Veil of Rivalry

CHAPTER 1' The Transferee '

I was jolted awake by the sound of the school bell, signaling the end of lunch break.

Stretching out from the makeshift bed I created by lining up old chairs, I sat up and glanced around the music room—cramped and cluttered with broken chairs stacked against the walls. My eyes narrowed slightly as I scanned the room. I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone had been here while I was asleep.

The room had long been abandoned and repurposed as a storage area. No students were allowed inside.

But I had my secret.

I hid the spare key so I could sneak in whenever I wanted some peace and quiet. This was my refuge.

I stepped out, locking the door behind me, and strolled down the empty hallway. The classrooms were all occupied now, and I saw no reason to rush. After all, I was already late—what difference would a few more minutes make?

I made a quick detour to the restroom. After stepping out of the cubicle, I stood by the sink, washing my hands.

“She’s pretty… only when she’s calm.”

Hold on a second.

Did that jerk just appear in my dream? And—wait—did he actually call me pretty?

What the hell did he mean only when she's calm? Even in my dreams, he’s infuriating.

“AHHHHH!” I screamed, catching my reflection in the mirror.

There it was—a pen drawing. A flower doodled across my cheek.

“Austin Louis Rodriguez, you're dead!”

I splashed water on my face, scrubbing away the ink with furious hands. That jerk didn’t just haunt my dream—he’d been in that room while I was asleep!

I stormed out of the restroom, fuming.

When I reached our classroom, I quietly slipped in while the teacher’s back was turned, scribbling something on the board. My eyes locked onto him—Austin—sitting right in front of me.

My glare could’ve burned holes through his back.

“You just wait till class is over. You’re so dead,” I whispered, jabbing my ballpen into his back—hard enough to make him groan.

Austin Louis Rodriguez had been getting on my nerves ever since he transferred to our school. From the very start, he snatched the academic rank that I had always held.

Back in middle school, I was always top of the class—and I planned to stay that way, especially after making it into the most prestigious high school. From the entrance exam to the first semester, my name never left the top of the rankings.

RANK 1: Alseana Keira Valesca

Then came the second semester.

Whispers buzzed throughout the school about a new transferee—a tall, handsome guy, said to be the sole heir of the Rodriguez Company.

At first, I didn’t care. Gossip never interested me.

But everything changed when the preliminary exam results came out… and I saw my name sitting just below his.

That was the moment something shifted inside me.

His name above mine felt like mockery—as if it was laughing at me. Looking down on me. And I hated it.

Since then, I threw myself into an unspoken competition—one I started, one only I seemed to take seriously. I challenged every answer he gave in class, raised my hand faster in recitations, debated him over the smallest topics, even raced him to arrive at class first.

Eventually, the entire student body caught on.

We were rivals. Everyone knew it. It became routine to see us bicker in the classroom, the hallways, the gym, even the cafeteria.

Not once had we ever spoken kindly to each other.

Not once had there been peace between us.