CHAPTER THREE
481 Words
And at the absolute top of the Oakhaven social food chain sat one family: the Vances.
The Vances were the wealthiest dynasty in the region, boasting four children who completely ruled the campus. By a freak of genetics, none of the brothers looked alike.
First, there was Colton. The oldest, the golden boy, the varsity football captain, and the boy Aria had secretly loved for years. He was arrogant, radiant, and completely out of her league.
Then came the second brother, Andre the fierce and athletic captain of the high school basketball team.
But it was the twins, the third and fourth siblings in the family, who occupied Aria’s immediate world. They shared her classroom, but they couldn't have been more different.
While Vanessa Vance was loud, cruel, and obsessed with social status, her twin brother was the exact opposite. He sat in the very same classroom as Aria, completely detached from the high school drama. He was a quiet, brooding soul who minded his own business and never meddled in anyone else's affairs. His entire world revolved around music and theater—a quiet genius who faded into the background of drama rooms and piano benches just as much as Aria tried to fade into the walls. He never spoke to Aria, but he also never joined in on his sister's cruelty.
Vanessa, however, made up for her twin's silence with pure venom. She was Aria’s primary bully.
Vanessa, along with her two loyal minions, Chloe and Mia, made it their personal mission to ensure Aria never forgot her place as a scholarship student. Vanessa hated Aria’s presence in her classroom, and their cruelty had evolved into something genuinely dangerous.
They knew about Aria’s severe asthma. In fact, they weaponized it.
Vanessa and her minions had a favorite, sick game: they would wait until the teacher left the room, steal Aria’s backpack, and hide her emergency inhaler where she couldn't reach it. Then, standing in a tight circle around her desk, they would heavily spray their expensive, suffocating designer perfumes directly into the air.
To anyone else, it was just a strong scent. To Aria, the chemical cloud was a death sentence. The heavy particles would instantly lock her airways, triggering a terrifying, suffocating asthma attack while Vanessa and her friends laughed, pretending it was an accident.
Every single day at Oakhaven was a cycle. A cycle of riding her broken bike, avoiding the rich, praying she wouldn't be noticed, and fighting to breathe in a world that desperately wanted to choke her out.
Locking her bike to the rusted rack at the very edge of the property, Aria took her inhaler out of her bag , took two puffs and took a deep, tentative breath, gripping the strap of her bag. The wolves were waiting inside.
- Writer
