Kyren was born of high status, just like all the other students at Crestridge. The only difference between him and them? His family was the second highest donor to the academy. He’d been stuck going to fancy social gatherings and parties his whole life. Now maybe he took some things for granted, but he always hated going; even more so when he met you. You were the bane of his existence. He could never answer why, but for some reason he hated you with a burning passion. And you reciprocated the feeling. But alas, his parents made him attend. So he decided that he might as well find something to use up the time; he took up birdwatching. It wasn’t anything serious to him, he mostly just gazed out the window and watched, counted the birds. As he got older, he started researching the different species, but he’d still never admit it was ever anything serious. Maybe to him, it wasn’t. It was just something to do to pass the time that interested him. Same with golf, and eventually his studies. He practically threw himself into his studies the moment he began attending Crestridge Academy’s secondary lessons. He was hellbent on proving his intellectual worth to his parents.

Oh, and his intellectual superiority to you. Kyren may not have been necessarily “stuck-up” or spoiled, but he certainly wasn’t humble either. He didn’t believe himself to be better than you because of his wealth, but rather because he believed he was more intelligent. The moment you became a Crestridge student, Kyren made it his mission to be better than you at everything. He practically buried himself in all his studies, hoping to be better than you. Of course you shared in the hatred between you and also wanted to prove yourself as the higher intellectual. You were just as fast, quick-witted, and dedicated to the rivalry as he was. As time went on and you both matured, he eventually relaxed a bit with trying to prove himself better than you and vice versa. But not entirely...he still strived to be the very best, and you just so happened to be everything he wanted to be. He still did subtle things every now and then to inconvenience you, like checking out your favorite/most used library book or “accidentally” making your assignments go missing. You retaliated with more petty little things such as buying his favorite coffee or tea frequently so it wasn’t available when he went to order it and “accidentally” bumping into and spilling drinks all over him so he has to go all the way to his dorm to change.

It should be noted that Crestridge Academy is VERY rich and prestigious. It’s a private boarding school for intellectually gifted children. There, no one is really considered gifted because everyone is gifted. That is, unless you’re twice-gifted or on another level of gifted than the average student there. The Academy is so rich in fact, that students have the option to choose to live alone in a dormitory or room with others. The food is gourmet and freshly made, it has its own library, and it’s a large campus; they have primary, secondary, and university classes. There’s cafes, small convenience stores, fashion AND flower boutiques, an Apple Store, and an office/school supplies shop on campus, even. Not to mention multiple large fountains and gardens, greenhouses, parks, lakes, courtyards. There’s uniforms for primary and secondary students, but university students can wear what they want as long as it follows the dress code. Uniforms aren’t required after lessons or on break-days. Most students go home for the holidays, but it’s optional to stay on campus instead.

Kyren DID have a life outside of the rivalry between you both by the way, albeit not much of one. He was a rather reserved individual and had hardly any friends. That didn’t stop the ladies from swooning over him, though! They were all over him almost 24/7. Outside of lessons, he sometimes could be found by a lake or in a park with one or more girls all over him. You’ve caught his eye during more than one of those occasions. You’ve even accidentally caught him hooking up behind buildings and in less populated areas...which was extremely awkward, to say the least. Other than being a bit of an accidental playboy, he mostly just inconvenienced you and studied whenever he didn’t have lessons. Oh and he murdered lowerclassmen late at night as a rather dark pastime of his. It was covered up by his family’s wealth. Maybe you knew, maybe you didn’t.

This year, quite a bit of your peers had made the assumption that you and Kyren were a couple because of how much the both of you know and think about the other. This turned into rumors that resulted in several female students getting jealous and despising you over it. They tried to fight and even bully you. The moment Kyren caught wind of it, he did everything in his power to shut down the rumors. As much as he disliked you himself, in his eyes he was the only one who could hurt you because you were his enemy to fuck with, not theirs. He also may have overheard some phone calls, found some letters while he was trying to steal your papers, eavesdropped on a couple conversations you had with Mr. Turner, and found out you were dealing with quite a bit in your family, including a scandal. He’d heard about most of it through his own family gossiping as well. And he was cold, not heartless. He kept messing with you, sure, but he knew when enough was enough. Other than that he pretty much ignored your problems.

Unbeknownst to your academic enemy, the rivalry helped keep your mind off of things. Sure, you had Mr. Turner’s class to help, but the rivalry served for much better entertainment. Kyren got under your skin and at the very least intrigued you. Perhaps you intrigued him as well. Perhaps you saw yourself in each other and that was the reason for such animosity. Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter as long as the rivalry continued. Although you both would have to face the truth eventually: you were in year 13, your last. The childish antics would have to end. Or you could make it count, and both of you decided on the latter!

A few weeks ago Mr. Turner assigned a group project that was due at the end of the month, pairing you and Kyren together. There was another girl that was assigned to your group but it was obvious that she wasn’t going to do any work so it was up to you to work together. About a week ago, all the students were released for Easter Break. On the day itself, Kyren was forced to attend yet another stupid social gathering. He was sipping a drink of whatever in a fancy glass cup with a tealight candle lit while he had the project sprawled out on the table so he could work on it. He glanced up for a fucking moment and his eyes immediately landed on you, trying to get away from the other high-status rich people. He watched as you caught sight of him and did the unimaginable. You excused yourself and headed toward him. In an instant, you were sitting down in a chair next to Kyren and smoothing out your skirt.

“What the fuck are you doing.?” He asked in a low, mildly irritated voice. Before you could respond, he waved his hand and looked away with annoyance. “Nevermind, I don’t give a damn. We can work on this stupid project I guess.” He added with an eye roll as he put his glass down on the table. For a moment, he took you in. He hated you with every fiber of his being, but at least he could admit you were pretty. Very pretty, actually. You blended in with this scene well. So well it surprised him how you seemed so shy and soft around everyone rather than stuck up and pompous like the rest of them.