Chapter: 2
1746 Words
Keira POV
After what happened at the library yesterday I told myself I wouldn’t break.
That was a lie.
The second Mom’s car rolled to a stop by the curb, my eyes went straight to the gates of St. Claire Prep. They were taller than my old school’s. Cleaner. The kind of gates that had security cameras and a nameplate with gold letters.
St. Claire didn’t feel like a school.
It felt like a stage.
And I hated stages.
“Okay,” Mom said, turning in her seat. Her smile was too bright, too practiced. “Remember what we talked about. Be polite. Be quiet. Don’t make waves.”
She reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
“You’ll do great, baby.”
Baby.
I’m seventeen.
But to her I’ll always be the girl who cried when we moved after Dad left.
I nodded, Grabbed my bag. Got out before she could say anything else that made me feel like I was five again.
The air hit cold. October in this part of town always had a bite to it.
Students moved in groups, laughing, phones out, uniforms somehow looking expensive even when they were just white shirts and navy skirts.
Nobody looked at me.
Good.
That was the plan.
Get in. Sit down. Don’t talk unless called on.
Survive until 3 PM and go home to a house that didn’t feel like mine yet.
Then I heard it.
“Look what the cat dragged in.”
The voice was lazy. Amused.
Familiar in the worst way.
I didn’t turn.
I couldn’t.
If I turned, it became real.
If I turned, everyone would see us together, and the second day would be over before it started.
“New girl,” the voice continued. Closer now. “Pretty one.
A few people chuckled.
A few more stopped walking to watch.
I kept my eyes on the ground.
On the cracked line of concrete between my shoes.
If I focused on that, I didn’t have to focus on him.
Kaden West.
Stepbrother.
Problem.
Mom said he was popular.
She didn’t say he was the kind of popular that felt like a spotlight you couldn’t step out of.
I felt him before I saw him.
That sharp, clean scent of cedar and something sharper.
The way the air shifted when someone who was used to being obeyed stepped closer.
“Keira,” he said.
My name in his mouth sounded wrong. Like he was testing it.
I didn’t answer.
I walked past him.
Fast.
Head down.
Heart pounding like I’d just run a mile.
Behind me, I heard him say, “She’s shy. Cute.”
More laughter.
A girl’s voice: “Is she new? Is she single?”
Another: “Doesn’t matter. He’ll ruin her by Friday.”
I made it through the gate.
Made it to the courtyard.
Made it ten steps before my hands started shaking.
Stupid.
Stupid to let him get to me already.
I ducked into the nearest hallway, away from the crowd, and pressed my back against the cool wall.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Don’t cry.
Don’t let him see you crack.
“First day and already hiding?”
I jumped.
Kaden was there.
Leaning against the locker across from me, arms crossed, that grin still on his face like this was all a game to him.
How did he move that fast?
“Go away,” I said.
My voice came out shaky. I hated it.
“Can’t,” he said. “You’re my responsibility now. Dad said so.”
He said it like it was a joke.
Like I was a chore he got stuck with.
“I don’t need you,” I said.
“Yeah? Then why’d you run?”
He pushed off the locker and took a step forward.
“I saw you. You saw me. And you ran.”
“I didn’t run,” I said. “I walked.”
“Same thing.”
His eyes dropped to my bag, then back to my face.
“You know what happens here, Keira? People talk. And right now, they’re talking about the new girl who can’t even look at me.”
“Good,” I said. “Let them talk. Just don’t make it about us.”
“Too late,” he said quietly.
I froze.
“What?”
He tilted his head.
“You’re in my house. You’re in my school. You think people won’t connect the dots? You think Lila won’t use this to make your life hell?”
Lila.
The girl from the library note.
The girl who made my last school unbearable.
Her name alone made my stomach twist.
“How do you know Lila?” I asked.
Kaden’s grin faded a little.
“Everyone knows Lila. She’s the queen here. And queens don’t like competition.”
He stepped closer.
“Especially not when the competition lives in her cousin house.
He didn’t say it like a threat.
He said it like a fact.
And that was worse.
“I’m not competition,” I said. “I don’t want him. I don’t want any of this.”
“Yeah?”
He studied me for a long second.
“Then why are you shaking?”
I wasn’t going to answer that.
I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.
I pushed off the wall and moved to walk around him.
