Chapter 1

The sounds of birds chirping could be heard. Slowly, I opened my eyes as the bright morning sunlight entered the room through the window nearby. Lazily, I looked at my right hand, moving the fingers right and left. A nice smell of men perfume filled my lungs. I took a deep breath—

-wait-

Men's perfume?

"Good morning, my little princess!"

Hearing the guy's voice, I automatically jumped out of bed, knowing a weird guy would hug me like there's no tomorrow.

"I'm not little, ok?" I said annoyingly. "Stop calling me with that name already! I'm already in my senior years, remember?"

"Hey, that's not a way of talking to your brother, you know? I'm just trying to wake you up coz I know that the morning alarm would never work on you anyway," replied him.

Yeah, that weird guy is my brother. I stared at him, and then reached for my phone. All my sleepiness suddenly vanished.

"Shin, why didn't you wake me up earlier?! I'm going to be late for school!"

I rushed to the bathroom and took a quick shower. While I walked down to the front door, I heard my brother called me.

"Why are you panic? The class will not start for another 15 minutes," he said calmly.

Ok, now he's back to his actual self; calm and cool— or should I say his stage attitude? Snap out of it, Beryl! It's not the important issue here!

"Well, if you haven't noticed, walking to the school will take me like...20 minutes, whereas I only have 15 minutes- no, minus 5 after talking to you. Talk later, Shin!"

As I opened the door to the main gate, I saw a black car in front me. Shin appeared behind my back and pulled my hand, bringing me in the car with him.

"Since when did I say that you're going to walk to school? You really need to see the doctor more often, you know? Brush up your memory," he said charmingly.

As the car started moving, I glared at the guy beside me. "Stop it, Shin. Don't mention anything related to the hospital."

He smiled and looked outside of the window, "You do realize that I just want to keep you safe."

I didn't answer him. We both know the answer already. I know that he's just trying to be overprotective ever since the incident; incident that nearly killed me and caused me to lost more than half of my memories. It took me 2 months to actually remember – or at least memorized who my family is, and to adapt with my life in school which was sponsored by my father. I still couldn't remember much about people around me, but I could guarantee you that being the daughter of the main sponsor in the school wasn't really a pleasant experience. I didn't know how I handle the situation before the accident.

Joining Shin who was still looking outside of the window, my attention went to the big screen on one of the building in the city- entertainment news on a band who was performing in only-God-knows-where. It's the guys from my school. Girls cheer for them, scream for them and even more annoying, they cry for them! If I were the boys, I would surely become annoyed with the crowd.

Too absorbed in my own thought, I didn't realize I was already in the school compound.

"We're here. Now fly, my angel, fly to your class before the bell rings!" Shin said in a dramatic way, walking out of the car with me.

"Shut up!" I replied and ran towards my class, going to the opposite building from which Shin took.

"Don't run Beryl. You know that your body is not well and strong yet! The class will not start in another 8 minutes!"

I just ignored him and smiled quietly. I know that my driver has very high skills on the road and would surely drive us to school like we're in F1 championship. There's no way I'm going late to school when he's driving. There were always good reasons for my brother to choose that cute guy to be our driver, and also our part time butler.

~oOo~

The day went as usual, nothing exciting happened. Besides, I didn't really feel like I belonged in the class. During lunch break, I went to the roof top, spending my time doing nothing but staring at the sky.

"I know that I'll find you here!" Opal's voice knocked me out of my thoughts.

"Congratulation. What makes you think I'll be here?" I replied.

"Well, I know that lunch break always makes you kind of miserable and quiet places will always be your choices."

"It's not that I felt miserable. I'm just not really uncomfortable being in noisy and crowded—"

Screams of girls in the classes below could be heard. Was someone tried to jump out of the window? No. Someone tried to make a bad joke but ended up tragically? No.

They were actually screaming for The Masquerade, a band that became famous in just 2 weeks after their debut. OK, I understand the attitude of fangirls but why should they scream that loud? It's not that the boys going to vanish or something if they didn't scream.

Why were they so famous around the school? Let me tell you this: First of all, they were not popular in the school- they were famous around the country. I mean, they do have real talents in music, and they hit single managed to be in top 5 music chart in less than 2 weeks. They hardly reveal their faces in the tv. But here in Alexandrite School, everyone knows them. Boys love them for their music skills, aunties love them for their charms and girls love them for their...well, mostly for their looks.

You want to hear what I heard from girls around me?

The band consists of 5 young lads, namely Jadeite, Ethan, Aden, Evan and Jasper. Jadeite, the guitarist, the sweet prince who leads the guys coolly, but bewares of his punishment techniques (heck, I bet it won't work on me!); Ethan, the vocalist, the sweet and bubbly prince that never knows the meaning of tired; Aden, the bassist, the gentle prince who never failed to melt the hearts of girls, aunties and even grandmas. His gentle yet outgoing attitude would surely steal away your heart; Evan, the second guitarist, the tallest of them all, also known as the odd prince. No one could actually read his mind; Last but not least, Jasper, the drummer, the cute prince that never failed to adore you. Once he plays his drums, you could never guess it was played by a 15 years old drummer. They were The Masquerade, also belong in the group of students called the Fireflies- elite students that girls were crazy about- except me. And why the hell did these girls called them princes? Don't ask. I don't know the answer either.

Yeah, I respected them for their talents and love for music. But to love them like those girls? No way! They're just normal human being. What makes them extra special was the fact that they were young and popular band. And avoiding them was my action every time I came across them.

"Where are you going Beryl?" Opal asked as she saw me leaving.

"Some where quiet."

I walked towards the east building— the building where special students; the Fireflies, studied. They were put in different building from common students. These students were given the privilege of going in and out of the school whenever they want, as long as it's for the purposes of their career and business. In short, this place has a very different set of curriculum and timetable to suit the so called 'special and elite students'. It's ridiculous, I know. And if you think that these students were rich men children, then you're right. They would inherit their parents' businesses, and half of them were young celebrities with bright futures. And Shin was among them, so did The Masquerade. Shin graduated already, but he chose to work here, guiding the young celebrities in their careers and studies. Yup, people have high expectations toward these kids but to me, many of them were arrogant and annoying.

Ignoring the glares given by the Fireflies, I walked in a sound-proof music room provided for the fireflies to practice during their free time. Unlocking a locker there, I reached for a violin case in it. At the lower part of the violin, carved an initial name of N.C.; a lady that suddenly disappeared from modelling world, and from my brother's world. Honestly I know nothing much about her— actually I couldn't remember anything much about her. Shin gave me the permission to use it whenever I want.

I raised it, tried to play a simple song that I could recalled. A few notes were played smoothly, until my fingers suddenly felt numb. I sighed, and tried to play it again. Still the same. After my third attempt, I failed again. I changed the song, but there's still no improvement.

Why can't I play it?! It's just a simple song! I remembered the notes perfectly! True, I tend to forget things until now, but I was very sure I remember the song!

I stared at my right hand, the same hand that was broken in the accident. I looked at the scar on it, where I could see the fingers were shaken. Did the accident injure my hand that bad?

The damn hand! The damn accident! The damn violin! I hate it! I hate-

"You don't want to break that precious violin, do you?" a male voice said to me from the back.

I turned to my back.

-End of Chapter 1-