Yanina’s POV

The iron gates of Lakewood High School loomed in the distance, and with every rotation of the car tires, a volatile cocktail of dread and wild anticipation twisted tighter in my stomach. It was a suffocating feeling, the kind that makes your chest feel restricted and your throat completely dry. Today was supposed to be a massive turning point for me. It was the ultimate fresh start, a clean slate I had spent months mentally preparing for, but my social anxiety was currently screaming in the back of my mind, threatening to tear down my carefully constructed walls.

Meeting new people has never been my strong suit. In fact, it was my absolute worst nightmare. I was the girl who preferred the safety of a quiet corner, invisible and undisturbed, rather than being the center of attention.

I looked down at my lap. My hands were shaking so violently that my fingers looked like a blur. It was a dead giveaway, my ultimate tell whenever the panic began to creep in. But before the spiral could completely pull me under, a warm, solid hand gently covered mine, pinning my trembling fingers against my jeans.

Ace.

My older brother was the only person on the planet who truly knew how to ground me when my brain started misfiring. He had this innate ability to read my silence, knowing exactly when the noise in my head was becoming too loud to handle.

"Take it easy, Yanina," he said softly. He kept his eyes fixed firmly on the morning traffic, but the reassuring, calm smile playing on his lips was entirely for me. "You're going to do great today. There’s absolutely nothing to freak out about, I promise."

"Easy for you to say," I muttered, managing a faint, watery smile in return. I pulled my hand back to nervously tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. "You actually know how to function around human beings. I’m terrible at this. I've never had to deal with an entirely blank slate full of total strangers before. It’s overwhelming."

Ace let out a soft, low laugh, completely ignoring the sharp glare I shot him. "Just take a second to breathe before you open your mouth, okay? Don't overthink it. Just breathe. You've got this, sis."

I gave him a silent nod as the car finally pulled up to the crowded curb right in front of the school’s main entrance. Taking one last, deep chest breath to steady my racing heart, I clicked off my seatbelt. I grabbed the strap of my backpack, braced myself, and pushed the heavy passenger door open.

Of course, the very second my feet hit the concrete pavement, the shift in the environment was instantaneous. The chaotic morning chatter of the nearest groups died down to a heavy, suffocating silence. It was immediately replaced by pointed stares, nudged elbows, and hushed whispering. Perfect, I thought, suppressing a miserable groan as I stood by the car. Exactly the kind of attention I was desperately hoping to avoid on day one.

Ace stepped out of the driver's side and walked around the hood, leaning against the frame with an encouraging, proud grin. "Head up, Yanina. Walk through those doors and show them you aren't intimidated by anyone."

His unwavering confidence in me provided a small, much-needed burst of courage. I smiled back, genuinely this time, feeling the warmth of his support. He stepped forward, gave me a quick, comforting kiss on the forehead, yelled a final goodbye, and hopped back into the driver's seat. I stood frozen on the sidewalk, watching his tail lights slowly vanish down the street into the morning mist, feeling suddenly and terrifyingly exposed. With one final breath, I turned my back to the road and faced the heavy front doors of Lakewood High.

Stepping into the main hallway felt exactly like walking onto a theater stage without knowing any of my lines. The whispers followed me like a bad echo, bouncing off the rows of lockers. Just ignore them, Yanina. Just keep moving forward. I kept my eyes focused straight ahead, navigating the sea of unfamiliar faces as I made a straight line toward the administrative office to track down my paperwork.

When I walked through the office door, a middle-aged woman was hunched over a veritable mountain of paperwork behind the front desk. I froze in the center of the room for a solid two minutes, completely paralyzed by my own mind, trying to frantically rehearse a simple, casual greeting. It felt incredibly pathetic to be this terrified of a secretary, but I finally forced my feet to move forward.

"Hi... sorry to bother you," I stammered. My voice cracked slightly on the first syllable, the words tripping over each other in a clumsy rush. "I’m a new senior... Yanina Miller. I’m just trying to pick up my schedule and locker info?"

I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole. Why did I have to stutter like a nervous toddler?

