A teenage girl lies in a meadow, breathing fresh air. With her eyes closed, she listens to the birds singing, which she finds pleasant and somehow relaxing. She loves this state. She loves desolate places where she can breathe away from people and be able to relax in silence, forgetting about city life. Although many people say she is a typical New York girl who loves a comfortable life and money, they don't really know her at all. There is only one person who knows what she likes and what she hates.
— Hannah? — She lifts an eyelid and, with a smile on her face, glances at the boy, who lies down next to her on the blanket. — I'm sorry you had to wait so long, but I was explaining to my father.
— Unnecessarily. He's already starting to suspect us anyway — she says, lifting her hand up to protect her eyes from the glaring sunlight. — I heard them arguing about it. They know we have feelings in common.
The boy looks shocked by her answer. He leans on his elbow and looks carefully at his girlfriend.
— And you didn't mention anything to me about this before?
The teenager rises to a sitting position and puts her hand to Jin's face, stroking his cheek with her thumb.
— We are too young to think about true love. Probably this feeling will expire soon, and then we can be ordinary siblings — he asserts, smiling cheerfully. — Don't you think it's funny?
Jin is devastated by the words that come so easily out of her mouth.
— Are you amused by this situation? Me at all. I wouldn't be able to live under the same roof with you with the idea that we are siblings. — He wants to get up from the blanket, but the girl does not allow him to do so, as she sits down with her back to him and rests her head on his chest. — Hannah. — He admonishes her as she puts her hand on his knee and starts playing with the material of his pants. In this way, she wants to alleviate the situation.
— Jin, you know I love you, right? — The boy lifts his face and looks up at the sky, trying to calm the anger rising in him. — Therefore, let's enjoy this moment. Let's spend a lot of time with each other and not think about the future. We are young and there is no telling how long this feeling will last. Perhaps in a year or two months, each of us will fall in love with someone else, and our parents will be able to lead a happy life.
The boy can't stand it. He gets up from the blanket and, disregarding Hannah, directs his steps towards the car.
They had planned to spend a pleasant time just the two of them, and unfortunately nothing came of it. She ruined it.
Danielle lowers her shoulders and sighs deeply. She lifts her face and looks at the sky, which is beginning to cloud over. Somewhere in the distance it is thundering, but she has no intention of leaving. She is comfortable in the place where she is resting.
She opens her eyes and looks around the dark room. It is the middle of the night, and she is lying on her bed.
She feels that something is wrong.
All these flashes, as if they were from the past... are even starting to appear in her dreams. Hannah doesn't understand any of this. She is confused.
Is it possible that this room actually has something in it? Does it create images that never happened in her life?
It's strange that all this started just when Hannah moved into the boarding school. However, the most surprising thing is why she keeps seeing this older boy, namely Jin.
Does all that is going on in the room have something to do with him?
— Danielle. — The girl opens her eyes wider and looks around the dark interior with alert eyes, sensing someone's presence.
She hears a whisper that keeps repeating the name.
She rises from the bed and, stepping barefoot on the downy carpet, watches all the corners, as if she fears that in one of them she will see a school student playing a prank.
Hannah can't explain it any other way. She has never believed in ghosts, so there must be some other way to explain what is going on here.
She looks over her shoulder and puts her hand to her chest as a picture frame falls to the ground.
The glass shatters, so he takes the photograph in his hand. She turns on the lamp and freezes when she notices a woman's face in the photo and a girl standing beside her, smiling cheerfully at the lens.
She rubs her eyes and looks at the photo again, but this time it is completely normal.
The brunette squats on the bed and takes a deep breath. She tries to calm down, but is unable to relax because a loud bang disturbs her. Someone is banging on the door on purpose.
She runs out into the corridor and at the last moment manages to see a person disappear behind the wall.
She's not sure if it's a boy or a girl, as the silhouette flashed before her eyes too quickly, however, she's well aware that it's a student who's gathered for a prank.
— Multiple idiots — she says, taking one last look in that direction.
*
Mariah clenches her teeth when she feels someone grab her by the hair. She painfully pulls the girl's ponytail, forcing her to stop in place.
She turns to face Joseph and notices his perfidious smile.
He always does this. He stops her like this, as if he can't call her by name normally.
— Are you so jealous of my relationship with Jimmy that you spread a rumor at school? It's even inflammatory that you made us a pair of lovers — she mutters. — You're right. You were always the third one, and I had to eliminate you, so stop making buttery eyes at him because he won't come back to you. He knows how much I hate you, and even though he keeps talking about you, he won't dare to fix it. He's banned.
The 18-year-old laughs in his face. She can't fathom how one can be such an imbecile to manage the best buddy and give him bans that he must obey.
— I have long since begun to guess that you have something wrong with your head, but arranging a buddy's life? This is already sharply chopped.
Joseph tightens his lips and pushes Mariah against the wall. The girl hisses in pain and pokes furious eyes at him as he points a finger at her.
— I don't care which chicks Jimmy sleeps with. He can date anyone, as long as it's not you. I will never allow it.
— Well, let's see how much longer he plays with your doggie. What will you do when he tucks his tail and comes running to me, asking me to change his owner?
— Count your words. — He pierces her with a sharp eye.
Heading down the corridor, he smiles cynically as the students step aside, giving him the freedom to walk. Joseph loves it and finds it amusing to humiliate his peers. He wants to punish everyone for one of them vilely destroying a girl he once loved.
*
In class, Hannah is unconscious. She would have fallen asleep sitting up if not for a boy who accidentally kicked the chair she is sitting on.
She opens her eyes and half-consciously looks around the classroom. The teacher is leading the topic, paying no attention to the students. Most are scribbling notes and only Hannah can't concentrate, as the sleepless night is only now making its presence known to her.
