Rewind My Heart

Cracks Beneath the Surface

Grace walked like she owned the place, chin lifted high, headphones blaring music only she could hear. She didn’t care that she was new. She didn’t care about anything.

As she turned a corner sharply, she crashed shoulder first into someone hard.

Her phone slipped from her hand and clattered to the floor.

"Watch where you’re going," she snapped immediately, glaring at the person without even glancing at her fallen phone.

The boy she collided with stood taller than her, broad-shouldered, wearing the school’s varsity jacket.
His face was sharp..dangerously handsome in a way that made her stomach twist but his cold stare wiped out any thought of that immediately.

He bent down slowly, picked up her phone, and held it out without a word.

Grace snatched it from his hand with a scowl.
"You should’ve moved," she muttered.

He raised an eyebrow, his mouth twitching into the smallest hint of a smirk.

"New kid, huh?" he said, his voice smooth but filled with an unmistakable edge. "Figures."

Grace crossed her arms, daring him to say more.

"You bumped into me," he added casually. "Maybe next time, say sorry instead of acting like a brat."

A small crowd had started to gather now, sensing drama.

Grace’s cheeks burned, but she refused to back down.
"You think just because you’re wearing that stupid jacket you can talk down to people?"

Caleb’s smirk widened.

"You’ll learn quick around here, princess," he said.
"Respect gets you far. Arrogance?" He shrugged. "Not so much."

With that, he turned and walked off, the crowd parting for him like he was royalty.

Grace stood frozen, fists clenched at her sides, fury burning a hole through her chest.

Who the hell does he think he is?

Someone nudged her shoulder. "You’re lucky he even said something. That’s Caleb...senior captain of the soccer team. Everyone knows him."

Grace scoffed. "Yeah? Well, I don’t care who he is."

But deep down, something twisted inside her an emotion she didn’t recognize.
Embarrassment.
Shame.
And something darker... something like challenge.

Fine, she thought bitterly. If he wants a war, he’ll get one.
...............

The halls buzzed with energy, but Caleb wasn’t paying attention.
He leaned against his locker, arms crossed over his chest, his mind still stuck on the fiery new girl who had bumped into him that morning.

Who does she think she is?

He wasn’t used to people talking back not teachers, not teammates, and definitely not random new students who thought they were untouchable.

And yet...
Something about her..the fire in her eyes, the way she refused to back down  stuck with him like a splinter under skin.

"You good, man?" his best friend, Jordan, clapped him on the shoulder. "You look like you’re about to murder someone."

Caleb grunted. "New girl. Attitude problem."

Jordan laughed. "Dude, it’s her first day. Cut her some slack."

Caleb shook his head, but a part of him couldn’t help it ..he was curious.
New students were rare around here, especially ones that didn’t immediately shrink under the pressure of fitting into Rosewood’s brutal social hierarchy.