He didn’t stop me.
He didn’t need to.
“Hey, Keira?” he called as I passed.
I stopped.
Didn’t turn.
“Welcome to St. Claire,” he said.
His voice was softer now. Almost kind.
“Try not to break too fast.”
I didn’t respond.
I walked away before he could see the way his words hit me.
---
First period was history.
I sat in the back, behind a tall guy who smelled like hair gel.
The teacher didn’t notice me.
The class didn’t notice me.
For ten minutes, it felt normal.
Then the door opened.
Kaden walked in.
Late.
Without an apology.
Without a care.
The teacher sighed. “Mr. West. Sit down.”
He walked straight to the empty seat next to me.
“What are you doing?” I whispered, keeping my eyes forward.
“Sitting,” he said, just as quiet.
“Open seat.”
“There are ten open seats,” I said.
“Yeah,” he said. “But this one’s next to you.”
The class shifted.
I felt eyes on us.
I felt Lila’s eyes especially.
“Mr. West,” the teacher said, louder this time.
“If you’re going to be disruptive, you can stand outside.”
Kaden leaned back in his chair, completely relaxed.
“Not disruptive, sir. Just helping the new girl get settled.”
Heat climbed my neck.
“Stop talking,” I hissed.
He smiled.
Just a little.
Just enough for me to know he was doing this on purpose.
The teacher started the lesson.
Kaden pulled out a notebook.
Doodled something on the margin.
Slid it toward me.
It was a stick figure of me, cowering behind a desk, with the words New Girl written underneath.
I crumpled the paper.
Tossed it on the floor.
He picked it up.
Tucked it into his pocket.
“Keep it,” he said. “Souvenir.”
I wanted to throw the desk at him.
I wanted to disappear.
Instead, I stared at the board and pretended he didn’t exist.
It didn’t work.
Because every time I glanced over, he was watching me.
Not in a creepy way.
In a way that made me feel like he was figuring me out.
Like I was a puzzle he wanted to solve.
When the bell rang, I was out of my seat before he could say anything.
“Keira,” he called.
I didn’t stop.
“Keira!”
The hallway was crowded.
Loud.
I kept my head down and moved with the flow of students, hoping he’d give up.
He didn’t.
His hand caught my wrist.
Gentle, but firm.
Pulling me to a stop by the stairwell where it was quieter.
“Let go,” I said.
He did.
But he didn’t step back.
“Stop running,” he said.
“Everywhere I go, you’re running. What are you scared of?”
“Not you,” I said quickly. Too quickly.
“Liar.”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“You’re scared of what happens if people find out.”
My throat went dry.
“Find out what?”
“That you live with me,” he said.
“That you share a bathroom with me.
That you sleep ten feet from my room.”
I swallowed.
“Stop saying that.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Because it’s true? Because it makes you uncomfortable?”
He leaned in, just a little.
“Good. Maybe you should be uncomfortable. Maybe then you’ll stop pretending this isn’t a big deal.”
Footsteps echoed down the hall.
Voices.
Girls’ voices.
Kaden heard it too.
His jaw tightened.
“Hide,” he said.
Not cruel this time.
Just fast.
He pulled me into the stairwell and shut the door behind us.
The light was dim.
The air smelled like dust and old paint.
We stood there, breathing hard, listening to the voices pass by.
“See?” he said quietly.
“This is what I mean. One second, and your life changes.”
I didn’t answer.
I couldn’t.
Because he was right.
And I hated that he was right.
The door opened again.
Lila stood there, flanked by two other girls.
Her eyes went straight to me, then to Kaden.
“Well,” she said.
Her smile was slow. Dangerous.
“Looks like the new girl already knows where to hide with you.”
Kaden stepped in front of me, blocking her view.
“Not your business, Lila.”
“Oh, but it is,” she said.
She stepped forward, eyes locked on me.
“Because if Mom and Dad find out you’re alone with her, Kaden, they’re not going to be happy.”
Kaden’s shoulders tensed.
I felt my stomach drop.
Because she was right.
And she knew it.
Lila’s smile widened.
“See you around, Keira.”
She turned and walked away, her friends following.
The door clicked shut behind them.
Silence fell.
Kaden didn’t move.
I didn’t move.
In the quiet, I heard him mutter,
“Dammit.”
- Writer
