Chapter 4 Chapter four

~TRENDING FOR THE WRONG REASON~

The professor sighed loudly in annoyance.

“Phones away, everyone.”

But nobody listened. Almost every student was staring down at their phones intensely.

Some looked shocked, others looked pissed, and a few girls whispered excitedly while turning around to look directly at me.

I frowned slightly.

Why were they staring at me like that?

Then I noticed several students glancing between their screens and my face repeatedly, almost like they were comparing something.

A strange feeling settled in my stomach.

Unsatisfied whispers spread across the classroom like wildfire.

‘It’s her.’

‘The scholarship girl?’

‘What audacity.’

‘People like her seriously don’t know their place.’

I gripped my pen tighter, pretending not to hear them, but every word landed anyway. Beside me, the girl finally picked up her phone after ignoring the constant notifications for the past few minutes.

The second she looked at the screen, her eyes widened.

I leaned slightly toward her.

“I feel like I’m being judged and slowly prepared for execution,” I whispered nervously. “What’s going on?”

She blinked once before silently turning her phone toward me.

Confused, I took it from her and immediately regretted it, staring at a very clear video of me yelling at Alec in the middle of campus, hitting his leg, and shoving my broken phone into his hand.

The video zoomed dramatically on my face while students in the background gasped like they were witnessing a public assassination attempt.

Even worse, someone had added dramatic music.

My soul nearly left my body. “Oh my God…”

The caption made it worse.

‘WHO IS THIS FRESHMAN THAT JUST DISRESPECTED ALEC MARCELLO?’

The comments were already exploding.

‘She must have a death wish.’

‘Another attention seeker.’

‘She touched him??’

‘No way she survives this semester.’

‘Wait… she’s actually pretty.’

I handed the phone back slowly, horrified.

“I’m doomed,” I whispered.

The girl beside me almost smiled for the first time.

“Pretty much.”

Before I could respond, the atmosphere inside the lecture hall suddenly shifted.

The noise reduced instantly as several girls sat straighter and others quickly adjusted their hair or uniforms. I looked up and one of the twins walked in, the one with the glasses, as he stepped inside calmly, one hand in his pocket.

The professor immediately paused mid-sentence, not annoyed, not angry, just… paused, like his entrance alone demanded acknowledgment.

The entire classroom went silent as he scanned the room lazily. Then his eyes landed directly on me.

My stomach dropped.

And beside me, Jenna muttered under her breath.

“Well… you’re definitely dead now.”

I watched him climb the stairs slowly toward the upper rows of the lecture hall.

The moment our eyes met again, he smiled, not a friendly smile, but not exactly mocking either. Just calm… like he already knew something I didn’t.

Then he casually took a seat at the far side of the hall. Right where everyone could still see him.

I hiccuped nervously and looked away immediately.

Oh God. Have they planned to hurt me or something? Because honestly, I still didn’t think I had done anything wrong.

His brother crushed my phone, the least they could do was repair it. That wasn’t exactly a crime.

Trying to calm myself down, I leaned toward Jenna.

“What do you know about the twins?” I whispered carefully.

She glanced around first before lowering her voice too. “I know they shouldn’t be crossed or provoked.”

That response alone made my stomach tighten.

She subtly nodded toward the twin with glasses.

“The one sitting over there is Kai Marcello.”

So his name was Kai.

“He’s brilliant,” she continued quietly. “Very quiet too, but people say he’s dangerous. Like… genuinely dangerous. A bad boy hidden behind good grades and expensive glasses.”

I blinked slowly. “That specific?”

She nodded seriously.

“Girls are obsessed with him, but he never pays attention to any of them.”

“The other twin you touched earlier is Alec. Hockey star. Rich, reckless, extremely arrogant.” She paused. “He hates classes.”

I almost snorted quietly.

That part, I could believe.

“I heard their father is very strict and hard on them. He gave them a year to do whatever they wanted, on the agreement that they would study what he chose for them. Alec is supposed to be in the accounting department, but apparently, he spends most of his time either at the hockey rink or the art building.” She shrugged lightly. “The school practically worships him because of his awards.”

I processed everything slowly. “So, they are here because their father forced them? Some people are so lucky to have such privileges,” I said.

Jenna nodded immediately.

I stared at her, surprised.

“How do you know all this already?”

For the first time, Jenna giggled softly.

“Because unlike these girls,” she whispered dramatically, “I’m professionally obsessed with Kai.”

I nearly laughed.

“I enrolled here partly because of him,” she admitted shamelessly. “So yes… I stalked them online. I know a lot.”

I shook my head in disbelief while trying to absorb all the information. Kai sat quietly at the other side of the lecture hall, completely relaxed as the professor continued teaching passionately at the front.

But almost every girl in the room kept glancing at him every few seconds.

Some openly stared. Others whispered while pretending not to. And through all of it, Kai remained calm and unreadable. Either he genuinely didn’t notice the attention surrounding him, or he noticed everything and simply chose not to care.

I slowly rested my chin on my hand, pretending to focus on the lecture while my mind wandered elsewhere.

From everything Jenna had just said, neither of them sounded remotely interested in becoming students. Alec apparently skipped classes for hockey and art, while Kai sounded more like the mysterious billionaire son who secretly ran underground organizations at night.

So why Philosophy?

Was he planning to attend law school too?

The thought alone felt stressful.

My eyes drifted around the lecture hall again until they landed on the front fourth row.

And immediately, my mood dropped.

Maddie seated, perfectly dressed as always, sitting elegantly with her expensive bag placed beside her.

And next to her, was Liam.

I nearly scoffed.

The two of them looked very comfortable together now, like the betrayal from high school had become something sweet between them. Maddie leaned closer to whisper something to him, and Liam laughed softly before glancing backward.

Straight at me.

My grip tightened around my pen instantly.

A strange suffocating feeling settled heavily in my chest. It suddenly felt like fate had gathered every single person capable of making my life miserable and placed them all inside one classroom.

My adoptive sister. My cheating ex-boyfriend.

The terrifying rich twins everyone worshipped.

And me… the scholarship freshman already going viral on her first day.

I exhaled slowly and forced myself to look away, determined not to let any of them ruin this for me after I had worked too hard to get into this school.