Chapter 5 — First Day of School Disaster

Ruby knew—deep in her soul—the morning was cursed the moment she opened her eyes and saw sunlight where sunlight absolutely should not have been.

“NO,” she gasped, bolting upright.

Her alarm hadn’t gone off.

Correction: she’d forgotten to set her alarm because she’d been too busy replaying Kai’s creepy, smug warning in her head until 2 a.m.

She tumbled out of bed and nearly face-planted into a box labeled “WINTER CLOTHES,” then scrambled around her room like a panicked raccoon.

She brushed her hair.

She hated it.

She brushed it again.

Still hated it.

As if summoned by chaos, her mom called from the kitchen, “Ruby, honey! You’re gonna miss the—”

“I KNOW!” Ruby yelled back, tripping as she tried to pull on jeans that suddenly felt two sizes too small.

She sprinted downstairs, grabbed the nearest travel mug, and—

Spilled hot coffee straight down the front of her only clean shirt.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” she shrieked.

Her mom blinked at her. “Maybe you should change?”

“I don’t have time to change!” Ruby grabbed a hoodie from a random moving box and yanked it on, even though it clashed with everything she owned and screamed I gave up on life today.

She rushed outside just in time to see the school bus drive away.

Right past her.

Without stopping.

Without mercy.

Ruby stood on the sidewalk in horror, defeated and hoodie-wrinkled.

Fantastic. Her first day at a new school and she was already a meme waiting to happen.

She ended up jogging—okay, running—most of the way to St. Celeste High, sweating, tired, and emotionally ready to drop out and become a forest hermit.

By the time she pushed open the doors of her first-period class, her lungs were burning, her hair was frizzing, and she looked like she’d fought a tornado and lost.

Every head turned toward her.

The teacher paused mid-sentence, lowered his book, and sighed the world’s most exhausted sigh.

“Nice of you to join us, Miss Hale.”

Ruby wilted. “Sorry. I—uh—traffic?”

A few students snickered.

“Take a seat,” the teacher said.

The only empty desk was near the middle. Ruby sank into it, trying very hard not to die on the spot.

She opened her notebook, pretending to listen, when a whisper behind her caught her attention.

“Dude, that’s the girl from next door.”

Ruby froze.

From next door?

How did anyone at this school know she moved next to someone?

Her stomach twisted.

Please. Please don’t let that someone be—

Him.

She shook off the thought and tried to focus on the lesson. But the whispers continued. She caught fragments.

“…moved in yesterday…”

“…I heard she yelled at him…”

“…she actually talked back to Kai…”

Her heart dropped into her shoes.

Oh no.

Oh no no no.

By lunch, she understood everything.

The cafeteria was huge—loud, buzzing, full of people who already had their friend groups. Ruby gripped her tray like a shield, scanning for an empty table.

That’s when she saw him.

Kai Kingston.

Standing in the center of the room like the sun—

and everyone else orbited him.

He wasn’t even trying. He stood there in a simple gray hoodie and dark jeans, sleeves pushed up to reveal forearms that definitely didn’t belong to someone who “didn’t care.” His hair was a perfect mess, he laughed like he owned the oxygen supply, and people practically leaned toward him when he spoke.

It was disgusting.

But also unfairly attractive.

Annoyingly unfair.

Ruby wished she could un-see it.

Kai turned at that exact moment—of course he did—and his eyes locked onto hers across the room.

Her breath caught.

For half a second, there was something in his expression. Recognition? Surprise? Something softer?

Then—

His face went blank.

Completely blank.

He blinked once, turned away, and continued talking to his friends as if she didn’t exist.

As if she wasn’t the girl who had shouted at him from a balcony last night.

As if she wasn’t the neighbor he’d annoyed into insomnia.

As if she hadn’t spilled coffee on herself trying to escape his universe-level energy.

He pretended he’d never seen her in his life.

Ruby’s tray wobbled in her hands.

“Wow,” someone whispered behind her. “He already hates her? That was fast.”

“What did she do?”

“Probably nothing. Kai’s picky.”

“Or maybe she messed with him. No one messes with Kai.”

Ruby swallowed hard.

A heat spread up the back of her neck—not the warm kind. The mortifying, nauseating kind.

She forced her legs to move and sat down at the emptiest table she could find. She poked at her food, pretending not to hear the whispers, the glances, the subtle pointing.

She had survived worse things than a popular jerk ignoring her.

Right?

Right?

But her stomach wouldn’t stop twisting.

Her heart wouldn’t stop pounding.

Because Kai’s warning from last night echoed in her head now with painful clarity:

“If you think school will be better… you’re wrong.”

He knew.

He knew exactly what he was walking into each day.

And he’d let her walk straight into it blindly.

Her throat tightened.

Maybe he wasn’t just rude.

Maybe he wasn’t just spoiled.

Maybe…

he was dangerous in a way she hadn’t understood yet.

Ruby dropped her fork, appetite gone.

Her first day wasn’t just a disaster.

It was a warning.

And she had no idea how much worse it was going to get.