The halls of Elite Crest Academy always smelled too clean — bleach and fake roses. Like the school was desperate to cover up the rot underneath.
Nara walked in slowly, her bag hanging off one shoulder, eyes scanning every face, every smirk, every whisper. Most students didn't look twice at her yet. That was good. She didn't want attention. Not yet.
She wanted precision.
She wanted blood without the mess.
---
*"Nara! Over here!"*
Rina's voice cut through the air like glitter-coated poison. She waved from a table in the school courtyard where the "Crest Royals" sat — the rich kids, the influencers, the future senators and criminals in blazers.
Nara smiled lightly and walked over.
Let the game begin.
"You're lucky," Rina said, tossing her hair. "Not everyone gets to hang out with us. I mean, the last girl who tried? She cried for days."
*Because you made her life hell*, Nara thought.
But she just sat, calm and cold. "Guess I'm different."
"Obviously." Rina's tone was sweet, but her eyes scanned Nara's second-hand shoes. "Anyway, what do you think about Kamsi's hair? Be honest."
Nara looked at the girl beside Rina — Kamsi, the pyromaniac in disguise. Pretty, bitter, dangerous. The one who'd started the dorm fire… and smiled while doing it.
"It's nice," Nara said flatly.
Rina rolled her eyes. "Ugh, you're too nice."
*Not today.*
She looked at Rina. Really looked.
A phone buzzed on the table. Rina picked it up, laughed, and turned it to show them a photo — a screenshot of a teacher's private messages.
"Mr. Collins is such a creep. This is why I never go to his office alone."
Nara froze.
That's it.
*Blackmail.*
In her past life, Rina had used this same screenshot to force Mr. Collins to change her exam results. The girl who caught her doing it had mysteriously transferred out the next week.
Now, Nara had proof.
Rina never changed her game. She just got cockier.
---
*Later That Day…*
Nara slipped into the library's computer lab. Empty. Quiet. Perfect.
She hacked into the school's shared photo drive — just like she'd learned the hard way in her past life.
She uploaded a copy of the screenshot Rina had flaunted — but this time, she sent it anonymously to the school's Ethics Department, the student group, and three rival cliques who hated the Royals.
A spark doesn't need to be loud.
It just needs to land on the right paper.
---
*The Next Morning…*
Chaos.
The entire cafeteria buzzed like a hive of angry bees. Phones were out. Screens were lit.
"Did you see the screenshot?!"
"They're saying Rina blackmailed Mr. Collins!"
"Isn't she supposed to be suspended?!"
Rina stormed in with sunglasses on and a fake smile plastered to her lips. But her hand shook when she reached for her juice.
Nara watched quietly from a table by the window.
*One down. Many more to go.*
But then a voice whispered behind her ear:
"I know what you did."
Nara didn't flinch. She turned and saw Zayne, arms crossed, eyes curious, lips twitching.
"I saw you in the lab. You're not as invisible as you think."
She blinked. "And?"
"I don't care," he said, leaning closer. "Just don't get caught… and don't drag me down with you."
Then he walked off — just like that.
Nara stared after him, a strange twist in her chest.
She was fire.
But maybe… he was smoke.
And together, they could burn everything down.
---