The Eight.
Somehow he looked even...more good looking than he had yesterday.
I watched in irritating admiration as muscle rippled and stretched under the sleeves of his white uniform shirt. His blazer was hung over a shoulder, held up by an index finger, and several coily strands of silver-white hair licked the bridge of his perfect nose.
His bronzed dark skin glistened under the hallway lights, flickering momentarily to something akin to the surface of a rippling sea, and I thought that was so weird. Weird, but strangely alluring. And when I blinked, his skin was back to normal.
Roman was flanked by a posse, I realized only after removing my gaze from his skin. Two boys and four girls.
That's seven. Didn't Brittany call them 'The Eight?'
They all looked...oddly beguiling.
"That boy on Roman's left side is Jesse Appleton," Brittany's voice began whispering beside me.
Everyone else in the locker hallways also seemed to have stopped to stare, as if a troupe of monkeys were circusing the school.
How ridiculous.
"Jesse is the school's biggest fuckboy. Next to Roman of course! All the girls and even boys always have their knickers in a twist at the sight of them!"
I let my eyes take in the boy named Jesse. I could see why he'd earned the fuckboy title. He definitely had the looks.
Brown skinned, with nicely trimmed, low-cut hair. Hazel eyes and a lazy, seductive smile that matched his charismatic gait. A few buttons were left open on his white uniform shirt to show a peep of chest muscle. He was the easy type of pretty.
"And, the Indian boy on the right of Roman is Rishi Adani. He's also in the fuckboy genre with Roman and Jesse, but he's more on the nerdy side. He's one of the top students in senior year too!" Brittany went on with her "introduction to elite circle 101" rambling, and I let my eyes skip over to her next victim of analysis.
Another easy pretty boy.
He was better dressed than the other boys though. He wore a well-ironed, complete ensemble of the school uniform. White shirt, red stripped tie and a perfectly fitting black blazer. He was tucked in properly.
A pair of round framed glasses sat on the bridge of his high nose, and he walked with a buoyancy in his gait that I could only translate as nerd-pride.
He had that air of "I'm smarter than you" about him, and I almost snorted and rolled my eyes. But Brittany went on to her next specimen of analysis.
"There, skipping behind the boys are the Aizawa twins," Brittany shuddered as she mentioned, and I looked over again.
Two perfectly identical girls with skin as white as snow walked hand-in-hand. They both looked exactly the same, with their lips painted stark black and heavy, emo-liners hooding their sallow eyes. The only difference was in the accessories they each donned.
One of the girls had only a slightly visible silver chain hanging around her neck, and the other was covered in heavy looking necklaces, rings, and piercings. I could almost hear all the metal clanging from where I stood.
Everything else about them was identical. From their pin-straight fringed black hair, to the knee-high boots they donned. It was almost creepy.
"The one with piercings is Aiko, and the one without is Suiko. Aiko is the friendly one. She's actually the only one who talks to other students out of all of them. She's also captain of the girls' soccer team. Suiko never speaks. It is assumed she might be mute." Brittany went on, still whispering.
"The one with the model physique is Sophia Appleton. She's Jesse Appleton's sister, although I don't know how they came to be in the same year since Jesse is older," a small frown appeared on Brittany's face, but the she waved a hand as if it didn't matter. "Sophia and Aiko are dating. They're like, real couple goals!" Brittany grinned at me as if we were in this gossiping thing together and I simply nodded.
I was still trying to act like I didn't care, but I couldn't deny that I was slightly intrigued by this so called 'The Eight' clique.
"And the last girl is Charlotte Fernsby," Brittany continued and my left brow shot up.
"Principal Fernsby's daughter?" I asked, showing interest for the first time.
Brittany nodded. "People say it's the reason they all get away with so much. And I agree," she shrugged, a sour look on her face. "Charlotte is a bitch. Probably the bitchiest one out of all of them,"
"And finally, there's..." Brittany trailed, her eyes darting around in search of something.
Roman and his posse had stopped at their locker hall. It was adjacent to where my locker was and it seemed secluded. Like they had the entire hall to themselves.
My stomach twisted. I finally saw why Brittany had said they got away with so much because of the principal.
"Oh! There he is!" Brittany shrieked excitedly beside me and I looked towards her pointed hand.
Vasilis?
His silver headphones were hung around his neck same as they were yesterday, and my fingers subconsciously reached up to touch mine. He was dressed in the full uniform today, blazer and all. Although his tie was a bit wonky.
How was he even more beautiful than I remembered...
His dark curly hair stood, contrasting against the paleness of his skin, and his eyes had a hardness to them that hadn't been there yesterday. His face was carefully pulled blank, not a hint of emotion peaking through as he went over to high-five his friends.
His friends...
Vasilis was a part of 'The Eight'?
A frown found residence on my face as Brittany continued.
"That's Vasilis Wang. God! He's so fine!" She swooned and seemed to slump slightly against her locker. "But he's a bit of a jerk though. He seems nicer than the lot of them, but he never speaks to anyone other than his friends." Brittany let out a sigh as she seemed to muse over all she had just told me.
"They're all so...weird." She said after a while of being silent. Then her grin returned.
"But, God they're hot!"
I pursed my lips as I pulled my schedule booklet, a few new notebooks, and a stationery case out of my bag, before zipping it closed and placing it carefully on the floor of the locker. Then I let the door click shut with a beep.
Mom had dropped off a grocery bag full of school supplies at my door this morning.
I didn't know how I felt about this so called 'The Eight' clique. I'd seen numerous of them in movies, and they're usually the school bullies or just snobby brats who think they're better than everyone. But I couldn't deny that it was shocking to find out that Vasilis was part of them.
The air around me suddenly turned cold. I heard Brittany's gasp beside me, and my brows furrowed into a frown as I resisted the urge to shiver.
I turned around sharply, and midnight blue eyes sank into mine.
"New girl."