The sky was beautiful as I watched the sun set right in front of my eyes. I've been here for at least a few hours now as I contemplated my life choices. The short answer is that I have none. All my life, I've been directed and controlled by you. I hate this. I hate you. I hate how much control you have over me.
For the past few days, everything changed; more students entered the school, I don't feel free anymore, and I've gained a bodyguard. I have no idea what the purpose of getting a bodyguard was, and I have some intentions of finding out.
It started one day when I was called to the principal's office. I didn't know what to expect or the reason why I was called. I took a deep breath before knocking and opening the door. After entering the room, I closed the door behind me.
"You wanted to see me, miss?" I asked as politely as possible and put on a kind smile.
"Yes. Yes, I did. I have received a phone call from your father," she informs me as I take a seat across from her. She is wearing a black formal suit and a red tie to match with her heels. Her hair is very short and straight.
I wonder what my father wants. He never calls the school unless it's important and doesn't take away any of his working time.
"We talked about you getting a bodyguard. His name is Xander Wolfe," the principal's tone is surprisingly more professional than normal.
My thoughts immediately land on the spot in my brain that questions if this is real. It can't be real. I can't have the only thing I still have to be taken from me.
"May I know what you talked about?"
"He will follow and protect you everywhere," she continues. "Of course you'll have your own privacy, meaning he won't follow you to the bathroom and to the bedroom without your permission."
The only things that now run in my head are when he's coming to school and what he looks like. I must've asked the first question aloud since the principal answers that he starts today.
"Do you need anything else?" I request to look more polite and mature.
For a while, she stays quiet, probably wondering if she does need anything. "No, you're dismissed," she finally says as she waves her hand in a dismissive gesture.
I stand up and slightly bow as a sign of respect. "Thank you for informing me. Have a great day," I wish her, as I stand up straight and then leave her office to go find my friends who are probably waiting for me.
▪︎ • ✦ • ▪︎
I spot my friends standing by our lockers, talking in a group. "Hi guys!" I enthusiastically greet them.
"Kari!" My friend, Aline, exclaims, matching the enthusiasm I put on to look more happy while my other friends, Cassie and Freya, greet me.
"Where were you?" Freya, who is wearing a cyan T-shirt with black long sleeves with a white pearl necklace around her neck, jeans with a chain hanging from them and cyan boots to match her theme stands out with her blond bangs and pink hair which is decorated with a cream and white bow on the side, asks as she leans against the lockers.
"Oh. I was in the principal's office. My dad called her. Apparently, I'll have a bodyguard from now on," I tried to suppress my disgust when saying the word 'dad'. Successfully because no one commented on the way I said it.
Cassie, who has long brown wavy hair and is wearing a dark purple long-sleeved T-shirt with a hood and overalls but instead of shorts she's wearing a skirt, looks surprised because she turns her head in my direction and almost yells "You'll what?!"
"I will have a bodyguard," I state again to stop Cassie's confusion.
Aline, who was quiet from the start of our conversation, seems overly excited about this information. She's wearing glasses on her black hair with cyan bangs and pastel green overalls that have a skirt instead of shorts over her white shirt and under her pastel yellow tie.
I look at her, wondering what's going on in her mind right now. And then she drops a bomb of questions.
"What's his name? What does he look like? How old is he? Is he hot?" Aline says very quickly, and Cassie just says "Girl".
Before anyone can move on from the topic, I answer the questions with the information I got from the principal. "I don't know anything about him except his name, Xander."
"That's all you know?" Aline questions me skeptically.
I wonder if I should know all the answers to her questions. I brush it off since I don't see the point of knowing those answers. He's only a bodyguard, nothing more. "Uhm yes? What's wrong with that?"
"Girl," she pauses, looking disbelieved before continuing again. "Maybe he's hot, and you'll finally fall in love!" Freya is the only girl that looks like this is usual, which is true.
"Yeah girl! Have fun while you can! You only live once," Cassie exclaims enthusiastically like Aline. While Freya and I exchange looks as if Cassie agreeing with Aline was an everyday thing, which comes close.
"You guys are weird," I exclaim. "I'm not going to fall in love with my bodyguard," I said flatly, crossing my arms as I leaned back against the locker.
Aline gasped dramatically like I had just said I was never eating chocolate again. "You don't know that," she insisted, wiggling her eyebrows behind those huge round glasses.
