Kace and a thin smile formed on his lips before walking past her.

She thought she was just seeing things. Then she felt Nix poking her back and whispering, "What was that all about?"

She just shrugged not knowing how to respond. Maybe he remembered me bumping into him earlier... She didn't want to tell this to Nix so she just fell silent.

***

DURING lunch, Kace and Nix sat on their usual table in the cafeteria. Chester showed up together with the other members of the editorial board, Kenneth Davis, Brandon Bailey and Maximilian King for their emergency meeting.

"So, what do we do Chief?" Brandon laid his tray on the table and sat next to her.

"I...honestly don't know," she answered him with a bothered look.

The three guys felt that their EIC was definitely feeling a lot of burden now. They knew how much she wanted to keep the publication alive.

"How about we post announcements for applicants on the bulletin boards?" The round-eyed guy, Kenneth suggested.

Max narrowed his eyes at him. "We already did that and it will just be ignored, Ken."

"Then do you have any better ideas?" Kenneth turned to the others.

They all shook their heads. Just as Kace was about to say something, the door of the cafeteria opened and revealed four guys approaching in a line. Everyone literally stopped and stared as they made their way inside.

Starting from the left was the guy from the martial arts club, Theodore Hwang. Beside him were the Oliver brothers, their classmate, Stephen and the Student Council President, Jhun Michael. And the last guy who was walking infront of them was the ever-popular soccer captain, Chandler Andrew Parker.

Kace knew the latter really well. He was the long-time bestfriend of her brother Kris. They'd known each other since primary school. He was the exact opposite of her brother – arrogant, loud and narcissistic. It was still a mystery to her as to how they got along.

The six-foot-three stunner, Chandler walked in with so much poise like he was modelling on a runway. This scene had been quite a routine that she already grew tired of it. They all watched as the popular guys sat on their exclusive table.

Suddenly, another guy with a tanned skin showed up, whom Kace knew was from the dance club. He was with another guy who was a complete stranger to her. They high-fived each other as they reached the others on their table.

"Ah! They're so dreamy." Kace heard her bestfriend say. Nix stared at them like she was seeing celebrities in person.

She shook her head in disbelief. "Yeah right."

"I wonder where the other one is?" Nix commented as she continued to stare at them.

She turned to them again and realized that her brother was missing. "You mean Kris?"

Nix nodded. "Yeah."

Then, the guys on their table turned to Kace and reacted. "We thought you're supposed to be the president of their Anti-fans club. Why do you know their names?" Brandon asked her suspiciously.

"I just...heard it. Besides, who wouldn't know them?" Kace threw as an alibi.

"Yeah makes sense." Kenneth mumbled.

"Aren't you guys tired of seeing them everyday strutting their stuff like they own this whole place?" Kace pierced a look at them.

"Yeah. I guess you're right. Especially that Chandler. I still can't believe he dated two girls at the same time," Nix commented.

"Three... actually," Max corrected her.

Nix heaved a sigh. "Can't blame them though. He's too gorgeous. If he'd ask me out, I'd probably say yes."

She raised a brow at her. "Are you serious?"

Nix nodded leading Kace to shoot her a death glare. "All right! No!" She took back her words, though in her mind, she had also been dreaming of going out with the most popular guy in school.

"Uh... Kace?" Brandon suddenly butted in.

She turned to him with a questioning look. "Why?"

Brandon was hesitant but then he leaned closer to her anyway. "The new student has been staring at you ever since we got here."

Kace paused, absorbing what he said. "New student?"

Nix searched for the new student and when she finally saw him, she exclaimed, "OMG! He really is."

Kace didn't want to confirm it. Why would he even look? "Maybe he just happened to look this way."

"Oh okay. Then what about the smirk he gave you earlier?" Nix questioned her again.

"Smirk? How are you even sure that he was aiming at me?" She answered, taking the courage to glance behind her. They were right. He was still looking.

She gulped and quickly looked away. He had been really weird since they bumped into each other earlier. But, she couldn't figure out the reason.

Why is he giving me that scrutinizing look when we don't even know each other? Unless, there was something else I didn't know?

***

KACE just finished having her lunch when she felt a nudge on her side. With her brows creased, she spoke, "Nix, what do you want?"

"Luke is staring at the table of the popular guys." Nix lifted her chin up towards the direction of the table in the middle of the cafeteria.

Kace shook her head, ignoring her friend. "Not again Nix."

"Can we just eat silently?" Max suggested without looking at the both of them.

"Yeah Nix. Why don't you just go to his table if you want to talk to him so badly?" Brandon commented, a slight pang of irritation evident in his tone.

Nix shot the guy a death glare. "Well, maybe I should. I'll ask why he's always looking at my bestfriend."

"Okay. Do it. If you can't, you have to buy me lunch tomorrow." Brandon challenged her with a grin on his face.

Nix stood up from her seat.

Kace quickly got hold of her bestfriend's hand and held it tight, stopping her from moving. "Nix, what are you doing? Are you insane?"

"Kace, relax. I'll just welcome him here in our school." Nix assured her with a smile.

Kace sighed and let go of her hand. They all watched as Nix made her way towards the new kid.

Focusing her eyes on her phone, Kace attempted to not look at her bestfriend's attempt to talk to the new guy.

Suddenly, she heard the guys beside her chuckle. "Ah! I knew she couldn't do it," Brandon guffawed.

