The Rival I Married
Author: anya
Romance;School life
Episode 1~ My Worst Enemy
People say your first love is unforgettable.
Mine?
He was my first enemy.
My name is Seraphina West, and if there's one person I wish I had never met...
It's Kael Ashford.
Our parents have been best friends since university, which means we've lived next door to each other for as long as I can remember.
According to our parents, we were adorable as toddlers.
According to me...
He was a menace.
When I was five, he stole my favorite crayon because I accidentally stepped on his toy car.
When I was seven, I hid his homework inside the freezer.
When I was nine, he cut the ribbon off my science project.
So I poured an entire bottle of glitter into his school bag.
Neither of us ever apologized.
It became an unspoken rule.
If he annoyed me...
I'd annoy him twice as much.
Our parents stopped trying to separate us years ago.
Instead, they'd just sigh and say,
"Here they go again..."
Things only got worse in high school.
We competed over grades.
Sports.
Class rankings.
Even who answered the teacher's questions first.
The teachers called it "healthy competition."
Healthy?
Please.
It was war.
Every report card ended with one of us in first place...
...and the other in second.
If I scored 98...
He'd score 99.
If he won the debate competition...
I'd beat him in the science fair.
Neither of us was willing to lose.
Not even once.
The funniest part?
Everyone thought we'd eventually become friends.
They had no idea.
The moment we saw each other every morning...
The first thing out of our mouths was never "Good morning."
It was—
"Move."
"You move."
"Watch where you're going."
"Try saying that while looking in a mirror."
Classmates would quietly step aside whenever we started arguing.
It happened so often that no one even bothered stopping us anymore.
Looking back...
I should've realized something was about to change.
The older I get, the more I realize memories are strange.
You'd think I'd remember birthdays, family trips, or the day I learned how to ride a bicycle.
Instead...
The clearest memories I have are of arguing with Kael Ashford.
I swear that boy had a talent.
Not for studying.
Not for sports.
Not for winning competitions.
No.
His greatest talent was finding new ways to get on my nerves before eight o'clock every morning.
Sometimes I'd wake up feeling perfectly fine.
Then I'd see him.
And suddenly my day would be ruined.
...
It was a Monday morning.
The sky was painted a soft shade of orange as the sun slowly climbed above the rooftops. The neighborhood was unusually peaceful. Birds perched along the electrical wires, chirping without a care in the world, while the smell of toasted bread drifted out from open kitchen windows.
It would've been the perfect morning.
If only Kael Ashford didn't exist.
I stepped out of my house with my backpack hanging from one shoulder, humming quietly as I checked whether I'd packed my homework.
Mom's voice followed me through the doorway.
Mom
Seraphina! Don't forget your lunchbox! You almost left it behind again.
I turned around with an awkward smile.
I knew something felt missing.
Before I could walk back inside, another voice beat me to it.
Mrs. Ashford
Kael! Stop standing there like a statue and hand Seraphina her lunchbox.
I froze.
"...No."
The front door of the neighboring house opened.
Out walked the one person I wished I didn't have to see first thing in the morning.
Kael.
His school blazer hung loosely over one shoulder, his tie was already half undone, and his hair looked as though he'd given up trying to fix it halfway through.
He looked at me.
I looked at him.
Silence.
Not the peaceful kind.
The dangerous kind.
Without saying a word, he walked over and held my lunchbox out in front of me.
I reached for it.
At the exact same moment...
He pulled it back.
The corner of his lips lifted.
That stupid grin.
I narrowed my eyes.
Seraphina
Give it to me before I decide today's a good day to commit a crime.
Kael
Really? That's how you're asking for help? I carried this all the way here for you. At least try sounding grateful.
I folded my arms.
Grateful? To you? I'd rather thank the mosquito that kept me awake all night.
He let out a quiet laugh.
Not the loud, annoying kind.
Just enough to tell me he was enjoying himself.
Kael
You know, most people would simply say "thank you." But then again, you're not most people.
I took one step closer until we were standing face to face.
Seraphina
And you're lucky for that. If there were two of me, you'd lose every competition before breakfast.
His eyebrow rose ever so slightly.
