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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Adri's birthday morning was chaos, just as I'd expected.
I'd slipped out of bed early, leaving her sleeping peacefully. Even on a good day, Adri wasn't exactly a morning person, and waking her up could feel like defusing a bomb—one wrong move, and it all blew up. Today was no exception. But it was her 18th, so we had to make it special.
Daphne, the three-year-old tornado who'd had a sleepover, was perched on the kitchen counter next to Lia, who was helping her make final touches to the cake. The rest of our friends stood around, all arguing about decorations.
"I'm telling you, red hearts would look better," Theo insisted, holding up a tiny box of edible red hearts.
"Are you insane? Red clashes with the white frosting," Rora said, rolling her eyes. "We're sticking with gold."
"No! Black bows!" Dio chimed in, snatching the box from Theo's hand. "It's Adri. Black bows make sense."
Daphne, clearly fed up with the debate, stood up on the counter and raised her tiny voice. "Stop it!" she demanded, with all the authority of someone three feet tall. "Drew, give me the black bows and white hearts!"
She's been hanging out with Adri too much
She's never this bossy
Drew, surprisingly obedient in the face of a toddler's wrath, handed them over without a word. Daphne turned to Lia and held out her hand. "Help me, Lia."
Together, Daphne and Lia worked on the cake while the rest of us stood back, slightly amused but mostly relieved. When they were done, Daphne clapped her little hands proudly. "It's perfect!" she declared.
We grabbed the cake and started upstairs, but as soon as we reached Adri's door, a new argument broke out.
"You open it," Matteo whispered, shoving Theo toward the door.
"Why me?" Theo hissed back. "She'll kill me if I wake her up!"
"Well, I'm not doing it," Rora muttered, crossing her arms. "She yelled at me once for sneezing too loud in the morning."
"Drew?" I suggested.
"Nope." Drew smirked. "I value my life, thanks."
I rolled my eyes. "You're all ridiculous. We'll just walk in, shout 'Happy 18th Birthday,' and if we die, we die."
They all looked at me like I'd lost my mind, but I didn't give them time to argue. I pushed the door open, and we filed in, everyone holding their breath.
Adri stirred as the sunlight streamed in, and before she could even register what was happening, we shouted in unison, "HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY!"
Adri sat up abruptly, startled, her hair a wild mess, and her glare could have burned a hole through the door. Just as she opened her mouth to unleash what I knew would be a string of threats, Daphne saved the day.
