Solar should be remorseful, yet she has no feelings about the situation. She has a boyfriend outside the school, and in Horace Mann she starts dating a popular student. Currently, it would be good for her to give up on Johnny, but she is unable to do so.
He has supported her from the beginning. He was her friend when others oppressed her. He is behind her, accepts her as she is, doesn't want her to change anything about herself. He likes her to be modest and gentle.
So why can't she have those wonderful chills in his presence, and it only happens when Jin is next to her?
With sadness in her eyes, she looks at a message from Johnny, who wants to meet her in the afternoon. She can't refuse him. She doesn't mean to make him uncomfortable, so she agrees to his proposal.
If he one day finds out about Jin.... hard. At most, he will suffer because of it.
Walking down the corridor, she feels the gazes of the students on her. She can clearly hear jealous girls gossiping about her. She even concludes that she used black magic to make Jin fall in love with her because it's impossible that he could look at her, being in a relationship with such a beautiful girl.
— She looks like a witch, so maybe she is playing with black magic.
— Apparently, there used to be a mental hospital in this place. Black magic can be powerful here, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if this freak was practicing it.
The 17-year-old rolls her eyes, thinking these girls are pathetic. She disregards their silly conversation and, turning into the corridor next door, falls right into Jin's arms. She lifts her face, feeling her heart begin to beat harder.
He doesn't speak to her, just smiles and presses a piece of paper into her hand. Solar looks back at him as he walks away, then reads the message he left her.
"Tomorrow I'll take you to a place I'm sure you'll like."
Is this their first date?
She puts the card to her heart and smiles happily. This is all heading in the right direction.
That's what she thinks.
*
The next day, Solar waits outside the school gate, looking out for Jin.
A happy smile appears on her face when she finally spots him heading toward her. He is wearing a long gray coat that is unbuttoned despite the low temperature, and a black scarf.
He looks great.
His cool expression, makes her realize that today he is not in the mood. She is used to it. For some time, his mood has been changing dramatically. Now he is killing with his eyes, and in a moment he will be friendly.
— Where do you want to take me? — asks the girl shyly, as he continues to keep a distance between them. It's difficult to get close to him, yet with small steps, she is gaining courage and talking to him more and more.
— To a place where you can rest from fake people — he replies.
He grabs her hand, which causes a blush on her face. He leads her along the sidewalk, remaining silent for a long time.
She starts a conversation to kill the awkwardness that arises between them with each, subsequent minute.
— Am I the only one who thinks Horace Mann looks beautiful only from the outside?
He looks at her, and his lips twist in a slight smile.
— Inside, a nightmare will play out until the students change a few things. — He pulls a small bottle of water from his coat pocket and takes a sip. He looks as if he needs it with him. — You're right. Horace Mann looks beautiful only from the outside.
— What do you mean by a few things?
The 16-year-old puts the bottle back in his coat pocket, then answers:
— This is a place made for devils, that's why not everyone fits there. Lana is the devil, for the students she is the queen. People like you, people with the character of angels, suffer there. — He stops in place and looks into her eyes, and the girl's heart begins to beat harder with excitement. — You are good and therefore too fragile to fight it, so every new day is a torment for you.
That's precisely how she feels, although she doesn't say it out loud.
— Lana is the main problem, if she disappears, Horace Mann could become entirely different.
— This school may change, but that too is not one hundred percent certain. — Solar wrinkles his eyebrows, not understanding what he is talking about. — The truth is that Lana is also a puppet of someone pulling the strings.
The 17-year-old only now realizes that there is a man who has power over the Queen, Horace Mann.
— Are you serious?
Jin doesn't know her well, he doesn't even know if he should trust her, but she's a nice girl, and he just wants to make her realize what kind of place Horace Mann is. She has to learn to fight, she has to become stronger if she wants to survive another year and a half at this school.
— I'm trying to improve things there, but it seems to me that I'm being dragged into this cesspool myself, and in the end it will only get worse....
The girl does not hide her surprise when Jin unexpectedly veers off the sidewalk to the left and stands in front of the door to a small glass booth.
— Is this the place?
The boy opens the door and leads her inside. The enchanted Solar looks around the place full of flowers, where a blue bench stands in the middle.
— I come here whenever I want to rest. It's a good place to collect my thoughts.
— How do you know about him? — She asks as she sits down next to him on the bench.
— A good spirit must have brought me here because I ended up here accidentally. — He sips from the water bottle again, and Solar's hand seems to shake. — Probably this belongs to someone, but I won't stop coming here until I get caught.
The teenager opens her eyes wider in fear.
— So now you are telling me that we broke into someone?
He merely shrugs his shoulders.
— It was open, so I don't give a damn. You should, too.
