It had been two days since Lannie and I talked, two days since she learned she was last on my list, two days since she started acting… weird.
Avoiding eye contact. Jumping whenever I walked into a room. Hovering around me without actually speaking.
Honestly, it was getting annoying.
I finally cornered her by the stairwell, arms crossed.
"What is up with you?"
Lannie flinched like I caught her doing something illegal. She looked everywhere except at me, at the railing, the wall, her shoes anywhere that wasn't my face.
"Nothing," she said too quickly. "I'm fine. Just busy."
"Busy," I repeated flatly. "With what? Standing here breathing weird?"
Her ears went pink again.For someone who acted like a perfect, untouchable president, she was absolutely terrible at hiding anything.
"I'm serious," she insisted, brushing past me, but her voice cracked on the last word.
I caught her wrist before she could get away.
"Lannie."
She froze.
"Look at me."
Slowly too slowly her eyes lifted to mine. And in that moment, I could tell she wasn't scared of me.
She was scared of herself. Of whatever she'd been feeling since that night. Of whatever she was trying and failing to bury.
"What's going on with you?" I asked again, softer this time.
Her breath hitched.
"I…" She swallowed hard. "It's nothing you'd care about."
Which only made me want to know more.
Because presidents don't stumble over words.
Girls with feelings do
"Do you like someone that you don't want me to know?" I asked, tilting my head.
Lannie froze like I'd just thrown a knife instead of a question.Her shoulders locked, her breath caught, and her eyes widened just enough for me to notice.
Which meant I'd hit dead center.
"I—I don't know what you're talking about," she stammered, stepping back way too fast.
I followed, slow and steady, not letting her escape. "Really? Because you've been acting like someone who's hiding something."
"I'm not hiding anything."
"Lannie," I said, voice dipping, "you're a terrible liar."
Her face was already turning red from her ears to her neck. She avoided my eyes entirely, staring at the wall like she could melt into it.
"It's none of your business," she whispered.
"That sounds like a yes."
"It's not a yes," she snapped, but even she didn't believe herself. Her voice was too thin, too shaky.
I smirked. "Ohhh, so it is someone. And you're scared I'll figure out who?"
She swallowed hard.
"Yurie," she murmured, "drop it."
"Okay, fine," I said, stepping back just enough to give her space but not enough to let her breathe normally again. "I'll drop it."
Relief flickered in her eyes for half a second.
Then I added, "But don't think you're off the hook."
Her entire expression froze.
"Yurie…" she warned quietly.
I smirked. "You're acting way too suspicious for me to let this go forever. You're hiding something and sooner or later, I'll figure out what it is."
Her jaw clenched, the president mask trying to snap back into place, but it was cracked now. Anyone paying attention would see right through it.
"Just… leave it alone," she whispered, almost pleading.
I turned away, heading down the hall with my hands in my pockets. "Sure. For now."
When I glanced back, she was still standing there, staring at the floor, cheeks flushed red, fingers trembling.
Yeah. She definitely wasn't off the hook.
while I was walking down the hall I spotted my next target. I smiled and walked up to her.
"Hi, I'm Yurie. I'm very pleased to meet you, Lillian Montalvo." She didn't attempt to hide her annoyance. Honestly, perfect. The faster I got rid of her, the faster I could move on to student council member number five.
"I have no need to speak to you," she said flatly.
"But you do."
That froze her. She turned, her eyes locking onto mine with that dead, hollow stare I'd heard rumors about. People at St. Astras were strange, but she was the type who would commit murder for the sake of preserving the school's reputation score.
"What do you know about Marie and Yante?" I asked, skipping all pleasantries and letting my smile drop completely.
Her expression flickered barely, but enough.
"How do you know about those locked files?"
"Why wouldn't I?" I stepped closer. "You idiots kept my parents trapped in your little 'no one can enter' room. It's simple: you comply… or you end up like Rory."
Her eyes narrowed, but she didn't flinch.
"And you think a threat can scare me?" she retorted. "I know what you do. I know where you've been. I don't think anyone is getting anything here."
So that was it. She was the surveillance I'd been looking for, the one shadow I hadn't been able to expose.
And then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Lannie.
Watching.
