"Can I have your attention please?" I yelled over the noisy crowd of all four schools. Once everyone finally glared at me, I launched into my speech, "All forty students will be divided into three groups for the volleyball match."

We had a bowl with forty chits—I'd painstakingly written them all last night, and it was as exhausting as it sounds. "If your paper has an 'A,' move to the left. 'B,' go to the center. And 'C,' to the right," I directed. Once they'd shuffled into their groups, I scanned them with a critical eye—only to find Jason and Jungkook in the same team, Team B. Perfect. Just my luck.

Principal Kim had joined Team A, and Principal Lee was stuck with Team C to even out the numbers. "There are only thirteen here," a girl from Team B called out. Sweetheart, why are you so impatient? That one missing component is me—yes, you're welcome. If my ankle pain hadn't vanished overnight, I'd have skipped playing altogether.

The match was scheduled for 2:30 pm, after lunch, and it was only 10:30 now. I spent my morning reading outside my tent in blissful peace. "Is that a fantasy novel I see?" Elijah startled me by appearing out of nowhere.

"It's biology, darling," I scoffed, noting that this mister clearly hadn't cracked open a textbook in ages. "Why the hell would you read that shit right now?" he gawked at me like I was some kind of bizarre, big-eyed alien.

"Oh come on, it's fascinating. Sit with me—I'll tell you what happens when you lacerate someone's throat and watch the blood gush out," I offered with a bright smile, holding out my hand for an uncomfortably long moment before dropping it. He was staring at me like I was the actual horror story.

"That's disturbing, Neens," he muttered, his face scrunched. "I was kidding, idiot. Listen, I found these weird-looking berries in that area over there," I said, pointing to a thick cluster of trees and plants behind him. "As soon as I got close, I caught this incredible incense—like paradise itself." I rambled on, but he just kept watching me.

"I swear, I remember seeing those berries in this book somewhere, but I can't find it now," I groaned. That scent... it was so familiar, like home. Mostly because my sister's house would always smell like that whenever I cracked open my windows.

I wasn't allowed to sneak out the window or wander too far, so it always remained a mystery. But this morning, wandering around, I caught that exact same scent.

"Are you into making scents? Like perfumes and stuff?" Elijah's question snapped me out of my thoughts.

"I mean... I like learning new things. I learned to knit, bake, stitch, even use a computer at a young age," I admitted. It had been an amazing experience.

"Really? Who taught you all that?"

"Sister Daphne..." Shit. My mouth clamped shut the second the words slipped out.

"Sister who? Daphne? Is she your cousin or something?" He snatched the book from my hand, curiosity blazing.

"Uh... yes," I lied smoothly. Nobody knew where I'd really come from. Not even Emily or Mona. This was the one secret I had to keep locked away. If anyone found out I was raised by a bunch of sisters in a convent, not by a typical family... my life here would become a nightmare.

"Gosh, you think way too much," he teased, tugging me along. "Principal Kim has a PhD in plant biology—maybe you can ask her about those berries?" he suggested. Actually, that was a damn good idea.

Elijah's suggestion about asking Principal Kim was a good one, but I could already feel my stomach twisting. The last thing I needed was to poke around too much and accidentally let something slip. Besides, there's a reason I never talk about... before.

I keep telling myself it's better this way. Safer. Because what would they think if they knew I didn't grow up in some cozy suburban house with parents who framed every embarrassing baby photo on the staircase? No. I was raised by nuns—yes, literal sisters in habits—who taught me to read scripture and scrub floors like my life depended on it. My mother didn't send me there because she thought it was some sweet, holy boarding school. She sent me there because my father forced her to. He wanted me to be "fixed," to be molded into the perfect, obedient daughter and eventual wife. All those nuns and their endless lessons in how to keep my mouth shut, how to serve tea, how to smile even when I wanted to scream?

Sister Daphne—she was strict, sure, but she also taught me how to keep secrets. How to wrap them up so tight in my chest that no one could see the bruises they left behind.

And I want to keep it that way. Because if they knew... if they really knew... they'd see me differently. Pity me. Or worse, treat me like some fragile, broken thing. And I'd rather be the unpredictable girl with a sharp tongue than some sad charity case.

So I lie. Smoothly. Effortlessly.
Sister Daphne? She's just a cousin.
My childhood? As normal as yours—move along.
Because the truth is too complicated, too raw, too... mine.

JUNGKOOK'S POV

Our match was about to kick off in five minutes. Me, Shane, Nina, Jason, and his two annoying groupies—Bree and Ruth—made up my team. I was warming up with Shane, just going through the motions, when my eyes landed on Jason and Nina.

He was leaning in way too close to her ear, talking like he had some kind of damn right to be there. Since when were they on whispering terms? And she was looking at him, or rather... at the ground, like she was stuck in her own head. What the hell was that about?

The game was about to start when she jogged over to me. As team leader, I sorted everyone into their positions. Nina ended up in the middle row with Shane, Jason lurking behind her like some kind of shadow. I took the front with Bree and Ruth.

It started out fine. Team A had Elijah and Mona, and those two were too busy arguing to even play. Elijah chucked the ball at Mona's face in the second set and I nearly lost it laughing.