Solar looks at his profile when he doesn't pay attention to her for a long time and just stares ahead. In her mind, she admires his beauty, still unable to believe that she is spending more and more time with him.
It seems impossible...
— Christmas is just a few days away. When I was a child, every year, I looked forward to this period with longing. Now I am indifferent to it.
Jin shifts his gaze to her, noticing how sad she has become.
— For me, Christmas might not exist. I have never crazy about Christmas, even when I was a child. Now I am even less smiling to spending this period with my stepmother.
— At my house, there will probably be another argument. This has been a tradition during the holidays for several years. Every year it looks worse and worse.
Her thoughts immediately focus on Joseph. She feels sorry for him that he will again have to sit at a giant table with his strict father.
— At least I hope that the New Year will bring some changes....
— I hope so, too. — She smiles shyly at Jin, in a way referring to her acquaintance with him. — I hope that people will start to perceive me differently, that they will start to appreciate me more.
— To be honest, you are the nicest person I have met so far. You are so... innocent.
These words hit her like a strong gust of wind, make her not let him go for any reason.
She has lost Joseph, she will not lose him.
*
— Mention her name to me again, and I'll sprinkle you with salt. — Danielle sits on the bed with her arms crossed on her chest, looking with murderous eyes at the accompanying apparition.
— I am simply reporting to you. You wanted it yourself. I'm supposed to control your crush every step of the way. Crush, right? That's what they say in your time?
The fourteen-year-old snorts under her breath.
— This is my boyfriend.
— Boyfriend — mocks the ghost, having a laugh with her. — He's playing a game with you, so it's time for you to take over all the pawns in this game. For the moment, he's doing quite well seducing this innocent ninny.
Danielle can't stand it and throws a pillow at the apparition. Unfortunately, she penetrates it and hits the wall.
— Do you think I'm going to leave it at that? This little slut has some way that she managed to fool Jin. It's impossible for him to be interested in another girl than me. — Inside, until I'm boiling all over with anger. — Let me just get her....
— What are you planning? — The phantom is intrigued by the teenager's words.
— I'm going to turn her life into hell, and you will help me do it. — The ghost looks pleased. — If she doesn't detach herself from Jin after the warning, I'll curse her.
— It will be fascinating to be seen by someone apart from you.
The teenager raises an eyebrow, having no qualms about Jin.
— I only have him, so no slut will change that.
*
The falling snow makes the teenagers go crazy and act like little children. They joyfully run around the field, showering each other with white powder.
Solar watches from the sidelines as Joseph tries to catch his girlfriend. She screams loudly and eventually runs off to school, but he is not about to let her go and runs after her.
In the past, this is how she used to hang out with Scott.
A scream erupts from her mouth as the younger girl grabs her by the hair. This sudden attack leaves her unable to defend herself. She feels that she is being scratched all over her face with her fingernails.
— Next time, I'll deprive you of your eyes if you take any more interest in my guy! — Danielle screams like a man possessed as she pushes her away.
The 17-year-old watches her with terrified eyes, especially since this is the first time she's seen her.
— What do you mean? Why did you attack me?
The aggressive fourteen-year-old feels like punching her once again, but restrains herself at the last moment.
— You have the nerve to still ask this! It has come to my attention that you have clung to Jin! He is busy, stupid bitch! He's my boyfriend! — She slaps her finger on her chest, looking like she's crazy.
Solar is confused.
— Are you, Danielle? His foster sister?
The madness in her eyes is indescribable as she once again reaches over and grabs the seventeen-year-old by the hair.
— So you know my name? You know who I am, and you have the nerve to flirt with him!
— Let her go this instant, Danielle! — The sharp tone with which Jin addresses her brings her back to her sanity. — Stop making a laughingstock of yourself, for God's sake!
She savagely walks up to him and grabs his jacket.
— Can you explain to me what you are doing! We are together, you promised not to look at any other because no one grows up to my heels, and now it turns out that you are playing with this ugly girl!
The students hanging out on the field are delighted by the spectacle.
Jin lowers his face, looks into her eyes, then with a smile on his face announces:
— Tell me... since when are we in a relationship? I am entitled to date another girl. At least Solar is not as tiresome as you are.
Danielle is burned out. She tightens her lips in anger, looking like a ticking bomb. She explodes the moment Jin steps away from her and puts his arm around Solar.
— I'll finish you off, bitch! You'll die like a dog! — yells in the direction of the 17-year-old as she heads for the gate.
Solar looks at Jin and notices that he is following Danielle with his eyes, but his eyes do not express anger, but rather adoration.
When his foster sister disappears, he lets go of Solar and, without speaking to her, returns to the building.
The 17-year-old doesn't understand his behavior. From the very beginning, he is a walking enigma to her, and I guess that makes her even more attracted to him.