Aurora's P.O.V

I could feel the hot tears welling up in my eyes as I rushed down the hallway, my steps quick and frantic. The cruel laughter, the whispers, the looks-it was all too much. My chest tightened with a sense of suffocation as I finally pushed the bathroom door open and darted inside, locking it behind me.

The fluorescent lights above buzzed quietly, but all I could hear was the sound of my heart pounding in my ears and my breath, shallow and uneven. I stumbled to one of the stalls, slamming the door behind me as I crumpled to the floor. I couldn't stop the tears from falling, and I didn't even try.

Mia's words echoed in my head, over and over. I couldn't believe she'd slapped me in front of everyone just for an accident. And then, she had the nerve to demand twenty thousand dollars from me, as if I had that kind of money. As if I could just pull it out of thin air.

I buried my face in my hands, trying to stifle my sobs. I hated how weak I sounded, hated how I was letting them see me like this. But the truth was, I had nothing left to give. I didn't even have a way out.

If Caroline hadn't stepped in, Mia would've made me pay somehow-though I had no idea how. I barely made enough at my part-time job to cover Riley's and my meals. A hundred and seventy-four dollars a week-hardly enough to keep us going, let alone repay anyone. And I wasn't blind to the fact that, when my father showed up, he'd take whatever money I had saved. He'd come to the house, his face twisted with that familiar anger and demand for cash.

If I refused-or even hesitated-he'd make sure I felt the consequences. Beaten. Locked up. I'd learned the hard way that no amount of pleading could stop him.

I pulled my knees to my chest, my body shaking from the overwhelming weight of it all. The pain in my chest wasn't just from the hunger gnawing at me-it was the constant, suffocating pressure of living a life where nothing ever seemed to be in my control. Where my father's cruelty dictated everything I did, where Mia could destroy me without a second thought.

Suddenly, a knock at the stall door startled me, making me jump. My breath hitched, and I tensed, instinctively curling in on myself. I froze, not sure whether I should even answer. Who else would be here? Another person to bully me, perhaps? Maybe someone who had heard about what happened and wanted to make it worse?

Shit! Was it Mia? Did she come back to finish what she started?

I pressed myself further away from the wall, feeling weak and helpless as I looked around for a way to escape. Could I climb up into the next stall if I stood on top of the toilet?

But the knocking grew louder, making me feel even wearier. I stayed quiet, hoping to god that they would just leave me alone, but that didn't happen.

"Aurora?" That voice-it was familiar. Who was it? It sounded like someone I know. "It's Caroline." Oh... wait- what? "Can you please open the door?"

Caroline? Oh god, was she here to pick on me like all her other friends? Will she show her true colors and beat me up now that no one was watching?

"Please?" she asked again when I didn't respond. "I know you're in there; I just want to talk."

But why? Why would she want to talk to me of all people? Was it because she saved me? Did she want something from me in return now?

Oh...god...what did I get myself into?

"Please, Aurora! I promise you're safe. Just open the door...please."

Her voice sounded sincere, even a bit sad. So, against my better judgment, I found myself slowly turning the lock and pushing the door open. I walked out hesitantly, half expecting the hit to come as soon as I looked up. But much to my surprise, she held out her hand and in it was a packed sandwich.

I looked up at her in confusion.

"Here," she said, attempting a smile. "Uh, I saw that your lunch got ruined too, and you weren't able to eat anything, so I wanted you to have this."

I blinked. Was I hearing her right? I only stared at her outstretched hand, unsure if I was being pranked or not. She decided to take matters into her own hands and pushed the sandwich onto my palm.

"Take it," she said. "It's yours."

I felt my heart skip a beat, gratitude welling up inside me until tears blurred my eyes again.

What exactly was happening right now? Nobody has ever gone out of their way to make sure I was okay. This has never happened to me before!

Why now? Why her?

"Why..." I found myself asking. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Caroline tilted her head to the side, confused. "What do you mean?" she asked.

I furrowed my brows, confused at her reaction as well. "I mean... everyone hates me. No one has ever come after me like this. So...why are you...?"

I trailed off, my ears picking up the sound of footsteps approaching the bathroom and I felt my heart speed up once again.

