Chapter 1
MY FAVORITE VILLAIN
Chapter One: The Perfect Girl
---
Dahlia Laurent had mastered the art of being looked at.
Not in the way that made her uncomfortable—she'd learned to distinguish those stares years ago, the hungry ones that followed her down hallways and lingered too long in parking lots. No, this was different. This was the weight of a hundred glances sliding over her like she was the center of gravity, like everyone in the room had instinctively oriented themselves toward her without realizing it.
She walked into Ashwood Academy's main building at 7:47 AM, exactly thirteen minutes before the first bell, because thirteen minutes was the sweet spot. Late enough to miss the desperate early arrivals. Early enough to be seen.
"Okay, the hair is actually unfair today," Nora Chen said, falling into step beside her. Nora had been her best friend since freshman year, when they'd both reached for the same seat in English class and Nora had said, "We're sitting together now. I've decided." "What did you do differently?"
"Nothing." Dahlia tucked a strand of honey-brown hair behind her ear, the motion practiced and effortless. "I just slept."
"Liar. You look like you stepped out of a shampoo commercial."
"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."
"I'm serious. It's giving—" Nora waved her hand vaguely. "—ethereal forest witch energy."
Dahlia snorted. "I'm not sure that's a compliment."
"It absolutely is."
They pushed through the main doors together, and the morning air—cool with early autumn, sharp with the scent of rain from last night's storm—shifted into the recycled warmth of the school's heating system. The hallway stretched before them, already crowded with students in Ashwood's navy and gray uniforms. Dahlia catalogued the familiar rhythm of it: the clusters of freshmen huddled by lockers, the juniors comparing homework answers, a werewolf couple arguing near the water fountain, a witch texting with one hand while balancing a stack of books with the other.
She loved this part. The noise. The motion. The feeling of being inside something alive.
"Dahlia. Nora. Wait up."
Marcus Reyes appeared from the direction of the cafeteria, his curly hair still damp and his uniform shirt half-untucked, which meant he'd overslept again. He was holding a paper cup of something that smelled like burnt coffee and regret.
"You look like a disaster," Nora said pleasantly.
"I woke up seventeen minutes ago." Marcus took a long drink of his coffee and grimaced. "And I think this is actually paint thinner."
"Where'd you get it?"
"Gas station."
"Brave choice."
"I'm a risk-taker. It's part of my charm." He fell into step on Dahlia's other side, his long legs matching their pace easily. "Okay, so—important question. Did anyone actually do the reading for Chen's class? Because I opened the book last night and I'm pretty sure the words rearranged themselves into a different language."
"It's Hamlet," Nora said flatly. "It was already in a different language."
"English is a language!"
"Barely, the way you use it."
Dahlia laughed, and the sound carried down the hallway. A couple of students glanced over. She didn't mind. She'd stopped minding years ago, when she'd realized that being watched didn't have to mean being caught.
That was the thing about being a vampire, she thought sometimes. Everyone knew what she was—it wasn't exactly a secret when your name appeared on the school registry with a small "V" next to it, same as the "W" for werewolves and the "H" for humans. What people didn't know was what kind of vampire she really was.
They saw the surface. The charm. The confidence. The effortless popularity.
They didn't see the predator underneath.
Popular girl.
Stylish.
Charming.
Harmless.
She'd spent eighteen years perfecting that illusion. Not hiding what she was—hiding what she was capable of.
"Dahlia. Earth to Dahlia." Marcus snapped his fingers in front of her face. "You spaced out. Were you thinking about something important? Like how devastatingly good-looking I am?"
"Definitely not," she said, shouldering her bag. "I was thinking about biology homework."
"Boring. Be honest next time."
"Fine. I was thinking about how devastatingly good-looking I am."
Nora cackled. "She wins."
They reached the junction where the hallway split toward the senior lockers, and Dahlia felt it before she saw it. The slight shift in the air. The prickle at the back of her neck.
Not danger. Something subtler.
She turned her head.
Justin White was standing at his locker.
He wasn't doing anything unusual. Just pulling out a textbook, his head bent, his fingers moving with careful precision. He wore the same navy uniform as everyone else, but on him it looked different—neater, somehow. More deliberate. His dark hair fell across his forehead in a way that made him look younger than he was, and his face was soft in the way that made people trust him instantly.
