Classes felt unusually long for Velithra.
Her mind kept drifting to Kai — his voice, the way he looked at her this morning, the almost-touch that made her whole body hum long after he walked away.
She stared at her textbook, rereading the same line for the fourth time.
"Velithra," her seatmate whispered. "You're smiling at a paragraph about… economic policy. Are you okay?"
Velithra snapped upright. "I—I wasn't smiling."
"You definitely were," they whispered back, narrowing their eyes. "Did something happen?"
Velithra shook her head way too fast. "No!"
Her seatmate just raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh."
She forced herself to pay attention, but her stomach fluttered every time the door so much as creaked, like Kai might suddenly walk in even though he was nowhere near her class.
Between periods, she checked her phone.
KaiYou eating?
She blinked at the message, surprised he even thought to ask.
VelithraYes. You?
He answered almost immediately.
KaiTrying. Doesn't help that someone kept me awake last night.
She froze.
Velithra…me?
KaiObviously you.
Her cheeks burned.
VelithraI wasn't doing anything.
A few seconds.
KaiYou exist. That's the problem.
Velithra nearly dropped her phone.
Her friend next to her leaned in. "Why is your face red? Who are you texting?"
"No one," Velithra lied, clutching her phone like it was a dangerous artifact.
Her friend gave her a flat look. "Right. And I'm secretly the queen of the moon."
Velithra stuffed her phone into her bag just as the bell rang.
Kai's side of the day wasn't much better.
He sat in the back of his class, pretending to take notes, but every few minutes he found himself spinning his pen, tapping his foot, or staring out the window like he expected Velithra to walk by.
"You're weird today," his classmate muttered.
Kai didn't even respond. He was thinking about whether he should've held her hand this morning. Whether he could do it now. Whether she even wanted him to.
His phone vibrated once — a notification from Velithra earlier — and he immediately felt the pull to look.
His classmate smirked. "Who's got you checking your phone every five seconds? Didn't think you were the type."
Kai shot them a cold glare.
"I'm not," he said shortly.
But his ears warmed.
His classmate blinked. "Oh my god, you are."
Kai looked away, jaw tightening, heartbeat too fast for him to hide.
"It's not what you think," he muttered.
His classmate leaned back, smug. "Whatever you say, man."
Kai cursed under his breath. He hated that they were right. He hated even more that he didn't actually hate it.
Lunch was the worst.
Velithra sat at her usual table, pretending to listen to a conversation she wasn't participating in. Her eyes kept drifting to the door.
And Kai, in another part of the cafeteria, was doing the exact same thing — glancing over shoulders, scanning crowds, acting like a guy who definitely wasn't in denial.
One of Kai's friends caught him looking.
"…Dude."
Kai stiffened. "What."
"You keep staring over there."
"No, I don't."
"You do. Like, a lot."
Kai clenched his jaw. "Drop it."
His friend grinned. "Is it a girl?"
Kai shoved a fry into his mouth so he didn't have to answer.
It didn't help.
His friend's eyes lit up. "It IS a girl!"
Kai groaned. "I said drop it."
"I won't if you keep blushing like that."
"I'm not—" Kai stopped.He was.He definitely was.
He grabbed his tray and stood. "I'm leaving."
His friends stared after him like they'd just discovered a new species. "He's in love," one whisper-yelled.
Kai nearly tripped.
Velithra, watching from across the room, saw him storm out — and her heart leaped before she could tell it not to.
After lunch, they almost crossed paths in the hallway.
Almost.
Velithra turned a corner just as Kai stepped out of a classroom. For a split second, they locked eyes.
Kai froze.
Velithra froze.
Everything around them blurred — footsteps, voices, the grind of lockers slamming shut.
Kai shifted his weight like he was about to go to her.
Velithra swallowed like she was about to go to him.
Then a group of students cut between them, breaking the moment.
Kai clenched his fists, frustrated.Velithra pressed a hand to her chest, breath unsteady.
They kept walking — but both glanced back at the same time.
They didn't see each other.
But they felt the pull.
Stronger than yesterday.Stronger than this morning.
Stronger with every hour they spent apart.
And then, finally—
The last bell rang.
Velithra's heart jumped.
Kai stood up too fast.
They both walked toward the place they always met after school.
And—
They saw each other.
Velithra stopped.Kai stopped.
His expression was unreadable… except for the warmth in his eyes he couldn't hide even if he tried.
"Hey," she breathed.
Kai swallowed.
"…I told you," he said quietly."I'd be braver after school."
And he took one step closer.
Only one.
But it changed everything.