Not with the usual "I have to keep you under control" look she wore for everyone else. No… she was watching to make sure I didn't activate the rest of my plan too soon. Protective. Hesitant. Worried.
She wasn't ready for what came next.
I still had more questions. I wasn't leaving here empty-handed.
And Lannie knew that because she didn't take her eyes off me for a second.
"Isn't your babysitter supposed to keep a close eye on you?" Her voice wasn't just cold it was soaked in hatred. But not for me.
For Lannie.
The way she said it… like Lannie was some pathetic excuse for authority, like she was dirty for even associating with me. It wasn't the usual council arrogance either. This was older, deeper resentment sharpened to a blade.
And for some stupid reason, it bothered me.
I never feel bad. Not for people, not for victims, not for anyone who happens to cross my path.But the way she spit Lannie's name into the air like it was something rotten
I hated it.
A tiny, unfamiliar irritation crawled up my spine, and I found myself glaring before I could stop it.
"Careful how you say her name," I muttered, surprising even myself.
Lillian raised an eyebrow, amused and disgusted at the same time. "Oh? Did I strike a nerve?"
"You say that as if she's ruining your chances of making this school better. What is it that you don't like about her?"
"Because she is," Lillian hissed. "And you're making it worse by corrupting her."
What she said wasn't wrong and the fact that she was right only made my smile grow. I enjoyed the way she flinched at it.
"You're just mad she's having more fun than you."
"She's the president," Lillian snapped. "There should be more rules than fun. Chaos isn't how we do things in this school. You're treating this like some kind of game."
"Because it is." I leaned in slightly, letting my voice drop into something quieter, sharper. "And the only way to win the game is to take down all of you one by one—including her."
That last part… it stung. Just a little. A tiny ache I pushed down so fast it never reached my face.
"So that's what it is," Lillian breathed, realization spreading across her face like a shadow. "You're using her. But she really is that naive… letting someone like you get close."
"Believe whatever you want." My smile faded. "But you'll be next if I don't get those files."
Her jaw tightened. For the first time, she looked unsure like she couldn't tell whether I was bluffing or promising something she should actually fear.
And that hesitation was exactly what I wanted.
"You know what, fine." Lillian's voice was tight, controlled, like she was forcing the words through her teeth. "I'll give you what you want. As long as me and the other council members don't get dragged into whatever stupid game you're playing."
"Of course." I smiled sweetly, almost innocent, and held out my hand.
She hesitated only a second before pressing the thin, sealed file into my palm. The one I'd been hunting for since the moment I stepped foot in St. Astras. The one that held every answer about Marie and Yante, what the school did to them, why they died, why their names were buried under lock and rule.
Lillian turned on her heel and walked away, stiff and furious, trying to convince herself she'd won something.
But she hadn't.
Not even close.
I watched her disappear around the corner, then looked down at the file, my parents truth finally in my hands.
And as for that deal I pretended to agree to?
Yeah… that was a bluff.
Lillian Montalvo would be dead by tonight.
The next day, I still hadn't opened the file.
Lannie had looked through it, though—her face going pale halfway in—but I stopped her before she could speak.
"Don't tell me anything," I'd said. "Not yet."
So she didn't. But she watched me. Closely. Like she was afraid of what I'd do once I finally learned the truth.
I sat through morning announcements with my hands folded neatly on my desk, a smile tugging at the corner of my mouth. Every tick of the clock made my pulse thrums a little faster.
Any minute now.
Someone would walk up to that podium. Someone would clear their throat. And someone would announce that Lillian Montalvo, perfect student, pristine reputation, council rank six had been poisoned sometime during the night.
I kept waiting.
I kept smiling.
Patience, after all, was part of the game.
"Yurie, that file—"
"Shh." I kept my eyes forward. "I wanna hear the announcement."
She didn't move.Didn't breathe.Just stared at me like she desperately needed me to look back.
Why?She shouldn't care this much.Not about me.Not when she knew she was still on my list. for now.
"I know killing Lillian was necessary," she whispered, voice barely audible beneath the growing chatter of the assembly, "but I really want to talk to you."
She was careful. too careful. Her words were precise, guarded, meant for me and only me.She wasn't scolding me. She wasn't accusing me. She was… worried.