Just then, an oddly familiar voice sounded from outside, even though I couldn't see that person. "Caroline, are you finished? We're gonna be late."

Caleb...I'd know that voice even in my sleep!

"One second!" Caroline called back. Then she turned to me again, this time with a smile as she said, "Well, I don't know what you're going through, but you should hang in there, alright? Everything will get better, I promise. For now, I gotta go! Bye!"

I stared after her as she turned to leave, wondering what her cryptic message even meant. Everything was gonna get better? How? And how could she promise that?

When she opened the door to leave, I found Caleb leaning against the doorjamb, his presence instantly sucking all the space in the room.

Our eyes met for a fraction of a second, and I felt a jolt of electricity surge through my whole body. I wasn't sure what had just happened, but by the time I looked back at him once again, Caleb had already turned his eyes, and stretched out his hand to place it on the small of her back when Caroline walked up to him.

They looked... perfect. Like they belonged together. Caroline with her perfect blonde hair, her effortless grace, and Caleb with his quiet intensity, his natural confidence. I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy, but at the same time, I felt a strange sense of relief. Caroline hadn't dismissed me like I expected. She had shown me a small sliver of kindness. But Caleb's presence only reminded me of everything I wasn't.

"Bye, Aurora!" Caroline turned to wave, but all I could see was Caleb's hand on her waist as he steered her away from me, the weight of the sandwich in my hands suddenly unbearably heavy.

Caleb's P.O.V

As soon as Caroline stepped out of the washroom, I spotted her immediately, her fingers absentmindedly toying with the strap of her bag. Without a second thought, I reached for her waist, pulling her close as I steered her away toward our next class. She barely had time to register my touch before letting out an amused huff, her eyes flickering up at me with curiosity.

"Okay, what's with you today?" she asked, tilting her head slightly as we walked. "You don't have to escort me everywhere, you know. I can actually walk on my own."

I smirked, but instead of answering her directly, I tightened my grip just a little, a silent but firm indication that I wasn't going to let this go. "You shouldn't go near that weird charity kid," I muttered, keeping my tone casual but laced with just enough seriousness to make my point clear.

Caroline stopped abruptly, forcing me to pause with her. Her brows furrowed as she turned to face me fully, disbelief flashing in her eyes. "Wait, what?" she asked, as if she hadn't heard me right. "Are you talking about Aurora?"

I sighed, already knowing this wasn't going to go the way I wanted. "Yeah," I admitted. "I just don't like her."

Caroline's mouth fell open slightly, her expression a mix of shock and mild disappointment.

"Caleb," she said, her voice lower now, more measured. "That's really rude. You don't even know her."

I rolled my eyes, shifting on my feet. "I don't need to know her," I replied simply. "I just-" I hesitated, running a hand through my hair. "I just don't like her and I don't want you to be near her all of a sudden."

Caroline's eyes narrowed, and she crossed her arms. "You may not like someone, but that doesn't give you the right to be rude about them, or about them," she pointed out, her tone sharper now, challenging.

I held her gaze for a moment, the weight of her words settling between us. I knew she was right-Caroline always had this way of calling me out when I was being unreasonable. But something about Aurora didn't sit right with me, and the thought of Caroline getting close to her put me on edge.

Still, I could tell from the way she was looking at me that this wasn't a fight I was going to win. So instead of pressing further, I exhaled heavily, shaking my head. "Just... be careful, alright?" I muttered, my voice softer this time.

Caroline studied me for a second longer before sighing, uncrossing her arms. "You're impossible," she murmured, but there was a flicker of understanding in her eyes, even if she didn't agree with me.

I reached for her hand, giving it a light squeeze before nudging her forward. "Come on," I said. "We're gonna be late."

Even as we walked, I could tell she wasn't letting this go. And honestly? Neither was I.

"Caroline-" I began, but she cut me off.

"Caleb, look, we can have different opinions about someone but that doesn't give you the right to say rude things about them. If you don't like her, you can just ignore her. But you can't tell me what to do or who to be friends with."

Friends?! The thought was absolutely ridiculous.

"Care, I can't believe we're having a fight about that...that...girl!" I scoffed. "Please...why do did you even do that in the first place?"