But when the third set began, everything went downhill. Nina kept tossing the ball straight into the net—like she wasn't even trying. She was off her game, and it was pissing me off. Then in the fourth set, she straight-up pushed me mid-play.

"What the hell, Nina—"
That's when I saw it. Her face. Her eyes. She'd been crying.

"He... pushed me," she whispered, glancing at Jason like he wasn't worth the dirt under her shoes.

Motherfucker.

I was two seconds away from lunging at that piece of shit and smashing his teeth in. But then she looked at me again. "Can I stand... with you?" she asked, voice so small I barely caught it. I just nodded, pulling her a little closer before the game resumed.

"You're gonna tell me exactly what he did after this," I told her, making sure she was nowhere near that bastard for the rest of the match.

When it was over, we'd lost—big surprise with Jason on our side—but I didn't care about that. I scanned the field, looking for her, but she was gone. Not in our tent, not in any of the others. She just vanished.

Why would she run off like that? Was it because of me... or because of Jason? I asked Mona and Emily if they'd seen her, but they had no idea and were already stressing out. I told them to stay calm and focus on the next game.

Meanwhile, I was losing my mind. I checked everywhere we usually went—by the woods, near the tents, anywhere she might hide out when she wanted to be alone. Nothing. Just that empty, sinking feeling that made me want to flip the whole damn camp upside down.

Should I even bother with Jason? He's scum, but maybe it's none of my business. Then again... it sure as hell felt like it was.

NINA'S POV

I was on my way to what the girls were calling our "night out." Mona and Emily had found a river about thirty minutes away from the camp, and the Cranberry girls had decided to tag along. I guess that was fine, but the Marblewell girls? Yeah, no thanks. Their fake smiles and sharper-than-necessary words didn't exactly scream "good company" to me.

Honestly, I wasn't in the mood for any of it. My mind was still stuck back there, in that mess with Jason. And then there was Jungkook—whose name alone was enough to make my head spin right now.

As we walked, the cold breeze brushed against my face, turning my skin pink and making my eyes water. Emily turned to me, concern softening her usual bright grin. "Are you alright? Does your leg still hurt?"

I forced a small smile, shaking my head lightly. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?" I tried to sound casual, not wanting to feed her worry or, worse, her curiosity.

Emily didn't buy it, of course. "You've been off all day. And... did you patch things up with Jungkook or what? He's been looking for you, you know. You didn't even come to our game—where the hell did you go?"

I stopped for a second, let out a small sigh, and gave her a pointed look. "Emily, do you ever shut up?" My words were light, teasing, but the edge of them was real. Because if I said even a fraction of what I was really thinking, I might end up giving away more than I could afford.

She just rolled her eyes and kept walking, letting the quiet settle back in. Thank god.

By the time we got to the river, I forced my lips into a smile, pushing all the questions and worries deep down—like I always do. One night. That's all this was. Just one night to forget about everything else.

The girls squealed and praised Mona and Emily for this spontaneous adventure before stripping down to their bikinis and cannonballing straight into the river. I peeled off my oversized t-shirt and carefully laid it near the rocks like the delicate princess I was definitely not feeling like tonight. Then I dove in, right in the middle of the chaos, splashing water on everyone like an unhinged mermaid.

"You're dead meat!" Mona shrieked, trying to paddle out of range.

"I'm soaked!" Emily wailed, flipping her hair like a shampoo commercial gone wrong.

"Why'd you do that?" another girl giggled, but she was still laughing, so obviously she wasn't that mad.

We were basically feral at that point—grape juice in hand (fancy as hell, I know), snacks floating around us on pool floats we had scrounged up somewhere, and endless chatter. Miley, the girl who helped me out that time Jungkook and I got stuck in the mountain drama, suddenly perked up with an idea. "I have a cool idea," she said, already smirking.

"Oh boy," Emily groaned, tying her wet hair up like she was about to host a cooking show.

"Why don't we swim naked?" Miley said, like she was asking if we wanted marshmallows in our cocoa.

I sipped my grape juice like I was sipping expensive wine and gave her my best "you must be joking" look. "I'm not in," I said with all the sass of a bored queen holding court in her riverside palace.

But before you could even say "boobs," half the girls had flung their bikinis on the muddy riverbank like it was a wet t-shirt contest in the middle of nowhere. "I can see it—your boobs, your butts, everything!" I pointed out dramatically, poking at the air in front of me as they squealed and splashed.

"It's dark! Stop fibbing!" one of them said, giggling like we were all starring in some summer camp teen movie. Yeah, sure—whatever floats your exposed chest, babe.

Hours flew by in a blur of laughter, splashing, and racing each other to the edge of the river to catch glimpses of the town glowing from the hilltop. Worth it. So worth it. But then the sky was inky black and I could already picture the teachers' suspicious flashlights sweeping through the tents.

"Girls, we should go back before we get caught," I announced, already feeling the cold seep into my bones.

I was the first to crawl out of the water, shivering slightly. But when I looked down—there was nothing. No bikini top, no bikini bottom, nothing but rocks and cold air.

"Girls..." I called out, glancing around. "You might wanna know that your bikinis are missing."

.....
Missing!!!
BiKiNiS

So where are the bikinis? Who took it?
A) Jungkook
B) Jason
C) Elijah
D) Taehyung
E) Me

Nina's outfit

Wc 1584