Chapter 1: Collision course
*Mera Bennett*
The lecture hall smelled of polished wood, fresh coffee, and someone's expensive cologne.
Mera Bennett arrived seven minutes early.
She always did.
Being early wasn't just a habit—it was survival.
Scholarship students didn't get to be late. They didn't get to make mistakes. They worked twice as hard for opportunities everyone else seemed to take for granted.
She slipped into Seat Fourteen at the back of the room, where professors rarely looked and the wealthier students never chose to sit.
Her notebook lay open beside a neatly arranged row of pens. A worn copy of Constitutional Law: Cases and Materials rested on her desk, its pages crowded with handwritten notes and colorful tabs.
Everything had its place.
Everything had to.
Between three part-time jobs, a full scholarship, and a perfect 4.0 GPA, there wasn't room in her life for carelessness.
Failure wasn't an option.
Neither were distractions.
At exactly 8:59 a.m., the lecture hall doors swung open.
Laughter poured inside before the students did.
Heads turned almost instantly.
Designer jackets.
Luxury watches.
Easy confidence.
Crestwood University's golden boys had arrived.
And leading them was Maximum Carter.
He was impossible to miss.
Tall enough to tower over most of the room, with damp brown hair, sharp blue eyes, and the effortless confidence of someone who had never been told no.
Maximum Carter didn't simply enter a room.
Conversations slowed.
Heads turned.
Even people who claimed they couldn't stand him looked his way.
As he crossed the lecture hall, his gaze swept over the students before stopping on Mera.
For the briefest moment, his expression hardened.
Beside him, Noah Reeves nudged his shoulder.
"Heard Professor Reid's assigning partners today," Noah said with a grin. "Random partners."
Before Max could answer, Professor Reid clapped her hands.
"Good morning, everyone."
The conversations faded.
She lifted a glass bowl filled with folded slips of paper.
"Today's Constitutional Law seminar will be completed in pairs. Each team will analyze a landmark Supreme Court case, prepare arguments for both sides, and present them before the end of class. Your grade will depend on your teamwork, legal reasoning, and oral advocacy."
Excited whispers spread through the room.
Professor Reid reached into the bowl.
"Maximum Carter."
A chorus of quiet sighs drifted from the front rows.
Mera didn't bother looking up.
Another slip unfolded.
"Mera Bennett."
Her stomach sank.
"Table Three," Professor Reid announced. "Front and center."
Of course.
The one place where everyone would be watching.
Max strode toward the table without a word and dropped his backpack onto the chair beside him.
The chair Mera had intended to take.
She approached anyway.
He looked up.
"You're in my seat."
She glanced at the empty chairs around them.
"There are twenty-three others," she said.
A few students laughed.
Max didn't.
He leaned back, folded his arms, and held her gaze.
"Sit."
"Or don't."
"We've got one case file and three hours."
Mera drew in a quiet breath.
Her grade mattered more than her pride.
She sat—not because he'd told her to, but because she refused to lose before the assignment had even begun.
Across the room, whispers spread from row to row.
"Maximum Carter and the scholarship girl"
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