Dangerous gravity

I woke up famous.

Not the good kind.

Not the kind where people admire you.

The kind where people watch you.

Every move. Every step. Every breath.

Because by the time I stepped out of my dorm that morning, my name wasn’t just Zara Corven anymore.

It was Zara Corven-Damon Thorne’s girlfriend just like the other day.

And apparently…

That meant something at Blackthorn.

A lot.

The stares started before I even made it down the hallway.

Doors cracked open just a little wider. Conversations paused mid sentence. Phones tilted slightly in my direction like I wouldn’t notice.

I noticed.

I noticed everything.

“Is that her?”

“That was fast…”

“She doesn’t look like his type.”

I kept walking. Head high. Steps steady. Like I hadn’t heard a single word. Like I wasn’t one wrong whisper away from my past catching up to me again.

Because that was the problem. It wasn’t just attention.

It was dangerous attention.

And Damon?

He didn’t just attract it. He controlled it. Which meant...

Now I was standing right in the middle of something I didn’t understand yet.

And somehow…

I had a feeling this was only the beginning.

I kept my head high and moved to my seat like I didn’t hear any of it.

Like I didn’t care.

Like I hadn’t spent half the night replaying the way his hand had wrapped around mine.

The way he had said mine.

My stomach tightened.

Focus.

I pulled out my notebook just as someone dropped into the seat across from me.

I didn’t need to look up.

“I’m starting to think you follow me,” I said flatly.

Kai’s voice came immediately. “I’d say the same, but I have standards.”

I looked up slowly. “And yet, here you are.”

He smirked, completely unbothered. “You’re in my seat.”

I glanced around the half empty classroom. “There are at least twenty other seats.”

“And none of them are this one.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re sitting in it.”

I blinked.

He leaned back, studying me like this was entertainment. “Move.”

“No.”

His brows lifted slightly.

I leaned forward. “Make me.”

There was a pause.

Then something sharp flickered in his eyes.

Interest.

Challenge.

“Careful,” he said quietly. “You’re starting to sound like you want my attention.”

I let out a soft laugh. “Trust me, that’s the last thing I want.”

“Liar.”

“Delusional.”

His smirk deepened.

God, he was insufferable.

“And yet,” he said, voice dropping slightly, “you didn’t say no the other night.”

My heart skipped.

I hated that he went there.

“It was a dare,” I said evenly. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

“Funny,” he murmured. “You didn’t look like you were forcing it.”

I opened my mouth...

“Enough.”

Elias.

I hadn’t even noticed him walk in.

He stood beside my desk, expression calm but firm.

“Kai,” he said quietly. “Find another seat.”

Kai didn’t look away from me. “Or what?”

Elias didn’t raise his voice. “Or I ask you again.”

Silence stretched.

Then Kai exhaled softly, pushing his chair back.

“Relax,” he said, standing. “I was just getting to know my friend.”

“I’m not his friend,” I muttered.

Kai’s gaze flicked back to me, something unreadable in his expression.

“Not yet,” he said.

Then he walked away.

Just like that.

Like he hadn’t just turned my entire morning upside down.

“Are you okay?” Elias asked, taking the seat beside me.

“Define okay,” I muttered.

He huffed a quiet laugh. “He does that.”

“What, annoy people for fun?”

“Yes.”

I rubbed my temple. “He’s exhausting.”

Elias studied me for a moment.

Then...

“You didn’t hate it.”

I froze.

“I did,” I said quickly.

“Not all of it,” he said softly.

I looked at him.

Really looked at him.

And for a second, I felt… seen.

Too seen.

“I’m with Damon,” I said instead.

Elias’ expression didn’t change.

But something shifted behind his eyes.

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I know.”

Classes dragged.

My thoughts didn’t.

They kept circling the same things.

Damon.

Kai.

That stupid kiss. That stupid moment in the locker room. By the time the last lecture ended, I was mentally exhausted. All I wanted was air. Space. Something normal. Instead..

“Zara.”

My heart reacted before my brain did.

Damon.

Of course.

He leaned casually against the wall like he had been there the whole time, waiting.

“How do you keep doing that?” I asked.

“Doing what?”

“Appearing.”

His lips curved slightly. “Maybe I just know where you’ll be.”

Before I could respond...

“Thorne.”

I turned.

Kai.

He walked toward us like this was normal.

No tension.

No attitude.

Just… easy confidence.

Damon straightened slightly. “Ryder.”