Quiet. Polite. Human.
That was what everyone thought. A human boy. Harmless by default, because that was how most supernatural students saw humans—physically weaker, less dangerous, easier to dismiss.
Dahlia had always thought it too, in the vague way she thought about most of her human classmates. Justin White was part of the background noise of Ashwood Academy. The smart kid. The one teachers liked. The one who never caused trouble, never drew attention, never stood out.
But something was different this morning.
He looked up.
Their eyes met across the crowded hallway, and for a single, strange moment, Dahlia felt like she'd missed a step. Like she'd been walking down a familiar staircase and found one stair unexpectedly deeper than the others.
Justin didn't look away.
Most people did—not because she was intimidating, though she could be, but because holding eye contact in a crowded hallway was awkward. Even the supernatural students who respected her usually dropped their gaze after a second or two.
Justin White just... looked at her.
Then he smiled.
It was a small smile. Polite. The same smile he probably gave teachers when they praised his test scores. But there was something about it that made Dahlia's skin prickle again, that same not-danger-but-something feeling, and before she could stop herself, she smiled back.
The moment lasted maybe three seconds.
Then he turned back to his locker, and Dahlia kept walking, and the hallway swallowed them both up again.
"What was that?" Nora asked.
"What was what?"
"That." Nora gestured vaguely behind them. "The whole... eye contact thing with Justin White."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You definitely know what I'm talking about. You just made eye contact with the school's most forgettable genius like you were in a romantic drama."
"First of all, he's not forgettable," Dahlia said, not sure why she was defending him. "He's just quiet."
"He's forgettable," Marcus supplied helpfully. "I sat next to him in history last year and I'm pretty sure he didn't speak for an entire semester. Like, not even to answer questions. He just wrote things down and occasionally nodded."
"That's called being a good student."
"That's called being a ghost with excellent penmanship."
They reached Dahlia's locker, and she spun the combination lock with practiced ease. The metal door swung open, revealing the neat row of books inside, the small mirror she'd hung on the back wall, the emergency lip gloss she'd been carrying since ninth grade.
"You're defending him," Nora said, leaning against the lockers with her arms crossed. "That's interesting."
"It's not interesting. It's basic human decency."
"It's interesting because you've never spoken to Justin White in your life, and now you're acting like his personal publicist."
"Maybe I'm just in a good mood."
"You're always in a good mood. That's your whole thing." Nora tilted her head, studying her with the kind of attention that made Dahlia want to fidget. "But this feels different. You've got that look."
"What look?"
"The look you get when something catches your attention and you're not sure if you want to investigate or run."
Dahlia pulled out her biology textbook and closed her locker with more force than necessary. "You're reading too much into a hallway glance."
"Am I?"
"Yes."
"Okay." Nora held up her hands in mock surrender. "But if you decide to investigate, just remember—I want all the details."
"There are no details."
"Yet."
Dahlia rolled her eyes, but she couldn't quite shake the feeling that had settled in her chest. It was ridiculous. She'd made eye contact with a quiet human boy in the hallway. That was it. It meant nothing.
Except.
Except he hadn't looked away.
And the smile he'd given her—polite, harmless, utterly ordinary—had somehow felt like the most deliberate thing she'd seen all week.
---
First period biology was held in Room 212, a bright classroom with rows of lab tables and a wall of windows that faced the school courtyard. Dahlia slid into her usual seat near the middle of the room, where she could see the board without being too close to Mrs. Chen's desk.
Nora sat beside her. Marcus sat behind them, already pulling out his phone to check messages before class started.
Ivy Tanaka was already in her seat across the aisle, a book open on her desk. She looked up when Dahlia sat down and offered a small smile.
"You look nice today," Ivy said quietly.
"Thanks. So do you."
Ivy's smile widened slightly. She was like that—quiet, observant, always noticing things but rarely commenting unless it mattered. Dahlia had always liked that about her. In a school full of people who never stopped talking, Ivy was a welcome silence.
"Did you finish the reading?" Ivy asked.
"The vampire chapter?" Dahlia kept her voice light. "Barely."