Chester tapped Kace by the shoulder, catching her attention. "You can look now, Chief. It was a failure."

She slowly looked up and saw Nix heading to the washroom, instead of going back to their table. Worried about her bestfriend, she stood up from her seat to run after her.

The guys looked at her in confusion.

"Kace, where are you going?" Ken asked.

Max turned to her. "Are you going to talk to the new kid?"

"No. I'll just go get a soda," she answered.

"Oh! I'll have one," Chester ordered.

Max raised his hand. "Me too."

"Me three," Ken added.

"Me-" Brandon got cut off when Kace answered. "I'll just go get one for each of us, all right?"

"Thanks Chief," they chorused.

Walking over towards the vending machine, she pressed the button of 'soda' and bent down as the bottles dropped down from the machine. She held the five bottles and carried them infront of her chest.

As she turned around, her legs failed at her, losing her balance and hitting someone behind her. A loud sound ensued, splatter of food flying everywhere as the plastic tray landed on the ground.

Why was I having such a bad day today? She mumbled to herself, bowing her head at the person she just bumped into.

Sighing, she brought out her handkerchief to wipe the stain on her victim's clothes. But when she was about to reach her, the girl infront of her shoved her hand away. "You think you can just wipe my face with that?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" she got cut off when the girl butted in.

"Didn't mean to? You just spilled food on me. Your sorry isn't enough." The girl raised her tone causing everyone in the area to look at them.

Feet frozen on the ground, Kace wasn't able to defend herself at once. She had never met someone who was as rude as the person she was facing right now.

"Jules! That's enough!" An authoritative tone caught everyone's attention, breaking the intense atmosphere in the room.

Kace looked up and saw their student body president, Jhun Michael coming their way. Stephen was also walking beside his brother.

"She's the one who spilled on me," the girl, Jules cried, pointing at Kace dramatically.

"Jules, that was an accident." JM, being the SC president that he was, turned to her with a calm yet furious look.

"Accident or not, I don't care!" Jules raised a brow at Kace, lifting her hand and aiming towards her.

Stephen suddenly stopped her by the arm. "Jules, that's enough."

JM finally dragged Jules away from Kace.

Stephen moved near her, looking at her in worry. "Kace, are you all right?"

She nodded sheepishly. "Thank you, Stephen."

***

CHEM Lab started after the fateful event in the cafeteria. Apparently, everyone in their class saw what happened, which made Kace feel more horrible. She was greatly affected about what happened. Her friends tried to cheer her up, but they didn't succeed.

Chester glanced at Brandon, who looked at Nix who just shrugged her shoulders.

"What do we do?" Brandon mouthed his words in silence.

Chester lifted his chin and gestured Nix to move towards their friend. "Talk to her," he whispered.

Nix hesitated at first. But she decided to follow him so she stood up and slowly walked over towards Kace's table. Their professor was busy reading something on his desk so he didn't notice her standing up from her seat.

Kace was busy focusing her microscope so she got startled when she heard her bestfriend beside her speak. "Kace, are you all right?"

She nodded without looking at her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she answered quietly.

"Don't think about it too much. Jules is a bitc-" Before she could even continue, Kace covered her mouth.

Nix knew very well that she didn't want to hear any cursing words or "inappropriate terms."

"It was my fault anyway," Kace muttered.

"No it wasn't. You already said sorry but she's still being rude," Nix said in a rather high tone.

"QUIET! I don't want to hear any noise." The professor yelled and gazed at Nix. "You! Go back to your seat."

"Sorry sir." Nix bowed at him then went back to her seat.

"Mr. Hansen, are you done?" The Professor asked the new student who seemed not to be busy with their activity.

"Sir... I can't focus on the specimen," Luke answered boldly.

The professor glanced at Kace who was answering their activity sheet. "Ms. Larson, help Mr. Hansen in the activity." He called her knowing that she was one of the best students in Chemistry.

Kace groaned inwardly as she glanced at the new student on the table behind her. "Uh, yes sir."

Standing up, she proceeded towards his table. She silently took the seat next to him and moved the microscope near her.

Luke just watched as she turned the knobs gently with her hand. He didn't expect that this girl was actually good in this subject.

After a minute, Kace looked up at him. "Here. You can now see your specimen." She gestured him to look at the microscope.

Luke slowly peeked into the eyepiece. Seeing how clear the specimen now compared earlier amazed him. He wrote on his sheet then turned to her with a blank face.

Kace waited for him to speak, thinking that he'd be thanking her any minute now. But, the guy didn't say a thing. He just ignored her, as if she wasn't there.

Luke continued to focus his attention to writing on his worksheet. Remembering the incident at the cafeteria earlier, he thought that Kace probably still felt upset and embarrassed. The scene that happened was unpleasant and people like Jules pissed him off. Somehow, he felt pity for the girl beside him. Kace was still in deep thought. No! Actually, she was still in a state of coma. She was used to people ignoring her and walking past her. But she never liked being embarrassed infront of everyone. She didn't want attention so she'd rather be on the Loser's Society than on the Popular's side.

Heaving a sigh, she stood up from her seat and prepared to go back to her table when a hand stopped her in her tracks. When she turned to her side, Luke handed her a bottle of soda. "Uh..." her voice trailed off, looking at him.

The guy didn't say anything. He just continued to answer again on his sheet.

"Thanks, I guess." Kace finally walked away with the bottle of soda, still dazed at the new guy's sudden gesture.

What an odd guy...

***