CHAPTER 2: FRIENDLY FACES

LeeNa

Ugh, I know I'm

smart, but trigonometry really is the devil's math. What the hell? First day of

high school, and the teachers are already all over our backs, prepping us for

the SATs.

Bang!!

What's going on over

there? Who's that?

MIA

Already a great day.

Ugh! I could barely keep up with the lessons today, and it's just half the day.

"Fuck!" My books

scattered across the ground. Ugh, what the hell?

"Watch where you're

going, prima," I heard a dark-haired girl snap, glaring at me with disgust. She

bumped into me, I think. Either way, we're both at fault—why should I get

blamed?

"How about you take

your own advice?" I shot back, surprising her. Maybe I gave the wrong

impression that I could be bullied.

"What did you say to

me?" she replied, her anger palpable.

Ooh, now she looked

genuinely pissed. But my mouth had a mind of its own. "I said watch your step

next time, prima." I didn't even know what that meant, but I was hell-bent on

getting under her skin.

Splash!

I guess she figured

out how to cool me down as she grabbed a smoothie from a kid nearby and

splashed it all over me.

"Know your place,"

she said, walking away without even a satisfied smirk.

I felt the stares of

others, drenched and embarrassed. I was cold, but I couldn't move my feet. My

ears burned, and my eyes tingled with tears. I was trying not to cry, but I

couldn't help it.

"It's fine, I have a

spare shirt in my locker," a voice said. I looked up to see a girl with kind

eyes. She pulled off her sweater and draped it over my shoulders. "Let's get

you out of here."

I could barely

respond as she led me away from prying eyes. "Thank you," I whispered, still

feeling the heat of humiliation wash over me.

"No problem," she

replied softly. "We'll get you cleaned up. It's only the first day; it can only

get better from here."

I nodded, grateful

but still shaken. "I hope so."

Unknown

The two girls walked

over to Leena's locker, passing a crowd of onlookers. Mia glanced around

uncomfortably, adjusting her damp sleeve as whispers trailed behind them.

Leena let out an

exaggerated sigh as she twisted the lock on her locker. "You'd think they've

never seen a soda spill before."

Mia chuckled dryly.

"Right? Like, come on, people, it's just liquid, not an alien invasion."

Leena smirked.

"Well, in this school, drama is everyone's favorite subject." She opened her

locker and rummaged through it. "I know I have an extra top in here somewhere…

Aha! Got it."

She pulled out a

folded T-shirt and handed it to Mia.

Mia hesitated for a

second. "Are you sure? I don't want to take your backup shirt if you might need

it later."

Leena waved her off.

"Please. It's been sitting in there for weeks. You'd actually be doing it a

favor by giving it a purpose."

Mia smiled. "Well,

when you put it like that…" She took the shirt, and they made their way to the

restroom.

Inside, Mia quickly

changed while Leena leaned against the sink, arms crossed.

"So, you new here?"

Leena asked.

Mia nodded. "Yeah,

just moved last week. First day and I'm already making a splash—literally."

Leena snorted.

"Could be worse. My first day here, I tripped on the stairs in front of the

entire soccer team. Pretty sure I made eye contact with at least three guys

mid-fall. It was humiliating."

Mia winced. "Oof.

That's rough."

"And that's not even

the best part." Leena shook her head. "I tried to play it off like it didn't

hurt, but my knee was bleeding, so I walked away like nothing happened… except

I was limping like a baby deer."

Mia burst out

laughing. "Okay, okay, I'll admit—that tops my soda incident."

Leena grinned. "Told

you. Anyway, my name's Leena, by the way."

Mia smiled back.

"I'm Mia."

Leena's eyes lit up.

"Mia Roosevelt? Wait—don't we have Trig together third period?"

Mia tilted her head.

"With Mr. Travis?"

Leena nodded

dramatically. "The one and only."

Mia groaned. "Oh,

God. That class is brutal."

Leena gasped.

"Right? I thought I was the only one suffering."

"Oh no, trust me.

Every time he starts writing equations on the board, I feel like I'm watching hieroglyphics."

Leena burst into

laughter. "Exactly! It's like, 'Sir, I'm begging you, speak human!'"

Mia grinned. "I

swear, I was convinced Trig was the de—"

"Devil's math!" they

both said at the same time, then gaped at each other before breaking into

laughter again.

"Jinx."

"Jinx again."

Mia shook her head,

still laughing. "Okay, we just became best friends, right? That's how this

works?"

Leena smirked.

"Pretty sure that's the law."

Mia pretended to

consider it. "Hmm. Well, since you were generous enough to loan me your sacred

backup T-shirt, I suppose I can accept the position."

Leena held out her

hand. "Welcome to the team, partner."

