Darkness enveloped Aria's bedroom like a second skin, a suffocating blanket of fear. She sat straight up in bed, gasping for air, her skin clammy with a cold sweat that mirrored the horror of her nightmare.
The same old story: a faceless man, a queen-sized bed, and the scary weight of another's unwelcome touch. Emory, the quiet sentinel that she was, rushed in
. Her soft voice and gentle touch grounded Phoenix, pulling her back from the edge of her own awareness.
I'm here, Cherry," Emory whispered, holding her tightly.
Four little words, but a lifeline all the same. Aria curled herself around her, a dam breaking as sobs shook her body. This wasn't the cool, detached girl the world knew.
This was a girl haunted by memories she couldn't escape, a girl so fragile she might break under a touch.
Emory held her until the sobs subsided and Aria's breathing settled into the rhythm of sleep. She carefully laid her back down, tucking the duvet around her, and left her to the soft whisper of night.
~••~Kayden's Nightmare~••~
On the other side of town, in his own lavish but lonely bedroom, Kayden's body twitched with a familiar terror. The chains of the headboard, the metal bite of a belt—it was too realistic. The voice of his stepmother, cold and cruel, was seared into his mind.
"You have to get over the fact that your mother is gone," she'd jeer.
The trauma was a phantom limb, always there, a hurt he could not escape.
He woke with a start, grabbing at the pill bottle on his desk.
His hands shook as he swallowed two pills, a habit that calmed the shaking and the racing thoughts.
Vernon's concerned voice came from the other side of the door, "Kay, are you okay? I thought I heard someone scream."
"I'm okay," Kayden lied, his voice a strained whisper.
The pills took effect, the fear receding, but sleep was out of the question. He did not dare return to that dark corner. He sat at his desk and opened a worn leather diary. Its pages were his mind, his pain, and a secret record of a reality his father refused to see. He wrote for a while until the pen halted. He closed the book, his secrets heavy upon him. He would not sleep again until dawn.
~••~Westwood International~••~
The next day, college was buzzing. A black Rolls-Royce pulled up, and out stepped Richard, the school's golden boy. The crowd went wild.
People talked about his new haircut and the competition everyone was expecting between him and Kayden. Richard, whose dad owned the school, had an air of effortless superiority about him.
Nelly, Iris, Karen, and Aira watched the scene from a distance. Nelly and Syril were already fighting over who was hotter—Richard or Kayden. "Kay is on fire!" Nelly said with a dramatic sigh.
They were cut off by another round of shrieks. Five fancy cars drove in, and out stepped the Kings. Felix, party boy, emerged first, his jacket open to show off his abs. The girls around them lost their minds.
Then there was Levi and Vernon. Levi was, as always, buried in a book, oblivious to the chaos. Karen, the bookworm, finally looked up and saw him, biting her lip.
Aria saw the moment and smiled to herself.
Vernon was the school pervert and had a lip ring and a reputation for sleeping with anyone who would have him. He winked and grinned at the girls who admired him.
Then Nigel, the player from the group, came out, and the comments from the girls became explicitly suggestive, propositioning him. "My pu$y will be waiting for you anytime," one yelled. Nigel dramatically lamented, "Gosh, I already said I was gonna repent, now they are tempting me."
Finally, there was a silence over the crowd, a stunned quiet that gave way to a raucous din. Kayden stepped out of his car. He did not smile, did not wave. He simply existed, and that was enough. The girls' screams were a wild adoration. "He's stealing my breaths with his beauty," one girl shrieked.
Richard fumed across the parking lot, his features contorted in rage. These were his fans, his people. The spotlight had been stolen.
Kayden, however, walked past the commotion, his expression impassive and un-readable. He had a secret identity to maintain, a family name he did not want to be connected with. He was just Kayden, and that was all anyone needed to know.
Aria and her friends started attending class, finally free from the commotion. "Did you not like it?" Nelly asked, still reeling from the spectacle.
"I don't know who's who," Aria replied, a comment that garnered groans of frustration from her friends.
