Chapter 2
Chapter Two
JADE
Bonfires in Royal Oaks are basically a social Hunger Games.
If you’re not in the right crop top, sipping from the right Solo cup, and pretending you don’t care how many followers you’ve lost this week, you might as well crawl back into your FYP and disappear.
I wasn’t even supposed to be here tonight.
New girl code says: stay invisible, keep your head down, maybe make a sad little Pinterest board about reinventing yourself.
But Shani dared me. And I don’t back down from dares—especially the ones that involve fire, drama, and cute boys I’ll never see again.
Or so I thought.
The flames cracked loud enough to drown out the bass thumping from someone’s Bluetooth speaker. Beer flowed like it was being sponsored, and phones were out like paparazzi, catching Snap streaks and thirst traps for tomorrow’s gossip dump.
And then… there was him.
Leo Holt.
Golden boy. Varsity royalty. TikTok thirst trap with thousands of followers and a jawline that could cut glass. The kind of guy who makes eye contact and suddenly you forget how to spell your own name.
I was standing near the edge of the fire, sipping flat seltzer and pretending not to care, when he walked up like he owned oxygen.
“You're not from here,” he said, not a question. More like an accusation.
I blinked. “Wow. That obvious?”
He smirked. “You don’t have a spray tan or laminated brows.”
Busted. “Maybe I like being au natural.”
“Not around here you don’t.”
His friends were watching. I could feel it—eyes on me, waiting for me to trip up, to say something stupid, to flinch.
But I didn't flinch.
Instead, I smiled. "You always this charming or just when you're bored and slumming it with the commoners?"
His smirk deepened. “You think I’m bored?”
“Not sure. You look like you’re trying really hard not to be.”
For a second, something flickered in his eyes. Interest. Challenge. Maybe even respect.
Then—like a scene straight out of a Wattpad cliché—he stepped closer. Close enough that the fire lit gold in his eyes, and my pulse went full-on ‘dramatic TikTok audio’ mode.
“You’re kinda mouthy for someone who just got here.”
“And you’re kinda full of yourself for someone who thinks Snap scores still matter.”
That earned a grin.
And then—he kissed me.
No warning. No setup. Just firelight, smoke, and the reckless kind of kiss that gets you into trouble before your brain has a chance to file a complaint.
It wasn’t soft.
It was bold, messy, hot—the kind of kiss that steals your breath and uploads itself straight to your memory bank under do not forget ever.
Gasps. Laughter. Someone definitely got it on video.
And just like that, I knew: I’d just become content.
And not the cute kind.
Leo pulled back like nothing happened, like he didn’t just detonate my world in front of half the school. “Welcome to Royal Oaks, new girl.”
Then he walked away.
And I just stood there, heart racing, mascara probably smudged, realizing two things at once: That kiss was the best and worst thing that’s ever happened to me. I just made myself a headline.
Tomorrow, my name would be in every group chat, every private story, every whispered hallway conspiracy.
And Leo Holt?
He’d made me a target…