Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

Mae’s POV

The class had already begun, but whispers still floated behind me like annoying little insects refusing to disappear.

A few students giggled quietly.

Others threw crumpled pieces of paper toward my desk whenever the teacher turned around.

I remained focused on the board.

At least, I pretended to be.

None of their childish jokes were supposed to affect me.

But they did.

Every whisper felt like another reminder that I didn’t belong here.

I tightened my grip on my pen and forced myself to continue writing.

The teacher suddenly stopped speaking mid-sentence. The classroom immediately shifted.

Chairs scraped loudly against the floor as everyone straightened in their seats. Even the whispering stopped. Slowly, the teacher turned toward the class, adjusting the glasses resting on her nose.

“So…” she began before hesitating slightly.

Her gaze swept across the room before finally landing on Marlowe, who sat beside Jason near the window.

“Marlowe,” she said calmly, “tell me what happened to the project you were supposed to submit.”

The atmosphere changed instantly.

Marlowe’s relaxed posture stiffened almost immediately. The lazy confidence in her expression disappeared as her eyes locked onto the teacher.

For the first time since meeting her, she actually looked nervous.

The teacher sighed heavily.

“I know this is slightly off-topic,” she continued, crossing her arms, “but you are not going to play queen bee in my class again this semester.”

The room grew painfully quiet.

Then the teacher lifted a file from her desk with visible disgust.

“Your assignment…” she paused sharply, clearly irritated. “Honestly, it’s filled with Fs.”

Soft gasps spread across the classroom.

Nobody laughed openly, but quiet giggles and whispers immediately followed.

I kept my eyes lowered toward my notebook, refusing to look in Marlowe’s direction.

The last thing I wanted was her attention.

Then suddenly, pain exploded across my scalp. A sharp scream escaped my lips before I could stop it. My entire head jerked backward violently as fingers tangled harshly into my hair.

My skull throbbed instantly.

I looked up in shock.

Marlowe stood beside my desk with rage burning across her face. Her eyes looked almost red with fury, and the veins along her neck had become painfully visible.

The entire classroom went silent.

“What are you laughing at, newbie?” she spat viciously.

I stared at her, completely stunned.

I hadn’t laughed.

“I wasn’t laughing,” I said quickly, my voice shaking despite how hard I tried to steady it.

Marlowe’s grip tightened painfully.

“you liar.” 

 “You think this is funny?” she snapped.

Pain burned across my scalp as she yanked my head back harder, forcing tears into my eyes. The entire classroom remained frozen, nobody moving, nobody speaking.

Nobody was even trying to help me.

Of course. A scholarship girl in an elite academy. And this was Blackthorn Elite. People here watched disasters happen for entertainment.

“Marlowe.” Jason suddenly stood from his seat. “Let her go.”

“Stay out of it,” she hissed without looking at him.

The teacher finally rushed forward, her heels striking sharply against the floor.

“Miss Sinclair!” she shouted. “Release her immediately!”

For one horrible second, I thought Marlowe wouldn’t listen. Then suddenly, her fingers released my hair.

I stumbled sideways, gripping the edge of my desk to steady myself while sharp pain continued throbbing through my head. A few strands of my hair remained tangled between Marlowe’s fingers before floating uselessly to the floor.

Humiliation crawled through me so violently it made my stomach ache.

Marlowe looked completely unbothered.

“She was laughing at me,” she said coldly, adjusting the sleeves of her blazer like she hadn’t just attacked someone in the middle of class.

“I wasn’t, I swear” I whispered.

Nobody even looked surprised that she didn’t believe me. The teacher’s face hardened instantly.

“Principal’s office. Now.”

“Silly girl!”

A flicker of annoyance crossed Marlowe’s face.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, young lady”

The classroom remained painfully silent as the teacher pointed toward the door.

“For someone so concerned about your image, Miss Sinclair, you seem determined to embarrass yourself publicly.”

A few students immediately lowered their heads to hide their reactions.

Marlowe’s jaw tightened.

For the first time since meeting her, I saw something dangerous crack beneath her perfect exterior.

Humiliation.

And somehow, that made her even scarier. Her eyes slowly moved toward me again. The hatred inside them made my chest tighten.

This wasn’t over.

She just booked a free flight to hell. 

Without another word, she grabbed her designer bag and walked toward the classroom door. The moment she passed my desk, her shoulder slammed hard against mine intentionally.

Pain shot through my arm.

Then she left.

The second the door closed behind her, noise exploded through the room.

Whispers.

Murmurs.

Excited gossip spreading faster than fire.

“Oh my God…”

“Did you see that?”

“She literally lost it…”

“She’s going to kill her after school.”

That last whisper made my stomach twist.

I slowly sat back down in my chair, pretending not to notice how badly my hands were shaking.

Jason looked at me carefully from beside the window.

“You okay?”

No.

But I nodded anyway.

“I’m fine.”

He clearly didn’t believe me.

Before he could say anything else, the classroom door opened again.

The atmosphere changed instantly. Like the room itself had straightened its spine.

Cole Ashford walked in late without even pretending to care.

A black hockey jersey clung loosely to his broad frame, his duffel bag hanging carelessly from one shoulder. His dark hair looked slightly damp, like he had just come from practice. Every eye in the room followed him automatically.

Even the teacher paused.

“Nice of you to join us, Mr. Ashford,” she said dryly.

Cole barely reacted.

“Traffic.”

“There are no cars inside the building.”

A few students laughed nervously.

The corner of Cole’s mouth twitched slightly, but his attention never fully settled on the teacher.

It landed on me instead.

Again.

My chest tightened immediately.

His gaze moved slowly across my face before dropping toward my hair then toward the slightly messy strands Marlowe had ruined.

Something unreadable flashed briefly through his expression.

Then his eyes darkened.

“What happened?”

The question was calm.

Nobody answered.

The classroom suddenly became interested in literally anything else.

Jason leaned back in his chair slowly.

“Marlowe happened.”