Alpha Max

The sun is glistening in her eyes. She blinked twice and opened her eyes slowly. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. She looked at her fully opened window, then sat up and stretched her limbs. She got up while running her fingers through her hair, which looked like a bird’s nest. She opened the door of her room and walked to her bathroom, where she took a quick shower and got ready for the day.

"Jay, mom said to be ready or else she will not drop you off at school," her brother Darby said with amusement. Jayla cursed and hurried to grab her backpack and all of the things that she needed for school. She rushed downstairs and ignored her father’s smirk.

Jayla grabbed an apple and her water bottle, then put her shoes on. She kissed her father on the cheek and left the house in a hurry. She struggled to put her backpack on her shoulder as she sprinted towards her mom’s car. She threw the car door open and sighed with relief.

"Finally, I was wondering where you were," her mother said with a calm smile. Her mom was wearing her work outfit.

"I was getting myself ready." Her mother, Karen, stared at her suspiciously and then shrugged. She supposed that Jayla must be in her rebellious teenage period. Jayla put her headphones on and listened to her music while contemplating the view outside the window.

They lived in the small city of Raven. Her father worked as an accountant while her mother was a nurse. They both didn't have time for their children, Jayla and Darby. Darby was a senior in college and majoring in finance. Jayla didn't know what to do. She was going to be a sophomore in high school. She had her mind set on being a detective, since she had a passion for solving mysteries.

They reached the school in fifteen minutes, but it felt like hours for Jayla. She couldn't wait to finish her day and go back home to watch Criminal Minds.

"Have a good day, honey," her mother said and pecked Jayla's cheek, leaving her red lipstick smeared on her cheek. Jayla cringed in disgust and wiped away her mom’s kiss.

"I'm not five anymore," she snapped and got out of the car. She tugged the strap of her backpack nervously and walked into her school. The school was small and fake. There were only 500 students, and all of them were fake bitches. The 'popular group' liked to bully the nerds and everyone else stayed as far away as possible. The rest of the students had their groups: the drama kids, artists, geeks, etc.

Just like cliché movies.

She sighed and shook her head. She showed her ID card to the guard and entered the school. She gulped anxiously and opened her locker. She picked out her books for her least favorite class, math. She closed the locker and let out a scream at the sight of an annoying face. She held her poor heart and breathed heavily.

"Hey Jayla, what are we doing today?" Her annoying classmate, not a friend, was talking to her. She glared at him.

"What are you doing here, Nolan?” she asked as she crossed her arms.

"I wanted to talk to you." He poked her arm with a grin, but she shrugged him off and glared at him.

"More like bugging me," she muttered.

"Excuse me, what?" Nolan asked and she shook her head.

"Nothing. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have places to go," she said while licking her chapped lips, which was one of her ticks when she's anxious.

"Don't be cold Jay, we are friends." He grinned and linked his arms with Jayla, much to her displeasure. She rolled her eyes, but still complied.

Nolan Hayes was your typical hot soccer boy. He had brown hair and emerald eyes that girls envied. She didn't understand why he was hanging out with her. He belonged to the popular group while she was a nobody.

"I heard new students are coming to this school," Nolan squealed and Jayla furrowed her eyebrows.

New students? She wasn't aware of this new information. Raven was known for being a small city, so why were there new people here? She knew everyone, even the mayor.

"Why here?" she whispered, but Nolan heard.

"I have no idea," he said. They had reached their class together, and Nolan sat behind Jayla. She was beside the window while Nolan kept talking. She didn't care about him, and instead looked out the window. It was grey and cloudy—the usual weather here in Raven.

She noticed the teacher entering the classroom. Everyone was now quiet, and only shuffling noises and the wind could be heard.

"I hope you guys had a great weekend. Today we have three new students. Please make them feel welcome," he said and pointed to the door where two boys and a girl stood. The room grew tense. It was like the new students had powerful auras.

The girl was wearing a sundress and a cardigan. She had this big smile on her face and was gorgeous, with grey eyes and blond hair. The boy was wearing brown pants and a white shirt, and had hazel eyes and brown hair. He was also beautiful and had a big grin on his face just like the girl. Lastly, the more attractive boy was already getting a lot of attention from the female students. He was wearing dark clothes, had piercing blue eyes, and dark hair. He was dangerously handsome and had a mysterious darkness all around him.

"My name is Eleanor, and this is Cole," the girl said, pointing to the brown-haired guy who waved, "and this is Maxwell." She pointed to the mysterious blue-eyed boy to her right. He didn't wave or say anything. Instead, he looked away from them with a grunt.