The scene from earlier replayed in my head. Mia had Aurora backed against the lockers, her words cutting sharper than a blade, her voice laced with that cruel amusement she always had when she found someone weak to toy with. Aurora had been frozen, barely able to defend herself, and then, out of nowhere, Caroline had stepped in. She hadn't hesitated. Just thrown herself between them like a shield, like it was second nature to her.

Caroline turned her head slightly, as if she had expected the question. "Do what?" she asked, her voice even.

"You know what," I shot back. "Why did you help Aurora? Mia was handling her."

Caroline stopped walking for a split second before shaking her head with a small scoff. "Mia wasn't 'handling' her, Caleb. She was humiliating her."

I frowned, not because I disagreed, but because I wasn't sure why it even mattered to Caroline. Aurora could never be one of us, and the fact that Caroline was suddenly trying to get close to her was getting on my nerves.

"Yeah, and? Aurora should learn to stand up for herself if she believes she was right."

"Maybe," she said, her eyes meeting mine, unwavering. "But that doesn't mean she deserved that."

I let out a breath, shaking my head. "You don't even like Aurora."

Caroline let out a dry laugh, one that lacked any real amusement. "And you don't like Shane or Mia. But that's never stopped you from butting into their business, has it?"

I narrowed my eyes, not appreciating the way she flipped that on me. "That's different."

"Is it?" She arched her brow. "You want to know why I stepped in? Because I felt her pain. I felt her fear. And I just couldn't stand there and let Mia tear her apart like that. So, I did something about it."

I stared at her, my jaw tightening. "I really don't understand you sometimes, you know that?"

Caroline just shrugged, unfazed. "You don't have to understand me, Caleb," she said simply. Then, with a sharpness that cut straight through me, she added, "But maybe you shouldn't be so quick to judge people or be mean to them, because one day, that might just come back to bite you in the ass."

I scoffed, rolling my eyes, because of course she had to make this into some kind of moral lesson. Typical Caroline. I didn't say anything else, though. We just kept walking, side by side, heading to our next class, the words lingering between us like a challenge neither of us was ready to acknowledge.

Aurora's P.O.V

The bell rang once again, signaling the near-end of another torturous day at school. My body felt heavy with exhaustion, like I was dragging a boulder with every step. I had always been set apart from my other classmates due to my circumstances. I was always the odd one out. But at this point at school, I often agreed with them on one thing: mathematics should never be set as the last class in the time table.

Everyone hated biology, but no one hated it more than me. I wasn't bad at the subject; in fact, I usually did pretty well, but somehow, it felt like I was always playing catch-up in a class full of kids who didn't care.

I bit back a groan as I settled into my chair at the back of the room. This class was one of the few that I shared with Caleb and his gang, and I watched as they entered the room a couple of minutes after me, their presence loud and imposing even though they didn't make any noise.

Almost all heads turned in their direction as they entered, but they simply went on to their seats right at the front row, talking and laughing to themselves as they did.

At exactly 2.15 PM, our biology teacher, Mr. Hemming, punctual as always, entered the room without so much as a greeting. He silently pulled out a stack of papers and began handing them out one by one-it was the test that he gave us earlier in the week.

When he called my name, I quickly got up to the front to see the result of my test. I wasn't the best nor the most motivated when it came to academics, but despite all that, I was still fairly confident about the exam. But this time, I thought I had aced the test.

I had studied for hours, staying up late the night before, memorizing every cell type, every part of the ecosystem, every equation. But as I got up to get my paper, my stomach twisted. There was that gut feeling-that sense of impending doom.

When Mr. Hemming handed me my paper, I froze. The bright red "F" at the top of the page stared back at me like a slap across the face. My heart dropped into my stomach. How? I couldn't understand it. My exam went fine. I remembered everything-didn't I? Hadn't I?

I stood there for a moment, stunned, my mind racing. The weight of failure pressed down on me harder than it should have. I tried to shake it off, to rationalize it, but it was hard to ignore the fact that everyone was watching.

I turned quickly to head back to my seat, hoping to just disappear, to slide into the shadows and pretend it hadn't happened. But before I could get far, someone's foot shot out, and I felt my legs give way beneath me.

