Chapter 1:

JACOB'S POINT OF VIEW

"Did I do wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" Ashlynn seems quite nervous looking at me. Scared to tell them who you truly are? But my smirk slowly fades when she laughs.

"She's a nice, pretty girl; how come I can be her, right? Do you have problems with your eyes? Can't you see I'm just a nerd and she's a superstar? How come we are just the same person?" All our classmates laugh at me; no one dares make me embarrass myself in front of anyone. I stomped my hand on her desk and looked straight into her eyes.

"No one dare make me embarrass; I'll make sure you regret this." I threw her table away and went out to the classroom. I heard Kai and Lance laugh at the back while I was walking to the Xoxo hideout.

"Did you see that, how that nerd laughed hard in his face? Fuck, I think I will start liking her. What is her name again, Kai?"

"Ashlynn Spark."

"Seems she had a little "spark" with our Mr. Ice; if I were you, dude, I wouldn't let that nerd break my image," Lance said and put his elbow on my shoulder. I sit on the couch and grab my phone to look all over social media for that girl.

But it seems quite interesting; she doesn't have any social media. Trying to hide a secret, Ms. Nerd

"What are you looking at on your phone? The answer to your problem was not there. You should slowly get to know her so you can know what weaknesses you need to know for her downfall, right, Kai?"

"Nah, nothing will be perfect in line if he makes a move like that. What if he falls in love with her?"

"I won't fall for him, never. She's not even an average of my type; how come you think that way, argh?"

"You never knew until you found out," Kai said and grinned at me. Tsk, no way with that girl; she doesn't know how to act like a girl, so how could I fall for her?

"Mark my word, that girl will be the one who will fall for me; she will be head over heels for me."

"Let's see." Lance sits beside Kai and takes a look at his phone; she's quite unusual when girls talk to me; they get drooling, and while she was nothing, she seemed not interested in me.

"Tell me, is there any problem with my face?" I said while pointing at my face. They look at me and look back at each other.

"Nothing weird came up in my mind."

"Let me guess why your charm did not affect her." It's just the first day; maybe soon you will affect her." Lance said, "The door banged out of nowhere, and Raphael came in.

"Why did you guys leave me? Tsk!" He grabbed a piece of pizza from the oven.

"We thought you were busy listening to the discussion, just like Axel." Kai said that while reading 'A Traveller's Read," he never got bored and read it a thousand times. How did he manage to read that book, even though we had a lot of books on the shelves?

XOXO's hideout was triple the size of the usual classroom here at the Aeris Academy. Where it included the pool table and mini library, even though most of the time we just sleep in our bed here. We even practice chest and card games for the competition.

I was competing in a different competition, while Kai and Axel were competing in a dance contest. Lance may look like a bad boy on the outside, but he was dedicated to playing soccer at all times. Raphael spends most of his time cooking and tasting different kinds of food, yet his figure is manageable.

"Did you guys hear that Astrid came back, and she will be under the same management as we are?" Some of the rumors spreading say she will debut on the same date as our debut. What if, in the next photo shoot, we have her join us? I thought she was your childhood friend, Jacob. Why didn't you know she was coming?" Raphael stated that he would look at me while eating his pizza. Yeah, Ashtrid was my childhood best friend, but I didn't know what had happened to her since she left for the U.S. At the time I was looking for her, she was on her flight.

"Kinch didn't give me a hint that she would be coming home, so I don't have any idea about it."

"What if I ask Kinch her number?" Kai said to close the book he was reading and put it beside him.

"As if he gave you the knowledge that Kinch is protective, just like how he reacts when he sees his dog about to get banged against the car. And what happens next to the driver? He gets his driver's license suspended." I said that and took an apple from the fruit basket.

"I remember that. If you have a lucky enough Kai in your body, maybe you should give it a try." Raphael said he would sit on the couch after he ate half of the pizza. I look at my phone; it's lunchtime. I stood up and went out to the cafe.

"Jacob!" I saw Sabrina running my way. I shook my head and went to the counter. I hate hearing the girls scream my name. At any time of the day, I won't hear them scream my name. It's so loud that it can wreck my eardrums. Sabrina clung to my arms. I look into her eyes and turn my head in the other direction.

"What will you order, Jacob?"

"Pesto pasta and pineapple juice."

"Oh, I have the same meal in my mind; I think we meant for each other," Sabrina ordered the same meal I got on our way to the table. Sabrina gets more clingy, which makes the other students murmur at us.