Mia shook it with

mock seriousness. "An honor and a privilege."

They smiled at each

other, already feeling the beginning of something special.

After freshening up,

they headed to their next class together. Fortunately, besides their first two

periods, they shared almost every other class.

For the first time

that day, Mia felt like things were finally starting to look up. Next stop—Chemistry.

MIA

Now, Chemistry—this

I could handle.

Luckily, they were a

bit behind compared to my former school's curriculum, so it was easier than I

expected. Balancing equations, atomic structures, periodic trends—I had no

problem keeping up. But despite my confidence, there was something… or rather,

someone distracting me.

A bud of yellow

caught my attention.

At first, I thought

it was just the lighting, but no—it was hair. Messy, golden hair that stood out

like a careless brushstroke on an otherwise neat canvas. The guy it belonged

to? Completely asleep at his desk.

I blinked.

How the hell does

someone fall asleep in Chemistry class?

Even more

surprising—the teacher either hadn't noticed or just didn't care. Everyone else

seemed to ignore him too, like this was normal. I knew it wasn't any of my

business, but I couldn't stop staring.

Almost on cue, Ms.

Lily stopped by his desk and tapped it lightly with her ruler.

Thwack.

The sound wasn't

even that loud, but the boy jolted awake like he'd been electrocuted.

"Can you explain to

the class what an ionic bond is?"

The room went

silent. Some students exchanged glances, already anticipating a disaster.

But the boy, just

blinked at her, completely unfazed. His expression was relaxed, like waking up

in the middle of a lecture was a daily occurrence.

Then, to everyone's

shock, he muttered in a groggy voice, "Do I have to?"

Half the class

gasped.

I wasn't any better.

My mouth might have been slightly open.

Ms. Lily, however,

didn't even flinch. She just waited.

The two locked eyes,

an unspoken challenge hanging in the air. It was like watching a stare-down

between a sleepy lion and a patient zookeeper.

Finally, after what

felt like ages, he sighed—long and dramatic, like he was being asked to recite

the entire periodic table.

"An ionic bond is

one between electronically positive elements like alkali metals and negative

elements, like halogens."

The class went quiet

again.

Ms. Lily simply

smiled. She knew he'd get it.

Then something

unexpected happened, she turned slightly and quirked an eyebrow at me.

Like she had heard

my silent question.

Like she was saying,

"Now you see why I didn't bother waking him up?"

Dude was a genius.

I felt my face heat

up. Why was I blushing? I quickly looked away, pretending to focus on my notes.

Leaning toward

Leena, I whispered, "Who's that?"

Leena, sitting

beside me, barely spared a glance before responding, "Noah Carter."

Like I was just

supposed to know who that was.

I rolled my eyes.

"And…?"

She finally turned

to me, her violet eyes flickering with something I couldn't quite place. "And

what?"

I stared

expectantly, waiting for more. She sighed, giving in.

"He's the son of Tom

Carter, one of the richest people in Darkview. They own a tech company, and

he's one of the heirs—along with his three douchebag brothers."

Something in her

tone shifted. Hostility.

Interesting.

Ordinarily, I'd let

it go. But something about the way she said it made me curious.

I leaned in,

smirking. "So… how do you know so much about him?"

Leena froze.

Like a rabbit caught

in a trap.

I burst out

laughing. I couldn't help it—her expression was priceless.

Unfortunately, I

forgot we were in class.

The room went dead

silent as every single head turned in our direction—including his.

Noah Carter.

His striking blue

eyes locked onto mine, piercing right through me.

Oh, crap.

I immediately felt

embarrassed, my laughter dying in my throat.

Ms. Lily sighed.

"Girls, do you want to share the joke with the entire class?"

Damn it. More

trouble on my first day.

Leena and I muttered

a synchronized, "Sorry, ma'am."

Ms. Lily gave us a

long look but decided we weren't worth the energy. She went back to her lesson,

and the class turned forward again.

Well, most of them.

I could still feel

him staring at me.

Slowly, I glanced

up.

Noah grinned. Not

just any grin—it was the kind of mischievous, lopsided smile an eight-year-old

would give after getting caught stealing cookies.

Then, he turned to

Leena… and winked.

My eyebrows shot up.

Okay. That wasn't

weird, was it?

Brrrrrng!

Lunchtime, finally!

I was starving.

Today had been long and way too eventful. I shot up from my seat, barely paying

attention to my surroundings, and—

"Ouch!"

Not again.

Who did I bump into

this time?

"I'm so sorry!" I

apologized instinctively, not even looking up. Maybe if I avoided eye contact,

I could dodge another smoothie bath.

Then, I heard it.

A chuckle.

Great. Glad to see

I'm entertaining someone.

