Chapter 5 Worning

Ivy Sinclair (POV)

First days in new schools always followed the same pattern.

Step one: pretend you’re invisible.

Step two: realize you are not.

Step three: survive anyway.

I was currently somewhere between step two and step three.

The classroom was too bright.

Not in a comforting way—in a why does everything feel slightly staged kind of way.

Desks neatly aligned. Students already grouped like they had rehearsed their social positions before I arrived.

I chose a seat near the middle.

Not too hidden.

Not too visible.

Neutral territory.

“Neutral territory,” I muttered under my breath. “That’s how you get killed in horror movies.”

I pulled out a notebook I wasn’t going to use properly and tried to look like I belonged there.

It worked for exactly thirty seconds.

I watched the students around me while pretending to organize my things.

There were groups everywhere.

Friends talking.

People laughing.

Someone showing another person something on their phone.

A girl near the window was already complaining about a teacher.

Normal.

Everything looked painfully normal.

Which somehow made it worse.

Because I knew there was something underneath it.

I’d felt it outside.

I’d felt it when I’d looked at Kael.

And now, sitting inside this classroom, I could still feel that strange pressure beneath everything.

Like there was another layer to this place that I couldn’t see.

Then she walked in.

Cassia Vance.

I didn’t know her name yet, but I felt it before I learned it.

Some people enter rooms.

Others own them.

She was the second type.

Perfect posture. Perfect hair. Perfect expression that said she had never been told “no” in her entire life and planned to keep it that way.

The room seemed to react to her without anyone consciously deciding to.

Conversations shifted.

A few students glanced up.

Someone moved their bag off a nearby chair.

Cassia paused when she saw me.

Just a fraction.

But enough.

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

Then she smiled.

That was worse.

She walked straight toward me.

No hesitation.

No doubt.

Like I was not a person she was approaching, but a problem she had already decided belonged to her.

“Hi,” she said, sweetly.

I blinked.

“Hi.”

She tilted her head slightly.

“You’re new.”

“No,” I said. “I’ve been secretly living here for years. I just enjoy dramatic entrances.”

A pause.

Then her smile tightened.

Okay.

So humor might be dangerous here.

Noted.

“You’re funny,” she said.

“I’ve been told that leads to either popularity or early retirement from life.”

She ignored that.

Of course she did.

She leaned slightly closer.

Too close for comfort.

“I’m Cassia,” she said.

“I’m Ivy.”

“I know.”

That made me pause.

“…That’s slightly creepy.”

Her smile didn’t change.

“I prefer informed.”

I stared at her for a second.

How did she already know my name?

I’d only been in the school for a few minutes.

Maybe someone had told her.

Maybe she’d heard it from a teacher.

Maybe there was a perfectly normal explanation.

I didn’t like any of them.

“Do you have a file on every new student?” I asked.

“No.”

She said it so quickly that I almost laughed.

“Okay.”

Behind her, I noticed movement near the back of the classroom.

Kael.

He wasn’t sitting.

Just standing near the wall like the classroom rules didn’t apply to him.

Watching.

Always watching.

His expression didn’t change, but something in his posture tightened slightly when Cassia stopped at my desk.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

Cassia followed my glance for half a second.

Then returned her attention to me immediately.

“You should be careful,” she said softly.

I leaned back slightly in my chair.

“That’s a weird thing to say to someone you just met.”

“It’s advice,” she replied.

“I didn’t ask for it.”

Her smile faded just a little.

Not much.

But enough to show something colder underneath.

“That wasn’t a suggestion,” she said.

I stared at her.

Then nodded slowly.

“Okay. Now I’m intrigued. Continue threatening me.”

A few students nearby went quiet.

Someone at the desk behind me stopped typing.

Cassia’s eyes sharpened.

“You don’t understand where you are,” she said.

I tilted my head.

“I’m in a classroom. Unless I missed a portal.”

A flicker of irritation crossed her face.

Good.

She wasn’t used to not being immediately obeyed.

“I’m serious,” she said.

“So am I,” I replied.

That made her pause.

Just for a second.

And I noticed it then.

Something under her confidence.

Not fear.

But possession.

Like she had something she believed she owned.

Or someone.

Her gaze flicked briefly—just briefly—toward Kael.

Ah.

So that’s what this is.

I almost smiled.

Almost.

“Let me guess,” I said casually. “You’re doing the whole ‘territorial warning’ thing?”

Cassia blinked once.

“You think this is about territory?”

I shrugged.

“Either that or you’re auditioning for Mean Girls 2: Forest Edition.”

That did it.

Her smile disappeared completely.

For the first time, she looked genuinely annoyed.

“You’re new,” she said again, slower this time. “So I’ll make this simple.”

I leaned forward slightly.

“Please do.”

Her voice dropped.

“You don’t belong near him.”

Silence.

For a moment, I didn’t respond.

