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Ark's POV
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Morning never arrived quietly for me anymore.
It wasn't the sun slipping through the blinds or the alarm buzzing against my pillow that woke me. It was the heaviness- the knowledge of eyes, whispers, the sting of yesterday echoing before today even began. I lay there for a few minutes, scarf folded neatly on the chair beside my bed, and stared at it like it was some kind of verdict.
When I finally pulled it on, wrapping the fabric across my face until only my eyes showed, I felt both relief and suffocation. Relief because it hid me. Suffocation because it reminded me I needed hiding in the first place.
The bus ride was worse than usual. My seat in the back corner had always been a shield, but this morning, laughter seemed to stretch longer across the aisle, sharper, bolder. I glanced up once- too quickly- and caught a boy shoving his phone into his friend's hand. A picture flashed across the screen before it disappeared. I didn't need to see clearly to know what it was.
Me.
Sitting beside Jade.
My chest tightened, but I looked away, forehead pressing against the glass. Outside, the city blurred by, safer than whatever was happening inside this bus.
Classrooms weren't any kinder.
By the time I slid into my seat, I could feel it-those subtle turns of heads, the small smirks exchanged between desks. They weren't hiding it anymore. The whispers weren't whispers. They were daggers.
Jade walked in late again, as usual. But this time, his eyes flicked straight to the empty chair next to me, and without hesitation, he dropped into it.
The scrape of his chair echoed louder than it should have, and my heart lurched painfully in my chest. He didn't say anything, just leaned back, arm draped casually over his desk, as if the weight of the stares meant nothing to him.
But to me, it meant everything.
I could feel Melissa somewhere across the room even tho I know I don't share the classroom with her but surely her minions were watching. Her presence burned against the back of my skull like a spotlight.
When the teacher passed around worksheets, Jade didn't hand mine over the normal way. His fingers brushed mine-deliberately, lingering just enough to make my pulse spike. As usual.
"Careful," he murmured under his breath, lips barely moving. "You might get used to me."
Heat shot straight through my veins. I yanked my hand back, shoving the paper into my folder, but his smirk was already in place.
The worst part wasn't his words. It was that people saw. The ripple of soft laughter, the knowing glances- it all landed on me. I pulled the scarf tighter around my face, but fabric couldn't shield me from being dissected.
Small attacks followed me everywhere.
When I reached for my bag after class, someone's foot nudged it just far enough that it toppled, spilling books across the floor.
"Oops," a voice chimed from behind, mock-sweet. "Clumsy."
I didn't look up. I just bent, gathered my things, and ignored the burn in my throat.
A folded scrap of paper landed on my desk in the next lesson. I hesitated before opening it, my stomach already knowing what it would say.
He's not yours.
No signature. No need. The letters themselves carried Melissa's perfume, sharp and suffocating.
At lunch, I tried to sit at my usual corner table, but when I arrived, the seat was already covered in spilled soda, the sticky liquid dripping slowly onto the floor. Laughter followed me as I walked away, tray trembling in my hands.
I ended up in the library instead, hiding between shelves that smelled of dust and ink, untouched by their games. But even there, I couldn't breathe freely. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Jade's smirk. Every time I opened them, I heard Melissa's laugh.
The hallway after lunch was worse.
I had just turned the corner when Jade stepped into my path, leaning casually against a locker, like he had been waiting for me.
"You're avoiding me. AGAIN," he said.
His voice was low, dangerous, the kind that didn't need to be loud to command attention.
I kept my gaze down. "I'm not."
He tilted his head, studying me like I was lying- and maybe I was. His hand shot out, not to touch me but to press flat against the locker beside my head, caging me in with casual dominance.
"Ark," he whispered, close enough that I could feel his breath. The sound of my name coming out of his mouth made my insides to twist. "You really think you can run?"
My breath hitched, but before I could move, before I could summon an answer, Melissa's laugh floated down the hall. Sharp. Deliberate.
Jade smirked, leaning even closer. "See? They're watching you now. You really need to stop caring about them."
And just like that, he pushed off the locker and strolled away, leaving me pressed flat against the metal, heart beating like I'd just survived a car crash.
By the final class, my nerves were frayed to threads.
Every laugh felt directed at me. Every glance held meaning I couldn't untangle. And in the corner of my vision, through the window, I saw her again- the hooded figure.
She stood outside the building this time, half-hidden by a tree, her face obscured by shadow. Watching. Always watching.
Was she Melissa's? Someone Jade sent? Or something worse entirely?
The bell released me like a lifeline. I gathered my things so fast my hands shook and practically ran to the bus.
I curled against the window, scarf pressed tight, trying to disappear. The ride blurred past, a haze of noise and flashing lights outside. My reflection in the glass looked like a stranger- wide eyes, pale skin, fabric swallowing everything else.
Home should have been better.
My mother greeted me with her usual smile, proud when I told her I made it through another week. She fussed about dinner, about vitamins, about whether I was drinking enough water. I nodded at the right times, forcing small smiles that didn't reach my eyes.
But when I shut the door to my room, the walls pressed closer, suffocating. I sat on my bed, phone clutched in my hand, trying not to replay Jade's words, Melissa's laughter, the hooded girl's stare.
I failed.
Every second of the day twisted into knots inside me until I couldn't tell which one cut deepest- the humiliation or the confusion.
I hated Jade. I should have hated him. But his voice still echoed, low and magnetic, his touch still burned across my skin.
And I hated myself more for not knowing what that meant.
My phone buzzed.
I froze.
An unknown number.
This time, the message was short, sharp, merciless:
You can't trust anyone. Especially him.
My stomach dropped. My pulse thudded in my ears.
I stared at the words until they blurred, my reflection in the dark screen looking more like a ghost than a girl.
The scarf felt suddenly too tight. My breath caught.
And in that silence, I realized something.
Melissa wasn't the only shadow circling me now.
There was someone else.
And they knew.
Jade said that am his girlfriend and this made things worse day by day. Do they know that Jade made me his girlfriend. Did they see us kissing. No. I shouldn't make assumptions of something not true. But that picture. What was it about. What made them laugh or whisper worse than before. What do they know that I don't.