Jayla narrowed her eyes on the dark-haired boy. She was analyzing him but couldn’t figure him out. The only thing she knew was that he was dangerous for her and the population in Raven.

***

It was time for lunch. Jayla sat at the lonely tables in the cafeteria. She ripped open her lunch bag and ate the lunch that her mom had prepared. Instead of socializing with people, she liked sitting alone and observing people. She grinned as she listened to a podcast about funny stories while she ate. She felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She took off her earphones and looked behind her to see Eleanor, Cole, and the mysterious boy, Maxwell.

"Hey, can we sit here?" Eleanor asked. Jayla nodded quietly as she put her stuff back in her bag. She didn't like trouble. As she was getting ready to leave the table, someone grabbed her. She glanced at the person, and saw that Maxwell was holding her.

"She said can we sit here, not can you leave," he said in a deep voice. Jayla gulped nervously and nodded silently, not making a fuss. She sat back down, and Eleanor sat next to her while Cole sat across from her with Maxwell beside him.

"What's your name?" Eleanor asked after a moment of silence. Jayla rubbed her arms uncomfortably. She didn't like to interact with people, except for Nolan, who she had known since kindergarten.

"My name is Jayla," she whispered.

"Speak up," Max said coldly, which made Jayla shiver and clear her throat.

"My name is Jayla," she repeated a little louder. The girl beside her smiled while Cole nodded, and Max grumbled incoherent words.

"Jayla is an uncommon name," Cole said, which made Jayla shrug. She looked away from them, and out the window. She felt someone glaring at her, but she didn't want to see or watch him.

"Well, this is awkward," Eleanor whispered, and Jayla agreed. It was awkward because Max was glaring at her. She wanted to tell him but was scared that the young man would do something to her.

"Hey, guys!" Nolan said and sat next to Jayla who looked surprised. She smiled at him for coming to rescue her. He grinned and gave her a thumbs up. Max was watching them.

"Hi, and who are you?" Cole asked Nolan, who smiled his cheerful smile, which calmed Jayla.

"I'm Nolan. Nice to meet you guys," he said and smiled at Max who looked furious.

"Don't mind him. He has anger issues," Eleanor said, and Max snarled like a wolf. A WOLF, Jayla thought to herself and shook her head. She was probably imagining weird things.

"Oh alright, well, welcome to Raven. It's a small city, so you should get used to it fast," he chuckled.

"We already know that," Max muttered with narrowed eyes. He glared at the innocent boy.

"So, what kind of things do you guys like to do?" Cole asked quickly. He knew that his friend was mad.

"I'm a soccer player and love to party," Nolan replied with a grin on his face. He pretended that Max wasn’t angry just for the sake of Jayla, who always hated when people chose violence over communication.

"Me too. I'm usually the defender, but Max is a good attacker." Cole chuckled as he pushed the grumpy man playfully. Max growled in response and rolled his eyes. He looked at Jayla, who was frightened by his stare. He smirked and crossed his arms, still watching her.

"Oh, you should sign up for the team. I'm sure Max would be a great captain," Nolan suggested with a grin. Jayla smiled when she saw Nolan smile, but that just made Max even more furious.

"Exactly. We should do this," Cole replied with a big smile. Max gave a slight nod to Eleanor and stood up to leave with Cole beside him.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye?" Nolan furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't hear their response and left their table without Eleanor. Max glanced back at Jayla, who was staring at him, and without hesitation, he winked at her. Then he left the cafeteria with several boys she hadn’t noticed, along with Cole.

"Who are those guys?” she asked Eleanor without tearing her eyes from the five boys’ backs.

"The gold hair is Marco, red hair is Peyton, and the man with the white bag is Huxley, aka my boyfriend," Eleanor said with dreamy eyes. Jayla was confused about why her boyfriend didn't sit with her.

"Why didn’t your boyfriend come sit with you?" Nolan asked, knowing Jayla’s question after seeing her face confused. He could totally read her like a book.

"Because he had work and didn't have time to meet us. Next time I’ll introduce him to you guys," she said and drank her water.

"It's time to go to class. Jayla, can you show me where room C190?" the girl asked kindly to Jayla, who gave her a tight nod.

"Well, see you later Nolan," the girls said to Nolan, who waved as they left. As they were walking out of the cafeteria to their class, Eleanor asked Jayla, "Do you think Max is hot?"

Jayla turned to her with a shocked look. She scratched the back of her neck and bit her lip nervously.

"He's…somehow mysterious," she said.

"Well, girls like hot and mysterious boys." She winked as she skipped happily. Jayla chuckled and held her books tight to her chest.

"Why are you asking that?"