The woman didn't even bother to look up at me. She simply let out a heavy, tired sigh, reached into a massive filing cabinet to her left, pulled out a single printed sheet, and slid it across the counter without a single glance. Talk about a warm welcome to a new town.

"Thanks," I muttered to the top of her head, snatching the paper and making a incredibly swift exit back into the hallway.

According to the printout, I was assigned to locker 55. I bypassed it for now and scanned my classes for the day, trying to memorize the layout:

1st Period: English (Room 101) – At least I actually like English.

2nd Period: History (Room 94)

3rd Period: Art (Room 102) – Definitely looking forward to this one.

4th Period: Calculus (Room 86)

Lunch

5th Period: Chemistry (Room 85)

6th Period: P.E. (Gym)

7th Period: Biology (Room 84)

It wasn't a terrible lineup, but a sudden wave of fresh panic hit me when I realized I had absolutely no clue where Room 101 actually was. I checked the digital clock on the wall—7:42 AM. The first morning bell was scheduled to ring in exactly eight minutes, and the hallways were rapidly turning into a chaotic, frantic blur of students rushing in every possible direction.

Spotting a classroom plaque labeled Room 91 nearby gave me a sudden clue; if the nineties were down here, the triple digits had to be upstairs. Thank goodness I ran track at my old school, because I had to weave through the dense crowd like a football player and sprint up the concrete stairwell just to beat the countdown.

I burst through the door of Room 101 with only two minutes to spare. Like clockwork, a dozen heads turned instantly to track my entrance. Scanning the rapidly filling room for a safe place to land, I noticed a girl sitting near the back windows. She was completely absorbed in her phone, totally detached from the classroom drama. Best of all, there was an empty desk right next to her left side.

I approached her slowly, trying my best to project a level of confidence I didn't actually possess. "Hey, sorry to bother you, but is anyone sitting here?"

She looked up from her screen, and I was instantly struck by how genuinely striking she was. She had bright, intelligent hazel eyes, a natural radiant glow that barely required any makeup, and strawberry blonde hair falling perfectly past her shoulders. Instead of giving me a cold, judgmental stare, her lips curved into a warm, incredibly welcoming smile.

"No, go ahead! It's all yours," she said, gesturing to the chair.

"Thank you so much," I replied, letting out a massive sigh of relief as I slid into the plastic chair and dropped my bag.

"Of course. You're the new girl, right?" she asked, turning entirely in her seat to face me.

My anxiety flared back up instantly, making my skin prickle. "Yeah... wait, is it really that obvious?"

She laughed softly, a pleasant, easy sound. "Well, Lakewood is a pretty small town. Word travels incredibly fast when someone new shows up, especially a senior. It’s been years since we had a new face around here. I'm Amy Lockwood, by the way." She extended her hand across the small gap between our desks.

"Yanina Miller. Nice to meet you, Amy."

We shook hands, and Amy gave me one last friendly nod before dropping her attention back down to her phone, her thumbs flying across the screen as if she was answering a major crisis.

I wanted to ask her about the empty seat on her other side, but before I could get the words out, the classroom door flew open with a loud, dramatic thud.

"I made it! Barely alive, but I made it!" a brunette girl gasped. She was completely out of breath as she practically collapsed into the vacant chair on Amy's right. A few people nearby snickered at the loud entrance, but she completely ignored them, tossing her bag onto the floor.

Amy immediately reached over and playfully smacked her arm. "Are you serious right now? You absolute brat, I’ve been texting you for twenty minutes! I thought you got into a car accident!"

"Ow! Calm down, violent woman," the brunette complained, rubbing her arm with a dramatic, exaggerated pout. "My alarm didn't go off, my phone died, and I had to literally sprint from the far parking lot. I’m sorry, okay?"

Amy rolled her eyes but couldn't hide the amused smile tugging at her lips. She turned back to face me, gesturing toward her chaotic friend. "Yanina, this disaster of a human is my best friend, Amadine. Amadine, this is Yanina."

Amadine beamed at me, her energy just as bright and inviting as Amy's. "Hey, Yanina! Just call me Amadine. Don't listen to her, I'm the normal one."

