History class.
Ami sits still, eyes fixed on the clock. The hands move painfully slow, like they're mocking her.
She slides out of her seat, ducks past the half-closed classroom door, and slips away like a whisper.
The hallway's empty,just how she likes it.
The abandoned gym storeroom smells like dust and forgotten sweat. Ami kicks aside a broken skipping rope and sinks against the wall, finally breathing.
[Just a nap. Just ten minutes of peace.Just ten minutes without-]
A shuffle. A cough.
Ami's eyes snap open.
A boy sits next to her, fiddling with a box of basketball nets.
Dio.
Of course. He glances up, startled.
"Didn't think anyone else used this place," he says.
Ami blinks. "Didn't think I'd see you twice in one day."
He grins, sheepish. "Came to grab cones for P.E. My idiot friends thought it'd be hilarious to lock me in."
His fingers tap an uneven rhythm on the floorboards. "Anyway… I'm Dio. 12th-A. You?"
[Shit]
Ami forces a shrug. "Ami. 10th-B. Just a quiet little junior."
Dio snorts. "Right. The quiet girl who roasted someone with a glitter comment."
She almost smiles. Almost.
A knock at the door cuts them off.
Ami steps toward the door, knocks once, then again.
SPLASH!
A bucket of cold water hits her out of nowhere.
"GOT YOU, DIO!"
Footsteps thunder away, laughing.
Dio's on his feet instantly. "What the-?"
Ami looks down. Her white shirt is now transparent.
Dio's face goes nuclear. He spins around so fast he nearly trips over the basketball nets. "I-uh-here-" He yanks off his jacket and holds it out blindly, arm fully extended like he's defusing a bomb.
Ami takes it, she bites back a laugh.
[Ahh…He's really short-circuiting over this? young soul. So flustered by something this small.]
"Thanks," she mutters, shrugging it on.
Dio's still facing the wall, ears bright red.He coughs into his hand, still flushed. "Yeah. I… I didn't see anything. I mean...not like that! I mean-never mind."
They step out of the storeroom together, Dio still nervously scratching his neck.
And there she is.
Alia.
Her eyes lock onto Dio first,then Ami. Then the jacket.
Ami watches the realization hit in slow motion:
[-Who's that guy?
-Why is she with him?
-Since when does she talk to anyone?]
Alia's smile goes sharp. "Ami," she chirps. "Mom's looking for you."
The lie is obvious. Celeste hasn't "looked for" Ami in years.
Dio glances between them, sensing the tension but smart enough not to ask.
Ami tugs the jacket tighter. "Tell her I'll be home late."
Alia's gaze flicks to Dio again, lingering. "I will."
She walks away.
Ami catches the shift in her little sister's expression.
[And that… that's the fear I was having.]