MasukThe hallway didn’t quiet down, but it felt like it did.Like everything around us blurred just enough to leave only four people standing in focus.Bella was already facing Lisa.I was facing Kai.For a full minute, no one said a word.Not a single one.Students brushed past us, laughing, talking, shoving each other as if it were just another normal day. Someone bumped my shoulder and muttered a quick “sorry” before moving on. Lockers slammed. Phones rang. Life kept going.But right there—It felt still.Kai looked the same.Same posture. Same calm face. In the same way, he held himself like nothing ever really got to him. But his eyes… they stayed on mine, searching, like he was trying to figure something out.Or maybe confirm it.I didn’t move.Didn’t look away.Because I wasn’t sure what this was yet.An apology?A confrontation?Something worse?Beside me, I could feel Bella’s energy shift completely. Tense. Alert. Ready. I didn’t even have to look to know Lisa wasn’t backing down
Class felt unreal.Not because I hadn’t been here before, but because everything that used to feel normal now felt… off. Like I was sitting in a place I recognized, surrounded by people I knew, but none of it fit the same way anymore.Bella sat beside me, her notebook open but untouched. She kept tapping her pen against the desk, not in her usual careless rhythm, but slower, distracted. Every now and then, her eyes flicked toward the door like she expected someone to walk in.I couldn’t blame her.I felt it too.The awareness.That we weren’t just students anymore.The lecturer’s voice droned on at the front of the class, something about coursework and deadlines, but I wasn’t really listening. My mind kept drifting back to earlier.They would have taken you.The words wouldn’t leave.“Elias.”Bella’s voice was low.I glanced at her. “Yeah?”“Do you see him?”I knew who she meant.I didn’t turn immediately. Instead, I shifted slightly in my seat, letting my eyes scan the room casually.
We didn’t stop until we were back inside.The door shut behind us harder than necessary, the sound echoing through the room like it was trying to seal something out. Bella leaned against it for a second, breathing a little uneven, her hand still gripping the handle like she didn’t trust it to stay closed.“Tell me I imagined that,” she said.I didn’t answer.Because I couldn’t.I walked further into the room, my mind replaying everything in sharp, clear pieces. The car. The man stepping out. The way he looked at me. That smile.And then the bodyguard.Stepping in like he had been there the entire time, like he had been waiting for that exact moment.“Elias.”Bella’s voice pulled me back.I turned to her.“That wasn’t normal,” she said.“I know.”“That wasn’t just some random creep on the street.”“I know.”“Then what was it?”I exhaled slowly, dragging a hand through my hair again. “I don’t know.”But I had a feeling.And I didn’t like it.Bella pushed off the door and walked toward m
Bella flopped back onto the couch with a groan. “I’m not doing this,” she said, staring up at the ceiling. “A bodyguard? Seriously? What is this, a movie?”I leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “He wasn’t joking.”“I know,” she muttered. “That’s the problem.”For a moment, neither of us said anything. The weight of it sat there, heavy and annoying and impossible to ignore.Then Bella sat up suddenly. “I’m going out.”“Bella—”“I’m not asking,” she said, already reaching for her shoes. “I need air, and I need to prove a point.”“That’s a terrible reason to go outside,” I replied.“Exactly,” she said. “So it’s perfect.”I pushed off the wall. “If you’re trying to make him lose his mind, it’s working already.”“Good,” she said, slipping her shoes on. “Let him.”She headed for the door. I followed.The hallway was quiet when we stepped out, but the feeling was there immediately. That subtle awareness of someone else nearby.“Okay,” Bella said under her breath, looking left, then right.
Chapter — Elias’s POVThe room felt too quiet.Bella dropped onto the couch the moment we got in, kicking off her shoes like she was done with the day already. I set my bag down by the door, running a hand through my hair as everything from outside kept replaying in my head.Vane.That man.The way they looked like they were discussing something serious, something planned.“I don’t like this,” Bella said, staring at the ceiling.“Yeah,” I replied. “Same.”Before I could say anything else, the door opened.No knock.Just—Opened.We both turned at the same time.Vane walked in like he belonged there.Calm. Composed. Like nothing was out of place.Bella sat up immediately. “Do you ever knock?”He ignored that, closing the door behind him.I stepped forward slightly. “What was that about?”His gaze shifted to me.“The guy you were talking to,” I continued. “Why are you even in our school, and who is he?”There was a brief pause.Then he answered like it was nothing.“Your new bodyguard.”
Bella didn’t stop walking.Not once.Not when we passed groups of students who glanced at her a little too long, not when someone called her name from across the courtyard, not even when we reached the quieter side of campus where everything felt a little more distant.I followed her the whole way.Silent.Because I knew better than to say anything too soon.Her steps were fast at first, like she was trying to outrun what just happened. Then they slowed. Not because she wanted to, but because the weight of it caught up with her.By the time we reached the far end of the field, she stopped.Just like that.I stopped a few steps behind her.For a moment, she didn’t turn.Didn’t move.Didn’t say anything.The wind picked up slightly, brushing past us, quiet but enough to fill the space where words should have been.“She hates me.”Her voice was low.And that was what made it worse.I walked closer, stopping beside her. “She doesn’t hate you.”Bella let out a small, humorless laugh. “You
I woke up to the sound of Vane’s suitcase zipper.He was already dressed—dark jeans, charcoal sweater, leather jacket slung over the chair. The room still smelled like last night: sex, his cologne, the faint sweetness of Isabella’s vanilla body spray from when she hugged me goodbye. Sunlight sliced
The next morning hit like a truck full of regret and caffeine withdrawal.My alarm screamed at 7:45—some default chime that sounded like a dying robot. I slapped it silent, groaned, and immediately regretted every shot Riley had shoved into my hand last night. My head throbbed in time with my heart
Classes ended at 4:15, but I was already mentally checked out by the last ten minutes of psych lecture. The professor was droning about operant conditioning and Skinner boxes, and all I could think about was dinner with Luca. He’d texted during my last break: 9:30. Off-campus ramen spot. Meet in th
The night was going great—better than great, actually. The house was packed but not suffocating, the music loud enough to feel in my bones but not so loud I couldn’t talk, and the backyard string lights made everything look soft and golden, like we were all living inside a Pinterest board for “coll







