Snow’s Point of View

The ride to school was unusually quiet, at least on my part.

Nia was her usual chatty self, going on about the party she wanted me to attend, but my mind was stuck replaying the earlier encounter with Kingston.

"This is my house, sweetie"

His smirk, his dripping hair, the casual way he’d leaned against the doorway it was all burned into my memory. How had Nia managed to keep something so huge from me?

“Earth to Snow,” Nia’s voice cut through my thoughts.

“Huh?” I blinked, realizing she’d been staring at me, one eyebrow raised.

“You’re spacing out,” she said, nudging me with her elbow. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“Nothing,” I said quickly, looking out the window. “Just tired.”

Nia frowned, but thankfully, she didn’t press.

“Well, you’d better wake up soon, because I’m not letting you skip this party forever. You’re coming with me eventually.”

I sighed, shaking my head. “I already told you, I’m not a party person.”

“You say that now,” she said with a grin, “but wait until you see how fun it is. And hey, you’ll get to meet more people. You need to loosen up, Snow.”

“I’m plenty loose,” I muttered under my breath.

Nia just laughed, clearly not convinced.

By the time we got to school, I was feeling slightly more grounded. The familiar buzz of students rushing to class was comforting in its own way, a reminder that life went on regardless of how many twists and turns it threw at me.

“Come on,” Nia said, pulling me toward our lockers.

“We’ve got time before first period. Let’s grab something from the vending machine.”

I nodded, following her down the hallway. But as we turned the corner, I froze.

Standing near the vending machines were Mason, Cole, and Xander—the so-called “bad boys” of the school. Mason noticed us first, waving Nia over with a grin.

“Morning, babe,” he said, slinging an arm around her shoulder.

“Morning,” she replied, leaning into him effortlessly.

I stayed a few steps behind, suddenly feeling out of place. Cole and Xander’s eyes flicked toward me, and I could feel the weight of their stares.

“Snow,” Mason said, his tone friendly. “You made it. Thought you’d skip after seeing these two yesterday.”

“Funny,” I muttered, managing a small smile.

Cole smirked, his dark eyes narrowing slightly. “Didn’t think you’d be the type to hang with us.”

“I’m not,” I said honestly, crossing my arms.

That earned a laugh from Mason and even a faint smile from Xander.

“She’s blunt,” Xander said, his voice calm. “I like that.”

Cole shrugged, his smirk never fading. “Blunt’s fine. As long as she’s not cute.”

“She’s not cute,” Nia shot back, glaring at him. “She’s my friend. Be nice.”

“Nice isn’t in my vocabulary,” Cole replied, but his tone lacked any real bite.

I shook my head, unsure whether to be annoyed or amused.

“You don’t have to pretend to like me. I’m just here for Nia.”

“Fair enough,” Xander said, his gaze steady.

The conversation shifted after that, mostly between Nia and Mason as they planned their day. I stayed quiet, trying not to draw any more attention to myself.

But as the bell rang and we all started heading to class, I couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of relief.

Whatever else happened, at least I had people looking out for me—even if some of them were a little rough around the edges.