"You know what, Jacob? My mom went out with your mom today, and she said we would have dinner later. How about we go later together to the restaurant?"

"You have your car, so why would you bother to come with me later?" You can drive by yourself." I heard the laughter at the back, and I saw Nyx laughing.

"How pathetic you are; you even come here by yourself, but you can't get into the restaurant. I feel pity for you." Nyx said, and Sabrina stood up and was about to slap Nyx when a hand stopped Sabrina. The nerd held her hand and smirked.

"Don't waste your energy."

"How could you touch me?" Sabrina screamed and put alcohol on her wrist. I chuckled and turned around. She held my shoulder and pointed to Ashlynn.

"What?"

"She touched me! How dare she be! Make her pay, Jacob!"

"If I were you, I wouldn't do that, Jacob." I saw Kinch coming our way. While walking, his hand is in his pocket.

"What brings you here? I thought you didn't have class. fist-bumpedmped into Kinch and put my hand on his shoulder.

"Coach sent me a message, so when I saw it was lunchtime, I went here. I know you will not waste time on your meal. Who is she?" Kinch pointed to Ashlynn.

"New student, I heard your sister just got home."

"Yeah, she is, but she's still in her condo, and I won't bother to disturb her since she just got home." The waiter came and put the pesto on the table.

"Take a seat; let's order if you want."

"No need for that; I will leave now and talk to the coach." Kinch turned around and waved while walking away. Sabrina ate her pasta, and Nyx and Ashlynn took a seat beside us. While eating, I look at Ashlynn; this girl has the guts to hold Sabrina while at the same time talking to me back. I stood up and went in front of Ashlynn.

"After class, don't get home; I want to talk to you. You can't come, Nyx." I put my hands in my pocket and left them to eat their meal. I walk back to the hideout; since it was my first day, I won't bother wasting my energy introducing my name. They all know me, so why would I bother them?

As I entered the hideout, I saw them looking at me curiously.

"Where did you go?" Lance said as I sat beside him and closed my eyes.

"I went to the cafe to eat some pesto; why?"

"Kai got Ashtrid's number from Kinch, and he gave it, and the great news is, she was joining our school, but no one knew when; even Kinch didn't know." I open my eyes and look at the door.

"Fuck, I want to meet her soon," Kai said and turned his swivel chair to us.

"What if she can be part of our MV for our new song?" since we need a girl for that MV, right? Since Steve told us there would be someone who would be part of our MV, what if that's Ashtrid?" Raphael said while eating his chips that he couldn't be full and kept eating every time.

"I hope she is because if she is that someone, I'll give all my energy to that music video, I swear." Kai seems head over heels to see Astrid; it's pretty obvious who it was. I went to my bed and lay down. I should just look up at the ceiling.

"Look at this picture of her; sh*t, she's a goddess that was sent from above. Once I see her, I don't know what I can do." Kai was bragging about the picture of Ashtrid to us.

"Nyx will get jealous." Lance started teasing Kai; we all know what they had in the past and what they still have now.

"Huh, what's that for? To bring her up to speed on the conversation, Nyx was nothing but a friend; nothing more about it." Kai said, I just shake my head at their fight.

Time has passed; it's almost after class. I get up from my bed and leave the hideout while they are all sleeping on the couch, bed, and even on the top of the table.

I put on my sunglasses and hat before I continued walking, hearing them scream even when I put them on. I went to our classroom and saw Ashlynn sitting in her chair. I heard Ms. Sky yelling at me, but instead, I sat in my chair.

"Miss me, nerd?" I grin, looking at her. I could tell Sabrina was looking at us from my peripheral vision.

"Why would I miss you? I'm busy studying while you are busy chilling. I have a lot more things to do than chill, just like you." She said this while continuing to write in her notebook.

"How come you can't appreciate me? You don't know how many girls are drooling to get my attention, huh?" She put her pen on her table and looked at me.

"Is there anything special to make me appreciate you? You're just the same as the others. Nothing special about you, okay?" She was about to look at the board when I held her chin and turned her head to me.

"I'll make you see what's special about me; you will see that nerd. I'll make sure of that." I brought my face closer to her while looking into her eyes. She let go of her chin in my hand and turned her head to the other side. Tsk!

"I don't care."

"Then I'll make you care about me. Tsk!" She looked at me with a smirk on her face.

"Do it." This is the real challenge that I would accept and participate in.

"You'll see, nerd. I'll make it."