Chapter 37: Twin Machinations

Amanah sat in her car and stewed. Her mind turned back to the events of the day.

Amanah languidly stretched, her smile gracing her lips. Today was the first day of senior year. She had big plans for her goal to be valedictorian of the class. She wasn't sure who was in the top three. Not that it mattered. As long as she kept up her straight A's streak, she would gain the lead. She was a princess, after all, being the winner was expected of her. Besides, these humans were not as smart as a Poten native.

Pleased with her thoughts she left her bed, taking her time to dress to impress on the first day. A knock on her door announced the arrival of her maid, Milenu. She moved to her vanity and watched Milenu's expert styling of her hair. She smirked at the final result. Her red eyes gleamed with satisfaction as she stroked the updo, her black hair gleaming with health.

"Well done."

Milenu bowed and excused herself. Amanah preened in the mirror for a few more minutes. Her admiration was cut short by another knock on her door. She frowned. She wasn't expecting anyone else this morning.

"Come in," she snapped.

The door opened and one of the imperial guards stepped inside, bowed, and moved to the side. She rose from her seat just as her father strode into the room.

"Good morning, Father."

"It is a good morning indeed."

She understood what he was saying without him explaining. He expected her final year of school to be the best. It would showcase her skills as a crown princess while awing the humans the royal family did business with.

She bowed and smirked when he gently patted her shoulder.

"My pride and joy. Let our glorious family reign supreme."

"Yes, Father. It shall be as your command." She eyed him before saying, "What about Serenah?"

Her father's ferocious glower did not intimidate her. Instead, she inwardly cheered at his reaction. Good, he still hated her twin. She would use this to her advantage.

"What about her?" he growled.

"I was just checking on what I can do at school with her."

"You are the Crown Princess. She is one of your subjects. Punish her as you see fit if she steps out of line."

Amanah suppressed her glee. She had to show just enough so that her father wouldn't retract his words. Not that she even believed he would change his stance on her twin. His clear disdain and sometimes hatred toward Serenah had been a constant in the world since the twins were five.

Not that she gave a damn as to why he hated her sister. It meant his attention was solely focused on making Amanah queen. She was happy with that result.

"Just checking. Have a good day, Father. I know I will." She bowed to him once more before grabbing her backpack and heading to the garage.

The guard on duty handed her the keys to her car. She slid behind the wheel, revved the engine, and took off.

Soon she arrived at school and pulled into her assigned parking space. She was a few minutes early. She surveyed the parking lot before spotting the car she was looking for. Amanah got out and walked toward the yellow VW bug. Inside sat two of her human minions: Cassie Stewart and Sasha Rollins.

"Hey, girls!"

"Amy!" cried Cassie, jumping out of the driver's side to run over and hug Amanah.

Amanah laughed at Cassie's antics. Both Cassie and Sasha had been easy to manipulate junior year. Both girls craved power and tried to get close to anyone with it.

Sasha exited the car, coming around to join them.

"You guys ready to rule this school?"

"Hell yeah!" Amanah and Cassie chorused.

The three girls burst into laughter. They gathered their backpacks and headed inside. The halls were filling up with students as they made their way to homeroom.

Amanah smiled at the ones she had dominated last year and made them into her minions. Being popular with humans was easy. Just had to know how to manipulate them properly. She greeted anyone who came up to her. She could feel Sasha and Cassie soaking up the power she was projecting. The two girls walked tall, their snobby attitudes on full display.

She tried not to laugh at them. Gullible. So gullible that it was almost boring. She really wanted a challenge. She turned the corner and nearly ran into Romeo Lancaster and his crew.

He sneered at her, and she had to hold herself back from slapping that expression off his face. "Romeo," she growled.

"Amy Holland. I see you are with your usual lapdogs," he mocked.

Cassie and Sasha glared daggers at him. Amanah simply laughed at him before skirting his group and heading to her destination.

"I swear he's so arrogant!" snapped Cassie as she tugged at her shirt.

"Yeah, but he's a hot arrogant," cooed Sasha and fanned herself.

Amanah rolled her eyes. Last year she had made a pass at Romeo in a bid to become popular. Not only did it not work, but he and his crew went out of their way to mock her over it. Eventually she got more people on her side, but she never forgot or forgave his actions.

To add insult to injury, her father found out about the rejection. It was the only time he was ever disappointed in her. The main reason why was because her father was trying to get Romeo's dad in his pocket without success. Her father hoped that she would win over Romeo and thus gain an "in" to his father. When she failed he was angry but didn't punish her for it.

It didn't matter. She still felt the sting of his disappointment in her. She resolved from that day that she would never fail again. She forced her mind away from the memory and focused on her classes. Soon it was lunch.

As they neared the cafeteria, Amanah slowed. She could sense Serenah nearby. She didn't know her twin's schedule nor did she care. As long as her useless sibling stayed far away from her, there would be no problems. She entered the cafeteria with Cassie and Sasha flanking her. She paused when she spotted her twin. Rage filled her when she saw who Serenah and Alastar were sitting with.

Hell no! She was not going to let this stand. She stormed her way toward the table where Serenah and Alastar sat with Romeo and his crew.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Amanah asked with a glare in Romeo's direction before turning her attention to her trembling sibling.

"Amy, to what do we owe this pleasure?" Romeo's frigid tone not lost on her. She chose to ignore it.

"Oh, Romeo, I see that you already met my sister."

"Sister?"

His surprise was delicious to Amanah's soul. Serenah's flinch was the icing on the cake. This day was going great. She could mess with her sister and Romeo at the same time.

"Yes, Sera HOLLAND," she stressed the last name, "is my younger twin sister."

"Ah, poor girl," quipped Liz, earning her a glare from Cassie.

Serenah's head jerked up and Amanah made eye contact. She let her twin see the malice in her eyes. The fear on her twin's face was awesome to see. Time to finish off the enemies Before her.

"Yes, my sister is poor in her choice of friends," countered Amanah.

"What did you just say, bitch?" growled Penelope who rose from her seat.

"I said, shit choice for friends," she retorted with a smirk.

"Why you," Penelope snarled and started to come around the table.

"Amy, please don't be rude to my friends," Serenah requested as she came to her feet.

Amanah was surprised by Serenah's boldness. How dare her twin interfere? She would make her pay for this later.

"Baby sister, I guess you forgot last night's warning. You'd better find some new friends or suffer the consequences," she warned before she flipped off Penelope and left to eat, Cassie and Sasha following behind her.

The rest of her day was uneventful. Not that it mattered. Amanah had spent most of her day plotting what to do to her sibling and to Romeo. At first, she thought of tattling to her father about Serenah's behavior. She discarded the idea. She needed more than the simple act of defiance her twin displayed.

No, she needed something more. Hmm, rumors would be good. She could spread it about that Serenah was a slut and just out to get in Romeo's pants. Everyone knew that Romeo refused to do anything sexual with the girls he dated. He was old-fashioned and wanted to wait for his future wife to have sex.

Amanah couldn't understand his thinking. She had shed her virginity back in the old world. She used her sexuality as a tool to advance her agenda. As long as she used protection and took measures to keep from getting pregnant with some useless person's baby, her father didn't care what she did and with whom. He wanted her sleeping around to be useful.

She agreed with his reasoning and did as she pleased. Serenah, however, wasn't like that. She was pure as they come. She wasn't even sure her twin knew what sex was never mind experiencing it. Not her problem. By the time a month passed, it wouldn't matter what the truth was. She would make sure to ruin her sister. She would make Serenah have no support in this school. That should keep her sister in line.

Satisfied with her plan, she drove home with a grin. She couldn't wait to see her twin's expression once the plan started.