"Mrs. Chen has opinions about vampires," Nora muttered. "She did a whole lecture last semester about how they're 'misunderstood creatures of the night.' I think she might secretly be one."
"She's human," Dahlia said dryly. "I can tell."
"Can you?"
"Vampires can usually sense their own kind." It was true—not in a mystical way, but in the subtle recognition of similar movement, similar restraint, similar hunger carefully controlled. "Mrs. Chen doesn't have it."
"Creepy," Marcus said cheerfully. "But also kind of hot."
"You think everything is kind of hot."
"I'm an equal opportunity appreciator."
The classroom filled up quickly. Dahlia recognized most of the faces—Ashwood Academy wasn't huge, and by senior year, everyone knew everyone, at least by sight. She exchanged greetings with a few people as they passed, smiled at a girl from her art class, laughed at a joke someone made about the upcoming camping trip.
Then Justin White walked in.
He moved quietly, slipping through the door just before the bell rang and heading for his usual seat in the back corner. He didn't look at Dahlia. Didn't look at anyone. Just set his bag down, pulled out a notebook, and became instantly absorbed in organizing his materials.
Dahlia watched him for maybe two seconds longer than she should have.
Weird, she thought. He's just... weird.
She didn't know why that felt important.
"All right, everyone, settle down." Mrs. Chen appeared at the front of the room, her glasses perched on her nose and a stack of papers in her arms. "I have your lab partner assignments for the semester. Please listen carefully, because I will not be entertaining requests to switch."
A collective groan went through the room.
"I know, I know." Mrs. Chen held up a hand. "But lab partners teach you valuable life skills. Like cooperation. And patience. And learning to work with people you didn't choose."
"Or didn't want," someone muttered.
Mrs. Chen ignored them. "I'll read the pairs alphabetically. When you hear your name, find your partner and sit together. No complaining."
She began reading from the list.
Dahlia half-listened, already mentally preparing for the possibility of being paired with someone annoying. There were a few people in this class she'd rather avoid—people who talked too much, or asked too many questions, or looked at her with that particular expression that meant they were imagining her with her clothes off.
"Adriana Vasquez and Marcus Reyes."
Marcus made a noise of surprise. "Wait, what?"
"Try to keep up, Mr. Reyes," Mrs. Chen said without looking up.
Dahlia glanced across the room and caught Adriana's eye. Adriana Vasquez was striking—tall, with sharp cheekbones and dark wavy hair that fell past her shoulders. She was also a vampire. Unlike Dahlia, Adriana didn't bother hiding her predatory edge; she moved through the world like she expected it to get out of her way.
Adriana gave Dahlia a small smile and a shrug, then turned to find Marcus.
"Lucky me," Marcus stage-whispered. "I got the hottest vampire in class."
"Focus on the project," Nora said.
"Oh, I'm focused."
More names were read. Nora got paired with Theo Park, which made her sigh heavily. "The human calculator," she muttered. "Great."
"He's nice," Dahlia said.
"He's intense. Last time I worked with him, he color-coded our entire presentation and sent me a spreadsheet of talking points."
"That's helpful."
"That's terrifying."
Dahlia was still smiling when Mrs. Chen read the next pair.
"Dahlia Laurent and Justin White."
The smile froze on her face.
For a moment, she didn't move. Didn't breathe. She just sat there, processing the words, while some small part of her brain repeated them over and over.
Dahlia Laurent and Justin White.
Dahlia Laurent and Justin White.
Dahlia Laurent and—
"Well," Nora said under her breath. "That's convenient."
Dahlia turned to look at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing. Just that the universe has a sense of humor."
"The universe doesn't care about my biology lab partner."
"The universe definitely does. The universe is a gossip."
Dahlia wanted to argue, but she was too busy watching Justin White gather his things from the back of the room. He moved with that same careful precision she'd noticed at his locker, like every motion was deliberate, like he'd planned exactly how to stack his notebooks and where to place his pen.
He stopped at her table.
"Hi," he said.
His voice was softer than she'd expected. Not nervous—she'd expected nervous, from a human boy suddenly paired with a vampire—but calm. Steady. Like he'd been expecting this.
