Author's note: Hey all. So, another chapter. I really do hope you are enjoying this, considering not many people are reviewing. Thanks to cherrydrop105, kiwi-short-cake, lilsis, Crotch Rocket, Preethy, Moon-Roses-And-Love, and Lunabela. Also, Lunabela, thanks for noticing the grammar problems. When I write, I seem to go so fast I don't even notice, even though I"m completely OCD about grammar. Also, the whole "Ria" deal is explained in this chapter. I hope you all like it! Review!!!

Firesong

Chapter Three

Truth

I don’t like Bryan. Really. I mean, I don’t like him that way. Specifically, not in the way every other girl in my musical theatre class did. Well, with the exception of Kelsey, Brandon’s annoying, “I’ll stand by you no matter what,” girlfriend. Yes, someone please shoot her.

All during musical theatre, girls kept ambling up to Bryan, pulling the, “Oh, so you’re new?” or “Hi, I’m an obnoxious blonde (Ok, so I added the obnoxious blonde part. Doesn’t mean it’s not true). If you get lost, I’ll help you find your way.” or even “Do you have a girlfriend?”. I know, annoying. Especially when Bryan and I were working on finding a duet.

By the end of the period, I wanted to continually smack my head against the wall, which was brick and looked delightfully painful. If it weren’t for Bryan, I might have. Instead, we did find a duet; a fragment of “Enchantment Passing Through”, from Aida. We only had time to sing it over once, but when we did, I could tell that with practice, our voices would sound good together. Maybe even great.

Finally, lunch period arrived. I was extremely anxious to find Josh, simply to tell him everything. One of Josh’s most redeeming qualities is that he is a wonderful listener, but also knows when to say something and what to say. He’s almost like another brother to me.

On the way to lunchroom, however, I turned a corner and bumped (literally), into a tall, dark haired guy whom I immediately recognized as Bryan. He grinned, catching my elbow to steady me.

“You alright?” he asked, a stack of books in one arm and a backpack casually slung upon the other. So picturesque, I’m not even kidding.

“Yeah, what are you doing?” I asked, noticing a group of giggling girls pass by. I held off my eye rolling until they were out of sight. Bryan chuckled.

“Actually, I was going to go hide in the library,” Bryan admitted, scratching his arm. Along it I noticed a thin white scar, reaching almost from his wrist to his elbow, but didn’t think it would be polite to ask about it.

“Um, hey, do you want to come eat with me and some of my friends?” I offered, pulling a lock of hair from under the strap of my backpack where it was being tugged from my head. Bryan noticed and lifted the strap for me. I grinned up at him.

“You mean, come eat with a bunch of girls?” he asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow. I laughed out loud at this, putting a hand to the back of my neck.

“Actually, my friends are all…guys. See, I have six brothers, so I’m more at ease with the non-moody male crowd,” I replied, babbling a bit. It couldn’t be helped, Bryan just had that effect on people.

“Oh, well, in that case, sure, I’d love to eat lunch with you and your friends,” Bryan said. We started walking towards the crowded, hectic lunchroom. I spotted Josh, then Nick and Ian sitting at our usual table near the back corner. Surprisingly, one of my friends who also happened to be a girl was there, Riley Jo.

“Hey!” I exclaimed when I saw her. She grinned broadly, bouncing up to greet me. Her straight reddish hair swung wildly from it’s ponytail and her freckles seemed even more visible in the fluorescent light.

“hey,” she answered. I sat down next to her, noticing that she was sitting next to Josh. I’d suspected for a long time that she had a crush on him, but I’d never had proof. Well, I did now.

Then, I noticed Bryan standing awkwardly beside me, trying to look subtle. I looked up at him, and nodded towards the chair next to me.

“Guys, and Riley Jo, this is Bryan. He’s slightly, somewhat new.” There were handshakes all around the table as he sat down and a nervous “hi” from Riley Jo. She nudged me in the side and I knew what she was thinking: How in earth did I score a lunch with such a hottie? Answer: I don’t know.

Slowly, a conversation began about school sports and how pathetic our school was. The only team worth talking about, really, was the Lacrosse team. I mean, what is this world coming to?

