CIELA
Monday, 5:18 PM
I am in my car, driving Huxlee home, still irritated with Cleovon. I cannot believe he has the nerve to suspect me and then announce that whole confession thing in front of everyone. What the hell is wrong with him? He is way too full of himself, and honestly, he is too ugly for me to ever have a crush on him. People should not be praising him that much, especially after what just happened.
“Are you okay?” Huxlee asks.
I roll my eyes. “I’m not okay. Can you believe him?” I glance at her briefly before focusing back on the road and continue, “Who the hell does he think he is for me to have a crush on him?”
“I—I mean… he’s undeniably hot, but I’m sure you just don’t see him that way,” Huxlee says in a low tone, as if she is embarrassed to admit that Von is attractive.
I roll my eyes again. “Gosh, I didn’t know you thought he was hot, because to me, he’s just a walking dick.”
She giggles. “What?”
I let out a small laugh. “What? Am I wrong? That’s exactly how he looks to me.” I pull over in front of their house and shift the car into park. “Anyway, get a good night’s sleep.”
“Thanks, Ciel,” she says as she opens the door, then pauses before stepping out. “Chill on your driving. You still have to meet me at school tomorrow,” she jokes.
“Really? At school?” I ask, raising one brow.
“Where else should we meet?” she asks as she steps out of the car.
I shrug. “I can just pick you up again.”
She smiles. “If you let me pay for the gas, then we’re cool.”
“What? No!”
She giggles and closes the door. “Drive safe!”
I wait until she enters their house before I drive away, and I find myself smiling as I continue down the road. Being with her is really fun, and she is one of the reasons I still go to school. If I had not met her, I am sure I would have already dropped out. I just cannot stand the people there. Everyone annoys me except Huxlee, and I still remember the first time we met.
1 YEAR AGO
I am walking down the hallway, minding my own business, when I suddenly bump into someone.
“Fuck!” I exclaim as the juice I am holding spills all over my uniform, turning the clean white fabric into a sticky orange stain.
“S-Sorry!” the girl says quickly.
“Where the fuck are you even going?” I snap, my irritation flaring up instantly. “Are you blind? You have four eyes and you still didn’t see me?”
She looks at me calmly, unfazed by my tone. “What about you? Didn’t you see me?”
“What?” I frown, caught off guard.
“If you saw me, you should have avoided me,” she replies evenly. “Then we wouldn’t have collided.” With that, she simply turns and walks away.
I scoff, unable to believe what she just says. Muttering a curse under my breath, I decide to let it go. It is my first day after transferring to this school, and the last thing I want is to get kicked out on day one.
PRESENT
That was our first encounter. Our second happens in the classroom, when I find out we are classmates.
Unfortunately, this school year, we are not in the same class.
What a shame.
After a few minutes of driving, I finally reached my house. I press the horn lightly so the maid opens the gate, and once it does, I drive inside and park the car. As soon as I step out, my phone rings. I pull it out while walking toward the front door.
It is the group chat again.
“Tick tock.”
That is the only message sent by the admin.
I click my tongue, ignoring it as I step inside the house.
HUXLEE
Monday, 6:00 PM
I am about to sleep when my phone suddenly rings. I immediately reach for it on the side table beside my bed, sit up, and open the screen.
I am right. The notification is from that same group chat.
I open it and see a message from the admin.
“Tick tock!”
I bite my trembling fingers as I stare at the screen, unable to look away. After a moment, I glance at the time and see that it is already 6:00 PM.
My phone rings again, and I instantly look at it.
“Six more hours to go…” the admin says.
I bite my lower lip for a moment before deciding to just lie down. Even while lying down, I keep staring at my phone, waiting for another message from the admin.
“Damn it,” I mutter under my breath before throwing my phone aside. I pull the pillow over my face and squeeze my eyes shut.
I need to sleep now so I will not be late for tomorrow’s class. I do not want to be late again. That detention record only happens once, and I do not want to add more to it. That is definitely not on my bucket list.
Ting.
Ting.
Ting.
Ting.