And I hated that.
I hated that she felt something toward me other than fear. I hated that it made something twist in my chest. I hated that it made me feel anything at all.
But her tone was soft, steady, almost pleading. It got under my skin. So I gave in.
I turned to look at her.
And her face was closer than I expected, way closer. Close enough that I could see the faint tremble in her lashes, the red tint on her cheeks, the slight part of her lips as if she'd been holding her breath.
It caught me completely off guard. My pulse stuttered, annoyingly and I stiffened before I could stop myself.
For a moment, neither of us moved. Her eyes locked on mine, searching, hoping, afraid of the answer but still asking the question anyway.
And that was the problem.
She cared.
She shouldn't. She really, really shouldn't.
And I didn't know what to do with the way that made me feel.
"Never mind," she muttered, looking away too fast like she was trying to hide the redness burning all the way to her ears.
Normally, that phrase never bothered me. People told me "never mind" all the time. I never cared. If something wasn't important enough to say, then it wasn't important at all.
But this time, when she said it, something inside me tightened.
"What do you mean 'never mind'?" I asked before I could stop myself. My voice came out sharper than I intended. "You just dragged my attention like it was urgent."
She blinked at me, startled. "It's nothing, I said."
I shouldn't have cared. I never cared for anyone. People were tools, obstacles, or targets. They didn't get to affect me.
So why… why was my attention drifting away from my plan, from the file, from the expected announcement of Lillian's death
and landing on her?
Her flushed face. Her nervous hands. The way she couldn't hold my gaze but wanted it anyway.
Why was that distracting me?
Then it hit me like a crack straight through the armor I'd spent years building...
I was falling.
Not on my own terms, not with control, not with the awareness I usually had for every move in my game.
I was falling on hers.
Falling on her terms.
I clenched my jaw, instantly irritated by the realization.
"How annoying," I whispered under my breath, quiet enough that she couldn't hear, loud enough that I felt the truth sting.
She looked back at me, confused. "What?"
"Nothing," I said, mirroring her words back to her. "Never mind."
Her expression dropped into something like hurt.
And that strangely stung even worse.
this was bad everyone on that list was supposed to be gone but shes on that list... now my plan had risks I was scared of taking.
I realized I'd missed the entire assembly, and that alone pissed me off. Everyone else got to hear the chaos I caused. Everyone else got to react. And I wasn't even there to watch it unfold, curse this damn school.
Useless.
So I left the moment it ended, pushing past the crowds and ignoring whatever whispers followed me. I didn't care. I was already heading upstairs, my mind two steps ahead of my feet.
I needed to move on with my plan, onto the next target, the next council member but something kept pressing at the edge of my thoughts.
I couldn't. Not yet.
Not while every student's eyes were glued to me. Not while the council had tightened their patrols after Lillian. Not while Lannie's gaze followed me with… nevermind.
I needed something bigger. Something terrifying enough, distracting enough that the whole school would forget about me for at least a little while.
Something that would swallow St. Astra's in so much panic that nobody would dare look deeper.
Something that would make the council split their attention, their precious order cracking under pressure.
And then it hit me.
Not a thought. A revelation. The perfect distraction. I stopped on the stair landing, my hand on the cold railing, a grin curling at the edge of my mouth.
Burn the school librarydown.
Of course.
The heart of their precious reputation. The pride of St. Astra's. The building that contained their records, their accomplishments, their "history of excellence," their rules, their oldest secrets.
A place the council couldn't afford to lose.
A fire like that wouldn't just cause chaos. it would cause fear. Real fear.
Evacuations. Investigations. Sleepless nights. Rumors spreading like smoke. Everyone distracted. Everyone panicking.
Perfect.
I took another step up the stairs, smile widening as the plan formed in my head piece by piece.
I'd make sure no one got hurt obviously. not that I cared, but I needed to be careful this time. The chaos only worked if it wasn't pinned on me.
But the flames… The destruction… The message…
That would be beautiful. My fingers twitched with excitement.
