Hillary doubted anyone her age had experienced a sharper fall in popularity than she had. Last week, she was the talk of the school, having won both the Amity Club Presidency and Bellona House's Prefect title back-to-back in her first year, and now... She could hear the uneasy murmurs that followed her everywhere she went.

Her friends tried to cheer her up. One or the other person stayed by her side all the time, but it only seemed to make matters worse for them.

Andrew was sidelined on his baseball team for a match, despite being one of the best players they had. Luke's poem, which was supposed to be in the school magazine that month, was pushed back by three months.

They tried brushing these setbacks away, giving her a hundred excuses about where they went wrong, but Hillary knew it was her own fault. She had approved the letters to be sent to a lot of people in the basketball and media teams, among others. Now they were finding subtle ways to undermine her.

Hillary herself had gotten one of the least favored responsibilities of a prefect—opening the school in the morning and locking it up after everyone left.

She had to arrive at least half an hour before eight to unlock all the rooms. Hillary now had to come to school directly from her swim practice as she didn't have time to go back home. So, she waited until everyone left the locker rooms and groomed herself as best as she could in the tiny mirror there.

School ended at four-fifteen. She had to make sure no one was loitering after four-thirty on school grounds, except the select few students who were allowed to use the school facilities after school hours. After that, she had to lock all the rooms before leaving. This meant that the time she had between school and evening swim practice, which she usually used to complete all her schoolwork, was now non-existent.

She could only start her work after she got home, which was usually after eight. This meant she stayed up past midnight almost every night now.

But what she hated the most was that her friends were not being spared from her battles either.

*****

It was early Thursday morning. She had AP Chemistry and was barely able to keep her eyes open. Her teacher droning on about the same concept wasn't helping matters. Kai rapped on her knuckles every time she nodded off, waking her up twice. After that, she stayed awake for the rest of the class out of sheer embarrassment. Their teacher assigned each lab team a project at the end of the class. She was supposed to make a detailed project on any topic of their choice with Kai.

"We'll have to meet after school for this if we wish to submit it by next Tuesday," Kai said, glaring at the project topic he'd written down in his book. Hillary was glad that Kai had dropped the matter of her nodding off. She was also quite surprised to see Kai hating schoolwork, especially since he was so good at every subject he'd taken. It was usually Tyson's response.

Kai must have seen it on her face. "What? You can't honestly enjoy doing this. We're hardly going to learn anything from writing everything in different colored pens. It's obviously a waste of time!" he said.

Honestly speaking, Hillary loved doing projects. To her, it was a chance to showcase her creativity and drawing prowess, no matter what the subject matter was.

But Hillary wasn't happy with the additional workload either. She was barely holding it all together as it was. So she nodded. "Yeah, an utter waste of time," she agreed.

"We'll have to meet after school today to discuss who'll do what. We'll also have to buy the supplies this project will need," he said, packing up his bag.

"Uh... No. I'll not be able to meet up after school today," Hillary started.

"Tomorrow then," he replied immediately.

"Not tomorrow either," Hillary replied, wincing slightly. She didn't want him to think that she wasn't interested in doing her share of the work, so she quickly elaborated. "I've been assigned to lock the school in the evening. And soon after that, I have to rush to my swim practice," she explained, fidgeting.

Kai raised an eyebrow at her. "That sounds... exhausting," he said. Hillary didn't know what to say.

"How come you got this job? Let me guess, they got one of your letters?" he asked, smirking.

"How come Ray doesn't know about this?" he asked, his eyebrows slightly pinching together. Hillary shrugged. "He's one of the captains. I think they just assigned their respective vice-captains to distribute these chores as they saw fit."

"And you didn't protest?" He raised an eyebrow questioningly at her. Hillary looked away, not liking where this conversation was going. "I have to go now," she said, getting up abruptly. She left before Kai could say anything else.

Hillary had just started locking up when Kai joined her, walking in sync with her. "What are you doing here?" she asked, surprised.

"I'm going to walk with you as you lock all the rooms. That way we can discuss topics to choose from and you won't be late for your class."

Hillary stared at him for a moment, taken aback by the considerate gesture. "That's very thoughtful of you. But won't you be missing training?" she asked, looking back at the stadium uncertainly.

"Not much. I put Ray in charge. They'll manage," he shrugged.

Hillary nodded, trying hard not to smile. Both of them knew Ray was just as bad as Kai, if not worse. He may be a bit more forgiving in terms of physical exertion, but he was sure to make Max and Tyson go mad by forcing the two hyperactive boys to meditate. "So, shall we?" she asked, motioning ahead. He nodded.

For whatever it's worth, Kai was a good listener. She had been worried that he might tune her out after some time, but that was not the case.

