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ARKs POV
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The night didn't let me go.
Sleep came in fragments- broken pieces that left me more exhausted than awake. Every time I shut my eyes, he was there. His voice stretched through the dark, not like an echo, but like he was lying right beside me, whispering straight into my ear.
"Don't run from me again."
"You wanted me enough to call. Now deal with it."
The words looped like a curse. My sheets twisted around my legs, my scarf half-off, knotted around my throat like it had fought me while I slept. When I jolted awake for the final time, morning light bleeding pale through my curtains, my phone was clutched tight in my fist.
I checked it before I even breathed properly.
No messages.
No missed calls.
Empty.
The silence felt worse than anything he could have said. At least his cruelty meant he was there. At least teasing meant acknowledgment. The blank screen was like a door slammed in my face, leaving me with nothing but memory.
I sat up slowly, clutching the scarf around my mouth and nose, holding it like it could stop my pulse from breaking me open.
It was weekdays. That meant school. That meant hallways. That meant Jade.
And I wasn't ready.
The air on campus buzzed with the usual Tuesday chaos- students shoving at lockers, sneakers squeaking across polished floors, conversations overlapping until they blurred into static.
But all of it faded when I heard his voice.
Not low, not private like the way he'd breathed against me yesterday. No- this was the public voice, the one meant to pull people in, meant to make heads turn. Smooth, lazy, dangerous.
Melissa stood at his side like always, tilting her head back in a laugh that was too loud, too desperate. Her fingers brushed his sleeve as if testing whether he'd let her hold onto him again.
But this time- he didn't even look at her.
His shoulder shifted, almost casual, and her touch slid off like it didn't matter. His eyes were somewhere else. His smirk belonged to no one.
The crowd noticed. Whispers zipped through the lockers like sparks:
"Are they done?"
"Did she get dumped?"
"Since when does Jade ignore her?"
Melissa's face tightened, even as she tried to laugh it off, leaning harder against him. But he turned slightly, shutting her out, and the movement was sharp enough to draw blood even without words.
I stood frozen halfway down the hall, books clutched to my chest. My stomach twisted into something I didn't want to name6- part relief, part guilt, part fear.
If he wasn't hers anymore… then who was he coming for?
My scarf scratched at my jaw as I pulled it tighter and slipped past them quickly, pretending I hadn't seen a thing. But the way his eyes flicked- brief, razor-sharp in my direction-;told me pretending was useless.
I chose my usual corner seat, head down, notebook open before the bell even rang.
Students spilled in. Mellisa's minions sat near the front, posture stiff, every line of them screaming for attention he wouldn't give. They friends leaned close, whispering like gnats around each other's ear.
Then he walked in.
The air tilted. It always did when Jade entered a room. Like everyone had to shift unconsciously to make space for him.
I felt him before I saw him, the heat of his presence sliding over my skin. He didn't even glance toward Melissa's minions. He walked past them without hesitation, his footsteps deliberate until he stopped next to me.
And sat down.
My pen froze. My chest locked. My scarf suddenly felt too thick, too hot.
He didn't speak. He didn't need to. The scrape of his chair, the slow lean back of his body, the steady weight of his stare- each one was a wordless sentence designed to unravel me.
The papers were handed down the row. My hand shook as I reached forward, trying to keep my head bowed low. His hand met mine.
Fingers brushed.
Not accidental. Not hurried. Slow. Intentional.
Electricity shot up my arm, straight to my throat. I snatched my hand back as if I touched something I didnt intend to, clutching my pen until the plastic creaked.
I kept my eyes on the paper, but his smirk flickered in the corner of my vision like a brand, searing itself into me.
The cafeteria was louder than ever, too many voices echoing off tiled walls.
I sat in my corner, my scratch book opened, scarf warm against my lips. My body was a coil of nerves, ready to snap at the smallest push.
Across the room, Melissa stood stiff as glass. Tasha and Charlotte leaned close, whispering sharp words I couldn't hear, but their eyes darted toward me.
Then the air shifted.
He was walking. Past his usual table. Past his friends. Past rows of open chairs.
Straight to me.
He sat down across from me, calm, easy, like it was natural. Like it wasn't the most dangerous thing he could have done.
AGAIN.
Every eye in the room turned. Whispers rippled outward in waves.
What's going.
Why is Jade sitting near her.
Was what I could hear and also ask myself the same thing. Why was he doing this. This made Mellisa mad. And making her mad meant me getting beaten up again.
My skin burned. My scarf felt too tight. Every gaze stabbed into me, branding me with words they didn't even have to say.
I couldn't breathe.
I didn't want trouble. So if I could just ignore him like yesterday then everything would be alright.
I bolted. Bag clutched. Feet pounding. As I jolted out of the cafeteria whispers chased me down the hall.
She thinks she's special.
Who does she think she is?
I went to the library. It was quite and the only place I'm able to bury myself into without anyone noticing.... Except Jade.
I stood there at the door. Relieved. Now I can finally breath.
" Ignore him and everything will be okay," I whispered to myself. But my voice cracked, and I knew that wasn't going to be possible. I didn't believe me.