"Time to move," I whispered.
when curfew hit I snuck out without making a sound, I had the liberty of putting those cameras to sleep earlier. once I got to the library God it was beautiful but it would look more pretty in flames so I start pouring gasoline everywhere and threw a lit lighter. I smiled. time to actually take action...
few hours later I was already outside waiting for the other students to come out, Students burst out of the dorm buildings half-dressed and half-awake, their voices shaking the quiet morning air. Some were panicking, others confused, a few already crying like they'd lost a family member instead of a building full of dusty books.
I stood off to the side near the trees, hands in my pockets, pretending to yawn like I'd just woken up.
Chaos rolled across the campus like a wave.
"What the hell—"
"Our library!"
"How did it even go up in flames?!"
I watched them shout, point, run around like ants kicked out of their hill. The sky behind them glowed a soft gray while smoke rose in a thick column from the still smoldering ruins.
And me?
I smiled.
A small one, but real.
These students… they didn't know what fun looked like. They never challenged anything. They never questioned the council. They lived in perfectly ironed uniforms and perfectly scheduled days with their perfectly obedient little routines.
That was entertainment.
The panic. The shock. The way they clutched each other like the sky was falling.
It was beautiful.
And somewhere above the crowd, I spotted Lannie frozen, staring at the ashes with her jaw tight and she looked like she knew exactly who did it.
The council stood at the front of the crowd, five perfect, polished statues with murder simmering just under their skin. Their expressions were carved out of rage and disbelief, like someone had ripped the heart out of everything they'd ever worked for.
Rosalie stormed toward me like a bull seeing red, her boots practically cracking the pavement with how hard she stomped. Before I could even blink, she fisted the front of my shirt and yanked me down to her level, eyes blazing with the kind of fury that made the other students recoil.
"You did this," she hissed, voice shaking with rage. Not fear. anger.Very un-student council of her.
I lifted a brow, unamused.
"Let go," I said, tapping the back of her hand with two fingers. Then I jerked my chin toward the blazing skeleton of the library. "This?" A slow shrug. "Wasn't me. Get a grip."
A clean, effortless lie.
She was furious, furious enough that, for a split second, I wondered why I hadn't dealt with her first.
Because instead of yelling, instead of threatening, Rosalie did something much worse.
She called in two security guards with a sharp, irritated gesture, and before I could even roll my eyes, they were already grabbing my arms. I didn't fight them. I just stared at her, unimpressed.
"Really?" I said as they started dragging me away. "This is what you do when you're mad? How student-council-like of you."
She didn't answer. She just followed behind us, silent and seething, her heels echoing down the hall like she wanted every step to stab into the floor.
They hauled me down a side corridor, one I didn't recognize and stopped at a door that looked like it belonged in a basement nobody talks about. A plain metal door, no window, just a lock that looked too heavy for a school.
The guards shoved me inside.
The room was small. Too small. Bare cement walls, no furniture, no vents I could see. It felt more like a containment box than a detention room. Maybe enough space for three or four people if they stood shoulder to shoulder, but right now it was just me and the smell of cold concrete.
Before I could turn around, the door slammed, and the lock clicked into place.
I stood there in the cramped silence, breathing in the heavy air.
It had been hours, actual hours and boredom was becoming a physical ache. I'd counted the cracks in the concrete, memorized the flicker pattern of the stupid overhead light, and debated banging my head against the wall just for entertainment when the door suddenly unlocked.
I sat up fast.
It opened only a sliver before someone slipped inside. The door shut again immediately, the lock clicking right behind her.
Lannie.
She stood there, breathing a little too fast like she'd been rushing. Her hair was messy, her expression unreadable.
"Why are you in here?" I asked, raising a brow.
She swallowed, glanced at the locked door, and said, "We're both trapped in here."
…What?
I blinked. "What do you mean both?"
Her shoulders slumped a little. "I couldn't let you be in here by yourself. I know how bored you get." For a second, I actually forgot how to talk.
I sighed dramatically, annoyed at her for being so… her. I sat down on the cold floor. "Amazing," I muttered, though the sarcasm wasn't as sharp as I wanted it to be.
She sat next to me. Not close enough to touch, but close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating off her. She didn't look at me. She didn't say anything else. She just… existed there beside me.
And the silence? God, it was nerve wracking. Not because of the room.
Because it was her.