He kept up with her word-for-word. She was a bit self-conscious when she started pitching out ideas at first, but she got into a flow after a few minutes.

He did add a few things here and there, but mostly he let her talk. By the time she'd locked all the rooms, they had a solid base to build their project on. They had decided to make a project on Acids and Bases in the end, under which they planned on doing two more sub-projects. It was a good start.

"Thank you for walking with me up to here. It was a productive conversation," she said before hesitating.

Kai raised an eyebrow. "And?" he prompted, waiting expectantly. She didn't muster up the courage to tell him that she hadn't been expecting him to be this easy to work with. "Nothing," she shook her head.

Kai didn't press. Instead, he looked like he had something to tell her too, but he talked himself out of it. He just did his signature two-finger salute/goodbye and left.

*****

It was Friday afternoon. Kai was at their usual table having lunch. Mariah, who'd joined them that day, told Max and Tyson something that made the two boys laugh. Ray just looked annoyed at the three of them, most likely bearing the brunt of whatever joke she had just shared.

He sat a bit away from them, with Cassie at his side. She was being unusually quiet that day. "I have something for you," he told her, nudging her side.

She raised her brows at this, but he certainly captured her interest. Kai slipped a bracelet out of his pocket and showed it to her.

It was a customized golden bracelet with the word 'Radiant' written on it, pale blue and green stones alternating throughout its length. Cassie stared at the bracelet, at a loss for words.

Since she didn't actually say anything, Kai slowly took her left hand in his and clasped it on her wrist. "It's not much, but when I saw this bracelet, I knew it would suit you best. The word reminded me of you," he said quietly. "And the stones, they are your colors. Sea-green, sky blue... They're your favorites, aren't they? Your swimming costumes were those colors when you won your nationals both times. They are your signature colors even now."

Cassie was slightly overwhelmed that he'd paid such close attention to her life and achievements. Against a world-famous game like Beyblading, it was obvious that sports like diving and swimming didn't get much recognition.

"Kai... I don't know what to say," she uttered at last.

"You could start by saying it's beautiful," he teased." It's beautiful," she breathed out, missing the sarcasm. Kai smirked, his dry humor kicking in. "Good. At least now I know you have decent taste." Cassie narrowed her eyes playfully. "Decent taste? You were the one who picked it out, remember?" "Exactly," he replied, "I just needed confirmation that you have good judgment, too."

She let out a laugh and elbowed him lightly. "You're impossible, Kai." "Careful, Cassie. You might bruise my ego now," he warned playfully.

Cassie shook her head. "Delicate ego, my foot. If anything, your ego's made of steel."Kai raised an eyebrow. "Steel? I thought it was diamonds." "Oh, please," she said, rolling her eyes. "Now you're just fishing for compliments."

He leaned back, a faint smirk still on his lips. "Can you blame me? I like seeing you smile."Cassie felt her cheeks warm, but she couldn't help but grin. "You're such a dork, Kai."

"And yet, you still tolerate me," Kai replied smoothly, leaning closer. Cassie narrowed her eyes at him, but the faint blush on her cheeks betrayed her. She was about to kiss him, privacy be damned, when Max interrupted them excitedly.

"What's this? Kai being thoughtful, sweet, and romantic? Never thought I'd live to see the day!" he said, making everyone at the table grin.

"You shouldn't have interrupted them. The conversation was just getting interesting!" Mariah admonished Max.

Kai simply rolled his eyes. This had been the primary reason why he'd planned to give it to her when they were alone; he forgot he shared a table with idiots. "Don't you both have anything better to do?" he asked dryly.

"Not really," they answered in chorus, grinning, no shame at all. Max had the audacity to take a large bite of his sandwich and motioned for them to continue, as though he was watching a movie. He was so going to regret it later.

Cassie chuckled softly, jingling the bracelet on her wrist and admiring it. "Thank you, Kai," she concluded, flashing him a big smile.

Kai simply nodded, still annoyed with his teammates as he turned his attention to his food.

Meanwhile, Mariah leaned closer to Tyson and whispered something that caused him to choke on his drink. Ray looked up again with a mixture of curiosity and irritation.

"What now?" Ray asked, his voice tinged with exasperation.

Mariah smiled coyly. "Oh, nothing for you to worry about, dear."

Ray groaned, running a hand through his hair. "You know what Mariah, you're not gonna sit with us from now on. I don't think I have it in me to handle all three of your nonsense together." he admitted, making the three of them giggle even more. Mariah also stuck out her tongue, her response very clear.

Cassie discreetly glanced at Kai, who was now quietly observing the rest of them with a small, almost imperceptible smile. She wondered what had prompted him to give her the bracelet. It wasn't his usual style to make such gestures, and yet, there it was—a thoughtful gift that spoke volumes, even if he wouldn't admit it outright.

