At Luxford Academy, the elite boarding school for the ultra-rich, Adriana and Nicholas have been bitter rivals since childhood. Forced to live in the same dorm, their once-friendly pranks have escalated into daily clashes-sharp insults, constant bic...
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The library is buzzing with the quiet murmur of students cramming for end-of-year exams. We've been camped out at our usual table for what feels like hours, surrounded by a fortress of textbooks, half-empty coffee cups, and Lia's rainbow array of highlighters. Math is up first, and it's been kicking all our butts, but we're powering through, or at least trying to.
Rora's going through her math notes like it's a fashion magazine, totally unfazed, while Lia's diligently working through practice problems with her signature hopeful determination. Dio's alternating between actually studying and doodling in the margins of her notebook, occasionally muttering complaints under her breath.
"Ugh, why does every math problem feel like it's trying to personally ruin my life?" Dio groans, flicking her pen down.
"Because it is," I say dryly, erasing yet another wrong answer on my page. "Especially these diagonal reflections. It's like they're out to get me."
Lia looks over, brows furrowed in sympathy. "Those are the worst. I can never remember which way to flip the coordinates."
"I can help with that!" Rora chimes in, glancing over. "It's just about getting the right formula down."
"Yeah, if only my brain worked like yours," I mutter, feeling the frustration bubble up again.
Before we can dive too deep into the next problem set, the doors swing open, and the boys make their grand entrance—because of course, they can't just quietly walk in like normal people. Nick, Drew, Matteo, and Theo stroll in, looking like they've just come from anything but a study session. Nick's got his usual bored expression, but his eyes light up when he spots me surrounded by papers and notes.
Nick pulls up a chair beside me, resting his arm casually on the back of my chair. "Looks intense. Need some rescuing?"
"From math? Always," I say, shoving a particularly annoying problem his way. "Diagonal reflections are evil."
He chuckles, grabbing a pencil. "Let's see what you've got."
Theo bounds over to Lia, already bouncing on his heels with excitement. "Math time? Sweet! What are we working on?"
Lia grins, grateful for the enthusiasm. "Diagonal reflections. Apparently, they're Adri's nemesis today."
"Mine too," Theo says with a dramatic sigh, plopping down next to her. "But hey, we can suffer together."
Drew and Rora immediately dive into their own focused study mode, Drew calmly walking her through some complicated problem like it's second nature to him. Matteo, on the other hand, leans over to Dio, who's still doodling more than calculating.
"You got this, Dio," Matteo says, poking at her notes. "Just pretend it's a really spicy text you've got to decode."
"Ha, if only," Dio smirks, but she grabs her pen and starts trying again, motivated by Matteo's pep talk.