Cassie laughed, brushing a strand of her wavy hair from her face. "Come on, Kari, this is so your book moment. Stranger danger, but make it romantic."
"I just hope he's not some old bald dude," Freya chimed in coolly, arms folded as she leaned against the locker beside me. Her bow wobbled slightly when she tilted her head. "Though that would be kind of hilarious."
"Guys," I groaned, already regretting bringing this up. "This isn't funny. I didn't even want a bodyguard. I'm not some—"
"Karina."
The voice was new—low, firm, and way too close. I snapped my head up, startled to find a guy standing in front of us. He had shaggy dark brown hair, spiked and a little messy like he didn't care, a bandana slanted across his forehead, and black clothes that made him look like he'd just walked out of an action movie.
He scanned our group quickly, eyes sharp and unreadable. I had a feeling he was used to being listened to. "I'm looking for Karina," he said, hands casually shoved into his pockets.
Aline's eyes went comically wide. "You're Xander?" she whispered under her breath.
Xander.
So this was him.
My bodyguard.
Great.
Just great.
He turned toward me slowly, and the second his eyes landed on mine, I could feel my stomach twist into a knot. He didn't look surprised. He looked like someone who already knew what he was getting into.
"I'm Xander," he said, nodding slightly, as if I needed the confirmation. "I'll be protecting you from now on."
I didn't respond right away. I just stood there, staring at the guy who was about to shadow my every step.
And I already hated how interesting he looked. I didn't say anything.
I just blinked at him once, then looked away as if he was nothing but a passing cloud in my sky. A storm cloud, obviously. One I didn't ask for and didn't want hovering over me.
"Ohhhkay," Cassie said slowly, clearly picking up on my mood. "So… that's him?"
"Yep," I answered, popping the 'p' at the end, smiling far too brightly for how much I wanted to scream. "That's him."
Xander didn't move. I could feel his stare—sharp, calculating—burning into the side of my face like he was trying to figure out if I was always this cold or if it was personal. It was personal. But not because of him, exactly.
It was because of what he represented.
Another chain around my ankle.
Another decision made for me, not by me.
And I hated that.
"So," Freya said, pulling at the bow in her hair, clearly trying to ease the tension, "what are we doing after school? Bubble tea?"
I nodded instantly, pretending I was still invested in normal life, in moments that felt like freedom. "Totally. Extra boba this time. I need the sugar."
Cassie giggled and threw her arm around my shoulder, pulling me into a half-hug. "Girl, you always need the sugar."
"And the drama," Aline teased, eyes flicking to Xander like she wanted to poke him with a stick and see what he'd do. "I still can't believe your life is turning into a fanfiction."
"Ignore him," I muttered just loud enough for my friends to hear. "That's what I'm doing."
"I'm right here," Xander finally said, his voice low and calm, but I could hear the steel under it.
"I know," I replied sweetly, not looking at him. "I just don't care."
It was childish.
Petty.
I knew that.
But he wasn't a person to me right now—he was an obstacle. One more reminder that I was being watched.
Guarded.
Controlled.
I couldn't explain that to my friends without sounding ungrateful. And they'd never understand what it's like to live in a cage made of gold bars and soft lies.
So instead, I smiled wider. I laughed at whatever Aline said next, even though I didn't really hear it. I kept pretending.
Because pretending was easier than breaking down in the middle of a hallway.
Especially with him watching.
The bell rang a few minutes later, loud and shrill. A wave of students poured into the hallway like ants from a broken nest, pushing past each other, talking over one another, lockers slamming open and shut.
We started walking, the four of us in a row like always—Freya on my left, Aline and Cassie side by side ahead—and him a few steps behind. Like a shadow I didn't ask for.
Every now and then, I'd feel his presence closer. Not touching me, never that, but always near. Always there. It was like trying to breathe with a wall pressed against your chest.
I hated it.
I hated him.
"So… are we just pretending he's not there now?" Cassie whispered as we turned a corner.
"Exactly," I answered, quick and dry. "He's like a mosquito. Annoying, buzzing around, and if I ignore him long enough, maybe he'll vanish."
Freya let out a quiet snort. "Mosquito's a bit harsh."
"Mosquito with muscles," Aline added, then giggled like she hadn't just said something completely insane.
