A/N: So yay thank you for reading this lol this is a modern AU based on Verasque's Diamond Dogs, sorry about the language btw (I suck at fics) and also this is a mirror of my other fic Alya of Jindazhen so have fun reading ehehehe

Well, good for you, you look happy and healthy, not me

If you ever cared to ask

Good for you, you're doin' great out there without me, baby

God, I wish that I could do that

I've lost my mind, I've spent the night

Cryin' on the floor of my bathroom

But you're so unaffected, I really don't get it

But I guess good for you

Music blasted out of Alya's earplugs as she shoved the door to her Porsche closed. Smoothing down her white shirt-jersey- whatever that thing could be called, she dusted off her jeans, slung her bag over her shoulder and casually headed in the general direction of Corus High. She vainly resisted the urge to do a tap dance or something to vibe to her favourite song- Good 4 U by Olivia Rodrigo was an always-and-forever favourite. The blue-and-silver building loomed in front of her and she placed her hands on her hips.

Quirking an eyebrow, she popped a breath mint into her mouth as she surveyed her new school (Alyana Khan never went anywhere without some form of those minty blobs of sugar). She wasn't entirely new to Corus- Jindazhen, her old home, was a city-state close by (close enough to drive to, at least), and she'd come here at least five times a week for her dance practice- so she generally knew the people around here. Well enough that they texted each other and stuff, but otherwise the new school was well… unfamiliar.

Alya didn't know why her parents had to go and move from their home of Jindazhen, Tortall, where they owned half the companies- Khan Companies was the leading industry group- to Corus, also in Tortall- where they'd somehow managed to get ahold of landed property, build a modern mansion and tell Alya to leave everything she'd known for all seventeen years of her life back in Jindazhen.

In the middle of the school year, for that matter.

Sighing, she shrugged it off and walked towards the foyer. She was so ready to die- the syllabus in Tortall was probably really different and she'd probably have a problem catching up. Well, she'd deal with it when she came to pass the bridge, Alya decided. Time to deal with the real problem, talking to the Principal. Specifically, Roald Conte. Alya tossed another mint into her mouth.

Adults and their love of talking.

Mithros, Alya was going to be bored.

Very bored.

"Here's your timetable, Alyana." Principal Conte handed her a blue-silvery file with the colours of the school and droned on, something about school expectations, values, and lunch timings, making Alya sigh mentally. Dude, I have to get to class.

Finally, the Principal finished his twenty-minute speech (though it seemed like an hour, and a very long one at that) and looked at her. "Any questions?"

"None. Thank you very much, Principal Conte. May I take my leave?" As always, her tone remained firmly polite, but there was that subtle nudge for him to let her get to class.

"You may. Oh, and your first class is-" he consulted his watch "- Chemistry because homeroom is already over. Down the hall, to the left. Room 105."

"Thank you, Sir." Alya bowed once and exited the room, closing the door behind her. She breathed in and out once and headed in the direction of room 105. Chemistry, the placard on the door read. Mr Numair Salmalin.

Whatever. She knocked on the door once, making sure to suck hard on the remains of her last candy, before going inside.

"And you are?" A tall, lanky man with dark hair shifted his glasses up his nose to peer at her.

"Alyana Khan, Mr Salmalin." Goddess, she could really really do with another mint now. She watched the teacher riffle through his ledger and files for the attendance sheet. The table was cluttered with post-its, pens, half-scribbled-on notepaper- Alya even caught sight of a half-shredded, very much dog-eared and bright-pink to-do list- Anniversary dinner tonight, Numair. Love, Daine XO- dated from two months back. Mr Salmalin was way too disorganized- a planner would do him some good, she thought ruefully.

"Aha!" Mr Salmalin's glasses were almost falling off his nose, but he was brandishing an attendance sheet- if it still be called that, on account of the mangled-ness of the paper, the dog-eared page, and the tiny tear in the corner. Alya kept her face neutral, though her hands badly itched to do something about the imperfect-ness of the paper. "Alyana Khan, Jindazhen, transfer student, am I right?"

"Yes." Biting her lip, Alya hoped he was going to assign her a seat or something. Standing in front of a class full of juniors and seniors (plus some sophomores in the advanced class) wasn't exactly something she could do all day.

"Well then, Alyana, you may take a seat at…" His eyes scanned the room for a possible seating-area, but given the pretty much 'stuffed' class, Alya presumed she'd have to sit on the floor. Or the table. Anywhere but a chair.

"Uh, over there." Alya turned to see an empty space between two boys. Shrugging, she thanked Mr Salmalin and took off in the table's direction. Mithros, finally.

That was when the whispers started, indignant whispers that filled the entirety of the room. Girls' hissing voices.

"ZOMFG, she gets to sit next to Jon Conte and Ron Naxen? My gods, that's not fair!" A girl muttered.

"OMG, Jon is such a hottie! And Ron's muscles… Lucky girl."

"Joooooooonnnnnnnn!"