"Because he's my cousin, and also he can be grumpy sometimes, so don't mind him at all." She shrugged and opened the door of the classroom. Jayla frowned and tilted her head in confusion.

"You look cute," someone said, scaring her. She widened her eyes when she saw a young handsome man in front of her. He was gorgeous. He had brown hair and blue eyes just like Max. He looks just like him, she thought, surprised.

"Who are you?” she asked.

"My name is Giovanni. I'm Max’s brother. Maybe you know him?" he said with a smile on his face. Jayla was confused. He had the same face as the mysterious boy, except he was smiling, which made her heart flutter.

"Yeah, you guys look like twins,” she chuckled.

"We get that sometimes. Shall we go inside?" he proposed, letting her enter the room first. She smiled and went inside, followed by Giovanni. She searched Eleanor who had sat next to her boyfriend Huxley. Eleanor glanced at Jayla and urged her to come sit with them. Jayla nodded and went to them.

"Hey, I'm Huxley,” he said. He had blond hair with grey eyes just like Eleanor.

"Hey, I'm Jayla. Nice to meet you,” she said, and held a hand out for Huxley, who gladly shook her hand. Then he shook Giovanni’s hand.

"Hey Beta—I mean Giovanni," Huxley stuttered and Eleanor sighed with relief. They thought that Jayla hadn’t caught what he stuttered on, but she had.

"Hey Eleanor and Huxley. Let's sit behind them," Giovanni whispered in Jayla's ear quietly. She nodded shyly and sat behind them. They waited patiently for the teacher to arrive.

"Where are Cole and Maxwell?” she asked, the foreign name of the boy coming out of her mouth made her stomach knot. He had a beautiful masculine name that matched him.

"Well, they are seniors, and we are sophomores. Eleanor was only in your class because she had senior courses just like them, but how did you meet them then?” he told Jayla. Even though she had average scores, she was good at math. Her brother was really good at math too, and her father was an accountant.

"I'm really good at math." She blushed. It was her first time having a long conversation with a guy she thought was hot and sexy, except for Nolan. It made her nervous and she was overthinking everything. She didn't want him to find her annoying or crazy.

"Math is literally my worst nightmare. I don't know how you can be good at it." He laughed and cringed in disgust. She giggled and lifted her hand to fan herself.

"Are you hot?" He noticed the way she fanned herself. She shook her head. Her cheeks were bright red.

Actually, she was hot and sweaty. She wanted to get out of the room, but the teacher had just arrived.

"Don't lie, I know you're hot,” he said, and used a book to fan some cold air in her face. She blushed as she watched his arms flexing.

"I'm not feeling hot,” she said. She was stuck watching Giovanni flexing his arms in front of her.

"You sure?” he asked, and she nodded.

"Jayla, wanna hang out at my house?" Eleanor turned her head toward the flushed girl. She frowned in confusion as she looked at her state, then she looked at Giovanni who only shrugged.

"Hm, don't you think that’s a bit fast?” she asked. It hadn’t even been a full day and Eleanor was inviting her to hang out? They barely knew each other. And why did she want to hang out at her house? Maybe she wanted to humiliate her? Or worse, she might see Max, the grumpy man.

"Not really. Besides I'm sure the guys won't mind,” she said with a smile looking at Gio and Huxley, who smiled as well. Jayla gulped nervously and scratched her collarbones.

"I don't know. I have to ask my brother then,” she said.

"You have a brother?" Eleanor asked and she nodded.

"Yes, his name is Darby and he's a senior in college."

"Oh, the Darby Jacobs. I heard he was popular last year," Huxley said, and Jayla nodded quietly. She didn't like to talk about him. Senior girls would ask about her brother all the time. She hated that they tried to be friends with her just because she was Darby's sister.

"Well, then you can ask your brother if you can come to our house,” Eleanor said and smiled. Jayla frowned as she said our instead of mine.

"You look confused. But we all live in the same house. Me, Huxley, Eleanor, Cole, Marco, Peyton, and Max." Giovanni said, but Jayla was not dumb. She had the sense that he was lying because she stared at Gio, who glanced at Huxley and Eleanor hesitantly, as if he was communicating with them or something.

"Oh alright." Jayla nodded even though she knew they were lying, but she decided to keep it to herself.

"Well let's go," Huxley said when he heard the bell ring. Eleanor nodded and put a hand on Huxley who smiled gently and hugged her. Jayla was feeling jealous of them. She always wanted someone to hold her and cherish her.

"Shall we go?" Giovanni asked, cutting into her thoughts as he held her bag. She nodded and grabbed the bag from him.

