Rian speak while rubbing the bridge of his nose. "You were late."
I rolled my eyes. "No, it was the ribbons." I pulled one of my braided strands forward so that he can see , as if that proved anything.
His eyes tunr toward with amusent before settling back into its usual self. "These school rules are getting ridiculous."
"You're telling ," I said . Then, looking between him and Arin, I added, "But what about you two? What's your excuse?"
Rian barely hesitated. "We ran into Rei."
It was quick.....just a second, a small misstep in my otherwise controlled reaction. But I felt it. That quiet, unwanted pain in my heart.
Rei.
I forced a smile, shifting my tone like the conversation bored . "Oh." That was all I allowed myself to say.
But inside, it was a different story.
Rei. His na had once felt safe, familiar. Now, it was like stepping onto unstable ground, not knowing whether I'd fall or stand .But this wasn't the ti to think about him. Not here. Not in front of them.
I pushed the feeling away, locking it .
A rustle of movent happen beside . I turned my head and my eyes t Arin's.
I wasn't expecting the way his posture stiffened, like I had caught him off guard. His fingers twitched at his sides. For soone who rarely lost his composure, the hesitation was noticeable.
his lips parting slightly before he quickly looked away.
For a mont, I just stared.
Arin. Flustered?
That was new.
And after seeing him like this I did not understand what I should say next
I thought it best not to take the matter further, "Let's et in class" and saying this I quickly moved towards the class
But even as we walked, sothing stay btween us an unspoken shift, a quiet understanding neither of us acknowledged.
Just then, the school bell rang, cutting through my thoughts. Everyone started moving toward their classes. I followed, slipping into my seat as the sa dull routine began the teacher yelling , assignnts being handed out, and the weight of another long school day settling over .
The class was going on, the teacher was explaining sothing on the blackboard but my attention was not on that side, at that very mont Nami wrote sothing on her notebook and pushed it towards
"What happened between you and Rei?" she had written, her eyes watching with curiosity.
I hesitated for a mont before picking up my pen and writing back. "What do you an? Nothing happened between us."
I wanted to avoid this conversation. Everyone had their suspicions, their assumptions, but I had never openly admitted anything to anyone. And now, I refused to even acknowledge it to myself too
Nami read my response, then quickly write again. "You turned him down? I thought you liked him."
My grip on the pen tightened and then I responded. "There was never anything like that. I never liked him."
As soon as she read my words, she didn't trust but didn't push further. Instead, she simply wrote,
"Oh, I see. Well if it really is like That....I accept it"
She did not say anything further and just focused her attention on the teacher, she acted as if we had never said this..
I take a breath softly and my fingers still over the notebook. Even though the discussion had ended, a strange feeling settled in my heart
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