"Nice to meet you, Amadine," I smiled, finally starting to feel the heavy tension leave my shoulders for the first time all morning.

"Since you're completely new to this jungle, why don't you just stick with us today?" Amy offered kindly. "We can show you where your next classes are and you can sit with us at lunch. Save you from getting totally lost or eaten alive by the cliques."

A massive rush of relief washed over me, soothing the last of my nerves. But before I could even vocalize how thankful I was, the final bell cut through the room, and the teacher walked in to start the session. I looked back at Amy and gave her an enthusiastic nod.

"I'd honestly love that. Thank you."

Amy and Amadine exchanged a delighted, silent squeal that instantly earned them a sharp warning look from the teacher at the board. I couldn't help but chuckle softly as I pulled out my notebook. Maybe this place wasn't going to be a disaster after all. Against all odds, I had actually made friends.

Yanina’s POV

Have you ever sat through a class that felt like an absolute, never-ending eternity? That was precisely the torture I was enduring during my very first period at Lakewood High.

When the teacher had first marched into the room and introduced himself as Mr. Liam Anderson, my stomach had dropped. I fully expected him to do the typical, agonizing teacher routine: announce to the room that they had a new transfer student, and then force me to stand up and deliver a terribly awkward introductory speech about myself. But to my immense relief, the exact opposite happened. Instead of putting me on display, Mr. Anderson merely waved me up to his desk to hand over a packet of school guidelines. He gave me a brief, monotone lecture about graduation requirements and maintaining proper student discipline—stuff I already thoroughly understood from my old school—before dismissing me back to my seat.

From there, he immediately launched into a dense, incredibly dry lecture on whatever topic the class was currently covering. If I'm being completely honest, I probably should have been taking notes or trying to catch up, but a quick glance around the room revealed that absolutely no one else was paying attention either. The entire class was checked out, completely absorbed in their own private worlds, passing notes or scrolling under their desks.

Coming from a strict, highly regimented boarding school environment, the total lack of structure felt incredibly jarring. At my old school, if your eyes drifted from the chalkboard for even a second, you’d be reprimanded on the spot. Here, it was total anarchy by comparison. I tried so hard to force my brain to concentrate on Mr. Anderson's droning voice, but my mind kept drifting. Eventually, I just gave up. It was a bizarre feeling, honestly—I couldn't remember the last time I had just entirely thrown in the towel on a lesson, but the sheer exhaustion of the morning had finally caught up to me.

When the sharp chime of the bell finally cut through the air ten minutes later, a massive, involuntary sigh of relief escaped my lips. I practically shoved my notebook into my backpack, threw the strap over my shoulder, and eager to escape, darted out into the hallway. One down, I thought. Six to go.

As soon as I cleared the doorway, I spotted Amy and Amadine standing by the lockers. A sudden wave of gratitude hit me; in my rush to escape the classroom, I had almost forgotten their promise to escort me through the labyrinth of hallways.

"Hey!" Amadine called out as I approached.

We traded quick, relieved hellos before heading down toward the ground floor corridors. As it turned out, my luck was actually holding up—we all shared the exact same second-period History class. Having two familiar faces walking beside me made the oppressive weight of the crowded hallway feel a little lighter.

"So, Yanina," Amy started, turning her head toward me as we navigated the throng of students. "Do you want the official, inside scoop on this place? Oh, wait—is it cool if I call you Yanina? Yanina just feels so formal, kind of like how Amadine is a mouthful, but then again, I literally just used your full name, and honestly, my brain just moves faster than my mouth sometimes, so—"

Before Amy could finish her mile-a-minute sentence, Amadine reached over and solidly swatted the back of her head. I froze in surprise, my eyes widening at the casual violence, but I was even more amazed by how fast Amy could actually talk without taking a single breath.

"Ow! You absolute psycho, that actually hurt!" Amy hissed, instantly stopping her monologue to rub the back of her head, throwing a barrage of creative curses in Amadine's direction. It didn't take long to realize that Amy had quite the colorful vocabulary when provoked.

