April could already tell this was going to be a problem.
Michelangelo wasn't just some random popular guy—he was de guy. The one everyone liked, the one who could walk into a room and have people gravitate toward him.
And now he was walking with her.
April felt the burning stares, the whispers turning into full-blown conversations behind her back.
"She has to be faking it."
"How does she always know when people are talking?"
"Michelangelo's just being nice… right?"
April rolled her eyes. She'd dealt with worse.
Michelangelo, completely unfazed, shoved his hands in his pockets. "So, are you always this quiet, or am I just that boring?"
April smirked. "I don't do small talk."
"Good. Neither do I."
That actually caught her off guard.
Before she could respond, a sickly sweet voice cut through the tension.
"Oh Michelangelo—"
April could already guess who it belonged to.
Tessa Lane.
The queen of this place, the one who decided who was in and who was out.
Michelangelo sighed. "Here we go."
April didn't turn, but she could feel Tessa approaching—heels clicking against the floor, her presence heavy with manufactured confidence.
"Mickey," Tessa said, all fake warmth, "I was looking for you."
Mickey raised an eyebrow. "Were you?"
Tessa ignored the question and instead turned to April.
April didn't react, just waited.
Tessa tilted her head. "You are April, right?"
April finally turned toward her, her expression unreadable. "Yeah."
Tessa's lips curled into a smile, but there was no kindness in it.
"How interesting," she mused. "I hear that you're blind and can't hear, but it's so funny—" She leaned in slightly. "But you always know when people are talking about you."
April didn't flinch. She simply crossed her arms. "Maybe you're just loud."
A flicker of annoyance flashed across Tessa's face.
Michelangelo stifled a laugh. "Man, this is entertaining."
Tessa shot him a glare before returning her attention to April.
"You know," she said, voice laced with fake concern, "it must be so hard for you. Always having to act like you don't hear things you're not supposed to."
April smirked. "Oh, I don't have to act. I just don't care."
Tessa's expression faltered for a split second before she masked it with a laugh.
"Right. Well, I just think it's adorable that Michelangelo is taking pity on you."
Michelangelo's smile dropped. "Tessa—"
April cut him off.
"Pity?" She took a step forward, tilting her head slightly. "That's funny, because from where I'm standing, you're the one that looks desperate."
A sharp gasp echoed around them.
Tessa's face froze.
April didn't need to see it to know she had struck a nerve.
Michelangelo grinned. "Welp. That's my cue to go."
Tessa's voice was tight with barely restrained anger. "You—"
But April was already walking away.
She could feel Tessa's fury burning into her back.
The rival war had just begun.