Chapter one:The beginning of something
Kimmsy Willoway always believed in love stories. The kind where eyes meet across a crowded room and time slows down, or where two strangers bump into each other and fate ties their hearts together.
Too bad real life usually just gave her stubbed toes and spilled notebooks.
“Willoway, you dropped your pen. Again.”
Kimmsy bent down so quickly her head nearly smacked the desk. Her cheeks were already burning as she scrambled to grab the pen. When she straightened, Klaus Harrington was standing there—tall, broad-shouldered, leaning casually against the desk like it was built just for him.
Of course it had to be him. Klaus Harrington, the boy everyone seemed to know. Smart without trying too hard, captain of the basketball team, the kind of popular that wasn’t loud but impossible to ignore. Even the way his lazy eye settled on her made Kimmsy’s stomach flip in a way she hated to admit.
“T-thanks,” she stammered, clutching the pen like it was her lifeline.
Klaus gave a small smile—not the kind he flashed to teachers or his friends in the hallway, but something softer, like he’d just caught her secret. “You really should tie your pens to your desk, Willoway. Save yourself some trouble.”
Her heart thudded. Did he just… joke with her? No, no, she was reading into it. She always read into things. That was the curse of being a hopeless romantic—every smile felt like destiny, every word like a hidden confession.
But when she dared to glance up, Klaus was still looking at her. Not just looking—noticing.
The next time Klaus noticed Kimmsy Willoway, she was not at her best.
In fact, she was in the cafeteria, waging war with a carton of chocolate milk.
She had been trying to open it quietly—fold, pull, sip—like a normal human being. But, of course, nothing with Kimmsy ever went that smoothly. The carton refused to open, and when she pulled just a little harder, the milk shot out in a glorious arc across the table, splattering her notebook and nearly drenching the boy sitting across from her.
“Smooth, Willoway. Very smooth,” her friend muttered, handing her a stack of napkins.
Kimmsy wanted the earth to swallow her whole. She dabbed furiously at the mess, mumbling apologies, her short temper bubbling under the surface. “I hate these stupid cartons. Why can’t they just make normal bottles like everyone else—”
“Need a hand?”
Her head snapped up. Of course. Klaus Harrington was standing right there, holding out a perfectly clean napkin like some kind of superhero of awkward disasters. His friends were a few steps away, laughing and waiting for him, but Klaus hadn’t moved. His gaze—steady, lazy-eyed but sharp in its own way—was fixed entirely on her.
Kimmsy nearly knocked over the milk again in her scramble to take the napkin. “I—I’ve got it! Totally under control. No big deal.”
Klaus raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth tugging upward. “Yeah. Looks like it.”
And then, just like that, he turned and walked back to his friends.
But Kimmsy couldn’t move. Her hopeless romantic heart was already in full chaos. Because if Klaus Harrington saw her in her most embarrassing, milk-soaked, clumsy state… and still smiled at her like that—what on earth did that mean?
By now, Kimmsy was convinced fate had a cruel sense of humor.
The fourth time it happened, she was in the library—her sanctuary, her safe place. She had just settled in with her notebook and hot cocoa when Klaus Harrington walked in. Of course he did.
She ducked her head, pretending to be invisible. Which worked… until she tried to take a sip of cocoa, misjudged the cup, and ended up with chocolate dribbling down her chin.
Klaus was there in an instant, tugging a tissue from his bag. “Willoway,” he said, crouching so they were eye-level, his grin both amused and impossibly gentle, “you really are a magnet for disasters.”
Kimmsy groaned, wiping at her face. “I think I should just stop existing.”
“Don’t,” Klaus said so quickly it startled her. Then softer, with that same smile: “You’d take all the fun out of my week.”
Her heart stopped and just like that, Chapter one closed with Kimmsy Willoway doomed.
