Chapter 1
Kendal
Senior year.
Finally.
I had been waiting for this year for what felt like forever, and now that it was actually here, I couldn’t stop smiling.
New school. New city. New friends. New everything.
For the first time in my life, I felt like I was getting the chance to become someone completely different.
I had grown up in Canada, surrounded by the same streets, the same familiar faces, the same routines I had known for years. My life had been good—better than good, actually. My parents had worked hard, built a successful beauty business, and made sure we never had to worry about money.
But it had always felt… normal.
Comfortable.
Predictable.
Then my parents decided we were moving to Los Angeles.
And somehow, everything changed.
California felt like a fresh start.
The weather was warmer. The city was louder. Everything seemed bigger, faster, brighter. Even the houses looked like they belonged in magazines.
And then there was Sterling Academy.
My new school.
My senior year.
My chance to finally do things I’d never done before.
I wanted to make memories that actually lasted. I wanted to go places I’d never been, meet people completely different from me, try things I’d always been too comfortable to try. I wanted to say yes more. I wanted to stop overthinking everything.
Most of all, I wanted this year to matter.
I wanted to look back one day and know that senior year was the year I finally stepped outside the little life I had always known.
The car slowed as we approached the school.
I leaned toward the window.
Sterling Academy stood behind enormous iron gates, its buildings stretching across perfectly manicured grounds. Students were arriving from every direction, stepping out of luxurious cars, laughing with friends, calling each other’s names.
I smiled.
This was it.
My new life.
I checked my reflection in the window one last time, grabbed my bag, and took a deep breath.
“Okay, Kendall,” I whispered to myself.
“Let’s make this year unforgettable.”
I had barely taken three steps toward the entrance when a girl appeared beside me.
“Hi,” she said brightly. “You look like a new girl.”
I laughed. “Is it that obvious?”
“A little.” She smiled and held out her hand. “I’m Chloe.”
“Kendall.”
“I know.”
I raised an eyebrow.
She immediately laughed. “Okay, that sounded creepy. I just heard there was a new student coming.”
“Much better.”
Chloe smiled. “Come on. I’ll show you around before you accidentally walk into the wrong building and end up in a chemistry lab.”
I laughed and followed her.
Chloe was easy to talk to. She had the kind of personality that made you feel like you’d known her longer than five minutes. She told me which buildings were which, where the cafeteria was, and which teachers everyone loved—or avoided.
“So you’ve been here long?” I asked.
“Since freshman year.”
“Lucky. I literally know nothing.”
“You’ll get used to it.”
Before I could answer, the sound of an engine cut through the noise around us.
Chloe stopped walking.
I turned toward the entrance.
A sleek black sports car rolled through the gates.
Conversation seemed to pause around us.
The car came to a smooth stop, and the driver’s door opened.
A boy stepped out.
I stared for a second longer than I probably should have.
He was easily the most handsome boy I’d ever seen.
Dark hair. Calm expression. An effortless confidence that made it look like he didn’t even notice everyone watching him.
“Who’s that?” I whispered.
Chloe glanced at me.
“Zayn.”
Before I could ask anything else, another engine sounded.
A second sports car pulled through the gates—this one a deep green.
The boy who stepped out was just as confident, just as well-dressed, and definitely handsome.
“That’s Chase,” Chloe said.
I looked between them.
“Are they famous or something?”
Chloe laughed.
“Not exactly.”
She lowered her voice.
“But around here, they’re kind of a big deal.”
I looked toward the two boys again.
I had been at Sterling for less than an hour.
And somehow, I already felt like I’d walked into a world with rules I didn’t know yet.
Before I could ask Chloe another question, another car appeared through the gates.
This one was different.
It wasn’t just expensive. It looked like it belonged outside a five-star hotel.
The car rolled to a stop near the entrance, and a driver stepped out first. He walked around to the back and opened the door.
A girl stepped out.
Another girl followed behind her.
For a moment, the noise around us seemed to fade.
The first girl looked completely comfortable with the attention. She didn’t rush, didn’t look around to see who was watching. She simply adjusted her bag and started walking, while the other girl followed beside her.
“Who’s that?” I asked.
Chloe gave me a look.
“You seriously don’t know?”
I shook my head.
She smiled.
“That’s Sienna.”
I looked at her again.
“Sienna who?”
Chloe laughed quietly.
“Just Sienna.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you don’t need her last name.”
I watched Sienna walk across the courtyard. People moved aside without being asked. Some students greeted her. Others simply watched.
“And that’s Sky,” Chloe added, nodding toward the girl beside her.
“So they’re important?”
“Very.”
“How important?”
Chloe looked at me as though she couldn’t believe I was asking.
“Sienna is basically the queen of this school.”
I laughed.
“Queen?”
“I’m serious.”
She pointed subtly toward Sienna.
“Her family owns one of the biggest luxury beauty brands around. Their products are everywhere. High-end stores, celebrities, international campaigns… everything.”
I looked at Sienna’s clothes, then her bag, then the watch on her wrist.
Chloe continued.
“Most of what she wears comes from brands her family works with or owns. And some of the things she carries cost more than most people’s cars.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
Sienna stopped briefly to speak to someone, and the entire interaction looked effortless. She didn’t seem like she was trying to impress anyone.
She didn’t have to.
“She has the lifestyle everyone here wants,” Chloe said. “The money, the clothes, the connections, the parties, the trips… everything.”
I looked at the car waiting behind her.
For the first time since arriving at Sterling, I understood what Chloe meant when she said there were different levels of rich.
My family had money.
A lot of it.
But Sienna?
Sienna lived in a completely different universe.
And somehow, she seemed perfectly aware of it.
Sienna and Sky had barely made it halfway across the courtyard when Chase and Zayn started walking toward them.
Chloe glanced at me.
“Watch.”
I looked up just as the two boys approached the girls.
“Morning,” Chase said.
Sienna gave him a small smile. “You’re late.”
“By three minutes.”
“Still late.”
Sky laughed, and Zayn shook his head as they all started walking toward the main building together.
I watched them disappear through the entrance.
“Okay,” I said. “What’s their deal?”
Chloe looked at me.
“You mean the four of them?”
“Yeah.”
She lowered her voice.
“They’re Sterling Five.”
I frowned.
“But there’s only four.”
“Exactly.”
Chloe paused for a second before continuing.
“There used to be five of them. They’ve been together since their first year here. Everyone knows them. They’re basically the center of everything at Sterling.”
“And the fifth?”
“He left.”
“Left the school?”
“No. He went abroad. His family wanted him to finish school somewhere else.”
I looked toward the entrance where the four had disappeared.
“So they’re just four now?”
“For now.”
I glanced at her.
“What happens to the name?”
Chloe shrugged.
“Nothing. They’re still Sterling Five.”
I laughed softly. “Even though they’re missing one?”
“That’s what makes it interesting.”
She adjusted her bag and started walking again.
“They’re not just going to let anyone take that fifth spot. So now everyone is waiting to see whether they’ll choose someone new.”
“Do they have to?”
“No.”
Chloe smiled.
“They don’t have to do anything.”
And somehow, the way she said it made me realize just how much power those four actually had.