Kael
Interesting. Last week's math test says otherwise.
I snatched the lunchbox from his hand before he could pull it away again.
Keep talking. Maybe one day your ego will become so heavy that you won't be able to walk to school.
Behind us...
Both of our mothers sighed in perfect synchronization.
Mom covered her forehead dramatically.
Mom
Every single morning... I don't know whether they're leaving for school or entering a battlefield.
Mrs. Ashford laughed.
Give them a few more years. Maybe they'll finally learn how to get along.
Kael and I answered at the exact same time.
Seraphina
Never.
Kael
Not happening.
The two women looked at each other...
...then burst into laughter.
I honestly had no idea what was so funny.
Kael started walking toward school without waiting for me.
Good.
That meant I wouldn't have to spend the next fifteen minutes listening to him brag about beating me in another quiz.
I waited a few seconds before following.
A few seconds was all it took.
Because somehow...
He slowed down.
I sped up.
Before I knew it, we were walking side by side.
Again.
Neither of us acknowledged it.
Neither of us moved away.
It had been like this for years.
We argued every day.
Competed every day.
Annoyed each other every day.
And somehow...
Walking to school together had become such a habit that neither of us ever questioned it.
Back then, I thought nothing would ever change.
If someone had walked up to sixteen-year-old me and whispered,
"One day you'll stop seeing Kael as just your rival..."
I would've laughed right in their face.
Then I would've challenged Kael to another competition just to prove them wrong.
After all...
How could I possibly fall for someone who made my blood pressure rise before first period even started?
I sometimes wonder if my life would've been completely different had our homeroom teacher decided to seat the transfer student somewhere else.
Maybe I would've kept fighting with Kael until graduation.
Maybe I would've stayed at the top of the rankings.
Maybe...
I wouldn't have experienced my first crush.
Unfortunately...
Life enjoys ruining perfectly stable routines.
It was a Monday morning.
The classroom buzzed with its usual noise. Someone was running around because they had forgotten to do their homework. A few students gathered near the windows, gossiping about the upcoming sports festival, while others were still half asleep with their heads resting on their desks.
Nothing felt unusual.
At least...
Not until the classroom door slid open.
Our class teacher walked in first.
Behind him stood a boy I had never seen before.
The conversations slowly died down.
One by one, every pair of eyes turned toward the front of the classroom.
Even Kael, who had been lazily spinning a pen between his fingers, stopped what he was doing.
The teacher placed his attendance book on the desk before speaking.
Everyone...
We have a new classmate joining us today. I hope you'll make him feel welcome.
The boy beside him gave a polite bow.
He wasn't the kind of person who walked into a room demanding attention.
Instead...
He looked slightly nervous, as if he wasn't sure whether he belonged there yet.
His school uniform was perfectly neat.
His black hair fell naturally over his forehead, and his expression carried a quiet warmth that made him seem approachable.
Then...
He smiled.
Just a small, polite smile.
Nothing straight out of a romance movie.
Yet somehow...
My heart skipped a beat.
...
Don't look at me like that.
I was sixteen.
People make questionable decisions at sixteen.
The teacher smiled.
Why don't you introduce yourself?
The boy nodded.
My name is Adrian Hayes.
My father recently transferred here because of work, so I'll be studying with you all from today onward.
I hope we can get along.
His voice was calm.
Gentle.
The kind of voice that somehow made people want to keep listening.
Almost immediately, whispers spread across the classroom.
He's handsome...
He seems nice.
I wonder if he has a girlfriend.
Someone behind me even sighed dramatically.
Meanwhile...
I was pretending not to listen.
Pretending.
Keyword.
The teacher glanced around the classroom before pointing toward an empty seat.
You can sit over there.
Coincidentally...
The empty desk was only one row away from mine.
Great.
Absolutely wonderful.
Before class officially began, our teacher looked in my direction.
Seraphina.
I blinked.
Yes, sir?
You've been our top student for years. Since Adrian is new, I'd like you to show him around the campus after class. Help him find the library, the science building, the cafeteria... all the important places.
Before I could answer...
A familiar voice interrupted.
Why her?
The entire class immediately knew who had spoken.
