Enemies to lovers

At school

The bell rings, and Kia’s already packing up her stuff. She ain’t tryna hang around longer than she has to. It’s another day of being invisible. She don’t mind it. People leave her alone, and that's exactly how she likes it. Ain’t nobody tryna be her friend, and that's cool by her. She’s used to it.

But Jasmine? Jasmine ain't lettin' her slide. Jasmine's always up in her face, tryna drag her into something.

“Yo, Kia!” Jasmine calls out, loud and extra as usual.

Kia rolls her eyes. She knew it. “What’s up, Jasmine?” she says, already bracing for whatever.

“I need you to meet some people,” Jasmine grins like she’s got it all planned out.

Kia frowns. “I’m good, Jasmine. I don’t need to meet no one. I’m straight,” she says, clearly not interested.

But Jasmine ain’t hearing none of that. She grabs Kia’s arm and pulls her through the hallway. “Nah, girl, you comin’. You gon’ meet ‘em today,” she says, dragging her toward a group of guys standing by the lockers.

Kia sighs but follows anyway. She doesn’t want to hear Jasmine’s mouth later. Ain’t nobody gon’ notice her anyway. It’s just some random dudes, right?

As they get close, one of the guys looks up from his phone. He glances at Kia and raises an eyebrow. “Yo, who’s this?” he asks, genuinely curious.

“This is Kia,” Jasmine answers, way too excited.

The other guys look up, nodding or mumbling a “What’s up” or “Yo, Kia,” but then there’s Elijah. Elijah doesn’t even look up from his phone. He’s got his headphones in, tapping away at something, totally ignoring the new girl.

But Kia? She ain’t trippin’. She’s used to people ignoring her. She’s chill with it. She gives Elijah a quick glance, noticing how he’s acting all high and mighty like he’s too good to even acknowledge her.

Jasmine notices too, and she rolls her eyes. “Elijah, quit frontin’ and say hi to Kia,” she says, nudging him.

Elijah slowly pulls one earbud out, lifts his head, and looks at her, but he doesn’t try to be polite. “Ayo, what’s good,” he says, nonchalantly, not really paying attention.

Kia just shrugs, not impressed. “What’s good with you, Elijah?” she asks, her tone sharp and not caring. She can already tell he’s one of those dudes who thinks he’s the shit just ‘cause he’s got a little attitude.

He looks her up and down, then goes back to fiddlin’ with his phone like she ain’t even there.

Kia don’t care. If he wants to act like she’s invisible, she’ll let him. “Cool, then,” she says, turning to the other guy who looked a little more chill when he spoke. “What’s your name?”

Jasmine watches, half-laughing at how Elijah's acting. She knows what she’s doin'. She’s pushing Elijah and Kia together, even if they both clearly can’t stand each other. She loves the drama.

Elijah looks up again, annoyed now that Kia ain’t paying him no mind. “You really gon’ ignore me like that?” he says, his voice sharper this time. “You ain’t gon’ talk to me after I said what’s up?”

Kia just smirks, arms crossed. “I ain’t worried ‘bout you, Elijah. Keep the energy. Ain’t nobody askin’ for it.”

Jasmine, in the background, watches the whole thing go down with a mix of amusement and excitement. She’s loving the tension. This was exactly what she wanted—Kia’s attitude is real, and Elijah’s ego is big enough to get them going.