Stars collide

First sight

Kiana’s pov

The parking lot was already crammed, as usual. I circled slowly, scanning for an open space.

“Great. First day of school, and I’m already stressed out,” I muttered, gripping the steering wheel. “What kind of maniac drives a bike like that?” I fumed, still aggravated by the biker who’d nearly cut me off.

I bit back my frustration and turned the wheel, heading toward the other side of campus. The lot reserved for teachers and staff loomed ahead. Normally, I’d never even consider parking there, but today, I didn’t care. Sliding my car between two sedans, I sighed and sank back into the seat.

I glanced in the mirror, seeing my perfectly styled red hair and flawless makeup. I smoothed my lip gloss over my pout, but something in my reflection made me pause. My mind flickered back to breakfast—Mom’s sad expression, the tension in her voice. Dad had done something again. I didn’t know what, but I didn’t need to. The weight of it was already pressing down on me.

I shoved the thought aside and forced a smile onto my lips. No one needed to know my family wasn’t perfect. I didn’t want anyone’s pity. I stepped out of the car, the click of my heels on the pavement echoing confidently as I made my way toward the entrance.

“Kiana!”

The shrill voice belonged to Lisa, my best friend—or the closest thing I had to one. She strutted toward me, her long blonde hair shining in the sunlight. Her outfit screamed Lisa: a tight crop top barely covering her chest, skirts so short they barely covered her ass, and knee-high boots that screamed “look at me.”

“You look so good!” she squealed, pulling me into a hug. Her strawberry-scented perfume hit me like a wave, and, without thinking, I hugged her back.

“Mm, you smell nice,” I said, stepping back with a small laugh. She was bustling with energy,

“I know, right? Guess who came crawling back to me this summer, begging for another chance?”

I arched a brow, feigning curiosity. Lisa’s love life was always a whirlwind, and I barely kept up with the revolving door of guys. Still, I played along. “Let me guess… Caleb?”

“Ugh, no! Caleb was forever ago.” She swatted my arm lightly. “It was Michael. I told you about him, didn’t I?”

I had no idea who Michael was, but Lisa didn’t seem to care. She launched into a detailed account of his groveling and the diamond bracelet he’d given her.

“See?” she said, shoving her wrist in my face. “Real diamonds.”

I highly doubted that, but I wasn’t in the mood to argue. “They’re pretty,” I said, offering a polite smile.

“I know, right? Oh, and he got me this perfume too. Isn’t it amazing?”

Lisa’s parents weren’t exactly poor. Far from it. She’d grown up surrounded by wealth, but it seemed money had shaped her view of love in strange ways. Lisa wasn’t one of those girls who pretended material things didn’t matter. For her, they were everything. It was like she used them to measure how much a guy cared.

She called them trophies—each one marking a guy she’d been with. A reminder of their fleeting importance. I sometimes wondered, though, what would happen if she were with someone who couldn’t afford diamonds or designer bags? Would she even notice them? Or would they be dismissed as a prize she couldn’t claim?

The funny thing was, despite all her trophies, Lisa always seemed to be chasing something she couldn’t quite catch. She was never satisfied.

She kept talking, her voice a mix of excitement and vanity, but my attention had already wandered. Something—or someone—had caught my eye.

Leaning casually against a motorbike that had stolen my parking spot was a tall, dark-haired guy. Dressed in black leather pants and a matching jacket, he looked like someone straight out of a movie—a bad boy with an effortless swagger. He gave off a rugged confidence that set him apart from every other guy I’d seen today.

And then, I saw her again .

She stood beside him, her long black hair flowing like ink down her back. She wasn’t beautiful in the polished way I was, or in the overtly sexy way Lisa was. No, her beauty was raw, unrefined, and maddeningly effortless. She wore black pants and a loose shirt—simple, unremarkable pieces that somehow made her look powerful. Self-assured. Everything I suddenly realized I wasn’t.

They were talking, and whatever she said made him laugh. It was a deep, rich sound that cut through the hum of passing cars and idle chatter. It was carefree, unrestrained, and so utterly captivating that I hated it. Or maybe I hated how much it resonated with me, like I’d been waiting to hear it all my life. I found myself wanting to move closer, just to hear her voice or catch the words that made him laugh like that.

But before I could linger any longer, Lisa yanked my arm, dragging me down the hallway. “Come on, Kiana! We’re going to be late!”

I almost didn’t realize I’d left my phone back at the car. “Hold on, I’ll just grab it real quick,” I told her. She paused, waiting for me as I turned back toward the parking lot.

As I walked, I didn’t notice when I stepped off the path. A truck was speeding toward me, the driver honking wildly. I froze. My legs didn’t move, my mind barely registered what was happening. All I could think about was the truck smashing into me, the pain of my bones breaking, and whether I’d even survive.

I closed my eyes, bracing for impact. I heard screams. I keep my eyes shut, bracing for the world to crash around me. But then something slams into me—a force that knocks the breath out of my lungs. I wait for the searing pain of impact, but it never comes. All I can still hear are the screams, growing louder, echoing in my ears.

I must be in hell, I think, my mind struggling to make sense of the chaos.

I opened one eye, then the other. I was no longer standing on the path—I was on the other side of the parking lot. This didn’t look like hell. This was still my school. “This must be my hell,” I muttered under my breath.

Then I heard a deep chuckle, and my head snapped to the side. That’s when I realized I wasn’t on my feet anymore. I was in someone’s arms.

“This is the thanks I get?” the voice said, breaking the silence.

I blinked, still dazed, as he set me down gently on the grass. He stood over me, hands on his hips, like he had all the time in the world.

“Saved me?” I stammered. “But the truck was coming right for me—how could you have saved me?”

He shrugged, brushing it off. “I pushed you out of the way.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “How? That’s not possible. You couldn’t have gotten there that fast.”

He didn’t seem to care. “You were already out of the way. I just had to drag you the rest of the way.”

My head spun as I tried to process what he was saying. “Well, you should thank me for saving your life, not question me like I’ve done something wrong,” he said, turning to walk away.

Before I could respond, Lisa’s voice cut through the confusion. “Kiana!” she screamed, running toward me with some teachers behind her.

“Oh my God, I thought that truck was going to crush you! The brakes failed, and it crashed straight into the cafeteria building.”

She pulled me into a tight hug, crying. “I’m so glad you’re safe, Kiana,” she said between sobs.

The teachers helped me to my feet and sent me to the nurse. When asked how I’d gotten out of the way, I repeated what the strange boy had said. “I was almost out of the way, and then some Good Samaritan student dragged me out of the path.”

The principal told me to point him out whenever I saw him, so they could reward him. I nodded, but deep down, I knew something wasn’t right. I shouldn’t be alive. And that strange boy knew that too.

That day, the crash was all anyone could talk about. I was already popular, but now I was the girl who survived it. Everyone kept fussing over me, checking if I was okay. By the time lunch rolled around, I was already exhausted by all the attention.