Kael Ashford.
He leaned back in his chair, looking completely unconcerned.
Wouldn't the student council be a better choice?
The teacher adjusted his glasses.
Normally, yes.
But Seraphina knows the campus well, and she's responsible enough for the task.
Kael clicked his tongue.
How convincing.
I crossed my arms.
Is there a problem with that?
He looked at me with that annoyingly calm expression.
No.
Not at all.
Then stop complaining.
I wasn't complaining.
You literally asked, "Why her?"
That's called complaining.
A few classmates burst into laughter.
One of them whispered,
Here they go again...
The teacher sighed.
Enough.
Both of you.
Save your daily argument for lunch break.
The classroom laughed once more.
As for Adrian...
He simply stood there, looking completely confused.
Poor guy.
He had arrived less than five minutes ago...
...and had already witnessed exactly how chaotic our class could be.
Classes ended later that afternoon.
While everyone hurried out of the room, Adrian stood near the door, glancing around the hallway as if trying to memorize every corridor at once.
I walked over and offered a small smile.
Looks like I'm your tour guide today.
He smiled back.
I hope I'm not bothering you.
Not at all.
Besides, if I leave you alone, you'll probably end up getting lost before you find the cafeteria.
He laughed quietly.
That made two of us.
We spent the next hour walking across the campus.
I showed him the library, the laboratories, the sports field, the auditorium, and the shortcut students secretly used whenever they were late for class.
He listened carefully to everything I explained.
Unlike certain people...
He didn't interrupt every two minutes just to argue.
He thanked me after every explanation.
He apologized whenever he accidentally walked too fast.
He even carried the stack of books I had borrowed from the library without me asking.
It was...nice.Comfortably nice.
As the days passed, talking to Adrian became part of my routine.
We studied together.Shared lunch sometimes.Worked on group assignments.
Whenever I didn't understand a history question, he'd patiently explain it.
Whenever he got lost, he'd ask me for directions instead of wandering around the school.
Little by little...
Without realizing it...
I found myself looking for him every morning.
And if he happened to be absent...
The classroom felt strangely quiet.
Back then...
I thought that feeling had a name.
I thought...
It was love.
What I didn't notice...
Was that every single time Adrian and I talked...
Someone across the classroom would unconsciously look up from his book.
And for reasons even he couldn't explain...He was beginning to hate seeing us smile at each other.
💙 ep~2
If someone had asked me back then what love looked like...
I would've pointed straight at Adrian.
He was patient and kind.
He remembered everyone's names after meeting them only once.
Even when someone interrupted him in the middle of a sentence, he'd simply smile and continue talking as if nothing had happened.
To sixteen-year-old me...
That was enough to make my heart race.
What I didn't realize...
Was that someone else had started paying attention too.
Not to Adrian.
To me.
The hallway outside our classroom was unusually crowded during lunch break.
As usual, girls from other classes had gathered near the windows.
Some pretended to refill their water bottles.
Some suddenly found reasons to walk past our classroom.
Others whispered among themselves while stealing glances inside.
Honestly...
It happened so often that no one even reacted anymore.
After all...
Kael Ashford was there.
Good-looking.
Captain of the basketball team.
Top student.
The kind of person teachers trusted and students admired.
He wasn't exactly friendly...
But somehow, that only made more girls interested in him.
Unfortunately for them...
Kael treated everyone's confessions the same way.
A simple apology.
A polite rejection.
Then he'd walk away before they could say another word.
He never gave anyone false hope.
He simply...
Didn't care.
Meanwhile...
Adrian was different.
He smiled at everyone.
Helped anyone who asked.
If a junior needed directions, he'd walk them there himself.
If someone dropped their books, he'd kneel down and help pick them up.
His kindness spread through the school surprisingly fast.
Within a month...
The two most talked-about boys in school were Kael Ashford...
...and Adrian Hayes.
The difference?
Girls admired Kael from afar.Girls actually believed they had a chance with Adrian.
One afternoon, Adrian and I were sitting beneath the old cherry tree near the library.
The weather was pleasant.
A cool breeze carried the scent of freshly cut grass across the campus.
We weren't doing anything special.