I was glad to find that Nick and Ian immediately liked Bryan, asking him what PlayStation games were his favorite and if he preferred wireless controllers to the traditional ones. Josh, I could see, was slightly quieter, observing. We’d been friends since kindergarten, so I knew he was just looking out for me.

“Ugh, off to debate,” I groaned when the bell rang. Nick and Ian sulked away to Art History and Riley Jo happily made her way to Interior Design. Josh handed me our shared debate notebook, then walked off to English. Since Josh had Debate two periods before, we simply shared notes.

“Hey, I have debate, too,” Bryan said, following me out of the lunchroom. I grinned back at him as we made our way up the stairs.

“Great. It’s a fun class,” I told him. But even as we walked slowly down the hall, I began to dread the upcoming hour of pure torture. The class I loved, it was what happened in class I wasn’t so fond of.

See, Debate is the only class I have with the Trips. In the beginning, I thought it would be fun, us three arguing in a controlled situation. Unfortunately, a bunch of cheerleaders and sports jocks got put into this class as well. And that was where the trouble always began.

Today, I walked in with Bryan in tow and we sat in the middle on the right side, the most comfortable spot. Teachers never pay attention to you here, but you also learn just as much as if you were front and center. Then, the Trips walked in.

Of course, followed by a group of goggle-eyed admirers. They usually sat near the back, passing my desk as they went by. Today, they both grinned broadly at me.

“Hey, Ria,” they said, strolling by. The group of girls stopped.

“Ria?” asked the ringleader, a busty, bottle-blonde named Jessica. “Oh, they have a nickname for their nerdy friend now. How sweet.” Collective titters came from the group. I bent my head slightly, letting my curly hair fall over me. Ria was my nickname for extremely close friends and family, like the Trips and Josh, since my real name was Alexandria; they just took the last part and used it as my name. It had been that way forever.

“I don’t know why they even talk to her,” said Jessica’s best friend, also called Jessica and whom I liked to call Barbie #2. I clenched my fists, trying to keep calm. Luckily, the Trips noticed and called their friends over, taking the attention from me. I let out a long, tired sigh.

“Ria?” Bryan asked from behind me. I turned in my seat to face him.

“My full name is Alexandria. My friends and family call me ‘Ria’,” I explained. He nodded, and then the bell rang.

Mr. Johansen started calling role, passing through the names quickly. Finally, he came to the Trips and me.

“Alex Helm?”

“Here.”

“Andrew Helm?”

“Here.”

“Todd Helm?”

“Here.”

It was so completely, utterly obvious that I always began to doubt the intelligence of my fellow schoolmates. Seriously. But Bryan, the new kid who had only been here one day, surprised me.

When we split up for group research, Bryan and I found a quiet corner and opened up our packets. It was then that the bomb hit.

“They’re your brothers, huh?” Bryan asked. I immediately looked up and shushed him, in case anyone heard. He looked as if he had just solved the mystery of the century.

“Yes, but no one here is smart enough to figure it out,” I replied. “I don’t really care, anyway.”

“So, they a year older than you or something?” Bryan asked. I grinned, shaking my head.

“No, my brother Jordan is a senior.”

“A year younger, then?”

“Nope.”

“Alright, I’m stumped.”

I glanced around. For some reason, I knew I could trust Bryan. He was the kind of guy I could be true friends with, for a long time, like Josh. So I told him.

“We’re triplets,” I said, then quickly busied myself with researching the affirmative answer for the question, “How effective is the War with Iraq and is it worth it?”. After a few minutes, I glanced up to see Bryan studying me.

“What?” I demanded, self-consciously brushing a strand of hair out of my eyes.

“I can see,” he said simply. “You do look like them, very much.”

I smiled softly, surprised. Bryan seemed full of stunning attributes, including, apparently, observation.

“Thanks.”

“What for?” he asked.

“For not being as big a dunderhead as everyone else at this school.”

“Oh, no problem. My mom says I’m talented that way,” Bryan laughed. I laughed with him and even when Mr. Johansen yelled at us, I couldn’t stop smiling.