Alya's head snapped up. Jon Conte? As in the Principal's son, and the older brother of Lianokami Conte, a small elementary school-girl who danced at her studio? And Ron Naxen, as in the Vice-Principal's son? Alya's father had dealings with them- things were gonna be awkward. The one time their families had come for dinner, Alya had shown up on her home doorstep soaking wet because, well, she'd gotten caught in the rain and ended up falling backwards into another puddle because of the sudden apparition of the cousins. The situation had just been… awkward. She shuddered as she took a seat between the two of them, making sure not to look at them. Casually, she unzipped her bag and pulled out a notebook and a pen- black, her favourite colour- she didn't want to risk spilling some chemical over her macbook; labs were sure to be booby-trapped with them.

"Uh, would anyone like to introduce themselves to Alyana before we begin?" Mr Salmalin sent a pointed look towards the guys next to Alya. Gods curse him, couldn't they start already? Alya groaned mentally as Ron stood up.

"Hi, I'm Ron, and I'm on the basketball team. I also play ice hockey." Giggles followed as he sat down. Ron was a tall, muscly jock with muddy brown hair and dark eyes- all together a hot guy, but nonetheless one who didn't really interest her. Her fingers inched towards the bag, hoping to get hold of another mint before anyone saw but Mr Salmalin focused his line of sight on her, obviously hoping for a response from her.

"Mm," She muttered vaguely and focused on twiddling her pen between her thumbs, hoping he didn't suspect her of anything- in this case eating mints in class.

"I'm Jonathan, and I'm Student Body President. I'm into debate and basketball." Alya's line of vision fixated on someone else behind him- a redhead with emerald-green eyes. The girl smirked at her condescendingly, tossed a lock of perfectly curled hair over her shoulder- Alya's own dark hair was straight and pulled up into a simple ponytail- and proceeded to face the whiteboard, away from Alya's gaze.

Cheerleader probably, that one. Alya knew way too many girls like that, all bubbleheads, with or without brains, and lovers of skirts. She directed her attention towards the whiteboard, completely ignoring the looks the other girls gave her, opened her notebook and for the sake of it, scrawled Chemistry at the top of the page. Writing stuff (no matter how random) gave her something to do at least, she thought as she added more headings and tabbed the pages, that is, until-

"Hey. Mr Salmalin's talking to you." Jon nudged her. Apparently, Mr Salmalin had decided to let the entire class introduce themselves- much good it did Alya, who hadn't been paying attention- and was looking at Alya expectantly.

"Alyana?"

Someone in the back sniggered. "She's probably taking notes on the boys."

Go to hell, Alya thought, her face heating up, and she managed to smooth the mask over her face just in time. "Yes, Mr Salmalin?"

"Would you like to introduce yourself to the class?" Goddammit, NO. Alya sighed: teachers didn't take no for an answer.

"Hi, I'm Alya, and I dance at Corus Studios. I transferred here from Jindazhen High, and I guess that's it." She gave a careless shoulder-shrug and sat down.

"She's the one who won nationals last year."

"The soloist. With that contemporary solo. She made it to high honors."

"They say she's really good. She doesn't look all that amazing."

"She probably bribed the judges. Her dad is the head of some company, isn't he? They're rolling in the money, but I bet she isn't all that good."

"Ladies, ladies. Calm down," Mr Salmalin attempted to silence the class, but to no avail. Alya clenched her fists, forcing the mask onto her face to stay calm. Stone. Water over stone. Her grip on the pen became more intense as the whispers grew louder and louder.

"Alright ladies, let's settle down, shall we? I think Mr Salmalin wants to start the class." A moderately-loud but clear voice resounded from beside Alya, and she looked up in surprise.

Jonathan Conte was about 1.9 metres, maybe, tall to her 1.65. He had the crow-black hair, hooked nose and sapphire eyes that ran in the Conte bloodline- basically he was hot, but either way Alya wasn't interested in him. Boy or girl, she didn't care. But Jonathan had that authoritative-ness about him, that made you look, hear, and actually listen. Alya was grateful for that much, but since that awkward situation a couple months back (not just the dripping-in-the-rain incident), she'd just… well… ignored him.

The whispering stopped almost instantly, but she heard a few calls of "Jooooonnnnn!" coming faintly from where majority of the girls (behind and in front of them) sat- Alya wondered if they'd purposely chosen the seats there for the sake of being near Conte. Shaking her head, she looked down at her notes. If Jon was expecting a word of thanks from her, he didn't mention it, just nodded to the Chemistry teacher and sat down, taking out a notebook of his own. It was black.

Such a coincidence, she thought, rolling her eyes.

"Thank you, Mr Conte." Mr Salmalin shot Jonathan a grateful look- it seemed like Conte was a favourite with the teachers- was that anything to do with his status as the Principal's son?- and continued, "Shall we begin?"

The rest of the lesson passed quickly- the syllabus wasn't all that different after all. Alya scribbled down notes about the elements and the composition of substances- and they finally came to the part about chromatography.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, get into pairs and follow the instructions on the board," Mr Salmalin concluded. "You have half an hour to finish the experiment. Let's go, people!"

Resisting the small smile that came to her face at the teacher's attempt to act cool, Alya glanced over at the chaos- girls trying to snag Jonathan or Ron as their lab partner- and decided to go with whoever was next to her.

Basically, Ron. Crap, and earn the enmity of every one of these girls? No way.