I left my bag at a table near the geographical books section and went to the history section. I scanned every book until I found what I wanted. I went back to my table when...
And froze.
He was sitting. Right next to my bag. Did...
Does he know that is mine. Why. Did he follow me. Oh my God.
My stomach dropped. My pulse stuttered, then roared.
I ducked back behind the shelves, hiding like a coward, watching him from the sliver between books. Waiting. Hoping he'd get bored and leave.
But he didn't.
Minutes ticked by, then the sound of the library bell cracked through the library. Chairs scraped, voices rose, and the room slowly emptied. Still- he sat there. Cool. Patient. Like he had all the time in the world.
When he finally stood, my chest almost loosened. But then-
He didn't just walk away.
He picked up my bag.
And left.
My knees almost gave out right there. My books slipped in my hands. He had my bag. My only shield, my everything.
Class was worse than a nightmare.
The teacher droned. Students scribbled. Pages turned. Pens tapped.
And me?
I sat frozen. No bag. No books. No notes. Just my empty desk and trembling hands. I couldn't even pretend to focus. My scarf hid my face, but not the shame. Not the despair.
Why did Jade take my bag if he wasn't even going to be here?
Why leave me like this?
Why strip me bare in front of everyone?
Tears pressed hot against the back of my eyes, but I forced them down. I bit the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood. Anything to stop from breaking in the middle of class.
Hopeless. Shattered. That's all I was.
After school.
I didn't run home. Didn't escape the way I wanted to. I just sat in the empty classroom, hands curled in my lap, waiting.
For him.
For my bag.
For anything that could end this twisting in my chest.
The door clicked open.
He walked in, smirk first, like this was all a game. His stride was lazy, cool, dripping with satisfaction as though my suffering was the sweetest entertainment he could've had.
And there- slung casually in his hand-was my bag.
I blinked fast, but the tears betrayed me, burning sharp at the corners of my eyes. My throat tightened. I had waited so long, so helpless, and he had known it.
Instead of giving it back, he dropped the bag onto my desk with a careless thud, then leaned down- both hands pressing flat onto the wood, trapping me in place. His body loomed too close, blocking my way out.
"Jade- " my voice cracked.
Jade's smirk faltered for the briefest second. His eyes scanned me- my trembling fingers, my rigid posture, the way my scarf quivered with uneven breaths.
"I'm sorry," he said, and his voice wasn't mocking this time. "I didn't mean to make you cry."
The word sorry from him felt like thunder in the quiet.
But it wasn't enough to untangle me.
"No. I'm not," I shot back at him.
He tilted his head, studying me with sharp eyes that glinted with amusement and something darker. "You look like you're about to cry."
"I-i," I swallowed hard. My scarf quivered with every ragged breath.
"Sorry. I just wanted to talk."
You run away from me again," he murmured, voice low enough that it vibrated straight into my bones.
My lips parted. But nothing came out.
He leaned closer, didn't move back. His hands stayed where they were, caging me in. His chest hovered inches from mine, his scent filling the air, heavy and intoxicating.
I pressed against the chair, clutching at the fabric of my scarf like it could protect me from him.
"Then-give me my bag," I rasped.
He ignored the word. His hand lifted, fingers brushing the edge of my scarf. Light. Barely there. But it set every nerve in me on fire.
His eyes darkened. His smirk deepened.
He smirked, dragging his fingers slowly across the zipper of my bag, deliberately teasing me with the thing I had been desperate for all day.
"Is that really what you want?" His voice curled around me, low and dangerous. "Or is it me you've been waiting for?"
My heart punched against my ribs. My pulse roared.
"Stop playing with me," I whispered, trembling.
For a second, something shifted in his eyes- something almost real, almost raw. His smirk softened, but not enough to make him less terrifying.
"You're so damn fragile," he murmured, his finger brushing the edge of my scarf, making me flinch. "And yet… you make it impossible to stay away."
He finally, finally pushed the bag toward me. The weight of it hit my lap, but I barely noticed because his other hand still hovered near my face, brushing against fabric that should never have been touched.
"You don't need to worry your self about Melissa. She's not important," he said, voice sharp, certain. "You're the only one who matters now."
The air left my chest in a stutter. Heat tangled with terror until I couldn't separate them anymore.
He leaned closer. The room shrank until it was just him- his breath, his stare, his hand against the fabric that shielded me.
And then
"Do you wanna be my girlfriend?"
The words landed like a blade. Not soft. Not questioning. Commanding. Ruthless.
My knees buckled. My back pressed harder to the chair, scarf clutched tight to my face as if it could hide the storm inside me.
He smirked, satisfied with the silence that swallowed me whole. His breath brushed my ear as he whispered, "Don't make me repeat myself."
And then he walked away.
His footsteps faded, but the tremor he left in me didn't.
I slid down the wall, trembling so violently I thought my bones might crack. My pulse thundered, wild and traitorous. Fear burned my skin- but something darker, something I refused to name, pulsed beneath it.
My heart didn't know whether it was breaking apart or falling into something far more dangerous.