THE BOY WHO HATED ME

The tall iron gates of Silverwood High looked more like the entrance to a prison than a school. I tightened my grip on my backpack straps and stared at the building in front of me. New school. New start. That’s what Mom kept repeating all morning. But standing here now, surrounded by hundreds of strangers, my stomach twisted with nerves. “Okay, Lena,” I whispered to myself. “You can do this.” Students were walking past me in groups, laughing and talking like they had known each other forever. I felt like the only outsider. I took a deep breath and finally stepped inside the gate. The hallway was loud—lockers slamming, people shouting across the corridor, shoes squeaking on the shiny floor. I tried to follow the map the office lady gave me, but the crowd kept pushing me from every direction. Suddenly— BAM. My shoulder slammed into someone. My books slipped out of my hands and crashed to the floor, papers flying everywhere. “Great…” I muttered, kneeling to gather them. A pair of expensive black shoes stopped right in front of my scattered notes. “Watch where you're going.” The voice was deep and cold. I slowly looked up. And instantly wished I hadn’t. The guy standing in front of me looked like he walked straight out of a magazine—tall, broad shoulders, messy dark hair, and sharp gray eyes that looked completely uninterested in the world. But it wasn’t his looks that made my stomach tighten. It was the way everyone around us suddenly went quiet. Like something dangerous had just entered the room. “You bumped into me,” I said, trying to sound confident even though my heart was racing. A slow smirk spread across his face. “Did I?” He crouched down slightly, picking up one of my notebooks. Instead of handing it back, he glanced at the cover. “Lena Carter,” he read out loud. Hearing my name in his voice made my skin prickle. “New girl,” he said. Then he dropped the notebook back onto the floor. A few students nearby started whispering. I heard one name clearly. “Adrian.” Another voice added quietly, “Adrian Black.” So that was him. The infamous Adrian Black. Even I had heard about him before transferring here. The rich kid. The troublemaker. The boy no teacher dared to challenge. And apparently the person who just ruined my first five minutes at this school. I stood up, clutching my books tightly. “You could have helped instead of making a scene,” I said. The hallway went silent again. Adrian tilted his head slightly, like he was studying something interesting. “Are you always this brave,” he asked softly, “or just stupid?” My cheeks burned with anger. “Maybe you're just rude.” A few students gasped behind us. Adrian stared at me for a moment. Then he laughed. Not a friendly laugh. A dangerous one. “Well,” he said, stepping closer, “this should be fun.” He leaned down slightly so only I could hear him. “For your own sake, Lena… stay out of my way.” Then he walked past me like I didn’t exist. The hallway noise slowly returned, but I could feel people staring at me. One girl walked up to me carefully. “You’re new, right?” she whispered. “Yeah.” She looked toward the direction Adrian disappeared. “You just made the biggest mistake of your life.” I swallowed. “What do you mean?” Her eyes widened slightly. “You argued with Adrian Black.” My stomach dropped. And somehow… I had a feeling this was only the beginning of my problems.