"Well, I'm sorry, but would you please stop rambling about syllables and save the campus tour for later?" Amadine countered, shooting Amy an incredibly pointed look. "If you haven't noticed, we are actually going to be late for History, and Mr. Harrison does not play around with the tardy bell. Besides, I'm sure Yanina would much rather hear your entire life story over lunch anyway. Right, Yanina?"

I bit the inside of my cheek, doing everything in my power to keep from bursting out laughing right there in the middle of the hall. They were total polar opposites—Amy was a chaotic, fast-talking ball of energy, while Amadine was the pragmatic, sharp-tongued voice of reason. I honestly had no idea how two people so fundamentally different had managed to become inseparable best friends.

"Yeah, absolutely," I managed to say, offering Amy a reassuring smile. "Yanina is totally fine. And the school breakdown can definitely wait until we have food."

Amy pouted for a fraction of a second before her bright smile returned, nodding in agreement. We slipped into the History classroom just as the final bell echoed through the PA system. This time, thankfully, the material was actually engaging, and I found myself genuinely paying attention to the lesson.

The rest of the morning flew by in a blur of unfamiliar hallways, and before I knew it, the chaotic roar of the lunch bell signaled the middle of the day.

Periods three and four had been a bit of an awkward, lonely struggle simply because Amy and Amadine weren't in either of those blocks with me. Navigating those classrooms entirely on my own had brought back a nagging hint of my morning anxiety. Fortunately, they had kept their promise to meet me right outside my fourth-period door the second class let out. Seeing their familiar, warm smiles waiting for me in the hallway felt like a lifesaver.

Together, we navigated the heavy traffic flowing into the massive, sunlit cafeteria. We grabbed our trays from the lunch line and threaded our way through the rows of tables, ultimately settling on a long rectangular table situated right in the dead center of the room.

As I pulled out my chair, a strange, prickling sensation began to creep up the back of my neck. I couldn't quite pinpoint why my intuition was suddenly on high alert, but it probably had something to do with the fact that Amy and Amadine had deliberately left three empty seats right next to us, as if they were saving space for someone specific.

Shaking off the uneasy feeling, I sat down and took a quiet bite of my sandwich. My curiosity about Lakewood High was burning, and since the table was relatively quiet, I decided it was the perfect time to restart our earlier conversation.

"So, Amy," I began, setting my sandwich down. "You mentioned earlier that you were going to give me the real rundown on this school?"

The moment the question left my mouth, Amy stopped mid-chew. A brilliant, dangerously bright smile spread across her face. I immediately shot a desperate, questioning glance over at Amadine, silently asking, What did I just unleash?

Amadine didn't say a word. She just rolled her eyes at her best friend's dramatic shift in demeanor, shrugged her shoulders, and silently mouthed the words: Get ready.

Before I could even process the warning, Amy launched into her presentation. "Okay, so first things first: most of the faculty here are actually pretty cool, assuming you stay on their good side. But whatever you do, pray you never get assigned to Mrs. Mebbin. She is a certified, card-carrying bi—well, let’s just say she’s not exactly a fan of teenagers. You know the type."

I nodded, suppressing a chuckle, and gestured for her to keep going.

"And our campus layout is decent. The swimming pool is actually massive, but the gymnasium..." Amy paused, letting out a dramatic, suffering groan. "Ugh, it’s a total nightmare. The P.E. coaches make you work until you are completely drenched in sweat, and honestly, it is just living hell. I can’t even describe how gross it is." She rolled her eyes, making a highly exaggerated face of pure disgust.

"Sounds to me like you just really hate working out," I teased softly.

Amadine chimed in with a smirk. "Oh, trust me, Yanina. There is a very, very long list of things our resident Queen Amy thoroughly despises."

Amy scoffed loudly, tossing a carrot stick at Amadine before turning her undivided attention back to me. "Anyway! The point is, I am your ultimate source for all campus data. I make it my personal business to know exactly who is who in this town. Every clique, every rumor, every single boy."