"Oh, and before you begin, make sure your lab partner is the one you're seated next to." Mr Salmalin added. There was a series of groans from the girls in front as everyone scrambled back to their seats. Either way, Alya was paired with Ron. At least he wasn't Jonathan. But then she saw Ron glancing over at the girl seated next to Jonathan with a wistful look in his eyes- it surprised her- this jock sure had a soft, sweet spot for a certain someone. A particular honey-blonde with dark eyes and a small mouth who was sitting beside Jonathan. And she'd been gazing back at Ron as much as he had. Gross. Sighing, she swivelled around in her chair to look at him.

"Look, do you want me to swap with that girl you've been eyeing for the past five minutes?" At Ron's fake-confused look, Alya sighed. This was going to be harder than expected.

She placed her palms flat on her thighs and gave him a 'Don't-try-to-deny-it because-I-see-everything' look. "You don't have to partner me if you want to."

He gave her a ferocious glare. "I'm not eyeing Cinthiya."

"You wouldn't know who I'm referring to if you hadn't been staring at her."

Ron groaned. "Fine, fine, you got me there."

"Ha! So do you want me to switch?"

The guy's eyes softened; Alya just didn't understand people in love.

"I don't even think she likes me."

Yep, lovesick guys were hard to understand.

"Naxen, in case you haven't realised, Cinthiya Cardonne has also been eyeing you- both of you are pansies-"

"-I'm not a pansy!" Ron interjected.

"In love, and I'm going to barf with all those pheromones in the air, therefore I don't care if I'm new; I'm going over to Cinthiya Cardonne and make her switch with me so that I don't have to be a witness to your love-fest. It's enough to make me puke."

"Switch so that you can sit with Jon?" Ron raised his eyebrows slightly.

Alya froze: What the hell? Who in their right mind- or what kind of Alya in any state- would be crushing on some dude she'd gotten stuck with in a very awkward situation years ago?

"Dude, let me assure you that I have absolutely no interest in your cousin. I'm doing this for self preservation. One more word, and you're as good as dead."

The jock just quirked an eyebrow. "Don't say I didn't warn you; Jon has that effect on women-"

"Should I switch or torture you with my gracious presence and the significant absence of Cinthiya Cardonne?"

"You are evil, Alyana Khan-"

"Not as evil as I remember you to be."

"That was long ago-" he began, but was silenced with a withering look.

"Shall I switch? Shut up."

"Ooh, I'm scared-" he mocked but closed his mouth the moment she gave him a searing glare. "Okay, okay."

Shaking her head at the guy, Alya got up quickly- most groups had already started on chromatography- and went over to Cinthiya. The shy honey-blonde and Jon were silently working separately despite the instructions to work together.

"Hey, Cinthiya," she greeted as the girl turned around.

"Um, hi. Can I help you?"

Alya grinned wickedly, with that smile (the psycho-smile, her little sister Kara called it), and with a glance at the nervous Naxen, told Cinthiya, "Ron hates me. Do us a favour and switch with me?"

Ron glowered but immediately plastered a small smile on his face as Cinthiya nodded, gave Alya a grateful look and shot off immediately in Ron's direction. Alya sighed- her fate was sealed- she'd never be so kind again- and sat down in Cinthiya's once-occupied spot.

"Hey." Jon looked up from his work, like nothing had ever happened, like that awkward situation exactly 4 months and 17 days ago hadn't happened.

Not that Alya had been counting. At all.

"Help me with this bit? I need to soak the ink."

If he wanted to pretend, she'd play it cool.

"Sure. By the way, Cinthiya and I switched. I mean, it's kinda weird, but yeah, all's fair in love and war. You're cool with it, I hope."

"It's pretty obvious, since you haven't noticed. Your life is at stake, and I don't think my father would want to deal with a dead body in his hands, so yeah, you're welcome." He had a nice voice- Not that Alya cared.

For the last time, Alya didn't give a shit what Jon Conte did.

"Roald Conte is- oh, right."

"Roald Conte is my father, for your information."

"Thanks a lot, Captain Obvious." Annoyed, she glanced up from her notebook to look at the board- only to find herself staring into a pair of sapphire eyes. What shade of blue were those eyes exactly?

"Now will you help me with the stuff? We're never going to be done at this rate."

"Whatever, dumbass."

"Did you just call me a-"

"Dumbass. Yes, Captain Obvious. You're a dumbass. Now can we please proceed?" She shot him an irritated look, but the dumbass just gave a cryptic smile and shrugged.

"Sure."

Goddamn him.

Alya somehow found herself staggering through the remains of the morning with her half-dead brain and a whole pile of homework. She'd have to finish this over the weekend plus dance somehow. Pre-Nationals were on Sunday and Mrs Aili had yet to choose the solos. Alya had been working hard on hers- hopefully it was good enough.

The lunch bell rang and Alya got up to leave the class- Econs, her most hated class. She'd never been good at math- now she had a shitload of work to finish. Heading down the hallway- whispers still followed her wherever she went for no reason- she walked to her locker and tugged at the door. Nothing happened.

"Shit!" She adjusted the stack of files in her arms and tried again.

