JAY'S POV
I didn't sit.
I stepped inside and stopped.
Just stood there.
Let the room take me in.
Fifteen boys. Desks pushed back. Scars on knuckles. Violence worn casually, like second skin. This wasn't a classroom—it was a territory.
Their territory.
Eyes followed me as I slowly turned, taking in the walls, the windows, the energy humming under the surface. Some looked amused. Some irritated. A few looked curious.
None looked welcoming.
Good.
The door shut behind me.
"Alright," a calm voice said. "That's enough."
Sir Alvin.
Not angry. Not tired. Just steady.
He didn't tell me to sit.
Didn't tell me to move.
He gave me space.
"You must be our new transfer," he said, stepping closer. "Introduce yourself."
A few boys snorted.
I didn't look at them.
"Jasper Jean Mariano."
My voice cut through the room, clear and even.
"I'm not here to make friends."
Silence followed.
I met their stares without blinking.
"And if anyone here thinks of crossing me—"
a small pause, deliberate
"—don't."
That did it.
A low whistle. Someone laughed under their breath. A few faces hardened.
Sir Alvin studied me for a moment longer than necessary. Not judging. Measuring.
"Alright," he said finally. "You can take a seat."
Before I could move—
A chair shifted.
Slow. Intentional.
The kind of sound that carried weight.
The room stilled instantly.
I turned my head.
Mark Keifer Watson was on his feet.
President of Section E.
Tall. Still. Eyes dark and unreadable.
He didn't look at Sir Alvin.
He looked at me.
"She's in the wrong section," he said calmly.
No heat. No insult.
Just fact.
Sir Alvin didn't raise his voice. "She's where the administration placed her."
Keifer's jaw tightened slightly. "This section doesn't allow girls."
I tilted my head, finally addressing him.
"Rules change,sweetheart" I said quietly.
For the first time, something flickered in his eyes.
Interest.
Sir Alvin exhaled slowly, like he'd seen storms before and survived them.
"She stays," he said firmly. "Until she proves otherwise."
Keifer held my gaze a second longer.
Then he sat.
But the room didn't relax.
Because nothing had been settled.
And I was still standing—right where I wanted to be.
KEIFER'S POV
The moment the door opened, I knew something was wrong.
Not loud-wrong.
Not chaotic-wrong.
Off-wrong.
Section E felt it too. Conversations slowed. Cin stopped tapping his pen. Rory leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing. Even Blaster, who never shut up, went quiet mid-laugh.
Then I saw her.
A girl.
Standing in the doorway like she hadn't just walked into the most volatile section in HVIS.
Black boots. Chin lifted. Eyes cold. Not lost—measuring. Like she was counting heads, exits, threats.
Chaos didn't explode immediately.
It simmered.
"Yo," Josh muttered.
"No way," Eman whispered.
"Is this a joke?" Drew snorted.
David craned his neck for a better look. Edrix let out a low whistle. Denzel's eyebrows shot up like he'd just been offered front-row seats to a fight. Felix and Calix exchanged looks—half amused, half intrigued.
Mayo grinned. "President, you seein' this?"
I didn't answer.
Because I was watching her.
She didn't rush to a seat. Didn't flinch under the attention. She stepped inside and stopped—just stood there like the room belonged to her now.
That's when the noise started.
"Wrong class."
"She lost?"
"Yo, Section E went co-ed now?"
"Sir Alvin tryna get us expelled?"
Yuri leaned closer to me, voice low. "You want me to handle it?"
"Not yet," I murmured.
She turned slowly, eyes dragging across the room. Cin stiffened when her gaze passed him. Rory smirked like he was already planning trouble. Blaster cracked his knuckles.
No fear.
That was the problem.
Sir Alvin shut the door.
"That's enough," he said calmly.
The room obeyed—mostly. Murmurs faded into a restless buzz.
"You must be our new transfer," Sir Alvin said to her. "Introduce yourself."
A few guys laughed.
She didn't even look at them.
"Jasper Jean Mariano."
Her voice cut through the noise like a blade.
"I'm not here to make friends."
That shut a few mouths.
Not all.
"And if anyone here thinks of crossing me—"
pause
"—don't."
Cin laughed under his breath. "Damn."
Josh muttered, "She's got balls."
"No," Eren said quietly. "She's got control."
Sir Alvin studied her, thoughtful. "Alright. You can take a seat."
That's when I stood.
My chair scraping back did what yelling never could—killed the room.
Every head snapped toward me.
She turned too.
Dark eyes. Sharp. Unimpressed.
"She's in the wrong section," I said evenly.
Not an insult. A rule.
Sir Alvin didn't bite. "She's where the administration placed her."
"This section doesn't allow girls."
That was when she tilted her head—slow, deliberate—and looked straight at me.
"Rules change, sweetheart."
The word hit harder than a punch.
Cin went ooooh.
Rory laughed.
Blaster looked ready to start something.
Yuri went still beside me.
Interest flickered in my chest before I could kill it.
Sir Alvin ended it. "She stays. Until she proves otherwise."
I held her gaze.
She didn't blink.
Didn't sit.
Didn't back down.
So I sat.
But the damage was done.
Section E was buzzing now—Cin whispering bets, Josh grinning like it was Christmas, Rory already planning how to test her, Blaster itching for chaos.
And me?
I leaned back in my chair, eyes never leaving her.
Because Section E had rules for a reason.
And Jasper Jean Mariano had just walked in like she planned to rewrite every single one.
JAY'S POV — SECTION E CHAOS
The day didn't start quietly.
From the moment the first bell rang, Section E was in full chaos.
Cin tried to trip me on my way to a desk. I didn't flinch. I stepped around him and gave a faint smile that made him freeze mid-motion.
Rory tossed a crumpled piece of paper at me. I caught it, folded it neatly, and placed it on the teacher's desk, leaving it pristine. A few boys whispered. Eren muttered, "That's… cold."
Calix tried the usual: a shove in the corridor. I countered with a subtle shift of weight and a gentle push that sent him stumbling backward just enough to bruise his pride but not his body. He froze. I didn't even look back.
Blaster tried to intimidate me, cracking his knuckles. I simply crossed my arms and tilted my head, letting him exhaust himself with empty threats. A few of the boys—Felix, Calix, Mayo—snickered nervously.
Even the teachers noticed. Sir Alvin kept glancing over, frowning, but he didn't intervene.
He knew.
He had always known: Section E needed someone who could survive its chaos without breaking it, and I wasn't about to give them the satisfaction of underestimating me.
"C'mon, it's just a girl," Denzel muttered under his breath, louder than he should have. I turned slowly, eyes sharp.
"You're welcome to try again," I said quietly, letting the words hang. The murmur in the room grew.
By mid-morning, it had escalated. Yuri, sitting beside Keifer, whispered strategy after strategy to him. They all tried to find a weakness. Every pushback I received, every prank or insult, I had a counter—quick, precise, and always leaving them looking foolish.
Cin lost a bet when he tried to trip me again and ended up crashing into his own desk.
Rory's paper prank backfired, sticking to his hand with glue I'd "borrowed" earlier.
Blaster tried to corner me during free period. I leaned just enough to tip his balance and sent him sprawling—softly, nothing broken, just humiliated.
By the time the bell rang for lunch, whispers were everywhere.
"Who is she really?"
"Where did she come from?"
"She didn't even flinch…"
Sir Alvin gave me a look of quiet approval as I packed my things, his eyes saying what words didn't: She's not just surviving this. She's running it.
And I wasn't done.
Section E had tested every new student before.
They'd never met anyone like me.
Not even close...