When Thea was a little girl, everything seemed perfect. Until one day, everything collapsed around her.

When she was little, she saw her parents as the perfect adults; successful and loving people. She wanted to be like them: either a scientist like her mother or an agent like her father. But when she got into high school she learned that she hated everything that had any business with Chemistry, it made her cry more than boys did, so she decided the cop life was it.

Thea was always the best. She was the prettiest girl in her class, the smartest girl in her year, and she took as many AP classes as she could, never even getting a B, just straight A's. She put her whole heart and soul into everything she did, trying her absolute best to be the only thing she wanted to be: perfect. She even got the honors of telling the speech at her graduation, all of her teachers smiling from ear to ear at how proud they were of her. Everybody thought she was the perfect girl.

But her parents didn't view her as perfect. They saw her as an opportunity to fulfill their needs. That was her first heartbreak.

Her father at least tried to hide the fact that he wanted so much more out of her than a cop. Her mother, on the other hand... She wasn't happy about the fact she wasn't going to be a scientist like her.

Thea didn't have many friends despite being nice and warm to most people. She just didn't have the time to maintain a good friendship, all she had was a good relationship with most people. But that was enough for her for most of her life, until she got into college. There, she experienced how lonely she was in her entire life. It made her miserable. And while in high school everybody viewed her as the popular but cool girl, in college nobody viewed her more than a pretty face. And that caused her second heartbreak.

On one particularly bad week, she let her grades slip. She was still on top of her classes, she just wasn't perfect. And some of her professors commented on it.

"I noticed how you got a lower grade on your last assignment. Did something happen? Is there a problem in class?"

Then, she heard some of the girls talk in the row behind her.

"She's acting like a bitch because she isn't the best. Good thing that Kennedy took her crown away. What an entitled slut."

That was her third heartbreak. It broke her how other people hated her just because she wanted to be the best version of herself. She wanted to make her parents proud. And now everybody hated her.

At a college party, she got drunk for the first time. She had sex for the first time, too. With a boy that bragged about it the very next day, saying how easy she was. After that, she got catcalled more often and most of the boys just wanted to have their way with her. None of them viewed her more than a pretty face or a great body. None of them noticed how hard she tried to get on their level at the shooting range or with academics. So, she became better than all of them.

Then she met Leon Kennedy. The one who stole her title as 'the best student'. She wasn't on top of her class anymore, she got shoved off her pretty glass throne and he took her seat. He caused her mother to dislike her more because she wasn't the perfect daughter she needed to be. He ruined everything.

Leon Kennedy was her final heartbreak.

And Thea was dead set on making him regret his life. Nobody could steal her title and live. And that made Leon Kennedy her arch-nemesis.

Throughout their academics, she always tried to one-up him. He didn't even have to try that hard to be good at everything: it looked like he was just a natural at the field, something deeper pushing him to be the excellent cadet he was. But that didn't stop Thea from hating his guts, no. She wanted to get back her title, no matter what.

So, she decided to jam his handgun at the shooting range one day. He looked so stupid trying to figure out what went wrong. Then, he got a bigger and different gun they never worked with before, just for him to hit the target on the square each time. Thea felt like she could choke him right then and there.

Half a year later, when she heard him in the shower she took his clothes. There was nothing more embarrassing than having no option but to walk back to his room naked. She waited around the corner with two other girls, just chatting causally like she didn't fuck him over. That was until he emerged from the shower block with only his training pants hanging on his hips, his hair still wet, annoyance mixing with rage on his face. The girls next to her couldn't hide their hunger for him as he passed, his eyes catching Thea's. She thought she took everything. And that sentence was written all over her face. From that on, all of the very few women started having crushes on him. Like he wasn't annoying enough. Now she had to listen to his name being murmured like a prayer at every corner.

Then in their final year, the two of them got paired up for a project. The moment her name got mentioned in the same sentence as his, she felt like she wanted to gag. Die, even.

"Looks like you're stuck with me, Kennedy," Thea taunted, a scowl deepening her features as she looked at the boy exiting their class on her side. He sent her an unamused look, a muscle tensing in his jaw. He just wasn't good at hiding his feelings, and whenever Thea saw even a glimpse of annoyance, it made her day better.

"Just peachy," he forced a smile on his face, already stepping away from her and going down the opposite direction she had to go. Thank God. But then something hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Hey!" she called after him, but he didn't seem to hear her. Or he just didn't want to stop for her sake. Thea rolled her eyes as she jogged after him, cursing in her head. Damn his legs for being so long. "Wait up, Scotty!"

That finally did the trick. He whirled around, facing her, his blue eyes missing that boyish glint she usually saw in them. He was in a bad mood. Good. Her day always got worse whenever she had to see him.

"Don't call me that," he said, her smirk widening. She was so going to call him that. She liked to make fun of him in any way.

"Whatever, Scotty," she brushed him off, flicking her hair behind her shoulders. She looked around the hall, not wanting anybody to see them together. God, the rumors would actually make her want to jump off a cliff. It was bad enough that almost everyone compared them to each other, she didn't need rumors about something else. "But, we're paired up for this project, and it's very important to me. So, here's the deal: I do the whole thing on my own and you just fuck off. How's that sound?"