"Need help, princess?" A voice came from behind her just as the door finally swung open. She could literally hear the smirk in the voice all too well- only one person she knew in Corus would actually do that- Linden Runnerspring. Alya considered ignoring the brown-haired, crooked-toothed bastard, but that would show she was a weakling. Naturally.

Responding was the only option, then.

"What the hell do you want, Runnerspring" was a possible conversation-starter, but "No thanks, I've got it, I don't need your help, not when you're the true princess, at least" was an even better one. That was what she went with.

Linden's eyes narrowed, just like she knew he would. "Alyana Khan, I don't know if you know who I am, but I don't take cheek. Especially not from you."

"Oh, go home and play with your little barbie dolls," Alya twisted her mouth. "I'm sure they'll listen to you more than I ever will, you dumbass."

"Why, you-" Linden lunged for Alya, but Alya, who had been ready for this, shoved the locker door into his face. There was a resounding bang and a groan from the guy on the floor. Gasps from the idiot spectators in the hallway could be heard in a single, horrified whisper.

"Oops, didn't see you there." The girl gave him a satisfied smile and chucked her things into the locker, before grabbing her wallet and phone and locking her locker for good measure. She produced a roll of mints from her pocket, before giving the Runnerspring on the floor a bored look, followed by a twist of the mouth.

Mints were the best.

"I guess I'll have to say sayonara, sucker."

"That was cool!" A voice piped up from beside her. Alya looked down to see a girl, just slightly shorter than her, grinning. Her dark face was alight with enthusiasm. "I love how you totally put him in his place."

Alya smiled back. "Thanks. He's kinda an old enemy; his sister is in my dance class and she's nice but the guy himself- he's just an idiot. Do I know you?"

"The name's Ochobai," declared the small girl. "I'm a junior, and-" at Alya's raised eyebrows, she added, "ridiculously short for my age."

"I'm short too," Alya laughed. "Guess we can be shorties together."

"Definitely." A dark look flickered across Ochobai's face. "He's been picking on m- some of the other people for as long as we can remember- the bastard needs to be taught a lesson."

"He does," Alya was about to reply when a slightly taller girl who looked exactly like Ochobai appeared in front of them.

"Ochobai! Where the hell have you been? Sakura and Ky have been all over looking for you! Is Runnerspring picking on you again? Do you need me to bash him?" The girl fired off a series of questions before Ochobai could respond.

"Ulasu, calm down, you dolt. No, I was delayed slightly because this genius here," Ochobai gestured to Alya, "was besting Runnerspring so hard I literally had to stop and watch."

Ulasu turned to Alya and looked her up and down.

"Uh, hi?"

Ulasu only gave her an appraising look. "Hm."

"You're acceptable."

Alya could have squawked- if she actually did this sort of thing. Alyana Khan did not do acceptable only. To her, you got 4.0 GPA or you got nothing. You won nationals, or you didn't place. You topped the class, you won the solo, you got valedictorian of the year- Now that was acceptable. But it seemed like Ulasu's 'acceptable' was the average human definition of excellent, so while Alya couldn't completely agree, she couldn't not accept it either.

"Well, I'll take that."

Ulasu gave her another mysterious look. "Are you coming?"

"Where?"

"Lunch, idiot. It's break."

"Um, sure." Alya wasn't sure what the heck she was doing, but having friends- or sitting with people she just met- couldn't hurt, could it?

"Are you new to Corus?" That was Ochobai, sprouting questions every five seconds. Alya couldn't blame her for being curious, but it could be a bit annoying.

Or nerve-wrecking, in case she said something wrong and suddenly turned the entire student population against her. She didn't know what their social statuses in this school were, but from the looks of it, Ochobai seemed to be a nerd with a high GPA, Ulasu seemed to be your typical mysterious girl who blended into the background somehow, and Junim, the last of the triplets, was a jock. Sakura Queenscove was a genius and pretty halfie, with a Yamani mother and Tortallan father, while Ky Masbolle, or Kymara, was a sporty girl who seemed pretty popular as well.

"Not really. I've been dancing at the studio here since I was three, so I generally know some people around here, but not all." They sat down at a table at the far corner of the cafeteria, dumping their bags. Alya reached for her box of mints again- Kymara watched her reflectively.

"Are you that addicted to your mints?"

"How would you know that?"

"I sat behind you in chem- you and Jon Conte seemed pretty intense." She told Alya casually.

Alya's jaw dropped. Naturally.

"What the f- no!" She turned her killer gaze on the older girl. Taking a deep breath to calm herself- why the hell was she getting so worked up about it anyway?- she continued, "He's just an old acquaintance. Nothing else."

"Really? Then why do you seem so worked up just at the mention of him?"

"I am not." Shit. Shit. Was her face that easy to read?

"Don't worry, 99.999% of the girls in this school, sophomore to senior year all have crushes on the guy. He has that effect on ladies."

Damn Conte for being so good-looking and hot and smart and just about everything positive about him.

"I must be the 0.0001% of the female population then," Alya chose to reply calmly, popping another candy into her mouth. "I have absolutely no interest in him."

"Oof, the Ice Queen." Sakura had joined the conversation.

Noticing Ky's suddenly-blushing face, Alya asked, "Do you, by any chance, be part of the 99.999% of the female population?"

