I hated you first

Kai Sutton sat in the packed lecture hall and waited. The room was full of students. Everyone talked in low voices. The student council president stood at the front with a list in his hand. Today they would hear the pairs for the inter-faculty innovation project. It was a big deal. The winners got money and attention. Kai always won things like this. He was used to being first.

The president cleared his throat. “Listen up. These pairs are random. No changes.”

Kai sat up straight. He already knew he would get a strong partner. He always did.

The president started reading names. Pair after pair. Some students cheered. Some groaned. Kai waited for his name.

Then it came.

“Kai Sutton and Jaxon Vale.”

The air in the room changed. Kai felt it. People turned to look at him. Others looked across the hall.

Kai stood up. His chair made a loud sound. “There must be a mistake,” he said. His voice was cold and clear. “I did not ask for this partner.”

The president looked tired. “No one asked. It is random. Sit down.”

Kai did not sit. He looked across the hall.

Jaxon Vale was already watching him.

Jaxon sat with his arms crossed. His face showed nothing. No surprise. No smile. Just that same look from the competition three weeks ago. The one where Jaxon’s team had beaten Kai’s by half a point. Jaxon had walked off the stage without even looking at Kai that day.

Now Jaxon looked right at him.

Kai felt something sharp in his chest. He did not like it.

“Problem, Sutton?” Jaxon’s voice carried across the quiet room. It was low and steady.

Kai met his eyes. “Only if you plan to slow me down.”

A few students laughed under their breath. Others watched like it was a show.

Jaxon tilted his head a little. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

The president told them both to sit. Kai sat. His back was straight. His hands were tight on his notebook. He did not look at Jaxon again during the rest of the meeting. But he felt the stare. It stayed on him.

When the meeting ended, students stood up and started talking. Kai packed his bag fast. He wanted to leave first. He walked to the door.

Jaxon reached the door at the same time.

They stepped into the hallway together. The space was narrow. Students pushed past them on both sides. Kai did not move over. Jaxon did not move over either.

Their shoulders almost touched.

Kai kept walking. Jaxon matched his steps. Neither spoke for a few seconds.

Then Kai stopped near the stairs. He turned. “This project matters. I do not lose. If you cannot keep up, say it now.”

Jaxon stopped too. He looked at Kai the same way he had in the hall. Calm. Steady. Like nothing Kai said could touch him.

“I keep up fine,” Jaxon said. “You are the one who looked shocked back there.”

Kai’s jaw tightened. “I do not get shocked. I get annoyed when people waste my time.”

“Then do not waste mine,” Jaxon said. “Show up ready or do not show up.”

Students walked around them. Some slowed down to listen. Kai noticed. He hated that people were watching.

“I am always ready,” Kai said.

“Good.” Jaxon’s mouth moved like he might smile, but he did not. “Then we will see who is better.”

Kai took one step closer. “I already know.”

Jaxon did not step back. “We will see.”

They stood there for a moment. The hallway noise faded in Kai’s ears. He could hear his own breathing. He could see the exact line of Jaxon’s mouth. He did not know why he was still standing there.

Jaxon spoke first. “Meeting tomorrow. Same room. Two o’clock. Bring your ideas. Real ones.”

Then he turned and walked down the stairs.

Kai watched him go. He told himself it was because he needed to know where Jaxon was headed. That was all. Nothing else.

But his hands were still tight. His chest still felt that sharp thing.

Kai walked the other way. He went to the library even though he did not need books. He sat at a table by the window and opened his notebook. He wrote the project title at the top of a clean page. Then he stopped.

He kept seeing Jaxon’s face. That calm look. The way he had said “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Kai had beaten almost everyone on this campus. He held the top rank. People knew his name. Teachers praised him. His family expected him to stay first.

But Jaxon Vale did not look at him like the others did. Jaxon looked at him like they were the same.

Kai did not like that.

He closed the notebook hard. He stood up and left the library. Outside the air was cool. Students walked in groups and laughed. Kai walked alone.

His phone buzzed. A message from Leo, his best friend.

Leo: Heard you got paired with Vale. You okay?

Kai typed back fast.

Kai: Fine. Just another project.

He put the phone away. He was not fine. He was angry. He was also something else he did not have a name for yet.

That night Kai sat at his desk in his dorm room. The desk lamp was the only light. He opened his laptop and searched the university system for Jaxon Vale’s past projects. He told himself it was research. He needed to know what kind of work the other man did.

Jaxon’s name showed up next to high scores. Clean work. Strong ideas. Not as many awards as Kai, but the quality was clear.

Kai stared at the screen longer than he planned.

He shut the laptop.

