MasukWhen sixteen-year-old Ruby Cole’s life gets uprooted from her sunny hometown to the loud streets of New York City, she expects the worst. New school, new rules, new people—total disaster. But she didn’t expect him. Kai Kingston. Her next-door neighbor. The loud, ridiculously handsome, rich boy who throws parties that last until 3 a.m. The boy every girl wants… …except Ruby. Because Kai is rude. Arrogant. Annoying. A certified heartbreaker. And after she accidentally embarrasses him on her first day of school, he decides to make her life miserable. But the more they clash, the more Ruby realizes that Kai’s smirk hides loneliness… And the more Kai pushes her away, the more he finds himself drawn to the one girl who refuses to worship him. Enter: A charming boy at school who actually treats Ruby right. A jealous Kai who hates how much he cares. Secrets, late-night rooftop confessions, family drama, heartbreak, and a love that neither of them expected. Because sometimes the boy she swore she hate… …is the one her heart can’t let go of. Welcome to the loudest, sweetest, most confusing year of Ruby’s life. Read to find out what happens
Lihat lebih banyakRuby waited until Kai was completely gone—until his footsteps faded, until the echo of his presence dissolved into the noisy hallways—before she let her body move again.Her hands shook. Her knees felt weak. Her lungs burned with the effort of holding everything in.She needed to hide.She needed a door. A lock. Silence.Somewhere she could fall apart without an audience.She pushed through the bathroom door, and the second it swung shut behind her, she ran into the nearest stall and locked it.The metal click sounded too loud.Her breath sounded too loud.Everything was too loud.Ruby slid down until she was sitting on the closed toilet seat, burying her face in her hands.And then—She broke.---Breaking QuietlyTears spilled fast, hot, uncontrollable.She didn’t sob loudly. She cried the quiet, shaking kind—the kind that tightened her throat and made her chest ache like she had swallowed a stone.Her mind replayed everything:The spilled lunch.The laughter.Zara’s panicked face.
Ruby tried to forget the moment. Kai didn’t. By the time lunch rolled around, Ruby was exhausted from dodging him in every hallway. She felt like a mouse living in a school filled with very large, very smug cats.She stepped into the cafeteria clutching her tray, eyes scanning the room for one single safe place to sit.Zara spotted her first.“Ruby! Over here!”She waved with a bright smile.Ruby exhaled with relief and started walking toward her. Zara was kind, sweet, and actually warned her about Brielle yesterday. She felt safe there.But halfway to the table, Ruby’s stomach dropped.Because sitting right behind Zara…Kai.Beautiful, infuriating Kai Kingston.Leaning back in his chair.Laughing with his friends.Eyes flicking upward—catching hers like a magnet.Ruby froze.Zara mouthed, It’s okay, but Ruby wasn’t sure.She gathered her courage and kept walking.One step.Two.Three.Almost there.Then—A shoulder brushed against hers.Hard.Ruby wobbled—but didn’t fall.Kai had s
For the next two days, Ruby avoided Kai like he was radioactive.But Kai made that impossible.He took her usual seat in class.He “accidentally” bumped into her twice in the hallway.He stole her pen off her desk without even looking at her.Ruby gritted her teeth and kept her head down.It was working… until lunch.She tried to slip past Kai’s table unnoticed.Except someone said, “Kai, isn’t that your neighbor?”Ruby froze.Kai turned lazily, gaze sliding over her with calculated boredom.Ruby tried to mutter, “I’m not your—”And that was when it happened.She accidentally insulted him.Right in front of his entire table.He’d said something—something arrogant and smug—and Ruby snapped, “Maybe if you used your brain once in a while, you’d—”The table went silent.Kai’s smirk sharpened.Ruby’s heart pounded.Oh no.Oh no, no, no.“She had just declared war.”Silence.The cafeteria didn’t usually go silent — not even when teachers yelled — but somehow, Ruby managed to shut down an en
The whispers didn’t stop.By second period, Ruby felt like she was walking with a spotlight glued to her forehead. Everywhere she went, conversations paused. Heads turned. People leaned together like she was a rumor that had suddenly grown legs and started walking around.“She lives next to Kai.”“She yelled at him.”“She thinks she’s special.”Ruby wanted to scream, I’m not special! I just want to survive the day!But screaming would only give them more content to gossip about.By third period, she was exhausted—mentally, socially, physically, spiritually. She just wanted to shove her books into her locker and breathe for five seconds without someone whispering her name like it tasted sour.She didn’t even get one second.As she opened her locker, a shadow moved into her peripheral vision. Ruby glanced up—and her breath stuttered.Brielle.Tall.Perfect hair.Perfect makeup.Perfect everything.She looked like the kind of girl who woke up with naturally curled lashes and a fan club.
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