Kael shut the door to his room with a bang. He pressed his back against it, sliding down slowly until he was sitting on the floor, knees tucked to his chest like some hopeless character in a tragic play.
His lips… still tingled.
His nose… still smelled her perfume.
And his ears—oh God, his ears still heard it.
"Hope you love me?"
"AAAHHHHHH!" Kael buried his face into his hands, muffled screaming. "What the hell was THAT?! What just happened to my life?! Physics betrayed me. My lips betrayed me. And my damn heartbeat was clapping like an audience!"
He stumbled up, pacing around his room in circles, muttering like a madman.
"No… no… NO! I wasn't supposed to kiss her. It was Selira first… the kiss lesson… then Aimee someday… not Mia! Not Mia's raw boobs in my face—ugh, I'm dead. I'm dead-dead-dead."
Kael threw himself on the bed, staring at the ceiling like it held divine answers. But all he saw were her lips, her smirk, her eyes glowing in that devilish, victorious way.
His heart betrayed him again. Ba-thump. Ba-thump.
"Don't do this to me, heart! Don't you dare catch feelings for Mia!"
He rolled over, stuffed his face in the pillow, groaning until his voice cracked. Then he flipped, eyes wide, whispering to himself:
"Wait… did she really… strip her blouse? And… and moan? No, no, no Kael stop thinking! STOP—"
But the memory replayed in high definition.
Her chest pressing down.
Her breath brushing his lips.
The way she laughed when he panicked.
Kael pulled the blanket over his head, tossing like a fish. "I can't sleep! This isn't real. This is a bad dream. Tomorrow I'll wake up and none of this ever—"
He paused. His lips twitched.
And despite all his resistance, he whispered, defeated:
"…But damn… it felt good."
The room fell silent except for his erratic heartbeat.
Kael stared into the darkness, his eyes refusing to close, his thoughts replaying over and over. He didn't even know when night turned into morning.
All he knew was one thing:
Mia had invaded his dreams.
Kael dragged himself through the school gates like a zombie who had flunked out of life. His bag hung off one shoulder, his hair refused to stay down, and his eyes bloodshot.
He muttered to himself as he walked, "Don't look at her… don't think about her… just… survive the day."
But the universe was cruel. The first thing his eyes landed on across the courtyard was Mia.
She was leaning casually against a wall, talking to two other girls, laughing. Her hair danced in the wind. Her blouse Kael looked away immediately, covering his face.
"NOPE. Not today. Not me. I don't see anything." He cut across the grass, even bumped into a basketball player who yelled, but Kael just waved his hand like a guilty fugitive running.
Inside class, he slid into his seat at the very back, sinking low as if the chair could swallow him whole. He didn't even bring out his books he just sat there, muttering.
"Don't look up. Don't look sideways. Especially don't look at the front door "
The door creaked.
Kael froze.
Mia walked in.
His heart detonated. He scrambled with his bag, pretending to be busy. He shoved out random papers, held them up like a shield, even pretended to write something.
Her footsteps drew closer.
Kael's ears turned hot. His brain screamed, She's coming this way! Abort mission! RUN!
She stopped.
Right in front of him.
"Morning, Kael," Mia said, soft but smug, leaning forward just enough for him to catch the faintest whiff of her perfume.
Kael jerked up, smacked his head against the desk in panic, then shot her a forced laugh.
"Haha! M-morning! Didn't see you there… I mean I saw nothing! Nobody! Not a soul!"
The whole class turned at his outburst. Mia just tilted her head, hiding a dangerous little smirk as she whispered:
"You're avoiding me, aren't you?"
Kael gulped, throat dry. His hand shot up like he was volunteering in class.
"Sir! Sir! I request immediate transfer "
But there was no teacher yet. Only laughter from the back of the class.
Kael sank again, muttering, "I'm doomed… utterly doomed."
His eyelids felt like sandbags. He sat hunched over his desk, his head buried in the crook of his arm, praying for the day to end before it even began.