"Who's cuter, Kayden or Richard?" Nelly insisted.
Aria considered this for a moment. "I'll choose the other one, the one with the cold aura. I think his name is Kayden."
Nelly squealed in delight. "He's cute, right?"
"I don't know," Aria replied honestly. "I just like that his cold aura matches mine."
"Cold meets cold makes ice," Iris teased, and they all laughed.
~••~Lecture Room~••~
The quantum physics lecture had already started when Aria and her group of friends arrived. The professor was talking about how "nothing that is observed is unaffected by the observer."
Aria, confident, raised her hand. "I would say it is 'Because everyone is seeing something differently according to how the object is affected by the observer.'"
Her defiant statement was met by a low, cold voice from the back of the room. "Quantum physics is the subatomic world. To leap from the subatomic world to the macroscopic world we live in, and make such a preposterous statement, is ridiculous."
It was Kayden. The whole class turned in surprise. It was the first time they had heard him say a word.
Aira's temper flared. "Excuse me? It's not nonsense. What doesn't make sense is being so focused on the conclusion that it is 'nonsense' without adding anything of substance."
Kayden scorned. "Maybe subatomic particles and your shame have something in common."
The class oohed. The professor, now lost for patience, said they should settle down.
Outside, after class, Kayden's friends confronted him. "What was that for?" Levi questioned.
"Her opinion was actually spot on," Nigel stated. "The Kayden I knew would've been with her."
"I know," Kayden said, smirking. "Just wanted to have a little fun." He walked away, leaving his friends speculating about what had happened over the summer.
~••~Cafeteria~••~
In the cafeteria, Aira was violently stabbing a lobster tail on her plate. "That poor lobster isn't the cause of your problems," Nelly said.
Who the fuck does he think he is?" Aira said, allowing her fork to clatter down.
"He's Kayden," Nelly answered, smiling a little.
"I don't want to know his name!" Aira yelled.
"You can't take back what you tweeted about him," Nelly teased. "It's already pinned."
Aira glared at her. "You're defending him because he's your crush, aren't you?"
Nelly laughed. "I'm sorry, ma'am."
~••~Morris Mansion~••~
At the Morris compound, Chairman Morris was going over some documents with his chief of security, Noah. "I haven't seen Kayden since he came back," Morris said.
"That's because you were too busy welcoming Ma'am Courtney and her son," Noah replied, his voice an expressionless monotone.
"Don't address me in that tone," Morris said to him, but Noah didn't budge.
"I don't know what you mean, sir," Noah replied. "He was here, but you were occupied. He's at school now."
Morris scowled. "Give him my regards."
"I will," Noah said, with a tinge of irony in his voice. "If you want to."
Morris, detecting the implication, snapped, "Out, Noah."
~••~Banks Mansion~••~
Across town, in the Banks' mansion, Mabel was dancing to a pounding rap song, her hips swinging to the beat. Her father, Mr. Banks, stormed into the room, his face dark as thunder. He had broken the door open to be heard over the music. Mabel froze.
"Is that why you decided to turn my house into a club?" he thundered.
"It's not what you think," she stammered, her fear showing.
He nodded to a guard, who grabbed the speaker. Mabel threw herself at her father, tears streaming down her face. "Dad, please! I don't want to be a physiotherapist! I want to dance!"
The slap was sharp and swift. It stung, and it left a red imprint on her cheek. "If I ever hear you say you wanna dance again, I'll tear out your tongue." He turned and walked away, leaving her standing there, a prisoner in her own bedroom.
Her mother came in, and Mabel's anger boiled over. "Get out, Mum! You were there, and you did nothing!"
Your father knows what's best for you," her mother whispered.
You're sick in the head," Mabel screamed, pushing her out and slamming the door.
She collapsed to the ground, bravado lost, replaced with a torrent of tears. The biggest bully at school was, in her own home, a scared little girl. She gazed at a video of Syril dancing on the internet, her heart aching with a wish that she could be free.