Ky's face reddened. "Uh- no-no-"

"She's taken," Ochobai interjected, leaning in from across the table. "See that hot dude over there?" She gestured to what seemed like the most popular (and crowded) table in the center of the room. Cinthiya, Ron, Jonathan, some girl named Alexandra Tirragen from her dance studio, plus a couple more people and one especially tall guy, probably even taller than Ron and Jonathan. He had curly black hair and snapping coal eyes. He and Ky met eyes briefly, before turning away.

"That's Pathom Goldenlake. Ky's had a crush on him since third-grade and to be honest, they would make a really cute couple- if either one of them had the guts to ask each other out."

"I don't think he even likes me," Ky was whining in the background, but Alya had noticed the same redhead from this morning, the one with the mocking smile. She nudged Kymara.

"Who the hell is that?"

"Oh, that's Adalia Eldorne. She's Jon's girlfriend; they've been a thing for quite some time. Why?"

So Jon Conte did have a girlfriend; that didn't explain the flirty attitude and just about everything else.

"I saw her in Chem. She was acting weird or something."

So what if the dumbass had a girlfriend? It wasn't like Alya was his ex or anything (that would be creepy and gross) and he could do anything he wanted… including finding a girlfriend who was… incredibly hot…?

"That reminds me," Sakura cut in, tugging at her black braid. "Watch your back. If Adalia so much as thinks you and Jon are close, the consequences won't be good."

"It doesn't seem like a good deterrent if there are so many Conte fangirls out there," Alya told her dryly. "Look at the way they're throwing themselves at him."

"They know to keep their distance," Ulasu said. "They should. I wouldn't want to get on her bad side- she can be scary."

"Coming from you, that's odd. You're the terrifying one, Ulasu," Junim told his triplet wryly, appearing at the end of their table- Alya assumed that he'd come from the Conte table.

"I do it to protect you guys from the dangers of high school."

"You're the youngest of us three, my dear."

"That doesn't mean I'm not the most mature. Unlike certain people."

As the triplets began to quarrel, Kymara took Alya aside. "Joking aside, I mean it. Watch your back. Adalia may get it soon enough."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Be careful, that's all I'm saying. Now can we go and actually get our lunch?"

Without waiting for Alya's response, Sakura and Kymara got up in unison to steer the bewildered girl up and over to the stalls. Alya ended up getting a salad from the salad bar- much to Ky's disgust ("Salad? Really, Alya?") and was stalking over to pay the lady at the counter when she crashed into someone. Her mind went into hyper-alert- the person had a hard, warm chest and strong arms that reached out to steady her. She thanked God that she didn't have anything in her hands- her wallet and phone were in her back jeans pocket- but she knew something was definitely up. The person- he or she?- smelled familiar- something between a mix of cinnamon and some sort of flowery shampoo- and oh my gods, Alya knew that scent too well. She'd only smelled it once- but gods, it meant trouble.

"Hey. Hey. You okay?" She didn't need to look up to know the eyes were sapphire.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Heat crept up the sides of her face- Yeah, so dramatic, Alyana Khan.

Brushing herself off, she ignored the uproar coming from all four corners of the cafeteria- mostly girls sighing about how they'd give anything to be in her place (Trust me, I would love to swap, she thought)- and refused to make eye contact with Conte himself, quickly paying for her meal and marching back to the table amidst whispers and hisses. Sakura, who arrived a moment later, gave her a quizzical look as the girl herself stabbed her fork into a tomato, spearing it and sending it into her mouth. The red looked so… red, like blood, Alya's half-psycho mind decided. Glancing up, Alya noticed pretty much the entire cafeteria staring at her. Normally, she wouldn't have cared, but she was too freaked out about the entire situation- crashing into Jon Conte in front of what seemed to be three-quarters of the entire student body- to actually stay cool.

"What the hell are you staring at?" she demanded, and turned back to spear another tomato.

Twirling the fork it was attached to, plus the reddish-juices that ran down the prongs, she made a show of carefully inserting it into her mouth. The effect could probably have been astounding, given her perfect pearly-whites and that psycho-smile- from the looks of horror on most peoples' faces, she might as well be a vampire baring her blood-dripping fangs and what not. At least it got people to look away, but not right before Adalia Eldorne gave her a searing look and warned: Watch out. There were murmurs of 'Queen Bee's coming to get her', 'Gods, Jon is so damn hot' that made Alya want to sink into the floor.

But Alyana Khan didn't back off as much as she did any other cowardly stuff, so she stood her ground and stared back until every single one of those goddamn idiots looked away from her and back to her meal- that is, all of them except those at her table.

"No shit," Junim commented. "You might as well be as scary as the Queen Bee herself."

"What did I warn you about Adalia?" Ulasu looked like she was sucking on a sour lemon.

"That she's coming to get my back. Yeah, that's pretty much what you and everyone else at this table has been trying to emphasise for the past half-an-hour." Alya reached for her mints despite the disparity in flavours. She didn't care. "I don't freaking care what the Queen Bee is going to do to me, kay? I have a lotta other things on my mind." One truth, one false.

"I don't give a shit what Jon Conte's girlfriend does, you hear me?"