"How about small talk?" she said. Lannie, of course, only she would come up with something that dumb so casually, like it was the most normal idea in the world.
"What…? I'm sorry, are you sick?"
She giggled a little It was cute. I wanted to deny that thought, crush it before it grew, but apparently I couldn't.
"I'm not sick," she said, still smiling. "The quietness is just… kinda boring."
"Okay then, you start it."
"Uh okay then." She hesitated, like she suddenly forgot how talking worked. "What's your favorite color?"
"Royal blue."
She stared at me, shocked. Like she expected me to say black, blood red, or something ridiculous. Her expression almost made me roll my eyes.
"Um… okay, your turn," she said, flustered.
I didn't waste time. I went straight for something real.
"Do you actually like this school?" I turned my whole body toward her, watching her reaction.
She smiled, almost embarrassed. "Not… not really." She laughed through it, like she wasn't supposed to admit that out loud.
I stayed quiet for a moment. It wasn't the answer I expected. Not from her, the perfect student council president.
"...Okay," I finally said. "Your turn."
Her eyes flicked up to mine, and her face turned a little pink, like she already had a question, one she wasn't sure she should ask.
"Do you have feelings for anyone?" What a question. What a dangerous question.
I looked at her when she asked it, really looked, her eyes wide, curious, a little afraid of her own words. But my expression didn't change. I kept the same unreadable mask, the one no one ever manages to get past. I wasn't going to let her see what was spinning in my head… or what I was about to donext.
But my body moved before my thoughts could catch up.
I reached out and cupped her face with one hand, slow, steady, deliberate. she didn't move away.
And then I did the one thing my brain screamed at me not to do.
I kissed her.
Not gently, just enough for her to feel every second I'd been fighting it. Every moment I tried to pretend she wasn't getting to me.
Her lips were soft, warm, and for the first time in a long time…
my heart actually hurt...
When our lips finally parted, the air between us was warm. Her eyes were still half closed, stunned, like she hadn't processed what just happened.
I stayed close, my hand still on her cheek, thumb brushing her skin before I even realized it.
"So much for the question," I murmured, my voice low, barely above a whisper.
She swallowed hard, her face completely red now, and for once she didn't have anything clever or presidential to say, just a shaky breath.
And the worst part?
I wanted to kiss her again.
I pulled away before my thoughts could get in the way again, before I did something even dumber. She kept looking at me, searching my face for… something. But the redness in her cheeks had faded, and all that was left was that steady, quiet stare.
My own expression didn't change I kept the same unreadable mask I always wore, pretending that kiss didn't rattle every part of me.
"so when you were acting weird it was because of me, wasn't it?"
"what'd you expect? you got too close to me."
I didn't want to look at her. I knew that if I even glanced in her direction, I was going to kiss her again. My self-control was already hanging by a thread. But before I could say anything else, she reached out and gently turned my face toward hers.
And of course exactly what I'd been trying to avoid happened.
I kissed her again. Without hesitation.
I pulled away just enough to breathe, just enough for one question to slip out.
"Wait isn't it against the rules for council members to have feelings? Something about distractions and 'maintaining order,' right?"
She giggled. Again. God, that sound was really cute.
"You remember that?" she teased softly. "Miss I don't follow the rules actually listened?" She nudged me lightly with her shoulder, smiling like she suddenly forgot we were locked in a bare room with nothing but our own chaos.
Her laugh made it feel like the rules didn't matter for either of us anymore.
We both froze when the door clicked open. Instantly, we snapped apart, sitting like nothing had ever happened. No kisses, no blushing, no stupid small talk that got way too personal. Just two perfectly innocent students sitting in a tiny, empty room.
Rosalie stood in the doorway, arms crossed, expression carved out of stone.
"Since we found no evidence connecting you to the library fire, you're free to go," she said flatly.
Lannie stepped forward first. "See, Rosalie? I told you so." Her voice was confident, steady, covering for me again like it was nothing. Like she hadn't just broken a council rule and kissed the worst possible person to get involved with.
I stayed quiet, slipping past them, but my mind was still in that room.
Because what happened in there?Those kisses, those looks, that shift between us?
That can never be mentioned to the other council members.Absolutely not.
Not if we wanted to survive the chaos coming next.