His eyebrows furrowed at her, his body now turning fully to face her.

"No. Why would I do that?" he asked, confusion making his voice an octave higher. She had to hold back the urge to roll her eyes at his stubbornness, mostly at his stupidness.

"I just offered to do your part, too, and you're complaining?" The need to scream was growing with each second. "I don't want a bad grade because you fuck it all up. So, just let me have this."

"It's a duo project for a reason, Eden."

And there it was. Her middle name she hated so much, coming out of his mouth like venom, seeping into her pores. Her fist clenched at her side, an empty smile forcing itself on her face.

"And what if you mess it up?" he asked, stepping closer to her. She took two steps back, her gaze wandering around the hall. There was one girl a few feet down from them, her attention fully on her phone. Hopefully, she won't see or hear them. "It's important for me, too. We can sit down and talk through what part is yours and what's mine, and-"

"God, no," she frowned, cutting him off. "I'm not willing to waste my free time on you. I have places to be."

That was a blatant lie, she had no place to be. She wasn't really a busy person, but she would do anything to not have to sit by his side. This was the most they spoke in the past few years, time flying by with the two just hating each other in silence. And Thea screwed him over once or twice. Or maybe every month, who counts?

"Fine," he threw his hands in the air, having enough of her antics. "You do half, I do half. Good?"

"No," she said bluntly, her green eyes staring back at his icy ones. She wasn't a person to back down from anything. She was too stubborn for her own good and she always got what she wanted in the end. Leon Kennedy won't the person to break that. He let out an exaggerated sigh, his hand running through his dark blond hair.

"Look, it's a pleasure to chat with you, but I really have to go," his sarcasm and easiness cut into her skin like a knife, her left eye twitching ever so slightly. It only twitched when she was at the end of her patience, and whenever he was in the picture, her patience just became non-existent.

"I'm not done yet!" she fumed at him, a small smile playing at his lips as he turned around.

"Oh, I am."

She wanted to throw her water bottle at the back of his head, her jaw hurting from how hard she clenched it. Deciding that she was better off herself, she stormed to the library to get books for her project. She did her research rather quickly, she always loved to read.

Their topic was DNA Definition and Its Use by the US Police. She felt like it was close to home since her mother was one of the best scientists out there, and she didn't force her daughter to learn about genetics and all that for nothing. The only problem was that her previous interaction with Kennedy messed her brain up so much, the rage didn't let her do her job. She was so frustrated at everything, especially that stupid ass boy who always seemed to be better than her. She needed to blow some steam off.

So, she went clubbing with two other girls. They weren't particularly friends with each other, but they got along fine. A few drinks in and she was already dancing the night away, men brushing against her and wanting to get her a drink. There were a few of them that danced with her, pressed their bodies against hers. She even made out with a guy, only to see his eyes were the same shade of blue as Kennedy's. That ruined her night.

When she stumbled back to her room it was already two in the morning. The dorm she lived at was not very strict with their night-out policy, the woman at the front desk didn't give a shit when they got back. The freedom was liberating after her strict childhood when her every move and future plan were planned out for her.

When Thea stepped into her room, her feet almost slipped at something on the floor. Flipping the light switch on, she had to squint her eyes at the harsh light and leaned down to look at whatever almost caused her death. It was a piece of paper.

No, numerous pages of papers. All pages written with a slightly messy handwriting, but it was still perfectly eligible. It probably got shoved through the gap under her door.

She flipped through the pages, seeing that it was about the topic she just got books to research. Her eyebrows furrowed at this. Who the fuck would...? Wait a minute.

Frantically she flipped back to the first page, seeing a little post-it note plastered at the top. How did she miss that? It said in the same handwriting like all the eight pages of work did:

I did my part of the essay, just as I promised. It's almost done, do whatever you want with it.

LK

Her heart started beating erratically. Not only he knew where she lived, but he also was a fucking nerd and did the essay in one night despite her saying she will do it. Of course, he would do that, to just prove to her that he was better than her in this, too.

Fuming, she threw herself down on her bed, still in her night-out dress and her mind still fuzzy from all the drinks she had, and began reading the first page. She said to herself that she would only read the first page, but she just couldn't stop herself from reading the whole thing.

It was good. For fucks sake, he did a great job. She was so fucking angry she felt like she could tear this whole building down, but the alcohol and exhaustion caught up with her. She fell asleep next to the essay her arch-nemesis took the time to write while she was out getting drunk.

The next morning she finished the essay, only having to add a few more pages and correct his punctuation here and there. When she submitted it with both of their names written on top, right next to each other, she wanted to throw up. From both anxiety and the fact that she needed help. His help. She couldn't let that happen again.

They got a 100% on that essay.

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i'm so happy to finally post this story you won't even believe

i've been working on this for a while now and i was so excited to introduce you guys to this story! i don't know yet how the updates will come, maybe once a week, idk

don't forget to vote and comment, i'd love to hear your thoughts so far!