On my very first day at Crestwood Academy, I committed the ultimate social sin: I wore the exact same vintage dress as Chloe, the school’s reigning "It Girl." Jax, the school’s resident bad boy and captain of everything, cornered me immediately. "You manipulative little try-hard," he sneered, his voice dripping with venom. "You’re ugly as hell and you think you can just clone her style?" He deliberately tipped his carton of chocolate milk over my head. While muttering a sarcastic "oops," he reached out and aggressively brushed my thick bangs off my forehead, exposing my face to the crowded cafeteria. He paused, noticing my mismatched pupils. A cold, mocking laugh escaped his lips. "Wow. Wearing colored contacts on day one? Who are you trying to seduce, freak?" I kept my head down, staring at my converse sneakers, and whispered, "It’s not a contact lens. It’s a prosthetic." Jax froze. 1 "What?" Jax looked like his brain had just short-circuited. He frowned, his expression shifting from malice to something weirdly unsettled. "What did you just say? If it's not a contact, what is it?" I sighed. This was always the worst part of transferring. Calmly, I pushed Jax’s hand away. I slicked my milk-soaked hair back, used a napkin to wipe the sticky mess off my face, and revealed my pale, emotionless expression. I looked Jax dead in the eye. "Watch." Jax narrowed his eyes, confused. In the next second, with practiced ease, I reached up, pried my eyelids apart, and right there in front of the entire junior class, I popped the prosthetic out. I held the golden-hazel glass eye in my palm, thrusting it toward Jax’s pale face. I repeated myself, my voice flat. "This isn't a contact lens. It’s my glass eye." "Is that clear enough for you?" The chaotic cafeteria instantly went dead silent. You could hear a pin drop. Jax stared at my empty left socket for a long time, stumbling back two steps in disbelief. "How... how is that possible?" He looked dazed, his hand instinctively reaching out to touch my face, but I swatted it away. I lowered my head, quickly slipped the eye back into the socket, and adjusted it until it sat right. I knew I looked like a wreck—milk-stained and disheveled. But I’d been through worse. This was nothing. When I looked up again, Jax’s expression was complicated. "I thought you were..." His lips trembled like he wanted to say something else. Just then, the bell rang. I didn't wait. I walked right past a stiff-as-a-board Jax and went straight to my assigned desk. My hair was dripping wet. I wiped it silently with paper towels, but it didn't help much. The sticky, gross feeling remained. I ran out of tissues, gave up on my stained shirt, and pulled out my textbook. Jax stood by my desk, motionless. He watched me clean myself up without saying a word, his knuckles white as he gripped the empty milk carton. When I stopped moving, his eyes lingered on my damp hair. After a long moment, Jax kicked the chair of the girl sitting in front of me—Chloe. "Give me your tissues." Chloe glared at him. "Jax, what is your problem? The teacher is coming, sit down!" "I said, give me the damn tissues!" Jax’s voice boomed. "Are you deaf?" 2 The classroom was already quiet, waiting for the teacher. Jax’s outburst drew every pair of eyes in the room. Startled, Chloe bit her lip, eyes welling up, and dug a travel pack of tissues out of her bag, throwing it at him. "You're crazy! Why are you yelling at me?" Jax ignored her. He took the tissues and shoved them toward me. I didn't take them. His hand hovered in mid-air. "Take them. Use them," Jax said, his face pale, his voice edged with frustration. Slowly, I looked up and locked eyes with him. The moment he saw my golden pupil, he flinched like he’d been stung and jerked his head away, avoiding eye contact. "What are you looking at? Just take it," he snapped, trying to sound tough. I realized then that after I took my eye out, Jax’s entire vibe had flipped. Seeing him act so awkward gave me a weird idea. "Is this your way of apologizing?" I asked calmly. Jax stiffened. His fingers twitched, betraying his panic. "If taking your tissues means I have to forgive you, then no thanks," I said, watching his brow furrow. "I have no intention of accepting your apology. So please, take your trash and get away from me." Jax looked like I’d just slapped him. His face darkened. Seeing that I wouldn't budge, he shoved the tissues into my desk cubby. I immediately took them out and dropped them on the floor. Jax silently picked them up and tried to hand them back. Just then, the teacher walked in. Chloe, watching this tug-of-war, looked furious. Before the teacher reached the podium, she stood up and yanked Jax toward the back of the room. "She doesn't want to talk to you! Why are you simping for her?" She dragged him back, purposely hip-checking my desk as she passed. I stared straight ahead, ignoring them both. Halfway through the lecture, a loud crack echoed from the back row. The sound of a hand hitting skin. Jax had slapped himself. Hard. The whole class turned around. Even Chloe kept glancing back at him, bewildered. Every time she looked at him, she’d shoot a glare at me, as if his breakdown was my fault. I ignored them. I pretended they didn't exist. 