(Jay's POV)
If chaos ever needed a home, it would probably look exactly like this classroom.
I stood at the doorway for a moment, staring inside.
This… was Classroom 3-E.
The place Aries had warned me about in the car.
"Avoid trouble, Jay. Especially avoid Mark Keifer Watson."
Easy for him to say.
For a second neither of us moved.
Someone whispered loudly from the back.
"Keif… that's the parking lot girl."
A few boys chuckled.
Great.
Now everyone knew.
Keifer's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Oh."
That was it.
Just oh.
He walked past me like nothing interesting had happened and dropped into a chair near the back window.
The teasing began instantly.
A boy leaned forward from the desk in front of me.
"So," he said with a grin, "Parking Lot Girl… you lost?"
"I'm looking for my class," I replied calmly.
He spread his arms dramatically.
"Congratulations. You found it."
Laughter filled the room.
Another boy added, "Unfortunately."
I sighed.
"Wow. You guys are really welcoming."
"Oh we are," messy-hair said. "We're just curious."
"About what?"
"Why someone like you ended up here."
I ignored the comment and looked around for an empty seat.
There was only one.
Right beside Keifer.
Of course.
Because apparently the universe enjoyed watching me suffer.
I walked over anyway and placed my bag on the desk.
Keifer looked at the bag.
Then at me.
"You're sitting there?" he asked flatly.
"Yes."
"That seat's usually empty."
"Well it won't be lonely anymore."
A few boys burst out laughing.
Keifer leaned back slightly in his chair, studying me.
"You talk a lot."
"And you glare a lot."
The room went silent again.
Someone whispered dramatically,
"She's brave…"
Another replied,
"Or suicidal."
Keifer raised one eyebrow.
"You should learn who you're talking to."
"And you should learn how to introduce yourself properly," I shot back.
"You bumped into me earlier and didn't even apologize."
"You ran into me," he replied calmly.
"I did not."
"You did."
"You were standing in the middle of the path like a statue!"
A loud laugh exploded from the back.
"Statue!"
Another boy said, "Careful Keifer, she's roasting you."
Keifer didn't react.
But I noticed something.
The tiniest twitch at the corner of his mouth.
Almost like he was… amused.
"You're very bold for someone new," he said.
"I prefer the word honest."
"You won't last long here."
"That sounds like a challenge."
He leaned forward slightly.
"It's a warning."
I leaned forward too.
"Good. I like warnings."
The tension between us felt sharp.
Like two storms about to collide.
Then—
The classroom door suddenly opened.
A teacher walked in carrying a stack of books.
Instantly the class straightened up.
Not perfectly.
But enough to pretend they were decent students.
"Good morning," the teacher said.
"Morning, sir," the class replied.
So they could behave.
Interesting.
The teacher placed the books on his desk and looked around.
Then his gaze landed on me.
"And who might you be?"
I stood up.
"Jayjay, sir. I'm the new transfer student."
He nodded thoughtfully.
"Ah yes. The scholarship student."
Fourteen heads turned toward me again.
Whispers started immediately.
"Scholarship?"
"In this class?"
"Poor girl."
I pretended not to hear them.
The teacher continued,
"Class, this is Jay. She'll be joining us from today."
Then he pointed directly at the seat beside Keifer.
"You may sit there."
Of course.
I sat down again.
Keifer didn't say anything.
He just opened his textbook like the earlier argument never happened.
The teacher began writing on the board.
"Open your books to page thirty-two."
To my surprise…
Most of the boys actually did.
Some lazily.
Some with sighs.
But they listened.
The messy-hair boy leaned toward me and whispered,
"Don't get used to this."
"To what?" I whispered back.
"The peace."
I glanced sideways at Keifer.
He was reading quietly, completely focused.
Like arguing with me earlier had meant absolutely nothing.
Which somehow annoyed me.
Great, I thought.
First day and I've already fought with the most feared guy in class.
This year was going to be…
Chaotic.
And something told me…
Mark Keifer Watson was going to be a big part of that chaos. ⚡📚