Chapter 1 The Crash & The Slap

~Author's Pov~

"Move! Move! Move!"

Gabriella shouted at herself as she pushed her old bicycle harder down the street. Her legs were burning. Her bag was banging against her back. She was already ten minutes late for her shift at the diner, and her boss didn't like it.

She had been at the library after school, finishing extra assignments for her scholarship. Saint Joseph High School didn't just give scholarships to anybody. You had to keep your grades high, or you lost everything. So Gabriella stayed back every day, reading and writing until her eyes hurt, then she rushed off to work two jobs just to help her family eat.

She turned onto the main road. Cars were honking everywhere. Her chain was old and made a horrible squeaking sound, but she didn't care. She just needed to get to work.

Then it happened fast.

A car came speeding from the side road, almost hitting her. Gabriella screamed and swerved hard to one side to escape it.

She didn't see what was in front of her.

CRASH!

Her bicycle slammed straight into the side of a shiny black sports car parked outside the school gate. The sound was so loud that people walking nearby stopped immediately.

Gabriella fell off her bike and landed hard on the ground. Pain shot through her knees. She looked down and saw blood already coming out from a scrape.

But before she could even process the pain, she heard phones.

Click. Click. Click.

People were already pulling out their phones to record. Some students who were walking past stopped completely, eyes wide, like they already knew something big was about to happen.

"Oh my God, she just hit Ethan's car," one girl whispered, already filming.

"She's going to regret coming to this school," another voice said quietly, almost laughing.

Gabriella didn't understand any of it. Why were they filming her like this was entertainment? Why did someone say she would "regret" coming to the school? She had no idea who owned the car. She didn't even know what was happening yet. All she felt was pain in her knees and confusion at the crowd gathering around her like vultures.

Then the car door opened.

A boy stepped out. Tall, neat hair. A face that looked like he had never been told "no" in his entire life. He didn't even look at Gabriella first.

He looked at his car.

"Are you serious?" he said, his voice cold and sharp. He walked around the car slowly, checking the long scratch running across the door. "Do you have any idea how much this paint job costs?"

Gabriella blinked. Her knees were bleeding. Her bike was destroyed. And this boy was asking about paint?

"Excuse me?" she said, pushing herself up from the ground, ignoring the pain.

"You heard me," Ethan said, finally turning to look at her. His eyes moved over her cheap uniform, her torn school bag, her old shoes. "Can you even afford to pay for this?"

The crowd around them grew bigger. More phones came out. Some students were already laughing under their breath, waiting to see what would happen next.

Gabriella's chest was burning, but not from the fall. It was from anger. She stood up straight, dusted off her uniform with shaking hands, and looked him dead in the eyes.

"No," she said clearly, loud enough for everyone to hear. "But I know good manners are free. Maybe you should try some."

Gasps came from the crowd. A few students laughed out loud. Someone said, "Oh, she did not just say that to Ethan."

Ethan's jaw tightened. Nobody talked to him like that. Nobody.

But before he could respond, the passenger door of the car opened too.

A girl stepped out, her heels clicking against the pavement like she owned the entire street. She was beautiful, dressed in clothes that probably cost more than Gabriella's could afford. 

Her eyes locked on Gabriella immediately, and her face twisted into disgust.

"Who is this?" Vanessa asked, walking closer, looking Gabriella up and down like she was something stuck on the bottom of her shoe.

"Nobody," Ethan muttered, still staring at the scratch on his car.

"Nobody just damaged your car and is talking to you like that?" Vanessa stepped even closer to Gabriella, getting right into her personal space. 

Her perfume was strong, expensive, and suffocating. "Look at her. Her bike looks like it came from a trash can. And those shoes…" she laughed, covering her mouth dramatically, "are those even real shoes? Or did you make them yourself?"

The crowd burst into laughter.

Gabriella felt her face grow hot, but she refused to let it show. She wouldn't cry. Not here. Not in front of all these people who already thought she didn't belong.

"She's so poor," someone filming nearby said, laughing into their camera, "and now she's crashed into Ethan's car. This is going to be everywhere by tonight."

More laughter exploded around them.

Gabriella's hands curled into fists at her sides. She looked at Vanessa, who was smirking like she had already won.

"Tell me," Vanessa continued, tilting her head, "do you practice being this pathetic? Or does it just come naturally?"

That was the line that broke something inside Gabriella.

She lifted her chin, looked Vanessa straight in the eyes, and said, loud and clear, "At least my bike has more personality than you do. It's broken, but it still gets me somewhere. You're just pretty and empty."

Silence.

Complete silence.

For a second, nobody moved. Nobody breathed. The phones kept recording, but even the people filming looked shocked, like they couldn't believe what they had just heard.

Vanessa's mouth dropped open slightly. Her face went from pale to bright red in seconds. The students around her exchanged glances, some covering their mouths to hide their smiles, clearly enjoying watching Vanessa get put in her place for once.

Ethan stopped looking at his car. He turned around slowly, staring at Gabriella like he was seeing her for the first time. There was something in his eyes, not anger exactly. Surprise, maybe. Or something he didn't want to admit.

"You little…" Vanessa's voice shook with anger. Her hands were trembling at her sides.

"Vanessa," Ethan said quietly, almost like a warning.

But Vanessa wasn't listening anymore.

Her eyes were on Gabriella, burning with rage. The crowd leaned in closer, sensing something was about to happen. Phones were raised higher. Nobody wanted to miss this.

"Nobody," Vanessa hissed, stepping even closer, "talks to me like that."

"Well," Gabriella said, refusing to back down even one step, "somebody just did."

That was it.

Vanessa's hand flew up so fast that Gabriella didn't even have time to react.

SLAP!

The sound echoed across the school entrance. Loud, sharp, final.

Gabriella's head turned to the side from the force of it. Her cheek burned instantly, a stinging pain spreading across her face. The entire crowd gasped at once, a wave of shocked sounds rolling through the students.

Nobody moved.

Nobody said a word.

Gabriella slowly turned her head back, her hand rising to touch her burning cheek. Her eyes were wide, not with tears, but with something sharper. Something dangerous.

Vanessa stood there, breathing hard, her hand still raised slightly, like she couldn't believe what she had just done either. But she didn't look sorry. Not even a little.

The phones were still recording. Every single second of it.

Ethan stood frozen, staring at Gabriella's red cheek, his jaw tight, his fists clenched at his sides. Something flickered across his face, something that looked almost like guilt, but he didn't move. He didn't say anything.

Gabriella lowered her hand from her cheek.

She looked at Vanessa. Then at Ethan. Then at the crowd of strangers filming her like she was a show.

And in a voice that was calm, but shaking with something fierce underneath, she said the only thing that came to her mind.

"You'll regret that."

The crowd went completely silent again.

Somewhere in the back, someone whispered, "Oh, this is about to get good."

Nobody knew yet how true those words would become.