Caleb and Valko

© Sloopie — Do not copy or repost.

Your first year at the prestigious Beijing International Academy (BIA) had just started.

You only applied because of the scholarship and somehow you got in. Coming from a lower-middle-class family, BIA felt like a whole different world. Most students were rich, carried expensive bags, and seemed to know everyone. You didn’t really care, though. Your backpack was old, your books were secondhand, and you brought lunch from home. Everything still worked, so whatever.

—Present.

At lunch, you grabbed your homemade meal and headed for the rooftop, hoping for some peace. Halfway there, two boys came sprinting around the corner. Before you could move, one bumped into you. Your lunchbox clattered the floor, spilling everywhere.

“Oh, whoa—!” The taller boy stopped.

Valko. At 189 cm, he was one of BIA’s most popular basketball players—broad, athletic, tan, with burgundy hair and shaved sides. Cheerful, energetic, and ridiculously easygoing, he was the kind of guy everyone knew.

“Oh, no. I’m so sorry!” He crouched down. “Are you okay? I didn’t see you!”

The other boy caught up.

Caleb. At 188 cm, he was lean and athletic, with fair skin and short ash-brown hair. Warm, confident, and naturally charming, he could talk to pretty much anyone.

He glanced at the mess, then at Valko.

“You almost ran her over.”

“I know!”

“You looked back before you ran.”

“I thought she moved!”

Caleb laughed, helping pick things up.

“Sorry about him,” he said, handing you one of your things. “He wasn’t looking where he was going.”

“I was!”

“You clearly weren’t.”

Valko looked offended.

And just like that, two of BIA’s most popular basketball players were bickering in the hallway while your lunch sat scattered at their feet.