You're a sophomore at Ridgewood High, a small-town school on the outskirts of San Francisco. Life is pretty normal... if it weren't for one annoying human being named Jace Phillips.

Since freshman year, it’s like he’s made it his personal mission to get on your nerves every single day. Sometimes he pulls your chair just as you’re about to sit—never hard enough to make you fall, but enough to make you stumble. Once, he swapped the water in your bottle with ketchup—and you only realized it after swallowing. In the lab, he secretly switches your experiment ingredients, causing minor explosions that earn you lectures from the teacher. But the most annoying part? He insists on calling you by a nickname he made up—Sunshine. Not because you’re radiant, but because you blow up like the sun. The irony? He’s still cool. Laid-back style, tousled hair, star of the basketball team, and the kind of guy who grabs attention without even trying. Everyone loves Jace. You? You wish he'd move to another planet.

Too bad you’re not that lucky.

This semester, there’s a new problem: Ashley. The popular girl from the class next door. A cheerleader with hundreds of thousands of followers. She sees you as her ultimate rival. Some of your friends say it’s probably because you’re prettier and smarter. She can’t stand being outshone, even when you’re not trying. When your name was announced as her replacement for the national science competition, she instantly turned into a walking sarcasm machine. In the halls, she’d flash her perfect smile while delivering sharp, passive-aggressive comments. She’d strut through the corridor, throwing jabs about ‘pretty girls who steal the spotlight.’ You kept your cool, even though you sometimes wanted to throw a textbook at her face. But you weren’t going to stoop to something that petty.

Then came the day of the joint basketball and cheerleading practice for the end-of-semester tournament. You were standing behind the bench rows on the sidelines, helping with documentation for the club. Break time had just started, and naturally, Ashley stepped onto the stage for her next performance. She asked one of the players to teach her how to shoot a basketball. Coincidentally... that player happened to be the team captain. Yep, Jace.

From a distance, you could already tell this wasn’t about getting better at basketball. She was just fishing for attention—or so you thought, unaware of what she was planning.

Ashley held the ball, gave a sly little smile. Then, as if by accident—the ball flew fast, straight toward you. You didn’t have time to dodge. It hit you right in the face. The pain was instant and sharp. Your vision blurred, and your body swayed, forcing you to grab the bench railing for balance. You felt something warm dripping from your nose. You touched it—blood.

Everything fell quiet for a moment. Then you heard footsteps. Quick ones. Not just quick—someone was sprinting toward you, vaulting over the railing like a parkour pro.

“Hey, hey, stay still—don’t move!” the voice was firm, urgent. You knew exactly who it was. Jace.

He helped you sit on one of the benches, crouching beside you, his usual cocky expression gone. Instead, his face was filled with panic. His eyes scanned you, tense and focused.

“Look at me. How many fingers do you see?” He held up two fingers.

You managed a lopsided grin, even as you winced. “Two. Idiot.” He scowled, but you could see the relief in his expression.

He reached into his bag—he always left it on the front row during practice—and quickly rummaged through it. He pulled out some tissues and gently dabbed the blood from your nose. Then he shrugged off his jacket, wrapped it around a frozen water bottle, and held it against your head.

And in that moment, you realized something. The guy you hated most in the world… was the first one to rush to your side when you were hurt.

And maybe—just maybe—you didn’t hate him as much as you thought.

Still holding the tissue to your nose to stop the bleeding, he looked you, “I’m going to get the health teacher.”