“Argh,” I groan and reach toward my side table for my phone, still keeping my eyes closed. But I cannot feel it there.
My phone keeps ringing with nonstop notifications when I finally decide to get up and turn on the lampshade so I can find it properly.
I push myself out of bed, still half-asleep, and pick my phone up from the floor. My eyes are still closed as I drop back onto the bed, hoping the noise will just stop on its own.
I am about to turn it off when Ciela suddenly calls.
“The heck?” I mutter to myself before answering.
I close my eyes again. “Why?” I ask unwillingly.
“Have you seen the group chat?” she asks, her voice urgent.
“What group chat?” I reply, confused.
“Girl, wake up and look at the group chat!” she says, then abruptly ends the call.
I frown at my phone. “What is wrong with her?” I mutter. “We do not even have a group chat… it is just the two of us.”
Still annoyed and half-asleep, I force myself to open my eyes and check what she is talking about. When I see the unknown group chat on my screen, that is when I suddenly remember everything.
I glance at the time on my phone.
12:05 AM
I sit up quickly and open it, my heart beating faster for no clear reason, and my hands start to shake as I scroll through the recent messages.
“What the hell? That’s shocking news!”
“I can’t believe it!”
“It’s probably AI!”
“Definitely AI, there’s no way that could be true.”
“Maybe it’s true and we just don’t really know her.”
I keep scrolling up until I reach the start of the discussion, and that is when I see it—the uncensored video.
My trembling hands press play, and I feel like I want to disappear the moment I confirm who the people in the video are.
3 MONTHS AGO – 9:41 PM
Ciela brings me to a house party and tells me I should try partying sometimes because it is fun.
She is not wrong. It is fun, and she teaches me a lot of things—like dancing in the crowd, drinking, and socializing. But what I enjoy the most is drinking.
I am really enjoying drinking, and I do not even know which table I am sitting at anymore.
“Here, bottoms up!” a guy says, handing me a glass of alcohol.
Not in my right state, I quickly grab it and down it in one go. The people around me cheer. They seem happy, and for no reason, I start to laugh too.
I am with a group of people I do not even know anymore because my vision is already extremely blurry. I keep drinking and enjoying myself until someone suddenly grabs my waist and leans close to my ear. His warm breath brushes against my neck, making the hairs on my skin stand up.
“Do you want to drink more?” he asks.
I turn to look at him. At first, everything is blurry, but when I focus harder, his face slowly becomes clear.
It is Cleovon, the king of our school.
For a moment, I hesitate, but then I nod.
“Come with me,” he says, pulling me away from the crowd.
I don’t think anyone notices us because no one stops him. If it were really him, everyone would have stopped just to talk to him.
We walk away, and I end up closing my eyes most of the time because I feel dizzy and sleepy. I do not even know where we are going anymore.
When he finally stops, I stop too and slowly open my eyes.
All I can see are trees all around us. It is dark, and the only light comes from the moon above.
He looks at me for a moment and then at my lips. “I didn’t know you knew how to drink,” he says.
I let out a small chuckle. “I just learned today.”
“Are you drunk? Do you even know where we are?” he asks, his voice softer now.
I shake my head slowly. “Nah…”
I vaguely remember him whispering something to me earlier, but I have already forgotten what it is.
“Have you kissed someone before?” he asks.
“Uh… no. I’m not allowed to,” I reply.
“Why not?” he asks, gently touching my back. “Do you want to know how it feels?”
I do not answer. Even though I am drunk, a part of me still knows it is not right. He has a girlfriend, and I know this is a bad idea.
“Hmm?” he asks again, leaning a little closer.
Before I can respond, he leans in and kisses me. It is brief at first, soft and hesitant—then it deepens. Heat spreads through my body, and he must feel it too, because he pulls off his shirt.
Our kisses grow more intense. His hand reaches the hem of my top, fingers curling with intent as he be
gins to lift it. My heart pounds in my chest—until the sharp snap of a branch nearby cuts through the moment.
“Shit,” he mutters, instantly withdrawing, as if the sound snaps him back to reality.