Chapter 4: Unwanted Attention
320 Words
Nora wished she could fold into herself like paper and disappear. But even in the uniform meant to make everyone equal, she still stood out. There was something about her—the quiet strength in her posture, the unintentional elegance in her clumsy steps, and the way her eyes flickered like candlelight when she was deep in thought.
It wasn’t long before the attention she dreaded followed her everywhere.
It started with small things. Whispers when she passed by. Lingering gazes from both admiration and contempt. Her answer in Honors Chemistry had outshone the rest of the class, even the rich legacy kids who’d had private tutors since they were toddlers. She hadn’t meant to do it. She just… knew the answer. And that made her a threat.
“They think they’re so clever, giving a charity case top marks,” sneered Veronica, one of Serena’s lackeys, loud enough for Nora to hear. “As if brain cells make up for knock-off shoes.”
Zane, loyal and unfiltered, stepped in immediately. “Better knock-offs than knock-outs from a plastic surgeon,” he said with a smirk. Nora wished he wouldn't. He only painted a bigger target on his back—and hers.
Julian, meanwhile, watched from across the hall. His gaze wasn’t mocking like the others. If anything, it was… curious. Troubled. But he never said a word.
Nora tried to stay invisible, hiding in the library between classes, eating lunch under the bleachers when she could. She wanted to stay beneath the radar, to survive the year quietly. But life at Crestwood didn’t work that way.
The turning point came in the form of an invitation—an engraved, wax-sealed envelope slid into her locker.
Crestwood Masquerade Ball.
She stared at it for minutes, heart hammering.
“I didn’t sign up for this,” she whispered.
But someone had already signed her up.
And soon, the games would begin.
- Writer