"We hear you." The others exchanged looks. "Just don't get into any trouble, okay? Adalia is-"

"Psycho. I don't care, but thanks." Even though Alya acted like the world could come falling down by her ears and she wouldn't care, she had a weird feeling in her gut that something bad was going to happen.

Really bad.

"Holy shit," was Ulasu's first comment when they passed Alya's locker on the way to English.

Alya didn't say anything-the sight was too… bizarre. Her locker had been sprayed over with some hideous bright-pink paint, so bright it was a wonder the culprit hadn't gone blind after painting it, plus 'bitch' written in marker- red marker scrawled all over the paint. The locker stayed locked, thankfully, but Alya already knew who was behind this.

"This isn't the Queen Bee's style," Sakura muttered. "She isn't as obvious."

Ochobai and Alya exchanged a dark look- many people were in sight, and malicious glee could actually be read on a few faces, but only one looked thoroughly smug. Linden had a bit more of a brain that she thought he had, painting her locker while everyone else was at lunch.

"Well, at least it isn't black," Alya commented loudly, smoothing the mask over her features before going up to the locker and running her fingers over the dried paint. She proceeded to get her things out of the locker (only after sticking out her tongue at one of the girls holding a phone up to her face), and said again, "My gods, if it was black, I would have totally died. Come on, you guys."

As they made their way down the hallway, Ulasu turned to Alya.

"You're surprisingly calm for someone whose locker just got vandalised."

"Yeah, well."

"What was it with you and black? Aren't you wearing black jeans?"

Alya gave Ky a 'seriously?' look and chuckled. "You think I'd really let my locker stay that… hideous shade until someone comes to paint it over?"

Sakura looked puzzled, then burst out laughing. "Genius. Well, at least you'll be the only Corus High student with a personalised locker."

"That's what I am."

"You do realise Runnerspring is going to be mad at you for shitting him, right?" That was Ulasu.

"He won't."

"He'll be super mad."

"That isn't going to be good. What are you going to do about this? Alya, you can't survive two years of this from him. I know your dad's rich and powerful and stuff but I don't think he can get you completely out of this, you know."

Alya snorted. "Who said anything about my dad? I'm not one of those kids who goes whining to daddy. I handle my own problems, thank you very much."

"Then? What are you going to do about Runnerspring? Until the principal catches the culprit, which will be hard because there are cams that can be blocked easily in the hall, he's going to keep torturing you. You have to do something."

"Tell me, why is Runnerspring doing this?" asked Alya cryptically.

"I think he's doing it to get back at you for this morning…" was Ochobai's hesitant answer.

"Exactly."

"Exactly what?"

"What I did was a matter of self-defense. He's being a bastard. But he's a stupid one. And you know what this means?"

A smile crept over Kymara's face as she registered. "Oh my gods, Alyana Khan, you are so not going to do that."

"Oh yes, I am, Masbolle. Runnerspring is a bastard. He has no honour. This is war."

When Alyana Khan had run away from the foyer less than sixty seconds ago and decided to seek refuge in an empty classroom, she hadn't expected to land up as witness to her worst nightmare: a couple fight.

Specifically, a couple fight between Jon Conte and Adalia Eldorne, about her, Alyana Khan.

Choosing between this and getting shuttled home by her crazy parents was a hard decision. While Alya didn't want to be witness to some sort of Queen and King of Corus High K-drama that would end up in lots of fluff (why hang around when Netflix existed?), she also didn't want to face the coddling (and lectures) of both her parents- they'd kill her for running away from them or something as it was.

Right now, Alya was half-hidden in the darkness under a table that stank of sweaty feet and mothballs, plus an old air-freshener that glowed a disgusting luminescent orange and did nothing to help reduce the stench at all. She briefly considered finding a way to creep the couple currently occupying the space above her out, then decided against it. It probably made her more psycho than she already was, and that wasn't good. She needed to preserve some sanity, at least, to make it to Nationals. Now was the time to think about getting Runnerspring back, at least until the idiots above her finished their lovey-dovey talk- she'd have to consult Larra Runnerspring on her brother's dislikes and what not. She was currently reflecting on how to make sure she wasn't late for dance when a particular sentence floating above her head decided to hit her like a rock-hard hammer, bashing her brain to the side (figuratively, of course).

"Breaking up with me has something to do with the new girl, doesn't it Jon? I'm serious, you can't let a lovesick girl get between us like that, you know? We've been together for like, two years."

Alya resisted the urge to sneeze. Like she would ever want to come between those two lovesick goddamn idiots. And lovesick? Alyana Khan? My gods, how much of a freaking dolt was this Eldorne? Was she even referring to the right Alya? Like, Alyana Khan of Jindazhen or some other Alya who she didn't know existed? And the awkward situation… had Conte been cheating on Adalia or something? Two years didn't match up to four months and seventeen days either way… why the hell was her life so complicated?

Jon was saying something, and Alya strained her ears to hear what he was saying.

"It doesn't, Addie. Trust me. It's just… I can't explain it, okay? I need some space. I'll give you some time. Basketball starts in ten, see you later or something?"

Alya was left alone in darkness, silence, the realisation that Corus High's King had just broken up with the Queen Bee, and the sound of a door swinging closed twice. She breathed out (a mistake since it stank so bad) and was about to get up to register everything when something strong grasped her arm and tugged her up in a vice-like grip.