3 I barely made it to the break. The sticky milk on my skin was unbearable. I stood up to go to the restroom to wash up, but my foot caught on something—probably a bag strap someone left out. I pitched forward. I threw my hands out, but my elbows still skid across the linoleum, tearing the skin. "Ahh." I hissed in pain. Blood started seeping through the abrasions on my arm. It looked worse than it was. I was trying to push myself up when someone shoved through the crowd, grabbed me by the waist and knees, and scooped me up into the air. Caught off guard, I instinctively grabbed the person's shoulders. "You okay?" Jax’s voice was right in my ear. He saw my bleeding arm and frowned deep. "Don't move. I’m taking you to the nurse." "I hurt my arm, not my legs," I said coldly. "Put me down. I can walk." Jax pretended he didn't hear me. He gripped me tighter. "I can carry you," he muttered. "Stop acting tough." I almost laughed. I opened my mouth to argue, but Jax suddenly stumbled. His foot slipped, and he lost his balance. Gravity took over. "Jax!" I screamed. He tried to cup the back of my head to protect me, but it didn't work. We hit the ground hard. Because he was holding me, I landed on top of him, but the momentum slammed the back of my head into a locker. Thud. My brain went fuzzy. Before everything went black, I heard Jax yelling in panic: "Chloe! Get over here! Your cousin passed out!" My heart sank. So, Jax knew I was Chloe’s cousin. No wonder he hated me. 4 I woke up at the worst—or best—possible time. "You promised me!" Chloe’s shrill voice cut through the air. "You said you'd teach her a lesson. Why are you backing out now?" I kept my eyes closed. I could hear the rhythmic tapping of fingers on a table. "I said I'd help you mess with her," Jax said, his voice low and annoyed. "But you didn't tell me she was disabled, Chloe." "You want me to bully a girl with a fake eye? What do you think I am? An animal?" Chloe’s angry shouting turned into a pathetic whine. "She’s just a crippled bitch! If she destroyed your life and stole everything your parents gave you, I bet you wouldn't be so high and mighty about forgiving her!" Jax went silent. The tapping stopped. "Jax, you promised," Chloe pushed, her voice dripping with malice. "You owe me for taking the heat on that suspension last semester." "I don't want anything else. Just destroy her." I heard footsteps as she moved closer to him. "Break her. I don't care how you do it." The nurse's office was silent for a long time. I heard the wind rustling the curtains. Then, Jax sighed. "Fine. I’ll do it." Chloe squealed in delight. She immediately switched back to her bubbly self, offering to buy Jax lunch. He didn't refuse, and they walked out together. As the door clicked shut, I opened my eyes. My head throbbed, but I was okay. I stopped the recording app on my phone and sat up. I knew Chloe hated me. When my aunt and uncle took me in after the accident, she was furious. She hid her hostility behind fake smiles in front of her parents. I just didn't know she wanted me destroyed. I thought about Jax slapping himself in class earlier. And then his resigned, "Fine, I’ll do it." It was almost funny. I was actually curious. I wanted to see exactly how Jax planned to "break" me. 5 I walked back to the classroom just before lunch ended. Before I even stepped inside, I heard Jax’s booming voice. "Listen up! From now on, Harper is under my protection!" "If I hear anyone call her a cripple, a blind girl, or a freak, you’re dealing with me!" I paused at the door, frowning. Literally no one had called me those names except him. Now, thanks to his little speech, everyone would associate "Harper" with "cripple" forever. I turned to leave, but someone grabbed my wrist. "Harper's here!" a guy shouted, laughing. I looked up to see Chloe grinning, a smile so bright it looked painful. "Where have you been? Jax has been looking everywhere for you." She shoved me toward the center of the room. Jax hopped off the teacher’s desk and walked toward me. "Harper," he said, taking my hand with a solemn expression. "I owe you a huge apology for today." "I didn't know about your... situation. I said some messed up stuff. And then I dropped you." He winced slightly. "I am sincerely sorry. Please forgive me. Otherwise, I won't be able to sleep at night." The whole class was watching. This was theater, directed by Jax and Chloe. And I was the prop. I looked him dead in the eye. "I don't accept apologies that aren't sincere." Jax raised an eyebrow, surprised. "How is this not sincere?" He gestured to the crowd. "I’m apologizing in front of everyone." "You hurt me, and your solution is to force me to forgive you publicly so you look like the good guy. It’s manipulative," I said calmly. "You don't think you're wrong. You’re just arrogant. It’s hypocritical." Jax’s smile froze. The students gasped. Even Chloe looked shocked that I had a backbone. "So," I tilted my head, "can you get lost now?" Jax stared at me for a long beat, then suddenly laughed. He stepped aside, sweeping his arm in a 'after you' gesture. As I walked past, he called out, "Hey, Harper! I’m going to show you how sincere I am!" He kept his word. From that moment on, he stopped taking smoke breaks between classes. He kicked the guy sitting next to me out of his seat and claimed the desk, spending all day resting his chin on his hand, staring at me.
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