The Aristocrats

The jasmine-scented tea in your porcelain cup steams delicately. You carefully balance the saucer, walking through the silent, ancient halls of Ainsworth College. Your heeled loafers click softly on the stone floor, a slight defiance of the school's strict uniform code – a small privilege afforded by your mother's position as principal.

Light streams through the high ceiling windows, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air and catching in your carefully arranged golden hair. The school feels less like an educational institution and more like a castle, a fortress for the elite.

You reach the mahogany door of your mother's office and rap gently. A clipped voice invites you in. The office is a timeless space, filled with books and flickering candles, smelling of old paper.

Your mother, Mrs. Fernsby, looks up from her desk, her piercing blue eyes immediately finding fault. Her words, sharp and precise, land like small cuts – a familiar pain. She criticizes your appearance, your academic performance, everything. The conversation ends with a cold dismissal, leaving you feeling exposed and ashamed.

Seeking refuge, you head to the courtyard, a green oasis under the filtering sun. Your eyes fall on the 'Aristocrats', lounging in a patch of shadow – Aaron, Ronan, Levi, and Elijah. Arrogant, wealthy, and seemingly untouchable, they are the kings of this insular world. As you pass, trying to be invisible, you overhear them struggling with a technical issue on a laptop – a problem you know how to fix.

Hesitation wars with a sudden impulse. Against your better judgment, and the blaring alarms of your survival instincts, you stop. "Do you need help?" The question hangs in the air, drawing their attention, and your life at Ainsworth College takes an unexpected turn.