Not because I was scared.

But because I was processing how absurdly direct that was.

I’d been in this town less than twenty-four hours.

I hadn’t even finished unpacking.

And apparently I’d already stepped into someone’s territory.

Then I nodded slowly.

“Okay,” I said.

Cassia relaxed slightly.

Too early.

Because I added,

“Which him? I need clarification. There’s a lot of emotionally unavailable men in this room.”

A few students snorted quietly.

Bad idea.

Cassia noticed.

Her eyes sharpened again.

“Kael,” she said flatly.

Ah.

So that was his name.

Good to know.

I glanced again toward the back of the room.

Kael was still watching.

Not intervening.

Not reacting.

Just observing.

Like he was waiting for something to happen.

Or break.

Our eyes met for a second.

I couldn’t explain the strange sensation that went through me.

It wasn’t fear.

It wasn’t attraction.

Not exactly.

It was something deeper.

Something that made my chest tighten before I could stop it.

I looked away first.

Again.

I was beginning to hate that.

I turned back to Cassia.

“Right,” I said.

“Kael.”

“Yes.”

“And your concern is…?”

Cassia leaned in slightly.

Her voice lowered.

“He doesn’t belong to your kind of problem.”

That sentence landed differently.

Not romantic.

Not jealous.

Something more controlled.

Strategic.

Like I wasn’t a rival girl.

I was a variable.

I studied her for a moment.

“What exactly is my kind of problem?”

She stared at me.

“You really don’t know.”

“Apparently I’m the last person to find out anything in this town.”

Her expression flickered.

It was gone almost immediately.

But I’d seen it.

She knew something.

Something about me.

Or about my family.

Maybe both.

Then she smiled again.

That fake, polished smile.

“You’ll learn.”

I didn’t like those words.

They sounded too much like something my father would say.

I leaned back.

“That’s becoming everyone’s favorite answer around here.”

Cassia frowned.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Then I smiled slightly.

“That’s interesting,” I said.

Cassia frowned.

“What is?”

“You didn’t say ‘he’s mine.’”

Silence.

That hit something.

I could see it.

Cassia’s expression tightened just slightly.

For the first time, I think I actually saw the real her under the perfect surface.

Not a girlfriend.

Not a school queen.

Something closer to control trying very hard not to slip.

“I don’t need to say that,” she said quietly.

I nodded again.

“Right,” I said. “Because you believe it already.”

Her jaw tightened.

Behind her, Kael shifted slightly.

Just enough for me to notice.

I wondered why he wasn’t stopping this.

If Cassia was supposedly important to him, why was he letting her corner the new girl?

Or maybe he wasn’t letting her.

Maybe he was simply curious about what I’d do.

That thought irritated me.

I didn’t know him.

I shouldn’t care what he thought.

And yet I found myself looking at him again.

He was watching me with that same unreadable expression.

Like he was trying to solve something.

I wanted to ask him what.

I also wanted to make sure he never got the satisfaction.

Cassia stepped back.

“This is your only warning,” she said.

I tilted my head.

“That sounded rehearsed.”

Her eyes flashed.

Then she turned and walked away.

Clean exit.

Controlled.

But not calm.

I watched her go.

Then exhaled slowly.

“…Okay,” I muttered. “First day and I already have an enemy. That’s efficient.”

A girl sitting two desks away looked at me.

“You really shouldn’t mess with Cassia.”

I glanced at her.

“I wasn’t aware I was messing with her.”

“She doesn’t like people who don’t listen.”

“Apparently I’m terrible at listening.”

The girl gave me a sympathetic look.

“You’ll learn.”

I stared at her.

“Please don’t tell me that too.”

She smiled nervously and turned back toward her desk.

I leaned back in my chair.

And only then did I glance at Kael again.

He was still watching me.

But now—

Not like before.

Now it felt… sharper.

Like Cassia’s warning had changed something.

I raised my eyebrows slightly at him.

He didn’t react.

Of course he didn’t.

I sighed under my breath.

“Great,” I whispered. “Mysterious silent guy with emotional damage. My favorite genre.”

The teacher walked in at that moment.

Class began.

Books opened.

Chairs scraped against the floor.

Everyone settled into their normal routines.

I tried to focus on the lesson.

I really did.

But every few minutes, I caught myself looking toward the back of the classroom.

And every time I did—

Kael was already looking at me.

That couldn’t be normal.

Then again, nothing about Willow Creek seemed normal anymore.

I lowered my eyes to my notebook and started writing the date at the top of the page.

My hand paused.

I looked at the words.

For some reason, the simple act of writing my name underneath the date made something inside me feel uneasy.

Ivy Sinclair.

New town.

New school.

New life.

Except something told me I hadn’t come here by accident.

And whatever Willow Creek was hiding—

It had already noticed me.

This wasn’t going to be a normal school year.

Not even close.