He tried to sleep. Sleep did not come. He kept hearing that low voice. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

The next morning Kai got up early. He dressed in clean clothes. He packed his bag with extra care. He walked to class with his usual straight back.

People still looked at him when he passed. Some whispered. He heard his name and Jaxon’s name in the same sentence more than once.

In his first lecture he sat in his normal seat. He took notes like always. But his mind kept going back to the hallway. To the way neither of them had moved aside.

At lunch Leo sat across from him in the cafeteria.

“You look mad,” Leo said.

“I am not mad.”

“You look like you want to fight someone.”

Kai stabbed his food with his fork. “I have a project. That is all.”

Leo raised an eyebrow. “With Vale. Yeah. I heard. The whole campus heard. You two looked ready to kill each other in that meeting.”

“We are not going to kill each other. We are going to finish the project and move on.”

Leo watched him for a moment. “Sure. Just try not to burn the building down while you do it.”

Kai did not answer. He finished eating fast and left.

At two o’clock he walked into the meeting room for the project. He was early on purpose. He wanted to be the first one there. He sat at the table and opened his notebook. He wrote a full page of ideas in neat lines.

The door opened.

Jaxon walked in. Right on time. He carried a simple folder. He sat across from Kai without saying hello.

Kai looked up. “You are on time.”

“I said I would be,” Jaxon answered.

They looked at each other across the table. The room was quiet. The window let in afternoon light.

Kai pushed his notebook forward a little. “These are my ideas. Read them.”

Jaxon did not reach for the notebook right away. He opened his own folder and slid a few pages toward Kai. “These are mine. Read them first.”

Kai’s jaw tightened again. He pulled the pages closer. He started reading.

The ideas were good. Clear. Strong. Different from his own in ways that made sense.

Jaxon read Kai’s pages at the same time.

Neither spoke for several minutes.

Then Jaxon set the notebook down. “Your structure is solid. But the second part is weak.”

Kai set the pages down. “Your opening is too soft. It will not hold attention.”

They stared at each other.

Jaxon leaned back in his chair. “Then fix it. Or I will.”

Kai leaned forward. “I do not need you to fix anything.”

“Then do it yourself,” Jaxon said. “But do it right. I am not carrying dead weight.”

The words hit harder than they should have. Kai felt heat in his face. He kept his voice even. “I have never been dead weight in my life.”

“Good,” Jaxon said. “Keep it that way.”

They sat in silence again. The clock on the wall ticked.

Kai picked up his pen. He started rewriting the second part of his plan. Jaxon watched for a moment, then started making notes on his own pages.

They worked without talking for almost an hour. The only sounds were pens on paper and the occasional turn of a page.

When the time was up, Jaxon stood. He gathered his papers. “Same time next week. Bring the fixed version.”

Kai stood too. “I will bring something better than fixed.”

Jaxon looked at him one last time. That same calm look. “We will see.”

He walked out.

Kai stayed in the room after the door closed. He looked at the empty chair across the table. He looked at the notes Jaxon had left behind by accident. One page had a small note in the corner in clear handwriting.

Do not half-do this.

Kai stared at the words. He folded the page and put it in his bag.

He walked out of the building into the late afternoon. The campus paths were busy. Students moved in every direction. Kai walked straight ahead.

He told himself this was just another project. Just another person in his way. He would finish it. He would win. He always did.

But as he walked, he could still feel the way the air had changed in that lecture hall when their names were read together. He could still see Jaxon’s eyes across the room. He could still hear that quiet line.

Wouldn’t dream of it.

Kai reached his dorm. He climbed the stairs. He unlocked his door. He set his bag down and sat on the edge of his bed.

For the first time in a long time, the top rank did not feel like enough.

Something else had entered the space. Someone else.

And Kai Sutton did not know how to push it back out.

Kai Sutton arrived at the meeting room twenty minutes early. He wanted to be first. He always wanted to be first. The room was empty and quiet. He chose the seat facing the door and set his bag down. He pulled out his proposal. Every page was clean. Every point was clear. He had stayed up late to make it perfect.

He checked the clock on the wall. Still early. He read through his pages again even though he already knew every word.

The door opened right on time.

Jaxon Vale walked in. He carried one folder under his arm. He looked calm, like he had not rushed at all. He sat across from Kai without saying hello.

Kai looked at him. “You are on time.”

“I said I would be,” Jaxon answered. His voice was steady.

Kai pushed his proposal across the table. “This is the plan. We follow this and we win.”

Jaxon did not pick it up right away. He opened his own folder and slid a few pages toward Kai. “Read mine first.”

Kai’s jaw tightened. He pu