I forced a laugh. I was so good at forcing things these days. Laughs, smiles, conversations.
Hope.
We reached the doors to our next class. The hallway was less crowded now, quieting into the background noise of opening books and morning yawns. I stopped before going in and turned just enough to speak without looking at him.
"You don't need to follow me into class," I said. "I think I'll survive forty-five minutes without being assassinated."
Xander blinked once, slowly, and crossed his arms. "Your father said to protect you. That includes classrooms."
There it was again.
Your father.
As if that was supposed to mean something to me. As if dropping his name was enough to make me bend.
I didn't say anything else. Just stared at him for a heartbeat longer before walking past, my steps sharper than they needed to be. My friends followed, sensing the shift. They didn't say anything either. Not until we were seated at our usual table for lunch.
The cafeteria buzzed with the usual noise—chairs scraping floors, trays clattering, students laughing too loud—but something in the air felt… off.
Different.
I poked at my sandwich while Aline talked about some drama in her science class and Freya quietly picked grapes from her tray. Cassie was scrolling on her phone, frowning.
"Did you guys hear?" she suddenly asked, eyes not leaving the screen. "Apparently a bunch of new transfer students are coming in next week. Big names. Kids of some corporate giants."
"Ugh," Aline groaned, "another popularity war?"
"Maybe," Cassie said. "Or maybe it's just another power move."
I went still.
I knew that look on her face. The one that said this isn't just gossip. I glanced at Freya, who met my eyes with a quiet concern that made my stomach twist.
I didn't like this.
Not the way my father suddenly decided I needed a babysitter.
Not the way Xander hovered without saying anything, without ever giving me a real answer.
And especially not the way Cassie said "corporate giants" with the same tone people use when they say war.
"I swear," I muttered, more to myself than to them, "if this has anything to do with my fa—"
I didn't get to finish that thought.
Because right then, the cafeteria doors opened.
And three students walked in like they owned the place.
The boy at the front had silver-dyed hair and a smirk like he'd never lost a game in his life. Behind him, a girl with sharp eyes and dark red lipstick—poised, dangerous, unreadable.
...And the third? A tall guy with short platinum hair, a lip piercing, and the coldest stare I'd ever seen. He moved like someone who'd been trained to fight—or maybe just grew up ready to. He didn't smile. Didn't look around. Just walked behind the other two like this was all beneath him.
His name would come eventually. But I already knew I didn't like him.
"Those must be the new transfers," Freya whispered.
"Looks like trouble," Aline muttered, biting her straw.
And then, like clockwork, I felt him again.
Xander.
A shadow at my back.
I didn't turn. I didn't need to. I could feel the tension in him, like static in the air before a storm.
He wasn't watching me anymore.
He was watching them.
And that told me more than any answer he'd refused to give.
▪︎ • ✦ • ▪︎
Lunch passed in a blur after that. I barely heard my friends, barely touched my food. My thoughts spun like a carousel I couldn't get off. My father. These new students. Xander showing up at the exact moment they did.
Too many things lined up.
Too many answers missing.
By the time the final bell rang and I was walking toward the back garden path outside campus—my usual escape route—I knew what I had to do.
Xander was behind me again. Of course he was.
"Are you always this silent?" I asked without turning.
He didn't answer.
"Seriously?" I stopped and spun around to face him. "You're just going to keep lurking and not say anything? Not even after that?"
His expression didn't change. "That?"
"Don't play dumb." I stepped closer, anger rising in my chest like boiling water. "You saw them. You watched them. And don't tell me it was nothing. You looked like you were ready to kill someone."
Xander hesitated.
Just for a second.
But I caught it.
I took another step forward. "You know who they are, don't you? You knew before they even walked in."
"I can't tell you," he said quietly.
"Can't or won't?"
"Can't," he repeated, eyes steady on mine. "Your father gave me instructions. I signed a contract. I'm here to protect you, not to explain things."
My jaw clenched. "He's hiding something from me."
Xander didn't respond.
Which meant yes.
I stared at him, heart pounding. "Who are they?"
Silence.
I turned away with a bitter laugh. "Of course. You're just another pawn in his game. Like me."
"I'm not your enemy, Karina."
"Maybe not," I muttered, starting to walk again. "But you're not my friend either."
He didn't follow at first.
And for a moment, I felt like maybe, just maybe, I'd shaken something in him.