"Get to the back, fatso!"


    “Are all the students from Aurora High deaf? Can''t you understand in English?"


    Faced with the menacing boys and their hurtful insults, Dolce was terrified. These were the notorious rich brats of Era High. They used their family''s money and power to do whatever they wanted, especially bullying students from Aurora High.


    The leader, Waheed, was rumored to be the son of the investor who owned this entiremercial district. Nearly every shopkeeper in the area had to suck up to him.


    Dolce knew she couldn''t win an argument with them and didn''t want to cause trouble for the headmistress, so she decided to just let it go.


    Just as she was about to step aside, a crisp female voice cut through the air from behind her.


    "What do you think you''re doing?"


    Dolce turned to see Juniper and Queenie walking toward her.


    "Waheed, those are the ones who bullied your goddess, Ynda," one of the cronies whispered, recognizing them.


    "What?" Waheed''s eyesnded on Juniper and Queenie, and his anger red. One had stolen Ynda''s interview spot, and the other had ndered her online. If he hadn''t found Ynda crying by the bathroom and pressed her for details, he never would have known how much she''d been suffering. No one was going to get away with hurting the girl he protected.


    "So, you''re the two who''ve been bullying Ynda, huh?" Waheed stepped forward to confront them, his expression dripping with contempt.


    Juniper nced at himzily. Oh, right. She''d seen him once before—Ynda''s personalpdog.


    “So what if you got the interview?" Waheed, a cigarette dangling from his fingers, smirked at Juniper like a low-life thug. "Aurora High is a pathetic little private school. Even if you get lucky ten times, it won''t change the fact that you''re shutting down next year."


    The school''s impending closure was a sore spot for every Aurora student, and Queenie and Dolce''s faces fell at his words.


    "My father manages all thend in this district. Whether your school gets torn down or saved is up to him." Waheed took a drag from his cigarette and slowly blew out the smoke, his expression insufferably arrogant. "Get what I''m saying?"


    Queenie and Dolce understood perfectly. Nothing good ever came out of that creep''s mouth.


    "Oh," Juniper said, her hands stuffed in her pockets, her posture casual andmanding. "No, I don''t."


    Waheed''s smile faltered. All beauty and no brains? And this girl was supposed to be Ynda''s sister? What an insult to Ynda.


    "The two of you will kneel and apologize to Ynda. If you do, I''ll consider asking my dad to save Aurora High," Waheed dered.


    Hisckeys immediately chimed in.


    "You heard him! Do as Waheed says! Get on your knees and beg!"


    "Otherwise, crushing you and your school is as easy as snapping his fingers for Waheed''s dad!"


    "I don''t know how," Juniper said, tilting her pretty face up. Her delicate brows arched, but there was no hint of a smile on her lips. "Why don''t you demonstrate for me?"


    "What?" It took Waheed a second to realize she was mocking him, telling him to kneel to her. He couldn''t believe someone from a backwater school like Aurora High had the nerve to be so sharp-tongued.


    "Juniper, don''t push your luck. You can do this the easy way or the hard way," Waheed spat, his eyes fixed on her with a venomous re. “I''m giving you a way out."


    "You''ve been kicked out of the Sherwin family. What do you think you are now?" he sneered. "You''re not even worthy of shining Ynda''s shoes."


    "So?" Juniper pulled a piece of candy from her pocket and popped it into her mouth, her eyes lifting slowly. "I''m not taking your way out. What are you going to do about it?"


    Waheed was left speechless, his face darker than the bottom of a burnt pot.