"Speaking of boys," Amadine interrupted, her eyebrows wiggling mischievously as a wicked smirk spread across her lips. "Where exactly is Rio today? I haven't seen his truck in the parking lot all morning."

The confident aura Amy had been projecting instantly shattered. She choked slightly on her drink, coughing awkwardly as a sudden flush hit her cheeks. "Oh, please," she muttered, rolling her eyes with a bit too much force. "I am honestly thrilled he’s skipping. Today has been wonderfully peaceful without him."

My internal confusion meter was officially off the charts. I looked between the two of them, completely out of the loop. "Uh, guys? Who exactly is Rio?"

Amadine leaned forward eagerly. "He's—"

But whatever explanation Amadine was about to give was completely cut off by a booming, distinct male voice echoing across the cafeteria. Seriously? I thought to myself, a bit annoyed. What is it with people constantly interrupting conversations today?

"What's up, babes?!" the voice shouted.

I instinctively turned my head toward the cafeteria entrance, and the sight nearly made me freeze. Three incredibly good-looking guys were sauntering into the room. The entire cafeteria seemed to shift on its axis; half the students were staring at them in sheer awe, a few teachers looked on with visible exhaustion, and a good portion of the girls in the room were practically drooling.

To my absolute horror, the trio was walking directly toward our table.

The boy who had shouted the greeting was leading the pack. He had light brown hair, an easy, confident stride, and a distinctly athletic build that was completely emphasized by a tight blue t-shirt, dark jeans, and classic converse.

Walking just behind him was a second guy who carried himself with a more laid-back, effortless charm. He had a mop of slightly curly black hair, a model-esque physique, and was dressed in a casual grey tee and dark denim. As his eyes scanned our table, a friendly, easygoing smile crossed his face.

But it was the boy walking right in the center of the group that completely caught me off guard. Let's just say he was, without a doubt, the most striking person I had ever seen in my life. He had a messy, perfectly chaotic mane of dark hair and was wearing a classic black leather jacket over a plain white tee, paired with ripped blue jeans. There was a dangerous, magnetic aura radiating off him that made my heart do a sudden, violent flip.

And then, his dark eyes locked directly onto mine.

He didn't break eye contact for a single second as they closed the distance to our table. A intense, burning blush immediately crept up my neck and flooded my face. Panicking, I forced myself to look away, staring intently down at my half-eaten sandwich. I was completely out of my depth here; dealing with normal people was hard enough, but dealing with guys like him was an entirely different story.

I glanced over at my friends to see how they were reacting. Amadine still had that identical, highly amused smirk plastered across her face, but Amy had gone completely rigid, her posture incredibly tense.

"Amy?" I whispered under my breath, leaning in slightly. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Amy let out a long, defeated sigh, her voice dropping to a cautious murmur. "Yanina... meet the self-proclaimed bad boys of Lakewood High."

The very second the words left her mouth, the three boys slid effortlessly into the empty seats right next to us. A fresh wave of intense nervousness washed over me, trapping the air in my lungs. My mind was suddenly spinning with a million frantic questions. But two specific thoughts kept overriding everything else: Why had the loud, bubbly Amy suddenly gone completely silent? And if these guys were truly the dangerous, rule-breaking bad boys of the school... why on earth were they sitting with us?

Callum’s POV

Fourth period was a designated free block on our schedules, which practically translated to eighty-five minutes of doing absolutely nothing productive. My boys and I were currently killing time on the concrete steps of the back stairwell, a secluded little corner of the building where the hall monitors rarely bothered to check. Rio, Lestrade, and I basically ran this section of the school. Even though both of them could be absolute, grade-A idiots ninety percent of the time, they weren't just my best friends—they were my brothers. When my life had completely hit rock bottom a while back and the rest of the world felt like it was crashing down around me, they were the only ones who actually threw me a lifeline. They had given me the kind of unwavering loyalty and support I needed to survive it, entirely ignoring the fact that, at their core, they were both complete dickheads.

