The final bell rang, but it didn't sound like freedom.It sounded like a countdown.
Velithra sat frozen at her desk while the rest of the class emptied out in a rush — laughter, chatter, doors slamming shut. The noise faded until only the hum of the fluorescent lights remained.
Her palms were cold.Her stomach was a knot.And her heart wouldn't stop racing.
She grabbed her bag and stood, her legs feeling unsteady as she stepped into the hallway.
Kai was waiting.
He stood by the window at the end of the corridor, the sunset bleeding through the glass behind him. The light painted his face in soft orange, catching the dark strands of his hair, the quiet storm in his eyes.
He turned when she approached — no smile, no words. Just a quiet look that made it hard for her to breathe.
"You came," he said finally.
"Of course," she said, though her voice wavered. "You said you needed to talk."
Kai nodded once, then looked away — out the window, at nothing. "I didn't sleep last night," he said softly. "Not because I couldn't. But because… I didn't want to."
Velithra frowned slightly. "Why?"
"Because I knew if I closed my eyes," he said, "I'd see things I'm not ready to face again."
There was something raw in his tone. It wasn't like him — not the guarded, careful version of Kai she was used to. This was something else. Something fragile.
Velithra took a small step closer. "Kai…"
He laughed under his breath — quiet, bitter. "You felt it too, didn't you? That… pull. Like someone was inside your chest."
She nodded."Yeah," she whispered. "I thought I was imagining it."
"You weren't." His voice cracked slightly. "I felt it too."
Silence. The only sound was the faint ticking of the classroom clock down the hall.
Kai's hand twitched at his side, like he wanted to reach out but didn't trust himself to. "I don't know what's happening," he said finally. "But when it started, when I felt it, I… saw something."
Velithra's pulse quickened. "What did you see?"
He hesitated, then met her gaze."You," he said simply. "Standing in the rain. Crying. And… saying my name."
Her breath caught in her throat.She had been crying — alone in her room, whispering his name without even knowing why.
"How—" she started, but he shook his head.
"I don't know," Kai said. "But whatever this is, it's not just coincidence. It's something else."
Velithra didn't realize until that moment how close they'd gotten. The air between them felt charged — not quite romantic, not quite dangerous, but something in between.
She looked up at him, her voice small. "What are we supposed to do about it?"
Kai's expression softened. He reached up, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face — careful, hesitant. "We find out," he said. "Together."
Velithra nodded, though her heart was racing so fast it almost hurt.
And as the last of the sunset disappeared, leaving only the dim, golden light of the hallway, she couldn't shake the feeling that whatever they'd just promised each other…
It wasn't going to be easy.