I finally looked up.

And there he was.

Noah. Freaking.

Carter.

Of course.

What was this—a

romance novel? Because it sure felt like the universe was pushing this

mysterious, blue-eyed, too-cool-for-school guy into my path.

Noah smirked. "You

really should be more careful." His voice was light, teasing, but something

about it made me think he knew about my earlier smoothie disaster.

I just stared at him

silently.

Noah tilted his

head. "Cat got your tongue?"

I snapped out of it.

"No, I—" I shook my head. "Never mind."

He chuckled again,

clearly amused. "I'm Noah."

I noticed

something—he didn't say his last name. Like he didn't want me to know who he

was.

Too bad for him.

"Mia Roosevelt. And

I know who you are."

As soon as the words

left my mouth, I cringed. Ew. That sounded stalkerish.

Noah quirked a brow,

and—of course—burst into laughter again.

"You're funny, Mia."

He grinned. "Friend of Leena?"

So they did know

each other.

Curious, I glanced

over at Leena.

She was staring at

us, her violet eyes dark with something close to spite.

Correction—not at

us. At Noah.

Yeah. I needed to

leave.

I forced a polite

smile. "Well, nice meeting you, Noah, but we have to get lunch now."

I turned quickly,

hoping to make a clean getaway.

"That's great! I'll

join you guys."

Dude. Take a hint.

I turned back and

stared him down, trying to telepathically scream NO.

Noah just smiled

like he was enjoying this.

Leena suddenly

spoke. "Let's go, Mia."

Then, without

waiting, she turned and walked out.

I hurried after her,

and—of course—so did Noah.

Even though she

clearly didn't like him, Leena seemed unbothered by his presence as we made our

way to the cafeteria.

Me, on the other

hand?

I had a feeling

lunch was about to get very interesting.

———

I could barely eat.

Not because I wasn't

hungry—trust me, I was starving—but because the tension at our table was so

thick, I felt like I was swallowing air instead of food.

Leena hadn't touched

her meal either, which told me she wasn't as unbothered as she was pretending

to be.

The silence

stretched between us, heavy.

Finally, she set

down her fork and looked up at Noah. "What are you doing here, Noah?"

The moment their

eyes met, I saw it—her resolve softened.

Noah, as usual,

looked completely unfazed. "What's the problem, Leena? Can't I be friends with

Mia?"

At the mention of my

name, I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

Trust me, it's no

fun being in the middle of a fight you know nothing about.

Leena scoffed, her

fingers tightening around her tray. "Since when did what I want start to

matter?"

For the first time,

I saw Noah's expression falter. His usual smirk disappeared, and something

unreadable flickered in his blue eyes.

"What you wanted

always mattered to me."

Nope. Nope. Not

getting caught up in this.

I threw my hands up.

"Okay—can someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?"

I might have

mini-screamed, but can you blame me? I was frustrated.

Leena looked away,

clearly not in the mood to explain.

Noah, however, had

no problem. "I'm her ex."

I gasped.

Not just because he

admitted they dated—though, yeah, that was shocking—but because of how he said

it.

He didn't just say,

"She's my ex."

He said, "I'm her

ex."

Like Leena had been

the one to end things.

And the way he said

it—it wasn't bitter, wasn't mocking. Just… honest.

I snuck a glance at

Leena and caught it—the faintest blush dusting her cheeks. She noticed the

wording too.

Huh. Interesting.

I leaned back. "That

makes sense." I stabbed at my food. "So, what do you want?"

Noah shrugged, once

again playing it cool. "To call a truce."

A truce?

I expected some

grand romantic confession, some 'I want you back' speech. But this? It didn't

feel like he was trying to win her over.

Leena's eyes

narrowed. "A truce?"

Noah nodded. "I'm

throwing a bonfire party tomorrow night. End of summer, new school year. You

guys should come, I heard there will be a meteor shower show."

He was only looking

at Leena when he said it.

I tilted my head.

Not suspicious at all.

Before Leena could

say anything, I grinned. "Sure! We'll see if we can make it."

Leena's head snapped

toward me so fast I swore she almost got whiplash.

She's the one who

declared me her best friend ,hope she knows what she signed up for.

I tried to hide my

smirk, but I couldn't.

Satisfied, Noah

stood up. "See you guys tomorrow, then."

And just like that,

he was gone.

I could feel Leena's

glare burning into me.

But hey! what was

done was done.

After that, lunch

was surprisingly normal well, once I begged Leena to talk to me again.

She finally caved

after I bribed her with my chocolate milk.

(Worth it.)

The rest of the

school day went by fast, and before I knew it the day was over.

And tomorrow?

Tomorrow, I had a

feeling things were about to get a whole lot more interesting.