If you knew anything about the social hierarchy at Lakewood High, you knew my name: Callum Bradshaw. I was the school's resident player, a title that had been pinned on me early junior year and one that I hadn’t exactly fought to get rid of. To be completely honest, I was far more proud of being a known player than being a fake, manipulative human being like Tanya—my absolute nightmare of an ex-girlfriend who treated people like disposable chess pieces.

"Hey, did you guys hear about the new transfer student yet?" Rio asked out of nowhere, breaking the quiet hum of the stairwell as he tossed an empty water bottle between his hands.

Lestrade didn't even bother to look up from his phone, his face a picture of pure, unadulterated boredom as his thumbs flew across the screen. "Yeah, I heard a rumor about it. It's a girl, right? Why do you care so much?"

Let me give you the quick, necessary breakdown on these two goofs. Rio is a textbook case of a guy who never, ever misses an opportunity to get laid with random girls. He would jump at anything that breathed. Will, on the other hand, is definitely a player too, but he carries himself with a totally different vibe. He’s a lot more selective than Rio, hiding behind a laid-back attitude. You know exactly what I mean—he actually has standards.

"Because she's not just any girl," Rio insisted, his entire demeanor shifting as he sat up straighter, his eyes lighting up like a stubborn child on Christmas morning. "I caught a glimpse of her walking into the front office with some guy this morning. Man, let me tell you, she is absolutely hot as hell."

I rolled my eyes hard, leaning the back of my head against the cold concrete wall of the stairwell. "Shut up, you idiot. Every single girl who walks through the front doors of this school is hot as hell according to you. You’d say the exact same thing about Nina."

Look, I might have a reputation for playing the field and moving from girl to girl, but I don’t just chase after anyone who smiles in my direction. I have lines I don't cross. A girl actually has to be my specific type to catch my attention, or I'm completely uninterested.

Rio looked at me like I had just insulted his entire lineage. "What? Nina?! Okay, first of all, yeah, I agree that she’s pretty hot, but she’s also my literal first cousin! I never said I wanted to fuck her, man! Why would you even say that?"

"Then where exactly did the thought of fucking your little cousin come from, Rio?" Will interjected, finally looking up from his phone with a deep expression of pure disgust written all over his face.

"Yeah, and did you suddenly forget about Amy?" I chimed in, a victorious, wicked smirk crossing my face. I knew exactly which buttons to press to shut his moronic mouth down instantly.

Right on cue, Rio’s confident facade shattered. A deep, undeniable flush of crimson rushed up his neck and flooded his cheeks. Total, utter shutdown. He was completely whipped, and he didn't even have the girl yet.

"Fuck off," he muttered defensively, aggressively running a hand through his messy brown hair to hide his burning face. "Guys, she doesn't even like me. She thinks I’m a joke. Stop teasing me about her."

To clarify the situation a little more clearly: our resident, unapologetic fuckboy Rio was completely, helplessly head over heels for Amy Lockwood. The ultimate catch? Amy knew his reputation all too well and treated him like a toxic plague because of his player ways. She wouldn't give him the time of day, which only made him chase her harder.

"Well, maybe she'd stop hating your guts if you gave up the thought of sleeping with your own family members," Will joked, leaning over to give Rio a heavy, mocking pat on the shoulder.

Rio was practically fuming with anger now, his eyes darting between the two of us as his jaw clenched. Will and I couldn't hold it in anymore; we both burst out laughing at the absolute misery and fury radiating off his face.

"I genuinely hate both of you guys!" Rio grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting like a frustrated toddler.

"Sure you do, dickhead," I laughed, still chuckling as I extended a hand to exchange a crisp high-five with Lestrade.

Right as our hands connected, the loud, intrusive chime of the school bell echoed through the PA system, indicating that fourth period was officially over and it was finally time for lunch.

I stood up, rolling my shoulders and stretching my arms out to get the stiffness out of my muscles after sitting on the stairs for so long. But before I could even take a single step forward, a pair of manicured hands unexpectedly wrapped around my waist from behind, pinning me against a soft body.

"I missed you so much, baby," a sweet, entirely toxic voice purred against the fabric of my jacket.