Just studying.
Well...
Trying to study.
I stared at the same math question for nearly five minutes without writing a single number.
Adrian noticed almost immediately.
Adrian:
You've been looking at that question for a while. Is it difficult?
I snapped back to reality.
H-Huh? Oh... no. I was just thinking about something else.
He smiled gently.
Then your thoughts must be pretty important.
My ears felt strangely warm.
I quickly lowered my head and pretended to read my notebook.
Across the courtyard...
Someone happened to witness the entire scene.
Kael.
He stood with three of his teammates, a basketball tucked under one arm.
His gaze lingered on us longer than usual.
One of his friends noticed.
Friend:
...You've been staring in that direction for a solid minute.
Kael looked away immediately.
I wasn't staring.
His friend followed his line of sight.
Really? Because your eyes haven't left Seraphina and that transfer student since we walked over here.
Kael frowned.
I'm just wondering why she's smiling like that.
The boys exchanged confused looks.
Another friend let out a laugh.
Friend:
Hold on... are you jealous?
Kael looked at him as if he'd just said the dumbest thing imaginable.
Jealous? Of him?
He scoffed.
Don't be ridiculous.
I'm just making sure that guy isn't pretending to be nice.
The group fell silent.
Then...
One of them burst out laughing.
Friend:
Kael...
He's helping her solve some problem.
Not planning world domination.
Another added with a grin,
Friend:
Besides... you've been picking fights with Seraphina since kindergarten.
Now you're bothered because someone is actually being nice to her?
Kael clicked his tongue.
Only I get to annoy her.
The words slipped out before he could stop them.
Silence.
Every single one of his friends froze.
Then all three slowly turned to look at him.
One raised an eyebrow.
Another covered his mouth, trying not to laugh.
The last one folded his arms.
Friend
...You hear yourself, right?
Kael frowned.
What?
Friend
Nothing.
Just... keep telling yourself you're not jealous.
Kael rolled his eyes and walked away without another word.
Yet...
Even after leaving...
He couldn't stop thinking about what he'd just seen.
Seraphina had laughed.
Not because of one of his sarcastic remarks.
Not because they were arguing.
She had laughed...
Because of someone else.
For some reason...
That thought refused to leave his mind.
A few weeks later, the monthly exam results were announced.
The classroom buzzed with nervous excitement.
Our class teacher stood at the front, holding the graded papers.
My hands felt unusually cold.
Not because I thought I'd failed.
Because deep down...
I already knew I hadn't done my best.
Every night I'd planned to revise.
Every night I'd somehow ended up replaying conversations with Adrian instead.
When my name was finally called, I walked to the front of the room.
I looked down at my paper.
79.
The number seemed to blur for a moment.
It wasn't a bad score.
For most students...
It would've been something to celebrate.
For me...
It was the lowest score I'd received in years.
Whispers spread across the classroom.
Seraphina got 79?
What happened to her?
Is she sick?
I quietly returned to my seat.
A familiar shadow stopped beside my desk.
Kael.
He looked down at my paper before holding up his own.
99.
Normally...
I would've made some sarcastic comment.
Told him not to let one mark inflate his ego.
Instead...
I simply slid my exam paper into my bag.
Seraphina:
Congratulations.
I stood and walked out of the classroom.
Kael remained where he was.
Watching me leave.
For the first time...
Winning didn't feel satisfying.
It just felt...
Empty.
A week later...
After school had ended...
I finally gathered the courage I'd been building for days.
Standing beneath the cherry tree...
I looked at Adrian with a nervous smile.
I took a deep breath.
Then...
I confessed.
Before I could finish...
His expression changed.
The gentle smile faded.
He lowered his eyes.
After a long silence...
He spoke softly.
Adrian
I'm... really sorry, Seraphina.
You're an amazing person, and I'm grateful that we became friends.
But I don't think I can return your feelings.
For a moment...
The world felt strangely quiet.
I forced a smile.
Even though my chest hurt.
Seraphina
...I understand.
Thank you... for being honest.
I turned around before he could see the tears gathering in my eyes.
At the time...
I thought my first love had simply come to an end.
I had no idea...
