Chapter 1: First Day I

5 years ago...

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Jay redid her tie three times before she's satisfied with how it turned out. It's her first day of high school after all, and everything must be perfect.

She looked at the mirror, and her reflection background shows the sterile white room. Her suitcase is laying on the floor in front of her closet and still has clothes inside, and the bathroom is barren of any beauty products except the necessaries such as soap and shampoo. Her textbooks are already nicely arranged on the shelves next to her desk, and that's the only lively thing about her room. Jay just moved into her dorm room yesterday, and she's more than happy to find out that her roommate cancelled last minute, so she has the room all to herself, but she still keeps to her side of the room.

The girl decided to pick up her hair brush and went over her brunette bang one last time and tightened her wavy ponytail. Hmm... She needs a haircut soon.

Then, her phone rings, so her hand quickly stops the alarm. This alarm means she has an hour left before class starts, so it's about time she goes outside and seeks breakfast.

Ding!

A small smile came on her face when she saw the text notification.

Hua✨: Good luck on your first day of highschool (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

Jay🌸: Thank you (◕ᴗ◕✿)

She giddily put on her shoes after replying to the short text message with her favorite cousin from her maternal side. TianHua is a police officer, a rebel against her parents who didn't want her to achieve her dream. After she graduated highschool, TianHua went straight into the police academy before anyone could stop her.

Meanwhile Jay doesn't even know what she's gonna do with her life yet, except getting straight As and waiting for the next season of her favorite anime.

With her backpack in tow, she locked her door behind her and went out into the world.

Only to hit face first into someone walking down the hall. Jay peeled away from the wall of hard muscle of the stranger's side, and her back touched her door. The stranger is huge enough that his shadow completely covers her and still has space to spare.

"Watch where you're going, kid." The male voice grumbled, so she looked up to see a pair of blue eyes so deep and saturated, they're almost black.

Said beautiful eyes also belong to a sculpted face which is frowning down at her.

The sun hits just right, and Jay knows the exact RPG value of his almond skin. He must be a student here because he's wearing a fitting white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and on his neck hung Noahson Academy's signature plaid inky blue tie.

"Sorry!" She yelped but stood her ground. "Now move. I need to go."

Jay wonders what a male student is doing in the female dorms, but she couldn't care less.

"That's her!" A familiar voice shouted and footsteps began coming their way.

Jay turned left to see her older brother speed-walking towards her. His jet black hair has grown much longer than the last time she saw him, which was at the beginning of summer vacation. Now, it's grown past his shoulders. JinLong grew his hair out as a sign of rebellion against their father, but the old man didn't even notice.

A few girls started squealing from their room doors when they saw him, and Jay isn't if it's a good thing or a bad thing. Well, her brother's pretty handsome, with high cheekbones and a tall nose, comes with a set of lighter amber brown eyes. His skin is as pale as hers, and paired with his now silky long hair, one look and people would think he walked right out of an XianXia movie poster even though he's in school uniform. He's also tall, which is something Jay is the opposite of. Some may say he took all the height from the womb and left none for her.

"Hamster, there you are!" Her brother grinned at her before he lightly pushed the large stranger away. "Jay, big guy, you found my little sister!"

"That's—" The large stranger's eyes widened a bit, enough to show his surprise, and his hand pointed at Jay. "—Your sister?"

"Woohoo! We found the sister!" Another male voice piped up, and this time it belongs to a slender blond boy who popped up behind her brother. The excitement in his face intensifies when he sees Jay. "Damn, Jake! That's your sister?"

"Yeah, this is Hamster." JinLong smiled proudly and put a hand on her shoulder, and Jay grumbled.

Her brother and his gang of tall friends, looking down on her from their sky high heads like she's an endangered animal at the zoo.

Finally, her brother said something. "Hey, what's wrong with her? Why are you two looking at her like that?"

The two friends snapped out of their stare and gave her brother a look, then their eyes diverted back to her.

"She's so..." The blond boy paused, trying to find the words. "Small."

Small? She's small? Well, coming from a giant's perspective, she's an ant. Jay let out a sigh before she decided to torment her brother.

"Where were you yesterday?" Jay moved out of her brother's grasp, and he let her go with a nervous chuckle as she continued asking. "Where were you yesterday when I needed help moving in?"

"Text me your room number next time,

hamster." Her brother tried to laugh sheepishly.

"Don't 'hamster' me!" Jay huffed and crossed her arms. "Where were you yesterday?"

"Fine, fine, I forgot ok?" JinLong finally admitted, and he has the audacity to smile.

She turned away from her brother and headed to the stairs.

"Wait, wait, Jing, come on, come with your dear brother!" Jay could hear the smirk on her brother's face, but she doesn't stop in her tracks. Until his hand landed on her shoulder again. "Let me show you around, and yeah, I'll pay for breakfast."

Jay shook her head. She's still salty from yesterday. He was supposed to pick her up from the airport, but he wasn't there, so she took a taxi and moved into her dorm by herself. She's too stubborn to call him, thinking he would find out that she had arrived eventually.

"No, thanks." She wiggled out of her brother's hand once more and headed to the stairs, ignoring him calling her name.

Then, her eyes landed on a super model who's looking at her like she's a bug underneath her feet. Well, she's not a super model, but close enough. Jay blinked at her, expecting her to move so that she can use the stairs, but the super model lookalike doesn't.

"Excuse me." Jay decided to just squeeze through the space between the wall and her.

However, Jay isn't that lucky to get away.

Perfect manicured fingers grabbed her hand, and the shorter girl was reeled back. Emerald green eyes greeted her, and Jay felt like throwing herself off the stairs is better than dealing with this girl.

"Do you remember me?" The girl asked, and Jay blinked up at her.

No, Jay doesn't remember her. She's never seen this girl in her entire life.

"Let the kid go, Helena." She heard the huge stranger's voice said.

"Shut up." The girl snapped at him before gathering her attention on Jay once more. "Your brother," Emerald green eyes narrowed at JinLong, who doesn't nothing to help Jay get out of this situation. "Said he told you about me."

What?

Jay took in a deep breath, gave her brother a death glare before smiling innocently at the girl.

"I'm sorry, maybe I forgot." She replied and pulled her hand away.

With that said, she ran down the stairs. It's her first day, and she's already angry. Angry because of what? Her brother? That girl with pretty eyes? Her brother's huge friend calling her 'kid'? His other friend said she's 'small'?

Jay doesn't know anymore, and she threw those thoughts to the back of her head. She doesn't even know their names.

She calmed down a lot when she got to the vending machine and bought a bottle of water. Okay, let's list her goals again. Get breakfast and get to her first class, make a good first impression to all the teachers.

What's her first class today? Right, right, math. Taught by Mr. Ryan Zallik, and he's supposed to be her homeroom teacher if she remembered correctly. Even if he isn't, getting on a teacher's good side is always a good idea.