Nina Sam has lived a confined life, locked away with her sisters since she was five-shunned by her father, a ruthless male chauvinist who couldn't stand having a daughter under his roof.
Now, she's stepping into a new chapter at a prestigious girls'...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Nina's POV
"Yoo, Nina, run faster!" Emily yelled, already ten steps ahead of me.
Why were we running? Oh, you know—just casually chasing the subway like it was a damn Olympic sport. Morning cardio, courtesy of being chronically late.
The station was a zoo—students, office zombies, and sleep-deprived caffeine addicts. We squeezed into the train just before the doors hissed shut behind us.
"Please avoid running inside the train," The robotic voice echoed through the speakers. Honestly, someone needs to unplug her. She says it every morning like she's on a loop, and we're the only two idiots sprinting like our GPA depends on it.
"I don't wanna stand for thirty minutes," Emily groaned, scanning the compartments. As usual, it was a human sardine can. Same old passengers—wrinkled-tie man, the gossip twins, Grandma Sudoku—except... huh. A cluster of unfamiliar boys stood at the far end.
"The wrinkled tie guy, the two girls, and Sudoku Granny get off at the next stop. Grab their seats the second they stand up," I instructed.
Emily blinked at me. "Do you stalk people while I sleep?"
"It's called observational intelligence," I said, gripping the iron pole. "You should try it sometime between your 6:45 and 7:10 AM nap."
"Next station... Central Wall..."
That voice again. I locked eyes with Emily. "Go," I hissed like we were in a spy movie.
We fast-walked toward the soon-to-be-vacated seats, but—bam. A wall of testosterone swooped in before us.
"Hello, ladies..." one of them smirked.
"Excuse me?" I arched a brow. Emily was already on edge.
"We were here first," she snapped. Bold of her to say it out loud, honestly.
"Sorry, babe... better luck next time," the blonde one chuckled while his group laughed like they were on a sitcom.
"They're not worth it," I muttered—loudly enough for them to hear. I wasn't here to pick fights, but if I had to unleash my sass, so be it.
We clung to the pole again. Ten minutes passed. Emily fought to keep her eyes open while I did recon for the next empty seat. That's when the whispering started.
"You seen her before?" "Yeah... she looks familiar." "The other one's mine, back off." "Her hair's pretty though." "Elijah, you're such a weirdo." "At least I'm not drooling like Jungkook and Taehyung."
Oh for the love of—
"Y'all better shut up before I kick your balls," I turned, sweetly furious.
