1 Totally Not a Big Deal

When she arrived, no one had anticipated the trouble that would follow. As sudden as an unprecedented calamity, Ambrosia enrolled into Highland International Academy with the school year already halfway done. It wasn't a big deal. It was a frequent event for foreign students to join the prestigious school regardless of the whens or hows. Admitting your child into an esteemed institution was a clever way to squirm into the local elite, after all, just another scheme to climb the social ladder.

It hadn't been any different for Ambrosia. Her parents found an opportunity in her childhood city and drove all the way across the country to put their daughter in a pretentiously suffocating environment infested by snobby, entitled rich kids—not that she was any different if her purchase history had anything to prove.

Again, it wasn't that big of a deal, regardless of the ocean Ambrosia cried when she had to say goodbye to all her longtime friends, regardless of the even bigger ocean she cried when she had to bid goodbye to the two-story house that had forever engraved itself into her core memories.

In fact, her first day wasn't even that bad. It could've ended in a spectacularly ordinary manner, with warm goodbyes shared between her new group of friends, a lingering memory of verbal approval from her teachers, and a quick drive to her new home courtesy of her newly hired driver.

But alas, Ambrosia had a knack for making her life more difficult. She was twisted in the head in a way or just brazenly curious because that afternoon, she decided to have her driver wait in the academy's parking lot as she explored the school's facilities, heeled black shoes clacking against the tiled floors in an oddly satisfying manner. She was certifiably addicted to the sound.

It wasn't supposed to be a big deal, but because of that one choice, it became a big deal—a huge fucking deal, for none other than Terrrance Hunton, the school's esteemed genius and perhaps the world's most notoriously bullied prodigy.

A loud bang interrupted Ambrosia's train of thought, eyes suddenly set forward at the sight of her not-so-friendly-looking classmates shoving a junior into the lockers.

"You really are a freak. Come on, won't you smile for us? Huh? Or are you too smart to stoop down to our level?" The student Ambrosia recognized as Bastian snarled against the younger boy's face, uncomfortably close as splatters of his saliva tainted the no-name's flawless cheek.

Ambrosia was too shocked to make a sound, heart racing as she thought of what to do. She certainly wasn't strong enough to take them physically, nor was she willing to take a beating on her first day of school. Her eyes moved to examine the scene, body jolting upwards as her classmate threw a particularly hard punch. At the sound of the locker banging, the girl was quick to hide behind a large pillar. The realization that the bullied, in this situation, was a head taller than the bullies with a decent physique genuinely boggled her.

What the actual hell? Why wasn't he fighting ba— Another punch to the face, a painful crunch echoing throughout the hallways. Ambrosia was quick to pull out her phone from her pocket, fingers scrambling to open her video recorder.

"You think you're so much better than us, huh, punk? Why don't you fight back?! Think I can't take your black belter ass?!" His foot met with the other's stomach, the impact causing the junior's entire body to fly backward.

Terrance was used to this kind of treatment. Despite having everything a person could ever desire, truth was he didn't know what to do with it. Especially since everyone he knew saw him as a freak of nature, an unsettling presence disturbing their picture-perfect lives. The first time he stopped trying to fight back was when his very own parents had taken him outside of the Dean's Office to coax a confession out of him. He must've done something strange to provoke them. If not, he must've threatened to use his knowledge in the martial arts, dishonoring his vows to never use his body for harm. There seemed to be no other explanation for catching him and three other seniors in a bloodied scene.

The worst part was that his father looked disappointed by his protests.

That was three years ago, three years since he declared fighting back redundant. He learned the hard way that he'd still be in the wrong, no matter how noble he had been in the situation.

That's just what he was, he supposed. A perpetrator. A freak.

So when that very day came, it felt as if the life the young Hunton once lost flew back into his beaten body.

His hero. His savior, a girl obliviously wearing mismatched socks stepped out from her hiding place behind a pillar—a motion he noticed long before she revealed herself—and sauntered towards them with an unbothered expression on her face.

"Real smooth, bitc— Bastian. You can't pick on any of the jocks in our classroom, so you decide to take your daddy issues out on a fuckin' kid." She spoke as if Terrance's seniors were no threat, as if she hadn't just confirmed for herself what they were capable of.

"New girl— what in the actual hell do you think you're doing?"

The girl scoffed as if offended by her classmate's words, "What do you think? I'm stepping up to save the kid from having to smell more of your putrid teenage boy odor."

Bastian could only laugh at the absurdity of the situation. His hands loosened to release his prodigy of a victim, feet moving to stare Ambrosia in the eye. Only then did the girl realize just how much he towered over her. Her damned Asian genes.

"With what? I could bring you to your ass with a flick of a finger."

"With this, bitch." She raised her phone, a recording of her classmate's recent assault playing. His lackeys watched the video with concerned expressions, but the smug smirk on Bastian's face remained unmoving.

"Easy, I could just—" He was quick to try and swipe the device from her hand, but she was quicker in dodging him.

"Nuh-uh, something happens to me, and this releases to the free world of the internet where bullies like you get crushed under the pressure of being ostracized by society. It's already been sent to eight people, I doubt you want to expand your following." She threatened, clutching her phone to her chest.

"So what? You have a recording of me beating the kid up. It's nothing new to this school, new girl. Everyone will believe me over him, anyway."