She is massaging her forehead with her fingers when a woman enters the classroom and asks the teacher to talk.
The man reminds the students about appropriate behavior, then walks outside with her.
Conversations ring out in the classroom. Someone throws cards over Hannah's head, trying to hit a colleague. Everyone has company, and she is the only one sitting alone, as peers are afraid to speak to her.
She puts her head down on the bench and is almost falling asleep, but the boy once again kicks the chair she is sitting on. Indignant, she turns to face him and pierces him with her eyes.
— Do that again, and I'll kick you in the face — she threatens him, clutching a pen in her hand.
— Sometimes you should come to your senses. Through your thoughtlessness, you have already gained the worst enemy in school. Don't you regret it? — he speaks back to her, resting his chin on his hand. — No one from the younger classes wants to talk to you. They think you're crazy since you messed with the king of the school.
— The king of the school — the girl mocks, snorting under her breath. — I think he called himself that. More fitting for him is the dark prince, a complacent to the point of painful idiocy — she sums him up.
Hannah looks around the classroom and freezes when she notices that one of her classmates is recording her speech.
She rises from her chair and walks over to her bench, pointing her finger at the phone.
— Delete it.
— Why, are you afraid you'll die when I show it to the prince? — A teasing smile is painted on her face.
Hannah would certainly parry with laughter if it weren't for the fact that she is agitated by her friend's behavior.
She clenches her teeth and feels like snatching the phone out of her hand, but ultimately refrains from making a mistake. The girl would undoubtedly complain to her, and she doesn't need problems early in the school year.
She opens her eyes wider when the teenager uploads a video to the school's forum, which can be accessed by any student at the private Horace Mann facility.
She senses that trouble awaits her.
The girl closes her eyelids as the sounds of the notifications she received ring out in the classroom. Every student belongs to this forum, so Hannah has no hope that at least one person won't see it. Classmates whisper among themselves, and when she looks at the perpetrator of all the commotion, the latter just shrugs her shoulders, clearly pleased with her idea.
The teacher enters the classroom. Hannah returns to her bench, and the students immediately fall silent.
*
Walking down the main corridor, she feels unfriendly stares on her and hears peers discussing behind her back, thinking she is an idiot. No one can survive the fact that she slandered their deity.
She lifts her face and stops mid-step when she spots Joseph. Dressed in black clothes, he heads toward her with a stern face, while Jimmy, who is walking at his side, looks exultant about the coming trouble.
He is probably pleased that the girl is facing a tough fate.
He stands in front of her, watching her from under his long black fringe. His eyes are frigid and frighten Hannah, as he swallows his saliva harder out of nerves. He clenches his fists, nervously playing with his toes.
— The dark prince — Jimmy laughs, putting his hand to his mouth. Joseph glances at him out of the corner of his eye, yet ignores his glee. He focuses solely on the sixteen-year-old.
— You know... I was planning to give you a break until the first semester was over, but you're giving me a reason to be rude — he says, capturing a strand of her hair. — You can only blame yourself because I don't like the fact that you are trying to gain the sympathy of my friend. — At this point, he breaks off and pulls her hair behind her ear. — Additionally, you slander me behind my back.
Hannah pulls down her eyebrows, carefully watching his face.
— Wait, come back. — She extends her hand in front of her, analyzing his words. — Which friend are you talking about?
He grabs her wrist and pulls her in a strong way, smiling. The girl lifts her face and delves into him with a warning look.
When he sweeps his gaze across her face, he looks like a native lunatic.
— You know? I like the dark prince. I may be complacent, but.... — he interrupts, then whispers in her ear — I hate it when someone calls me an idiot. It's the only word I can't digest. — She feels a strange, silent shudder run through her scalp; it gathers around her neck and runs down her spine.
She blinks her eyelids as Joseph lets go of her hand.
— Was that a threat?
She doesn't answer. He looks above her head at the boy, who is heading toward them with a jaunty step.
Jin looks nervous.
— Joseph — he admonishes him as he stands next to the girl. Hannah glances to the side and opens her eyes wider, noticing the boy she dreamed about tonight.
She is confused.
— I didn't do anything to her. — He puts out his hands in a defensive gesture, and a faint smile appears on his face. — I keep my word.
Jimmy looks at Hannah, wondering what this girl has in her that is so unusual that Jin is so concerned about her safety. As soon as he found out that a friend hit her with a ball, he got mad and announced to him to stay away from her.
Jin is the only person towards whom the dark prince has unquestionable respect. He has reigned supreme since the beginning, but he never cared about publicity and when the students elected him president of the school, he resigned. Joseph took over his position as second in command, and even though he has a despicable character, everyone thinks he's perfect for the position.
— If you keep your word, why does she look scared? What did you tell her?
Brunet walks up to his friend and puts his hand on his shoulder.
— You know perfectly well that I respect you and listen to your every word, but when someone insults me behind my back... do you think I will allow it? — turns to him, surreptitiously glancing at the sixteen-year-old girl standing next to him. — I don't like the fact that you defend her like that. That's what she's counting on. She wants to gain your sympathy by trickery. Watch out for her. Those innocent eyes hide more than you might expect — he says, watching her reaction. Hannah looks confused. — These are the eyes of a person who hides many secrets.
As she walks past, the teenager feels a chill.
Jin stares at her suspiciously, as if assessing whether Joseph is really telling the truth, however, he doesn't truly judge her. He understands Hannah is hiding something, and no one needs to signal it to him.
The boy knows her and is convinced that something bad is going on, so he must discover it at all costs. He wants to know the truth.