Emerald green eyes glowed in an unearthly manner in the darkness.

"How much did you hear?"

God damn it.

"What does it matter?" Alya asked. "It's only going to be a couple hours before everyone hears, isn't it?"

"Not if I can help it." Adalia Eldorne snarled at the startled girl.

"You stay away, keep your mouth shut, and make sure you don't even come near my boyfriend."

"Uh, excuse me, have you got the wrong person? I have no intention of going near your boyfriend- oops, your ex- though I couldn't say the same about him."

"What the hells? Tell me what you mean!"

"Um, I'm late for dance, so bye." Alya, who had no intention of revealing anything, grabbed her bag and wrenched her arm out of the furious Eldorne's reach.

Adalia moved to block the door and the girl sighed inwardly. Could she be having a weirder day? "You're not getting out till you answer."

Seriously?

"Pity. I thought you had more brains than that." Heading in the opposite direction, Alya pushed open the one-storey window and slipped out, closing the panel behind her as her sneakers landed on the soft grass with a squeak. She gave an infuriating wave and a smile, before heading in the direction of the school exit. She could hear fierce calls coming from the classroom, but her only response was a shake of her head.

"Sayonara, sucker."

Five hours later, Alya was grumpy, sticky and exhausted. Her car had broken down halfway to dance, she'd somehow managed to forfeit her solo by volunteering to take the minis (curse the instructor) and now she was dripping in the rain, disgusting and taking the bus- something she'd never done before, plus the fact that she was literally soaked in her thin sweater and jeans and the dance clothes she'd been wearing. What had she been thinking when she'd volunteered? Life just got worse and worse. Her parents couldn't come pick her because of something at work, so here she was, with so much homework, the Runnerspring problem still not solved and the fact that she was dealing with a whole lot of kids to prepare within two days for Inter-State.

"Yo, Alya! Need a ride?" Someone's voice drifted in from the rain.

What the heck? She looked up from her phone to see Jon and Lianokami Conte waving from a blue BMW in the middle of the rain.

"Um, it's fine, I'll take the bus." She wanted nothing to do with Conte now.

"Please, Miss Khan? I need help with the corrections you gave me." That was Lianokami, almost falling out of the car window.

Alya sighed. While taking a lift with the Contes wasn't the best option, she also didn't want the girl to miss out on the corrections for her solo- if that meant they got a better chance of getting to Nationals.

"Fine. It's Alya. But only because you said so." Trying to adopt a grateful expression, she slid into the backseat of Jon Conte's car silently as it drove up to where she sat. She bet that now, since most of the student population now knew that Conte was single, most girls would kill to be in her place. Again.

"Now, what did you need help with Liano?"

The small girl ignored the question and turned to Jon instead. "Jon, can we go to Starbucks?"

Shit. Was Alyana Khan being kidnapped by an eleven-year-old?

Alya couldn't keep the smirk off her face as she watched Lianokami bounce through Starbucks, trying to decide between a chocolate-chip frappuccino and a lemon-lime tea thing. Obviously, the answer was the frappe.

"No caffeine for you, Liano," she told the girl sternly. "You have a comp on Sunday, and you need all the rest you can get."

Lianokami stuck out her tongue at the older girl, but ordered the frappe instead. Alya felt Jon's gaze on her.

"God, if I had half that power, I'd sure be able to control her," he commented dryly.

"Geez, sure. Try being a dance teacher."

Ignoring her last comment, Jonathan continued. "You getting anything?"

"Yeah." Alya tugged her wallet out of her duffle bag, making her way up to the counter. "One hot chocolate please, no whipped cream." The waitress was too busy gaping at Jon Conte's sudden apparition.

"Um, excuse me?"

"I'll pay for it." The waitress was practically purring as Jon made his way over to Alya. Literally the entire country knew who Conte was, apparently.

"It's fine, I can pay."

"I'm paying anyway."

"You're the one giving me a ride."

"Still?" She realised that while they'd been talking, he'd somehow managed to pay and thank the blonde girl at the counter who was now twirling her hair like mad and making weird faces (at least it looked like it to Alya).

"Gods, I hate spoiled bastards," she muttered under her breath.

"You're welcome." He handed the hot chocolate to her and flashed that stupid winning smile with that annoying dimple in his cheek.

Lianokami was jumping around with joy (and probably thanks to the sugar high) by then, which was enough to distract them both.

"Thanks for the ride, Conte. Night." Alya was about to get out of the car- a relief since Lianokami had been dropped off by Jon earlier and the awkwardness between them was just… creepy- when Jon stopped her.

"Hold up."

"What?"

"Uh. I don't know how to phrase this but uh…"

"Um, just tell me. I have to go soon."

"I'm sorry."

Dude, you're telling me sorry, now? Really? That's the best that you can do?

That encounter had sparked foreign emotions that confused her, surging like a rolling wave and freaking her out like hell. Alya didn't do emotions that much, more like inner monologues.

"What for?" she said slowly.

"You know what I mean."

"Jonathan Conte, I can't forgive you for that. You had a girlfriend."

"In past tense."

"You're still with her."

"We broke up." I knew that, dumbass.

