First day at school

Mila’s POV

"Axel! If you are not down these stairs in exactly thirty seconds, I am taking your keys and driving Mila myself!" Carol’s voice rang out that morning. She turned to look at me, a mischievous smile on her face. "The one thing Axel absolutely hates is anyone driving his car," she whispered.

I was standing by the passenger side of the black Jeep, gripping my backpack straps while Carol stood by the kitchen door, glaring back toward the house.

A moment later, the door banged open. Axel stormed out, his face set in a cold scowl. He didn't look at his mother, and he completely ignored me, shoving past to get behind the wheel. His soft, woodsy scent lingered as he walked past me.

Aaron came out right behind him, throwing me a quick, apologetic look before hopping into the front passenger seat.

"Have a good first day, sweetie!" Carol called out, her face instantly softening as she blew me a kiss.

"Thanks, Carol," I muttered, quickly climbing into the back before Axel could drive away.

The second the garage door rolled up, Axel threw the Jeep into reverse, backing out with a violent jerk that snapped my seatbelt tight against my chest. As we pulled onto the main road, he reached forward and slammed his hand against the dashboard screen, blasting loud music that completely cut off any chance of conversation. He fixed his eyes on the road, treating me like I was invisible.

I leaned my head against the window glass, staring out at the passing houses. With nothing else to do, my mind dragged me straight back to the other day at the kitchen sink.

“You had naughty thoughts last night, and you did naughty things, didn't you?”

Axel’s voice kept playing in my head.

Carol had walked in almost immediately and I’d half-ran out of there, leaving his question unanswered. But that meant one thing—he wasn’t the one who had me trapped against the fridge and reached forward to wipe the milk from the corner of my mouth.

Which left the only other person: Aaron.

The thought made my stomach drop. Aaron, the sweet one, the one who made me feel safe. How could it be him? He hadn’t shown any hint that it was him from that night. I stared at the back of his head, my chest tightening. That meant I still didn't know who it was. I wasn't sure of anything.

A sudden movement caught my eye.

I looked up at the rearview mirror. Aaron was peering back at me, his green eyes locked onto mine through the glass. When he caught me looking, his lips curved into a slow, dimpled smile.

My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly looked back out the window, my palms suddenly sweating against my denim jacket.

When Axel finally pulled into the high school parking lot, my jaw almost dropped. It was massive. The moment the Jeep killed its engine, a crowd materialized around the car.

"Axel! Hey!"

A girl with perfectly curled blonde hair in a high ponytail practically threw herself against the driver’s side door. Behind her was a small army of girls in matching varsity cheer jackets.

Axel stepped out of the car, immediately absorbing the noise and attention. He didn't look back at me once. He just slung an arm around the blonde girl's shoulders, pulling her close to him and planting a kiss on her lips. “Hey, babe.”

They linked fingers and started walking toward the main building.

I hesitated, my hand frozen on the interior door handle. I felt completely small, like an imposter who had traveled miles away from a ruined life just to get swallowed whole by this place.

The passenger door opened, and Aaron stepped out. Instead of walking away with the rest of the football players waving at him, he jogged around to my side and pulled my door open.

"Hey," he said softly, blocking the view of the crowded parking lot.

"Hey," I whispered, stepping out onto the asphalt.

"Don't look so terrified," he murmured, leaning in just close enough that I caught a whiff of his scent—cedar. "I told you I'd look out for you. Just stick to your schedule. I'll see you at lunch."

He gave my shoulder a quick, reassuring squeeze before turning around to join his friends. The heat of his hand lingered through my hoodie long after his broad shoulders disappeared into the group of students. I stood there, my breath hitching. He was dangerous. If he was the one behind what happened the other night, he was way more dangerous than Axel.

Ten minutes later, I was being marched into my first-period Senior English class. The teacher, a tall, lanky man, tapped his marker against the whiteboard to get everyone's attention.

"Class, listen up. We have a new student joining us today. This is Mila Bennet."

The entire room went dead silent. Dozens of eyes locked onto me. My hands tightened around the straps of my backpack.

"Mila, why don't you tell the class a bit about yourself?" he asked, a small smile on his face.