But then without meaning to his eyes lifted. Just once.
And there she was.
Aimee.
She was just sitting at her place, quietly flipping through her notes, strands of hair falling against her cheeks. Soft. Untouched. Pure.
But to Kael's scrambled mind, she wasn't an angel at all. No she was the devil behind his dreams. The phantom that had slipped into his sleep, smiled, touched him, kissed him.
Kael swallowed hard. His cheeks burned. He snapped his gaze away so fast you'd think Aimee had shot lasers from her eyes.
"Damn it…" he muttered under his breath, pressing his forehead to the desk. "Even looking at her feels like I'm guilty of a thousand sins…"
Before he could bury himself further in shame, a hand slapped down on his back.
"Kael, bro!" Jacob grinned, sliding into the seat beside him with that reckless energy only best friends carried. Another guy, Mark, leaned over the desk behind them.
"Why you looking like you failed every subject in life?" Jacob teased.
Kael groaned without lifting his head. "Because I have."
Mark chuckled. "Man, you're so dramatic. What happened, Mia eat your homework or what?"
At the name, Kael jolted, sat up straight, shook his head wildly.
"DON'T. Don't say her name near me. Don't breathe her name. Don't even think it!"
Jacob and Mark exchanged confused looks, then burst into laughter.
"Damn, you're cooked," Jacob said. "Anyway, lighten up, bro. We're coming over to your place after school. Games. Snacks. Maybe even drag you out of this grave mood you're in."
Kael blinked at them, tired eyes trying to process.
"You're… coming over? Today?"
Jacob grinned wider. "Yeah. What, you scared we'll find skeletons in your closet?"
Kael sighed, raking a hand through his messy hair. "No. Just… worse."
His brain screamed silently: If Mia or Selira ever show up while these two idiots are in my house, I'm moving to another country.
But out loud he only muttered, "Fine. Come over. Just… don't touch my snacks."
Jacob laughed and clapped him on the shoulder again.
"See? You're alive already."
The air in the classroom shifted when the door opened.
Click. Click. Heels against the tiles.
Every guy in the room sat up straighter.
She walked in, a woman wrapped in a high-slit gown, the fabric clinging and swaying as if it had been stitched directly to her curves. Her thighs flashed each time she moved, and the scent of something floral, intoxicating, trailed after her like a command.
Her glasses sat loosely at the bridge of her nose, sliding as she turned toward the board. Behind them—eyes that glimmered dangerously, as if every glance was meant to pierce through skin. A dark purple hair more like violet, tied into a bun so smooth it looked sculpted.
"Good afternoon," her voice sang through the room, low and commanding.
The guys in the back exchanged grins, Mark elbowing Jacob.
"Bro, we got lucky today."
"Damn right," Jacob whispered back, leaning forward in his chair.
Kael… froze.
Something about her.
Not just her presence, not just her beauty it was a shadow in his memory. He had seen her once before in this classroom. A fleeting visit, maybe a replacement lecture. But now, standing at the board in full figure… she looked more like a goddess drawn straight out of his restless imagination.
Kael's throat tightened.
"Why does every woman around me look like a trap?" he muttered under his breath.
The teacher turned, lifted her glasses slightly, and began her lecture. Every gesture of her hand across the chalkboard looked rehearsed, graceful, too fluid. Even her writing on the board looked sensual.
Kael pressed his lips tight, head sinking to his desk again.
Please end this class… please, God, before something explodes in me.
But God didn't listen.
She turned at the end of class, handing out sheets.
"Your assignment," she said, her gaze scanning slowly across the room, "due tomorrow."
Her eyes caught Kael for just a second long enough to make him feel like she had traced every thought inside his skull.
By the time the bell rang, Kael was on his feet instantly, shoving books into his bag with trembling hands.
"Kael!" Jacob called after him. "What's the rush? You trying to run from homework?"
Kael forced a smile, shaking his head.
"No. Just trying to survive."