An enemy already

VANESSA’S POINT OF VIEW

“How dare she?!”My voice echoed across the rooftop as I spun around furiously, gripping the metal railing so tightly my nails nearly snapped.

“That disgusting poor girl actually touched me!”Chloe groaned dramatically from where she sat on one of the benches.

“Oh my God, Vanessa, enough already. At this point your lungs are literally going to collapse.”Shelly rolled her eyes while fixing her ponytail.

“And your voice too,” she added.

“Remember you have the regional singing competition next month? Unless you want your voice cracking in front of judges.”I scoffed loudly.

“Please don’t even mention that stupid competition right now.”My blood was still boiling from what happened earlier,The nerve,The absolute nerve.That scholarship girl had grabbed my wrist in front of everyone.......Everyone.

Everyone had literally recorded it and by now the entire school had probably already seen the videos.Just imagining,it made my stomach twist angrily.Vanessa Hale embarrassed by the scholarship student.....Unbelievable.

“She seriously held my hand like we were equals,” I snapped, disgusted.

“Ew. I swear I still feel contaminated.”Chloe burst into laughter.

“You’re being dramatic.”

“I’m serious!”Shelly leaned lazily against the wall beside the rooftop entrance.

“Still though…” she muttered thoughtfully.

“That girl definitely has guts.”I stopped pacing immediately.

“What?”

“I’m just saying,” Shelly shrugged.

“Most people here don’t even make eye contact with you when you’re angry. Meanwhile she literally threatened you.”My jaw tightened instantly.

“Exactly why I’m going to ruin her life.”

Chloe smirked.

“Honestly, I almost felt bad for her at first.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“At first?”

“Until she started talking back,” Chloe replied quickly.

“Like who does she think she is?”

“She clearly doesn’t understand where she is,” I said coldly.Blackwood Academy wasn’t some normal school,status mattered here,Money mattered and that girl had none of those things.

“She looked at you like she wasn’t scared,” Shelly added slowly.That irritated me even more because it was true she should have been terrified.Everybody else usually was.

“I guess she doesn’t know what happened to the last girl who crossed you,” Chloe muttered with a grin.A small smile finally tugged at my lips.The last scholarship girl transferred schools after three weeks as she should have.

“I’m going to make her life a living hell here,” I said calmly this time,Not angry,Not emotional,Just certain.

“She’ll regret ever stepping foot into Blackwood.”Before either of them could respond, the rooftop door suddenly burst open. Rita from our class stepped outside looking breathless.

“There you guys are!”I frowned immediately.

“What?”

“The physics teacher is asking for you,” she said quickly.

“Class already started.”Chloe groaned loudly.

“Ugh. Seriously?”

“I’m not in the mood for class,” I muttered while rolling my eyes and she blinked nervously.

“Remember what happened last time you skipped physics?”My expression flattened immediately.Unfortunately…I did remember.

Mr. Laurent was one of the only teachers at Blackwood who genuinely didn’t care about status.He had literally failed the commissioners son once just to prove a point.....Annoying.

“Come on,” the girl continued nervously.

“You guys know he’ll report it.”Shelly sighed dramatically before pushing herself off the wall.

“Fine.”Chloe stood up next and Vanessa grabbed her bag irritably.

“You’re not seriously this stressed over that poor girl, are you?” Rita asked carefully while opening the rooftop door again.I scoffed loudly.

“Please.”But deep down?I was irritated,More irritated than I wanted to admit because somehow…That girl had managed to embarrass me on her first day and I hated that.....Absolutely hated it.

By the time we entered the classroom again, the lesson had already started.

Mr. Laurent barely glanced up from the board.

“You’re late.”

“Sorry, sir,” Chloe said quickly.He hummed once before continuing his explanation.The classroom was unusually quiet as we returned to our seats.My eyes instinctively moved toward the back row,Toward her as sat quietly beside Dylan, focused completely on her notebook while writing something down like she belonged here.

The sight irritated me instantly and I slid into my seat while glaring at the side of her head.

Meanwhile Dylan looked bored out of his mind, lazily spinning a pen between his fingers while half-listening to the lecture.

Mr. Laurent suddenly turned toward the class.

“Now,” he said while writing rapidly across the board,

“who can solve this?”The second the equation appeared…...The room went silent.

Even I frowned slightly,Okay.What the hell was that?The equation stretched across nearly half the board.Complicated symbols and numbers.Physics formulas that It looked ridiculous.

Nobody raised their hand Not even the usual smart students and Mr. Laurent crossed his arms.

“No volunteers?”Silence.A few students avoided eye contact completely.Then suddenly.......

“I can solve it.”My eyes widened slightly.

The entire class turned immediately. The scholarship girl slowly lowered her hand.Wait.What?Even Mr. Laurent looked surprised.

“Well,” he said after a moment.

“The new student. Come ahead."Whispers instantly filled the room.

“She knows it?”.

“No way.”

“That equation is insane.”

She stood calmly from her seat before walking toward the board and she actually looked confident,Not nervous,Not embarrassed.....Confident.Mr. Laurent handed her the marker.

“Go ahead.”The classroom became completely silent.Even Dylan finally looked interested.I watched closely as she stared at the equation for only a few seconds before immediately starting to solve it and not slowly either.......Fast.

Like she actually knew what she was doing.

Numbers filled the board rapidly while she explained the formula step by step.Nobody spoke,Nobody moved.Even Mr. Laurent looked impressed.Within minutes, she finished the entire problem and stepped back calmly.

There was silence......Then Mr. Laurent suddenly laughed softly.

“Wow.”The entire class stared.

“That,” he said while pointing at the board,

“is completely correct.”Murmurs exploded instantly.

“No freaking way.”

“She solved that?”

“Even Tyler and Cole couldn’t solve it.”

“That’s impossible.”

Mr. Laurent looked genuinely impressed.

“Very impressive, Ms. Carter,” he admitted.

“It’s your first day and you already solved one of the hardest questions in today’s lesson.”She smiled awkwardly and somehow that irritated me even more.

“I can definitely see why you earned that scholarship,” he continued and my jaw tightened instantly.The classroom buzzed with whispers while she walked back toward her seat and the worst part?People were looking at her differently now,Not just like the poor scholarship girl but like someone dangerous....Someone smart,Someone worth noticing,I hated it.....Absolutely hated it.

As she sat down again, I noticed Dylan glance briefly toward her.Only for a second but I noticed and suddenly…Something ugly twisted in my chest.If only she knew who she was messing with because one thing about me?I never lose and soon she will learn the hard way.