I cleared my throat, my voice sounding smaller than I wanted it to. "Um. I just moved here from Silver Creek."

"Are you living with the Carter twins?" a loud voice shouted from the middle row.

The classroom instantly erupted into whispers and low giggles. My face burned.

"Wait," another voice chimed in from the back, dripping with malice. "Why did you get chased out of your old school anyway?"

"Yeah, did you have to leave because you're a slut?" a guy near the window muttered. The class broke into muffled laughter.

My throat went completely dry. I stood frozen at the front of the room, the blood rushing in my ears. I couldn't answer.

"Alright, that’s enough!" the teacher snapped, slamming his textbook down on the podium. "Any more comments like that and you'll be spending your week in detention. Mila, go take the empty desk in the back row next to Paris."

I kept my eyes locked onto the floor, walking down the narrow aisle as fast as my legs could carry me. I practically threw myself onto the plastic chair, trying to shrink into my oversized hoodie.

"Well, thank God," a whispered voice said right next to my ear.

I looked up to see a guy with sharp green eyes that complimented his bleached blonde hair. He had a silver septum nose ring and a perfectly tailored denim jacket. He gave me a dramatic roll of his eyes.

"I thought I was going to get paired with one of the football neanderthals," he murmured, offering a small, sympathetic smile. "Ignore them. I'm Paris, by the way. And honestly, honey, you are lucky you're my seatmate. I'm the only normal one here."

"Mila," I whispered back, my heart still racing from the introduction.

Paris leaned closer, his voice dropping into a whisper as the teacher started writing the syllabus on the board. He pointed a subtle finger across the room. "Let me give you the layout of the land before the wolves get to you. That one over there, Rowan? Absolutely reeks of cheap body spray. The girl next to him, Stacy? Total loudmouth. Trust me, the whole school will learn your lore by break. And that guy in the third row, Jace, is a total manwhore—avoid at all costs."

Despite my nerves acting up, a tiny, breathless laugh escaped my lips.

Then Paris's eyes drifted toward the very back corner of the room, his expression shifting into one of pure adoration. "But then... there's the main event."

I turned my attention toward the corner, my eyes scanning the rows until I found them. My chest tightened, and I found myself gawking too.

Axel and Aaron were sitting at the large table in the back. Axel was slouching lazily in his seat. His large hand was draped casually around the back of the blonde cheerleader's neck from earlier, his fingers loosely playing with her high ponytail while she whispered something in his ear. He wasn't looking at her, though. His dark green eyes were fixed forward.

Right next to him sat Aaron. Unlike his brother, Aaron was sitting completely still, his hands resting on his desk, his posture straight.

But both of them were staring straight at me.

Their identical gazes fixated on me made my heart skip a beat. I couldn’t look away. I was trapped between Axel’s cold, possessive stare and Aaron’s unreadable, intense eyes.

"Don't look too hard, honey, or you might get yourself in trouble," Paris whispered, nudging my elbow. He leaned in close, his voice dropping into a dramatic whisper. "That blonde vulture attached to Axel’s arm? That is Tiffany Sinclair. She is essentially a demon disguised in all-pink attire, the undisputed dictator of the varsity squad, and she hovers over him like a hawk. If you breathe his oxygen, she will make it her life's mission to destroy you. She would never let you. But thankfully, Aaron is single, and I have my eyes set on him.”

I reluctantly pulled my gaze from them, turning my attention back to the teacher. He had just written his name on the board: Mr. Harrison.

I reached for my textbook. As I flipped it open, I found a piece of paper lodged in between the pages of the play we were analyzing today.

My brows furrowed in confusion. With trembling fingers, I picked it up and unfolded it.

There was only one sentence written in messy, dark ink:

I've been thinking about that night.

My breath caught completely in my throat. The kitchen. The darkness. One of them had written this. One of them was watching me react to it right now.

"Oh my god," Paris whispered right next to me, noticing the way I had gone completely rigid. He looked from my flushed face straight over to where the Carter twins were still watching our table. He leaned in so close our shoulders touched, his eyes wide with a mixture of shock and sudden, dangerous curiosity.

"Stop. Shut up. Do you like them too?"