They clasped hands briefly, firm, familiar.

They are friends after all.

Close ones.

“You skipped practice early,” Kai said, glancing at him.

“Had something more important,” Damon replied.

And just like that...

Kai’s eyes flicked to me.

That same sharp, assessing look from before.

Like he was remembering something.

“Right,” Kai said lightly. “Your girlfriend.”

The word rolled off his tongue too smoothly.

I crossed my arms. “You say that like you don’t believe it.”

“I believe it,” he said.

A pause.

Then a faint smirk.

“I’m just still processing it.”

Damon’s hand brushed lightly against my back.

Possessive.

Effortless.

“You’ll survive,” Damon said.

“I always do.”

Kai’s tone stayed casual but his eyes didn’t leave mine.

And that was the problem.

Because Damon wasn’t watching him.

But I was.

And I could see it.

Something underneath.

Something he wasn’t saying.

“So,” Kai continued, slipping his hands into his pockets, “you’re settling into Blackthorn?”

“I’m trying to,” I replied.

“Must be overwhelming,” he said. “New school. New environment… new title.”

I narrowed my eyes slightly. “I didn’t realize ‘girlfriend’ was a title.”

“At Blackthorn?” he said. “Everything is.”

Damon huffed a quiet laugh. “Ignore him.”

“I’m not saying anything wrong,” Kai said easily. “Just helping her adjust.”

“I don’t need help,” I said.

His gaze sharpened slightly.

“Clearly,” he murmured.

That shouldn’t have affected me.

But it did.

Annoying.

Very annoying.

“Careful,” Damon said lightly, glancing between us. “She bites.”

Kai smirked. “I noticed.”

My heart skipped.

I hated that he said it like that.

Like the kiss hadn’t meant anything…

But also like it hadn’t meant nothing. Damon didn’t catch it or maybe he did and chose not to react.

“Anyway,” Kai said, pushing off slightly, “I’ll see you at the usual tonight.”

Damon nodded. “Yeah.”

Kai looked at me one last time.

Long enough to feel it.

Short enough to pretend it meant nothing.

“Try not to get bored, Zara,” he added casually.

“I won’t,” I said.

He smiled faintly.

Then walked away.

“You don’t know how this place works yet.” Damon said.

“Explain it.”

Silence.

For a second, I thought he wouldn’t.

Then...

“Not here,” he said.

Something in his tone shifted.

Lower.

More serious.

More… secretive.

My stomach tightened.

“Then where?”

He stepped closer.

Just enough that his voice dropped, brushing against my ear.

“Tonight.”

My pulse jumped.

“What?”

“I’m taking you somewhere.”

That didn’t sound safe.

“At night?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Where?”

A pause.

Then...

“The Forbidden Club.”

The name alone sent a strange chill down my spine.

“Sounds… illegal.”

“It’s not illegal,” he said. “Just… not for everyone.”

“That’s not reassuring.”

His lips curved slightly.

“It’s not supposed to be.”

I searched his face. “Why me?”

His gaze held mine.

“Because you’re with me.”

That answer shouldn’t have affected me.

But it did.

“And how exactly am I supposed to get there?” I asked.

“You won’t,” he said.

I frowned. “What does that mean?”

“It means,” he stepped closer again, voice dropping into something dangerously soft, “I’ll come get you.”

My breath caught.

“From my dorm?”

“Yes.”

“You’re serious?”

“I don’t joke about things like this.”

Something about the way he said it..

Calm.

Certain.

Made my heart race faster.

“That’s… insane,” I whispered.

“It’s necessary.”

“For what?”

He didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he studied me like he was deciding something.

Then...

“You said you wanted a fresh start.”

I nodded slowly.

“This is part of it.”

That didn’t make sense.

But it felt like it should. Like I was standing at the edge of something I didn’t fully understand yet.

“Zara,” he said quietly.

My name sounded different again.

Pulling.

Dangerous.

“If you come with me tonight…”

A pause.

My heart pounded.

“…you don’t get to go back to being invisible.”

I swallowed.

Because the truth was...

I wasn’t sure I wanted to anymore.

And that?

That scared me more than anything.

Damon stepped back, like the moment was over.

“Be ready,” he said simply.

Then he turned and walked away.

Leaving me standing there.

Heart racing.

Mind spinning.

And one thought echoing louder than the rest...

What exactly was the Forbidden Club?

And why did it feel like saying yes…

Would change everything?