"Do you like mozzarella sticks? I love them so much," Giovanni said as they walked out of the classroom to leave the school. Jayla was wondering if her brother was already here to pick her up, so she checked her phone to see if he texted her, but there were no messages.

"That’s cool you like them.” She rolled her eyes and looked for her brother’s car in the parking lot, much to her relief. But then she realized he was talking to Max.

She paled and widened her eyes. She frowned, and a lot of questions popped in her head. She wondered how Darby knew Max. What was their relationship?

"Hey Jay, how was English?" she heard Nolan asking her. He draped his arm around her shoulders.

"Do I know you?" Nolan asked Giovanni, who had a tight smile on his face. He looked at Jayla who shrugged nervously.

"I'm Giovanni, Max's brother,” he said and held his hand to shake with Nolan.

"Older or younger?” he asked.

"Same year as Jayla."

"Oh, I thought that Max was a sophomore but he’s actually in my year. Jay, you know that he literally crashed the soccer team with Cole. They are so strong!" he exclaimed in awe.

Nolan was a senior, so it made sense that Max and Cole were in his class. She nodded tightly and glanced back at Darby where Max’s piercing blue eyes glared at her intensely.

"I see my brother talking to your brother. Let's go over to them," Giovanni said, suddenly breaking off Jayla’s stare. She nodded and turned to Nolan.

"See you tomorrow,” she said, and he nodded, pecking her on the cheek. She blushed and pushed Nolan away.

"Fuck, she's dead," she heard Giovanni muttering.

What does he mean by dead?

"See you tomorrow, Jay,” Nolan said and ran toward his red car that his parents bought him for his 16th birthday. It was the first time that Jayla had ever been invited to his birthday. It was wild and a lot of people got drunk. Unlike those cliché nerd girls, Jayla loved drinking to escape her mind. She loved the adrenaline running through her blood and she had a high tolerance for alcohol. Nolan was surprised when he caught her drinking but found that she wasn’t even drunk.

She walked toward her brother’s parked car. Darby saw his sister running toward him, and he hugged her as she reached him. He was sitting on top of his car with Max, who was vibrating with anger. She frowned, confused as she looked at Max, but he just scoffed and looked away from her.

"Don't mind him, sis, how was your day?" Darby asked and she grinned.

"It was fun, I made friends, but how do you know Max?” she asked and smiled.

"Well, Max is my friend, right?" Darby chuckled as he pushed him playfully, and Max responded with a groan. She narrowed her eyes on Max. She knew Darby’s friends, all of them, since they used to come to their house to hang out. It was weird because, first, Max and his gang were new, and second, Darby didn’t even go here anymore. She wondered how they met. How did they become friends? It made her suspicious about the new kids. She wanted to unveil their secret or whatever they were hiding.

"Hey, Darby and brother," Giovanni said. Max rolled his eyes and turned to Darby who grinned.

"Gio, my boy, I hope Jay didn't bother you,” he said, ruffling Giovanni's hair.

"Bro, I'm nice,” she grumbled and pouted.

"Of course, you are,” he replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Jay, I think someone wants you to go to their house," Darby smirked as he glanced at Max with a mischievous wink.

Max grumbled and cursed at him, "Fuck off."

"Anyway, Huxley’s girlfriend asked you to go to their house. Do you want to go?" Darby asked. Jayla widened her eyes in shock.

How the heck does he know them, she thought.

"Yeah, she asked me. Can you tell dad and mom that I will come home later?" she said, and he nodded.

"And also, sorry that you have to come here. It must be tiring," she apologized to her brother who went to picked her up but only to leave the school without her.

"It's alright. Besides Principal Hills wanted to see me and I had a talk with little Max here,” he said and ruffled his dark hair. It was messy, but it looked hot on him. It was like he had just woken up from a nap.

"Don't touch me,” he snapped and smacked her brother's arms. Darby chuckled.

"Anyway, I'm going home. Have fun at their house," Darby said and jumped off his car then got in. Max stepped down from the car and put his hands in his pocket.

They watched her brother leave the parking spot in a rush. She sighed and looked at Giovanni, who smiled at her.

"I hate to interrupt this happy moment, but we have to go. I have work to do," Max said and walked to his car. Jayla frowned and searched for help in Giovanni's eyes, but she only found guilt.

"Sorry, but my car is broken and he's my driver for now." He shrugged and walked to his brother’s car.

She sighed deeply and realized that she would be staying with two hot and sexy boys. Nobody would believe her. It was like a dream come true for her. It was as if god answered her prayers and granted her wish to be in between two hot boys.

But little did she know that these boys would change her whole life.