The next thing I knew, I was on the floor. Pain shot up my elbows and knees, and I winced as I tried to push myself up. "Ouch!" I yelped, causing everyone to laugh as they enjoyed my pain, while I tried my best to get myself together despite the pain.

Forcing my shame down, I scrambled to my feet, trying to quickly get back to my seat, but another hand came to snatch my paper away from me.

I looked up-Shane Matthews, Mia's rumored boyfriend, held the paper between his fingers, an amused expression on his face.

Great-just great. Because I had made his girlfriend angry earlier, he probably decided that it was the best time for payback. And unlike Mia, Shane wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty.

"Hey! Give it back!" I started to say, but his loud laugh overpowered my voice.

"An F!" he exclaimed, holding out the paper for everyone to see. "Are you serious? How the hell are you still in this school with grades like this?" That earned him an eruption of laughter from the class. I stared at the floor, not wanting to look anyone in the eye or watch their mocking stares.

It was bad enough that I hadn't gotten the score I thought I deserved; even worse now that I'm being publicly humiliated. I blinked back the tears that threatened to form. No, I would not give him or the class the satisfaction of seeing me cry. Once had been too much!

"How did you even graduate to this grade, freak?" he goaded. "Not only are you a charity case, but it seems that you're also hella stupid. Aren't you on a scholarship? Blue Hill High is wasting its time on such a useless student like you! Do they just give scholarships to anyone these days?"

That earned him another bout of laughter, and I could tell that he was satisfied by this, because he let his guard down slightly and lowered his arm just enough that I was able to snatch my paper away from him.

However, he was quick to react and tried to pull it away as I grabbed it, and the tug of war that proceeded between us finally made the paper rip down the middle, causing another bout of laughter as if I had just performed some clownish trick.

Finally, Shane let the paper go, and I quickly picked it up from the floor, cradling it against my chest.

"That's enough!" Mr. Hemming snapped at everyone before his venomous gaze turned to me. "Miss. Valentine, you should be ashamed considering your poor performance in the exam. Behave yourself!"

"But I-!" I tried to protest, but was cut off once again.

"Get back to your seat, Miss. Valentine! And stay back after class," Mr. Hemming continued. "You and I need to talk."

I couldn't help but notice that even though Mr. Hemming interrupted our little fight, he still put the entire blame on me and let Shane off without even a warning.

And I knew it was because of Shane's reputation. I was a nobody, and so I was the easier target. Shane and his group were the school's elite, whose parents funded most of the school's activities. So they were basically royalty.

The unfairness of it all left a gash on my chest. Still...there was nothing I could do about it. I had no power to go against the rich and famous people in my school, especially when I had no one to back me up.

"Is this understood?" he pressed, waiting for an answer.

I nodded before I slumped my shoulders in defeat, nodding, "Yes, sir."

"Alright," he said with a shrug. As I stumbled back to my seat at the far end of the room, I heard some sniggers from the other students, causing me to sigh at their behavior.

Wasn't it fun to be the spectator while others get bullied? No one wanted to mess with Caleb and his gang.

Finally, after a grueling forty-five minutes of photosynthesis, the bell finally rang, signaling the end of the day.

The entire class immediately packed up and started to clear out of the room one after the other. I stayed back as Mr. Hemming asked me, sitting quietly and drumming my fingers on the desk to alleviate some of my anxiety.

Waiting for the rest of the class to pour out, Mr. Hemming began to clear his table, putting away stacks of papers and markers.

I watched as Caleb and his friends were the last to leave the room. And I couldn't help but notice how he had his arm around Caroline again, gently escorting her out of the room.

And as much as I hated to acknowledge it, I felt a tightening sensation in my chest, like my heart was being squeezed by invisible fingers as I watched them leave together.

But why was I feeling this way... this twinge of jealousy? It was ridiculous! I had nothing to be jealous of; after all, they were a couple...weren't they?

But why did this weird sense of hope in my chest refuse to die? Why did I feel drawn towards Caleb like a moth to a flame?

And most of all...why did I feel this sense of foreboding in my gut that there was more that meets the eye?