The corridors of Moonridge High were nearly empty after practice, the echoes of footsteps long faded. Amanda moved quickly, her bag slung over her shoulder, head ducked low. She wanted nothing more than to get home, lock herself in her room, and pretend the day hadn't happened. But she wasn't alone.
"Stop running", Skylar's voice cut through the silence.
Amanda froze, her pulse jumping, slowly, she turned. He stood at the end of the hall, shadow stretching long under the dim lights, golden eyes fixed on her with a predator's intensity.
"I'm not running", she said, though her voice came out thinner than she wanted.
He started toward her, deliberate, controlled, every step echoing like a countdown.
"Don't lie to me, you are. You've been avoiding me since that day at the gym, at home, in school, you've been avoiding me", he said with a stern tone.
Amanda swallowed, she didn't know how to respond to that because it was true, she had been avoiding him. Only because she didn't know what to tell him.
"I saw it", Skylar spoke up, cutting through the silence that had settled between them.
Her stomach twisted, her eyes twitched, she looked away, trying to steady her breathing.
"I don't know what you're talking about", she answered simply, trying to keep her tone as even as possible. Skylar stopped in front of her, too close, the heat of his presence pressing down like a weight.
"Your eyes at the field, it turned silver. And before you come up with any shallow excuse, no, it wasn't the light, it wasn't imagination", his jaw flexed, his voice low and dangerous.
"What happened?", he asked again and he looked determined to get an answer.
Amanda hugged her bag tighter against her chest.
"Nothing. It was, nothing", she answered trying to keep her tone level.
The muscle in his jaw ticked.
"Don't play games with me, Amanda", he spoke forcefully.
But her silence was answer enough. His hand curled into a fist at his side.
"Fine, don't tell me but whatever it is, you need to get yourself together. Keep it hidden because if the others find out, if they see what I saw, you won't just be whispered about. You'll be hunted", he said seriously.
The words hit her like a slap, fear prickled down her spine, but anger rose sharper, hotter.
"So that's it? That's your advice? Hide it? Pretend I'm normal until I die of anxiety?", Amanda blew hot.
"I'm telling you to survive", he snapped.
"You're supposed to be my brother!", the word tore out of her throat before she could stop it but she continued on.
"You're supposed to look out for me, not treat me like I'm a burden or some mistake you're stuck with. Do you have any idea what it's like for me here? Everyone hates me, they whisper behind my back, they laugh at me. And you-", her voice cracked with fury and with hurt "-you don't protect me. You stand there and tell me to hide."
His eyes blazed, molten gold, his face carved in stone.
"You're a bad brother", she whispered, breath trembling. "You're a bad person", she added softly, her voice dropping low with the weight of all my emotions.
For a long, dangerous moment, the hall was silent except for the harsh sound of their breathing then Skylar moved. It was too fast to register, his hand slammed against the wall beside her head, his body pressing forward, caging her in. Amanda's back hit the cool plaster, her breath catching in her chest. He leaned down, his face inches from hers, his golden eyes burning like fire. "I am not your brother", he growled, the words rumbling low in his chest.
Amanda's pulse thundered. The world narrowed to him, to the heat of his body, the scent of pine and smoke, the raw intensity radiating from him. Her anger twisted into something sharper, heavier, impossible to name. Her lips parted, a shaky breath escaping. She hated him, she wanted to shove him away, scream at him, claw at the wall he kept around himself. But her body betrayed her, drawn closer instead of pushing away. Skylar's gaze dropped, for one fleeting second, to her mouth. His breath brushed her lips, hot and ragged.
The tension snapped taut between them, a thread stretched too far, too tight. Amanda's hands twitched, unsure whether to push him back or pull him closer.
But then-
Skylar wrenched himself away, as if he had been burned. His chest heaved, his jaw locked tight, his eyes shuttered cold once more. He exhaled deeply, flexing his fingers as he paced around while Amanda still stood frozen by the wall, her eyes spaced out staring into nothing.
"Stay out of my way", he bit out finally then turned to look her in the eye, showing her he was serious and meant what he said. His voice was flat now, stripped of the heat that had nearly consumed them both. Amanda staggered a step forward, breathless, still pressed against the wall.
"Skylar-", Amanda began to speak but he was already gone, storming down the hall, his broad shoulders cutting through the shadows until the door slammed behind him.
Amanda pressed a trembling hand to her chest. Her heart was a wild, frantic drumbeat, her skin still tingling where his nearness had burned. Hate, fear, something darker, something more dangerous pulsed in her veins. She closed her eyes and spaced out her breathing trying to calm herself but that didn't seem to help. Her heart still raced as she remembered the way his face was merely inches from her, the way he looked at her, the way it send tingles down her spine. She shook her head once, then shook it again to get rid of the thoughts in her head, Skylar was right, she needed to stay away from him but she knew deep down that whatever this was between them, it wasn't going away.
And that terrified her more than anything else.