LOGIN~MARCELLA~Lucas is right on time and I can't be more pleased than I am right now.So what do I do?I look away.Like I didn’t see him. Like he doesn’t exist. Like he doesn’t matter.My fingers tighten slightly around the spoon in my hand, betraying me for just a second.My heartbeat stutters, then races, then steadies as I force my expression into something calm… unaffected. But inside? Inside, I’m very aware of him. Of the way the air shifts when he walks in. Of the way my body recognizes his presence before my eyes even doAnd then… I turn back to Albert with a soft smile.“Here,” I murmur, picking up another spoonful.And I feed him again…. slower this time, and more intentional.I tilt my head slightly, letting my fingers linger just a second longer than necessary. It’s subtle, but deliberate. Every movement is calculated. Every second stretchedAlbert catches on immediately.His fingers brush mine, his gaze deepening, his attention completely on me like
~MARCELLA~I wake up with a strange heaviness in my chest.It’s not sharp enough to hurt… not something I can point at and name. It just sits there, quiet and stubborn, like a feeling that refuses to leave even after sleep.For a few seconds, I don’t move.I just lie there, staring at the ceiling, watching the faint morning light creep through the curtains and paint soft lines across my room.My mind is blank and peaceful at first.Then reality settles in.And just like that… the feeling deepens.No joint class today.My lips press together slowly, my fingers tightening slightly against the bedsheet.Which means…No Lucas.No watching him.No him watching me.No accidental glances that linger too long.No silent battles across a classroom.No tension thick enough to choke on.No watching him try to act unaffected.No watching him fail.No chance to push him, to provoke him, to make him jealous.A quiet sigh escapes me before I can stop it, my chest rising and fal
~MARCELLA~I don’t realize when the lecture ends.One minute, the professor is still talking… his voice blending into the background noise of my thoughts… and the next, chairs are scraping, bags are zipping, students are standing.It takes me a second to catch up.Wait… it’s over?I blink, looking around as people begin to file out of the classroom in clusters, laughter and chatter filling the air like nothing just happened.Like my heart hasn’t been in a constant war for the past hour.Like I haven’t been sitting between two storms, pretending I’m not the reason they exist.I exhale slowly, my fingers tightening around my pen.Okay….good.Now Lucas will leave.He has another lecture… he always does after the joint class.This is where he stands up, walks out, disappears into his own world… and gives me space to breathe again.I wait for one second….then two, five, ten.He doesn’t move.My brows pull together slightly.That’s… strange.Slowly, I turn just enoug
~MARCELLA~I can feel both of them.Albert in front of me… steady, confident, possessive.Lucas behind me… tense, burning, barely holding himself together.And I’m right in the middle of it…. caught, split and breaking.My fingers are still tangled with Lucas’, his grip firm like he’s afraid I’ll disappear if he lets go. In front of me, Albert hasn’t moved away either—I can still feel the ghost of his touch at my waist, like a silent claim he hasn’t withdrawn.God.This is a mess.A dangerous, messy, beautiful disaster that I created.And now… I have to choose.For a second…just a second….I imagine what would happen if I go with Albert. The whispers would get louder. The looks sharper. Lucas… God, Lucas would…..My chest tightens painfully.No….not like that.Not in front of everyone.Not where he’ll have to stand there and take it.Not where they’ll laugh at him.Not where I’ll become the girl who humiliated him.I swallow hard, forcing my expression to remain
~LUCAS~I know something is wrong the moment I step through the school gate.It’s not loud at first.Just off….a shift in the air.The usual morning noise….the chatter, laughter, footsteps, arguments over nothing, it’s all there… but distorted. Like it’s happening far away. Like I’m walking into something I wasn’t meant to see.Clusters of students gathered ahead, not moving, not walking to class….just standing, watching something. Whispering. Phones half-raised. Heads turning in the same direction like they’re pulled by a string.My steps slow, and a frown pulls at my brows.A strange, uneasy feeling creeps into my chest.“What’s going on…?” I mutter under my breath, more to myself than anyone else.No one answers.No one even looks at me, which is unusual, because after that dinner party, I'm always getting attention wherever I go.But today, they're too focused.Too invested in whatever is unfolding ahead.That uneasy feeling sharpens.Then I hear it…..“
~MARCELLA~Lucas’ eyes are on us….on Albert and I.From this distance, I can already see it—the tension in his jaw, the way his shoulders square, the way his gaze darkens as it flicks from me… to the car… to Albert standing behind me.And then back to me again.Oh.There it is….that spark, that fire.Exactly what I wanted.But something about the way he’s looking at me…It’s not just jealousy.It’s something sharper.Something… dangerous.My breath catches slightly, but I mask it quickly, lifting my chin just a little higher.Let him see. Let him feel it. Let him burn.Because I burned too. And he deserves to feel even a fraction of it.Beside me, Albert follows my line of sight.He sees him, and I don’t miss the way his posture shifts… just slightly.He's suddenly alert, interested, and possessive.His hand tightens at my waist, subtle—but intentional. Like he’s staking a claim without saying a word.“Well…” Albert says quietly, his voice carrying a faint edge no
~MARCELLA~The driver's door opens, and then….he steps out.Albert Morrison.I blink…once, twice.My surprise is instant and very real.“What…?” I whisper under my breath, my grip tightening slightly on my keys.What on earth is he doing here?I watch him as he straightens, c
~MARCELLA~I don’t think I’ve ever woken up this… alive.My eyes snap open even before my alarm goes off, my heart already racing like it knows something big is about to happen.For a second, I just lie there, staring at the ceiling.Then it hits me.I'm having a joint class t
~MARCELLA~Sleep doesn’t come even as I'm now lying on the bed in my nightwear.Not even close.I toss, turn, kick the blanket off, pull it back on, stare at the ceiling for long, but nothing works.The silence in my room feels louder than any noise I’ve ever heard. It presse
~MARCELLA~I'm frantically searching my mind on what I'm going to do about Albert Morrison.And then, I finally have an idea on what I think I'm going to do.I open my mouth to respond…“I’ll just ignore him…”But then…Something clicks.A thought, sharp, sudden and dangerous.







