The Boy Who Hates Me.

(KAIRA'S POV)

"Mr. Horton, your project partner is… Miss Jin." Our English teacher, Mrs. Reed read out and a heavy hush fell over the class.

My stomach sank.

Of all the people in PineCrest High, it had to be him.

Slade Horton. Star quarterback. Football captain. Sole heir to the Horton Empire

"Is that alright with you?" Mrs. Reed was directing the question to both of us.

I tapped my pen repeatedly against the edge of the table

It's okay, Kaira. The worst he can do is say no.

"I don't want a charity case as a partner." His voice—cold, smooth, and rarely heard—sliced the silence.

My blood ran cold as the classroom burst into loud laughter.

"No one wants a freeloader as a partner!!" I heard someone call out loudly

"That's enough, everyone. Enough!" Mrs. Reed snapped. The laughter reduced to sniggers and whispers. "Miss Randall, can you take Miss Jin as your partner?"

“I-I can work alone, Mrs Reed.” I offered.

I hated that my voice sounded weak even though I really didn’t mind working alone. I mean, I had a brain for two anyway.

“You need a partner, Miss Jin.” Mrs Reed insisted softly.

My stomach clenched.

Here we go again. Another teacher trying to find someone willing to take the scholarship girl as a partner.

"Miss Jin." Mrs. Reed turned to me. "Can you please come sit beside Miss Randall?"

I quickly grabbed my things, and hurried to my new seat to stop being the center of attention. But I guess today was just not my lucky day.

One second—I was on my feet. The next, I found myself flying to the ground. I landed with a loud thud.

There was a moment of silence.

And then—

The class erupted into roaring laughter.

I tried to get up, but I tripped over my books and found myself on the ground again, this time with my back to the class. The laughter grew louder.

My heart raced harder as I bit my lower lip to keep my eyes dry.

"Everyone, stop it this instant," Mrs. Reed commanded. I heard her hurried footsteps before I saw her chic ankle boots in front of me.

She reached out and helped pull me up to my feet. I turned to face the class, and my gaze met Slade's.

His sharp green eyes stared at me through the strands of his sleek dark hair that fell across his forehead. His lips tugged in to a smirk.

An overwhelming wave of nausea hit me, and I fled out of the classroom.

I didn't stop until I was in the ladies room. I locked myself inside the nearest stall and pressed both hands over my mouth.

At least, I didn’t cry in front of them.

I refused to give Slade Horton that satisfaction.

Slade hadn't always hated me. Once, he had been the boy of my dreams. Then, I ruined everything.

I waited until school grounds was empty before I left for home, where I live with my Mum.

My mum, Shanice Rolland Jin, is everything to me. She has been my provider since Dad died thirteen years ago and she works herself to exhaustion for me.

One day, I’d make enough of my own money to give Mum the life she deserved. Maybe becoming a bestselling author could do that.

Since mum’s recent promotion at work , she comes back home around 7p.m. So, you can imagine my shock to see her folding clothes in the living room when I got back from school.

"Mum?" I ran into her open arms laughing.

"Hey baby." She hugged me tightly and kissed my cheeks.

I pulled back abruptly and searched her face.

"What's wrong?" I demanded.

Not only was she home four hours earlier, she looked flustered and sounded weird.

"Nothing is wrong," she said with a nervous laugh.

“Please tell me.” I whispered feeling anxiety crawl in. "Did something bad happen?"

"Nothing bad happened, my love.” Mum quickly put an arm around me. “Just… please come sit."

She led me to the only three seated sofa we had in our small-spaced living room, where we sat side by side.

"You're fiddling with your hair," I pointed out. "You know what it means when we do that, Mum.”

Mum paused, glanced at her hands which were in fact grabbing locs of her strawberry blonde hair.

"No one knows me better than you do, Kaira," She laughed, brushing my hair gently.

"No one," I promised her with a slight tap on her nose. "Now please tell me what's going on so we can figure it out together."

Her smile faltered.

"Is it that bad?" My eyebrows raised.

She sighed. Then her tear-filled eyes met mine, and my limbs felt heavy.

"It's bad and it's good… I just don't know how to break it to you because I feel I have betrayed you." Her voice was shaking now.

I moved closer to her. "You can never betray me," I assured her. "Just tell me, okay? Please."

She sighed and cleaned her face. That was when I saw it. A huge diamond rock on her finger.

I shut my eyes briefly and reopened them. The rock was still there. Staring at me like reality.

"Is that? Is that an engagement ring?" I pushed the words out.

Mum followed my gaze and then nodded at me. I continued starring at the ring, unable to process what I was seeing.

"Is—is this a joke?" I laughed, but with her face, I knew it wasn't. She shook her head slowly at me.

"You're getting married?!" I stood up.

"Yes," she whispered, standing up too.

"B-but you don't even have a boyfriend."

She never dated. She has always been too busy to date.

"I know. This was… it’s unexpected.”

“Unexpected? It’s unbelievable, Mum! What’s going on?”

“Kaira, I've been seeing someone for the past five months and I kept saying I would tell you, but I felt so ashamed. And now I've made everything worse." The tears streamed down her face.

I wanted to hug her. To tell her not to be ashamed because she deserves to be happy.

But deep down, I felt unhappy.

"You had a boyfriend for five months and you didn't tell me?" My voice gave all the pain away.

"I'm sorry." Mum sobbed lightly.

"Who's he? Do I know him?" I swallowed a lump before asking.

She nodded. “You know him.” She looked down at her fingers. “Very well.”

“Is it Roger?"

Roger is the head chef of the household were my mum works, who always professes his undying love for her.

"No. It's not," she said, and a wave of relief hit me.

Yeah, Roger as a stepdad would be weird.

"It's Tom," she announced, her fingers entangled with one another.

I stared back blankly.

No. It simply can't be.

"Tom.” I repeated.

Mum nodded. "Tom Horton. My boss. We’re getting married and he wants us to move in.”

My heart slammed rapidly in my chest, and my vision swayed.

Mum is getting married to Tom Horton.

Tom Horton as in her boss.

As in father of Slade Horton.

Which meant that—

My bully.

My nightmare.

Was about to become my stepbrother.