"Everyone but your parents–!" She snapped back, a chilling smile on her face. Safe to say, his mouth was left agape in the most satisfying way possible.

"What the hell do my parents have to do with—"

"What? You think I haven't met Mr. and Mrs. Cummings yet? They love me, I can assure you. But you? Oh no. All that I heard coming out of their mouths throughout the night were complaints of their deadbeat son getting caught vaping, drinking, and cheating during midterms. One more straw, and you're screwed."

"I—" He jolted towards her, unthinking, hand gripping her arm painfully tight as the threat had fear bubbling up his throat.

"Back off!"

The girl's heeled foot met with his crotch, an immediate groan leaving his lips as he kneeled down in pain. His lackeys were quick to try and pull them apart, but at a raise of Ambrosia's hand, they froze.

"Nuh-uh, you two too! One more step and your boss is socially dead."

She looked down at him, lively eyes devolving to be a reflection of something inhumane, feral. The amusement on her face grew with every pained noise that left his mouth.

"Jesus, Bastian. You should really have more dignity. I thought you were cooler than that while we were in class."

"Fuck—"

She placed her hand on his hair, pulling his head up to meet her waiting gaze. "Which reminds me, let me reintroduce myself since you were too busy chatting it up in the back."

"I'm Ambrosia Decker, but you can call me Rose. The name's familiar? Good. Because my mother is one of your family's high-ranking investors which means the two of us are going to be besties. And besties don't let their besties bully innocent kids." She shared, gathering the gall to wink at the groaning bastard.

He could only look at her with wide eyes, expression finally sporting the reaction she wanted from him. "You're crazy—"

"And you're walking on very thin ice. I catch you beating kids up again, and you're gonna be sleeping on the streets, got that?"

"Wh— wh—" She let go of his hair, causing Bastian to stumble in his step.

"Piss off before I consider scooping your fish eyes out with a spoon."

He ran with hasty steps, the two others who were assaulting the junior running after him. He heard them get scolded before there was silence, only her footsteps evading the school's empty halls.

"Hey, kid. Are you okay?" She crouched down his level, and the movement seemed to make him flinch. It would've been hilarious had he not been so injured, a giant of a junior subtly scurrying away from his bright-eyed senior who was a head shorter than him.

His eyes were wide, shocked, slightly dazed, and she frowned in sympathy. "That's a stupid question. Of course, you're not. Let's head to the clinic, alright? The nurse probably already went home, but I know a bit of first aid myself."

He could only nod, still completely astounded as he met the first person to have ever seen him as anything but an abnormality. His heart was racing loudly, invasively so—something he'd never experienced before.

--

"Looks like I just have to.. add a few drops and... put that here."

Terrance watched as his senior read from a "First Aid for Beginners" book, cotton and ointment in hand, as her eyes flicked from his face to the pages she had been reading off of.

"I'm really sorry. Saying I knew something about first aid was a bit of a stretch."

He blinked once, twice, and he felt his temperature rise. She had been so eager to help him.

"I.. It's okay." That was the first time he had spoken throughout the entire thing. The fear that the first person to have treated him like a human being would be scared away by his voice preventing him from saying anything. What if it was too timid for her liking? Or, although it was unlikely, too loud?

"It's not! I should've studied up on this very important shit sooner. Someone could be dying in front of me and I wouldn't know what to fuckin' do." She snorted and before he could stop himself, so did Terrance, the sound causing a wave of heat to wash over his body.

"You— you like to curse." He muttered, immediately regretting it afterward as he realized that he meant to keep the thought to himself. She must've found him unusual by now.

"Oh shit, sorry. Does it bother you?" She asked, genuine concern radiating from her face as she continued to clean up his wounds, a careful eye sticking to the deeper ones that sat on his forehead. The close proximity made him want to cry. He realized that he couldn't do anything if she found a flaw in his face and declared him too damaged to call him her friend.

Ending his train of thought, he panicked. "N— no. I like it."

He must've said something wrong because it only caused his senior, now decidedly his favorite person, to laugh uncontrollably.

"Well, that's a first. What's your name?"

"I'm Terrance."

"Cute. I'm Rose or Sia or whatever suits your tastes. No need for the pretentious full-name stuff. My first name makes me gag." She joked. He opened his mouth to disagree, but before any words could leave his lips, the door to the nurse's office slammed open.

"What are you two doing here?"

That day was a big deal for her, too, if Ambrosia really thought about it. That was the day she met Highland International Academy's beloved scholar and student body vice president, Hugh Windsor, and the only person she would throw away her entire moral compass for.

As her eyes widened in panic, realizing they had been caught loitering on school grounds on her first day, Hugh's narrowed in skepticism, misunderstanding the closeness of the two students who were currently sitting on one of the clinic's beds.

It had been hard to explain, but the bright-eyed girl eventually got to the strong-willed scholar. He let them go with a warning.

"Considering it is your first day." Those were Hugh's last words before walking away, perfectly slicked-back slightly tussled after conversing with the two troublemakers.

She turned to Terrance when the scholar left, a flustered expression on her face. She, once again, bubbled up in laughter, realizing the absurdity of their situation. And he, he could only stare in awe, trying to drink in every detail that he could before those two pleasant crescents would eventually disappear.

So maybe it was a big deal. For both of them.

That was the day they both fell in love. Just not with each other.