Riley stood frozen as the hallway buzzed with confusion. The distant sound of something shattering—glass or maybe ceramic—echoed in her ears, layered beneath the screams and frantic murmurs of her classmates. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest, torn between heeding Zayden's warning to stay put and her own instincts screaming at her to move.
She chose to move.
Pushing through the sea of panicked students, Riley followed the path Zayden had taken, weaving through the crowd with purpose. When she finally found him, he was standing in one of the empty classrooms at the end of the corridor, his fists clenched at his sides, his jaw tight.
The room was a mess—desks overturned, chairs scattered, and glass from a broken window glittering on the floor like malicious confetti. The message was clear. This wasn't just vandalism.
It was a warning.
"What happened?" Riley asked breathlessly, stepping beside him.
Zayden didn't look at her immediately. His eyes scanned the room with a deadly calm, as if cataloging every piece of the destruction.
"They're escalating," he finally muttered. "Whoever sent that text... they're not just playing games anymore. They want you scared. They want me distracted."
Riley looked at him, her chest rising and falling. "You think this is about me?"
Zayden turned to her, the tension in his gaze sharp. "No. I know it is."
Before she could respond, he pulled something from the floor near the broken window—a photo. Her photo. It was the same one from her school ID, but someone had scrawled across it in red ink:
"She doesn't belong here."
Riley's throat tightened. "They're really doing this..."
He nodded grimly. "They want you gone, Riley. And they're getting bold."
There was a silence between them, thick and loaded. Riley tried to keep her voice steady when she finally spoke. "Then we don't back down."
Zayden's gaze flickered—half proud, half conflicted. "You're not just some tomboy on a scholarship anymore," he said. "You've walked into a world where people fight dirty. They'll use every secret, every weakness, just to win."
"Let them try," Riley said, lifting her chin. "I've fought my whole life to stand on my own. I'm not about to break now."
Zayden stared at her for a long moment before stepping closer. "Then we do this together."
She nodded, feeling her nerves settle—just a little. With him by her side, the fear didn't consume her as much.
But as the sun set on Crestwood Elite Academy that evening, Riley knew this was just the beginning. The line between enemies and allies was starting to blur. And somewhere in the shadows, someone was waiting—watching—ready to pull the strings of chaos.
She just didn't know who yet.