CHAPTER ONE
BETWEEN US FOUR
Jay's POV
The second I stepped into the classroom, I knew we weren't welcome.
Paper balls scattered the floor like snow. Loud laughter echoed from the back. Chairs were half-broken. Someone was drawing something very inappropriate on the whiteboard with a stolen red marker.
This was Section E — not the elite class. The dumping ground. The last resort. The place where students with bad records, messy attitudes, or just plain chaos ended up.
And somehow, Alys and I got thrown right in the middle of it.
"Class is already in session, huh?" Alys muttered beside me, eyeing the mess.
I clutched my bag strap tighter. "Just don't react. If we act cool, they won't—"
A paper ball hit me square on the shoulder.
I blinked.
Then another one hit Alys on the head.
A loud chorus of "OOHHHH!" came from the back of the room.
"Too late," Alys said, deadpan.
I scanned the room. All boys. Loud. Rowdy. They looked at us like we were aliens. Or worse — intruders.
And sitting at the very back, not laughing, not reacting — Keifer Watson.
He wasn't throwing anything. He wasn't doing anything, actually. Just sitting there, hoodie on, arms crossed, looking like he hated everything. His eyes flicked toward me once. Just once.
It felt like being x-rayed and judged in a second.
I looked away.
We took the only empty seats in the front. The moment we sat, someone taped a sticky note to my back.
"TRAITOR TO TESTOSTERONE," it said.
Alys peeled it off, rolled it up, and flicked it behind her without a word.
Welcome to Section E.
ALYS' POV
If they thought paper balls were going to scare us, they clearly didn't know who they were dealing with.
I'd survived private school rumors, TikTok drama, and the worst kind of girl group fallouts. A few loud-mouthed boys weren't going to make me flinch.
But they sure were trying hard.
The whole class was like a zoo without a zookeeper. They barked, threw stuff, made dumb noises, and whispered like we couldn't hear them.
"They're not gonna last a week."
"Why are there girls in Section E now?"
"Someone tell the admin we don't take glitter and gossip."
I wanted to turn around and say something snarky. Jay was gripping her pen like she wanted to stab someone.
And behind us, I could hear him.
Drake Palma. The boy with the hoodie pulled low, headphones always in, and a death stare that shut people up. He wasn't part of the barking. But I could feel his eyes on me for a second — or maybe I imagined it. Then he looked back down, drawing in a beat-up sketchbook.
Silent. Sharp. Untouchable.
I liked that.
But then the back window creaked open. Someone threw a water balloon into the classroom.
It exploded — on Jay's table.
Dead silence.
Then roaring laughter.
Jay froze. Her notes soaked. Hair dripping.
I stood up.
"That's it."
The room quieted.
I stared at them all — the boys of Section E, the ones who thought they could bully us out.
"You're throwing balloons now? What's next? Banana peels? Do you want me to teach you how to be cartoon villains properly?"
A few chuckled. A few looked annoyed.
I didn't care.
"If you want us out, you'll have to try harder," I said, helping Jay dry off her notes with a tissue. "Because we're not going anywhere."
I caught Drake glancing up at that.
And Keifer?
Still stone-faced.
But he was watching too.
And I had the strange feeling this war had just begun.
END OF CHAPTER ONE