"Hi," Dahlia said.
"Do you want me to sit here?"
It was a simple question, politely asked. But something about the way he said it made Dahlia feel like she was being tested. Like the answer mattered more than it should.
"Sure," she said, sliding over to make room.
Justin sat down.
The first bell rang.
Mrs. Chen started explaining the semester project, but Dahlia wasn't listening. She was too aware of the boy sitting beside her. Too aware of the space between them—or lack of it. Too aware of the fact that she could hear his heartbeat.
It was steady. Calm. Completely unhurried.
Most humans' heartbeats sped up when they sat next to someone new, especially someone like Dahlia—a vampire, a predator, a girl whose reputation preceded her. But Justin's pulse stayed exactly the same. Like sitting next to her was no more exciting than sitting anywhere else.
Interesting, Dahlia thought.
Then she caught herself.
What's interesting? He's just a quiet human boy.
But even as she thought it, she knew it wasn't true.
Justin White wasn't ordinary. She just couldn't figure out why.
---
The rest of the morning passed in a blur of classes and hallway transitions. Dahlia caught herself thinking about biology more than once—specifically, about the way Justin had sat beside her, close enough that she could smell the faint scent of laundry detergent and something else, something clean and sharp, like winter air.
By lunch, she'd almost convinced herself she was being ridiculous.
"Okay, I need to know something," Nora said, sliding her tray onto the table. "And I need you to be honest with me."
"I'm always honest."
"You're always charming. It's not the same thing." Nora sat down across from Dahlia, her expression serious. "What's going on with you and Justin White?"
Dahlia blinked. "Nothing. We're lab partners. That's it."
"That's what I keep telling myself. But then I think about that hallway moment, and the way you two kept glancing at each other in biology—"
"We didn't keep glancing at each other."
"You absolutely did. It was like watching a tennis match with feelings."
"There were no feelings."
"There were vibes."
Dahlia stabbed a fork into her salad with more force than necessary. She wasn't actually going to eat it—vampires could eat human food, technically, but it did nothing for her, and the taste of lettuce always felt like chewing on paper—but the motion was satisfying.
"There are no vibes," she said firmly. "He's quiet. He's smart. He's probably going to do all the work on this project while I smile and nod. That's it."
"You're not actually going to let him do all the work."
"Of course not. I have standards."
"Then you'll spend time together. Outside of class." Nora's eyes glittered. "Studying. Talking. Getting to know each other."
"You're making it sound like a date."
"Maybe it will be."
"It won't be."
Marcus appeared at the table, setting down his tray with a dramatic sigh. "I have been paired with Adriana Vasquez, and I'm not sure if I should be thrilled or terrified."
"Terrified," Ivy said quietly, sliding into the seat beside Nora. "She's smart, and she doesn't tolerate laziness."
"How do you know?"
"I've worked with her before. She made a sophomore cry."
Marcus paled. "I'm going to fail this project."
"You'll be fine," Dahlia said. "Adriana's not that scary."
"Easy for you to say. She's not making you create a comprehensive study of cellular respiration."
"I'd take cellular respiration over whatever weird tension you've got going on with Justin White," Nora said, and Dahlia threw a piece of lettuce at her.
It wasn't supposed to be a thing. That was what Dahlia told herself for the rest of lunch, through the rest of her afternoon classes, through the final bell. The eye contact in the hallway, the lab partner assignment, the way Justin's heartbeat hadn't changed—none of it meant anything.
But she couldn't stop thinking about it.
And when she walked out of school at the end of the day, bag slung over her shoulder, she saw him again.
Justin was standing near the bike racks, talking to Theo Park. His head was bent, his hands in his pockets, and he was nodding at something Theo was saying. His expression was neutral. Polite. Perfectly ordinary.
Then he looked up.
Across the courtyard, through the crowd of students streaming toward buses and cars, his eyes found Dahlia's.
And he smiled again.
That same small, polite smile. The one that made her feel like she'd missed a step.
Dahlia smiled back automatically, then turned away, her heart beating faster than it should have been.
It's nothing, she told herself.
But she didn't believe it.
And that was the problem.
---
END OF CHAPTER ONE — REVISED
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