"So…? It wasn't fair to her." It wasn't fair to me either.

"Look, Alya. I'm just saying sorry." That's the best you can do? I mean, then again, what was I expecting?

"What do you want me to do? Tell you that it's okay and stuff? Conte, if you've just been so… nice-" she winced. "To me because of the incident, then I don't want your charity. Just… let me be, okay. I have a lot of things on my mind right now, and that's the least of my worries."

He had a perturbed frown on his face and somehow confusion just looked so… good… on him.

Urgh, get a freakin grip on yourself, Alyana Khan!

Then a hard look smoothed over his face, similar to the mask she always wore. "Fine. If that's the way you want it, we'll leave it at that. No questions asked."

"Thanks for the ride."

"Yeah, no problem. Night."

"Good night."

What was all that about?

Alya didn't look back as she moved down the driveway to her house.

Damn Conte. Always and forever so annoying.

The living room was occupied when Alya made it back- her mother, father and her father's associate Ren were sitting at the dining table, laughing and talking, and from the looks of the glasses on the table plus the champagne bottle- they'd been drinking.

"Mom? Dad?"

"Oh, hi, honey! We didn't hear you come in." Alya's mom came over to give her a hug- she smelled comforting like always- warm, rosewater-ish and just… well… like home.

"Good evening, Alya." That was her father, formal and strict like always, still dressed in his work clothes.

"Oh, hey dad. Um, are you guys coming for my comp on Sunday after church? I'm in the group dance.``

"I'm sorry, Alya. I have a business meeting that day. Maybe your mother and siblings can come?" Her father had taken on a patronizing tone, and his associate (Alya didn't like him at all) gave a condescending smirk. Alya briefly considered insulting his weird beard (it was more like a dead mouse on his upper lip) but decided he was beneath her.

"Dad, you promised me at the last comp that you'd come with Mom and Haran and Kara."

"I'm sorry, Alya. I told you, I can't make it. One day, you'll understand what it means to be head of Khan Companies and Co."

"One day, dad. Am I supposed to wait for that day to come, or are you just going to keep breaking your promises?" Her voice had taken on a threatening edge.

"Alyana Khan. Watch what you say. I will not tolerate you talking back to me in my own home." Her father's voice was moderated, but almost sinister, like a viper ready to strike. Ren's face broke out into a stupid, fucking stupid grin.

The dance bag fell from her hands. God, Alya could almost reach out and punch that goddamn grin off his face… that is, until her mother's voice infiltrated the edges of her fury.

"Alya. We'll talk about this tomorrow, alright? Go have a good night's sleep, and you'll figure everything out. Tomorrow, okay? Also, we heard your car broke down and is in the workshop. Who drove you home?"

So many questions. Alya sighed again for what seemed like the hundredth time today. "Jon Conte."

Her mother blinked, clearly surprised. "Oh. He's the son of Roald and Shinkokami Conte, am I right?"

"Yes. Now if you'll excuse me." Alya picked up her duffel and headed up the stairs. Why were parents so infuriating? Some parents, at least.

Particularly parents who couldn't keep their promises.

The light in Kara's room was still on when Alya knocked on her sister's bedroom door. She badly needed someone to talk to, and also to find a solution to the Runnerspring problem, which she hadn't solved.

"Identify yourself." The door swung open by an inch.

"It's me, Alya. Can we talk?" Alya gave the door a nudge

The door refused to move. "Only if you let me do your makeup."

"Kara, it's ten at night."

"Fine, tomorrow then. Please?"

"Fine. Now can I come in?"

"Suit yourself." The door opened wide enough for Alya to slip in and come face to face with her little sister whose face was, apparently not that of an alien, but covered by an exfoliating face mask. Alya picked the mask packet off the floor.

"Exfoliators. Kara, isn't this Mama's?"

Her little sister looked sheepish, or so Alya thought. You could barely see any of those features under that mask. "Maybe. Anyway, what did you come to talk about?"

Alya took in her little sister's room, filled with sparkles and glitter and rainbow stuff to the brim, a stark contrast to her own black-and-white. Runnerspring, according to his sister Larra, hated pink and pretty much every other girl-like colour. Oh, and he hated unicorns too. Her gaze fell upon a box of miniature unicorns that were labelled 'slime materials' in Kara's ridiculously messy handwriting.

Slime. Rainbows. Unicorns.

"You've got the psycho smile on again," Kara told her nervously. "Uh, what's up?"

The aforesaid grin spread even wider on Alya's face. Oh, Runnerspring was going to hate her so much for this. Well, it'd teach him not to mess with her, that Alyana Khan of Jindazhen was not a force to be trifled with.

"Remember last month when we played the game and you owed me a favour?"

"Don't remind me," Kara grumbled. "The memory is humiliating in itself."

"Well, I need you to make me a huge bucket of rainbow slime. With the unicorns and stuff. All glittery and shiny. Big enough to fit at least ten notebooks."

"Uh, that's going to cost a lot."

"I'll take you out to McDonalds tomorrow night after dance."

"Deal, done and dusted. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show."

Less than half an hour later, Alya went to sleep exhausted but satisfied.

She also happened to have a tiny unicorn attached to her hair by a drop of rainbow coloured slime.