My stomach instantly turned into a tight knot. I didn't even need to spin around to know that the voice belonged to none other than Tanya, my relentless ex. I aggressively swatted her hands away from my body, turning on my heel to face her with a look of pure annoyance.

"What do you want, Tanya?" I said through gritted teeth, my voice dangerously low.

"Baby..." She took a deliberate step closer to me, her hands reaching out to touch my chest, but I held up a sharp, warning hand, signaling for her to back off.

"Don't even start," I snapped. "I'm not your baby anymore, and we are completely done. Why don't you go run off to your sweet new toy, Caleb? I'm sure he's looking for you."

Tanya fluttered her long, fake eyelashes, putting on her best dramatic, sorrowful act. It was pathetic. "But Callum, Caleb is nothing like you! He's boring. I made a mistake, okay? I want you, Callum, and I know deep down that you still want me too..."

"Listen to me, you absolute whore, we have had more than enough of your psychological crap!" Rio suddenly burst out, stepping up right to my side, his temper flaring on my behalf. "Take the hint and get the hell away from here."

Tanya glared at him, her mouth opening to fire off an insult. "You—"

"He's right," I cut her off entirely, a low growl rippling through my chest as I stepped into her personal space to look down at her. "You lost me a long time ago, Tanya, and I don't want your drama anywhere near my life. So stay the fuck away from me."

I didn't give her a single second to start a massive scene in the stairwell. I turned around and went directly toward the double doors leading to the cafeteria, not wanting to deal with another single second of her manipulation. Will and Rio fell into step right beside me, matching my aggressive stride.

"What a spoiled brat..." Will muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Yeah. Let's just not talk about her, okay? It ruins my appetite," I replied, forcing my hands into my pockets. Tanya had already done enough damage to my reputation and my sanity, and I wasn't going to give her a single opportunity to destroy anything else.

Shaking away the lingering anger from my thoughts, I pushed open the heavy doors and stepped inside the chaotic, noisy cafeteria. As soon as we cleared the threshold, Rio did his usual, obnoxious routine, yelling out over the crowd: "What's up, babes?!"

Right on cue, half the room turned their heads to stare directly in our direction as we began our walk down the center aisle toward our usual table. It had become a daily routine at this point, an unwritten rule that everyone watched the three of us walk in.

But as my eyes scanned our usual spot in the dead center of the room, I stopped dead in my tracks. There was a third girl sitting right at our table, slotted between Amy and Amadine.

She hadn't noticed our grand entrance yet because she was leaning forward, staring at my friends with a small, confused frown playing on her forehead. And man... Rio hadn't been exaggerating in the slightest.

She was beautiful.

Suddenly, as if sensing the shift in the room, her head turned, and her eyes locked right onto mine. In that exact second, I was completely damned.

She looked like an actual angel that had dropped straight out of heaven. She was so stunning, so entirely gorgeous, that it felt like the air had been knocked clear out of my lungs. She didn't have a single drop of obvious makeup on her skin, but she still managed to look entirely flawless, putting every other girl in the cafeteria to shame. Her eyes were a deep, mesmerizing ocean blue, and her pink, luscious lips were slightly parted in sheer surprise as she stared back at me. God, a sudden, primal urge hit me, and I wanted nothing more than to taste those lips right then and there.

A dark, intense pink blush quickly crept over her pale face, and she abruptly ripped her gaze away from mine, staring intensely down at her lap.

Definitely, 100% my type.

A slow, confident smirk spread across my face as we finally closed the distance to the table. I walked around to the empty side and deliberately sat down in the plastic chair directly opposite of her. The very second I claimed the seat, she became visibly nervous, keeping her eyes glued to her lap, her fingers twisting together nervously. Was she really that intimidated by our presence? Or was it just me?

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the table, completely ignoring the chatter of my friends around me. I didn't care about the food or the crowd. I just desperately wanted to see those beautiful, ocean blue orbs look back up at me just one more time.

Suddenly, as if she couldn't help herself, she looked up and caught me staring intently at her. Our eyes locked for a second time, and once again, I was completely lost in her gaze.