As the conversation shifted to another topic, Cassie smiled to herself, deciding she was okay with Kai's way of showing he cared—even if it came with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

*****

It was only yesterday when Laura decided to join Cassie on her way back home from their swim practice. Cassie resisted the urge to roll her eyes as Laura spouted some half-baked apology about how she'd been a terrible friend and how she hadn't meant to alienate her from her own friends. Cassie frowned but let it slide.

She didn't bring up Kai at all during the evening, nor did Laura. It lay between them like an elephant in the room, but Cassie wasn't complaining. She was alright with whatever kind of truce Laura had come up with, given that they still had to do their Chemistry project together.

They had a good time browsing the internet and finding the best topics for their project. Maybe they were being entirely too formal with one another whenever they were discussing things, but Cassie didn't mind. They got a significantly larger portion of the work done than they would have normally, since they weren't unnecessarily talking to each other much.

It was Friday evening now. They finally started their project. The two of them were sitting on Cassie's bed, facing each other. Laura was cutting out some pictures while she wrote their project introduction. Cassie always ended up with the writing part of projects since her handwriting was much better than Laura's.

Cassie put her glitter pen down after some time, stretching her fingers. Her fingers had gotten slightly cramped from all the continuous writing.

She looked up to find Laura curiously staring at her left hand. At her new bracelet. Cassie flushed slightly but didn't break eye contact when Laura spoke up.

"That's a lovely little bracelet. Where did you get it?" Laura asked cheerfully, trying to make small talk.

Cassie hesitated for a moment, then decided there was no harm in sharing. "Kai gave it to me," she said, glancing at the bracelet with a small smile.

Laura's eyes widened slightly, but she quickly masked her surprise with a neutral expression. "Kai, huh? That's... unexpected," she remarked, her tone light but with an underlying edge. This was the first time they were speaking about Kai.

Cassie nodded, unsure how to interpret Laura's reaction. "Yeah, it was a nice surprise," she admitted, brushing her fingers over the colorful stones.

Laura set down her scissors and leaned back, crossing her arms. "You know, Cassie, I'm not mad or anything," she began, her voice calm but measured. "Kai and I were just a fling. It wasn't serious. I realized that pretty quickly."

Cassie raised an eyebrow, sensing a slight tension in Laura's words despite her attempt to sound indifferent. "I wasn't sure if you were upset about it," Cassie admitted cautiously. "I didn't want there to be any misunderstandings between us. You guys had broken up before the weekend. I just went to the stadium searching for you because I heard some other rumors. What happened that day was a surprise for me too. We just sort of clicked," she explained herself.

Laura waved a hand dismissively. "Nah, I'm over it. It was never about him, really. I just got caught up in the moment, being the person played for the first time, but now I realize it. I never should have doubted you," she said, though her voice wavered slightly when she mentioned Kai's name.

Cassie studied her friend for a moment, recognizing the mixed emotions beneath Laura's composed exterior. But she didn't call her out on it. She'd never seen Laura grow vulnerable over a boy before. Kai seemed to have that effect on people. She wondered whether Kai would do that to her too someday, before dismissing the thought. Stop being silly. He just got you a present and you're wondering about him cheating on you? she chided her intrusive thoughts.

"I'm glad we're talking about this, " Cassie said softly instead. " I value our friendship, and I don't want anything to come between us ."

Laura smiled tentatively. "Same here, Cassie. It's good to clear the air," she agreed. She then gestured to Cassie's bracelet. "Besides, it suits you."

Cassie blushed lightly but smiled. "Yeah, I guess so," she murmured, still not entirely sure how to feel about Laura's sudden thoughtfulness .

They returned to their project after that, the atmosphere much lighter and more relaxed. But things were far from okay. Betrayals like turning the friends you introduced to your best friend against you and getting into a relationship with your best friend's recent ex, within days of them breaking up, were not things that mended overnight. But by the end of the night, they had made significant progress in both their relationship and their project, their conversations now flowing a bit more easily .

As they were wrapping up, Laura glanced at Cassie's bracelet again, then at her. She smiled tentatively, not sure what to say. Cassie smiled back tentatively, not sure what to say either. But despite the complications and misunderstandings, they were making progress. And Cassie was glad for that .

*****

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*****

A/N: Happy new year guy! How has the new year been treating you so far?

Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. I know a lot of you guys love to hear from the blade breakers and Hillary mostly, but trust me, these scenes are important to the story. So, sit back and enjoy. Tell me why you think these are important.

 There's a slight chance of me not updating until 29th this month, I will jave my college lab exams and finals during that time, so sorry in advance...

And lastly, keep voting amd commenting guys! It's a wonderful morale boost!

Happy reading!