Kael dragged himself back to his seat like a man walking the plank. His legs heavy, his chest hollow. The classroom buzzed in chaotic noise—papers rustling, chairs scraping, students laughing as they left. Freedom. Relief. Everyone was loud, alive.
Everyone except him.
He dropped his head onto the desk with a deep sigh. His body felt drained, his thoughts chewed up and spat out.
Selira… last night, the teacher's stare… the damn test…
The chaos in his head was louder than the classroom itself.
Then tap.
Jacob.
"Ahh, bro! What up?" Jacob's grin was wide, his energy bouncing like he'd just won a lottery. "Man, that test, huh? Brutal, but you know me.. I did my thing."
Kael groaned into the wood of his desk, barely lifting his head. Jacob kept going, buzzing like an endless radio.
"You look dead, bro. You okay? Wait, don't tell me you actually blanked? No way. Kael, the model boy, failing a test?" He laughed, shaking his head.
Kael barely heard him. He nodded at random, eyes half-shut, body begging for sleep.
And then mistake.
A whisper left his lips, soft, unguarded, a name slipping out of the fog of his thoughts.
"…Aimee…"
Jacob froze mid-buzz.
"Ohhh," Jacob said, his eyes lighting up like he'd just discovered gold. "So that's what's been messing with you today! Not the test, not sleep, you've been thinking about her."
Kael's eyes snapped half-open, sluggish with denial. "H-huh? No, no "
Jacob slapped his shoulder. "Don't worry, bro. I got you."
Before Kael could even sit up, Jacob was already on his feet, pointing across the room.
"I'll go tell her you're calling. Boom problem solved."
Kael's eyes went wide, the fog in his brain vanishing in a blink. His chest tightened, his throat choking on panic.
"No—no-no-no !"
He slammed his palm onto his forehead so hard it echoed, groaning through his teeth.
But it was too late.
Jacob was already halfway across the classroom, bouncing with confidence like some kind of Cupid gone rogue.
Kael peeked through his fingers, dread swirling in his stomach as Jacob stopped right in front of her.
Aimee.
Sitting gracefully with her friend, her presence calm, untouchable. Her hair glowed under the dull light, her eyes sharp but soft. She barely looked up at Jacob, but when she did it was with the kind of poise that made Kael's chest ache.
And Jacob, with zero hesitation, zero fear, leaned in and said it loud enough for half the class to catch:
"Hey, Aimee," he said casually, loud enough for her and her friend to hear. "Kael wants to talk to you. He literally called me.. like, pulled me aside, bro code and yeah, he's waiting."
Silence.
It spread slowly, like ripples in water.
A few students still buzzed around, laughing, heading out the door but near Aimee's desk, it was different.
Her friend looked up first, brows raised, glancing between Jacob and Kael.
Then Aimee turned her head.
Her eyes landed on Kael.
Not harsh, not soft, just direct. Piercing. Like she could see straight through him.
Kael froze in his seat, caught like a deer in headlights. His throat locked, his body stiff. Every instinct screamed to look away, but his gaze clung to hers against his will.
Heat flushed through his chest. His palms sweat.
And Aimee… she smirked.
Just a faint curve of lips, sharp, knowing.
It lasted only a second but to Kael, it stretched into eternity.
Jacob, oblivious, grinned wide, clapping his hands together. "See? Boom. Done. No need to thank me, bro. Just go talk."
Kael's mind spiraled. Talk? TALK? After everything?
Last night with Selira flashed in his head, her lips, her touch, her voice whispering his name like sin. His chest tightened.
Now Aimee's gaze pinned him like a spear, dragging the weight of guilt, lust, and confusion back onto him.
No. Not here. Not now.
His breath came quick. His eyes darted down to the desk, away from her stare.
But he could still feel it.
That smirk.
That knowing look.
Like she already saw the chaos inside him.
The classroom noise grew louder again, chairs scraping, laughter echoing, footsteps stomping out the hall. But Kael stayed locked in his seat, drowning in the storm of his own heartbeat.
Jacob leaned down, whispering with a playful grin, "Bro, if you don't go to her now, you'll never forgive yourself. She's literally waiting."
Kael wanted to shout. To punch him. To vanish into thin air.
Instead he stayed still.
Head low. Heart pounding.
And across the room, Aimee's smirk lingered.
Not mocking. Not kind. Something in-between.
Like she was testing him.
Like she knew something he didn't.
And Jacob? Jacob clapped him on the shoulder so hard Kael almost fell forward.
"Bro, she's literally waiting. Don't blow this. If you don't move right now, I swear I'll drag you myself."
Kael muttered under his breath, "You already blew it for me…"
But Jacob didn't hear.
He couldn't escape. Not from Jacob. Not from Aimee's eyes. Not from himself.
....
Kael's legs felt like they were made of stone, but somehow... somehow they carried him forward. He scratched the back of his head like his scalp was suddenly itchy, eyes darting everywhere except Aimee's face.
"H-hey, Aimee," he muttered so low it barely reached her.
His voice cracked halfway, the sound of a boy pretending to be a man but trapped between edges.
From across the room, Jacob leaned against a desk, both thumbs up like the proudest coach alive. Inside Kael's chest though? A war. He wished he could hurl a boulder at Jacob's face.
Aimee tilted her head, smirk tugging at the corner of her lips, but then her eyes dropped. Just a little Shy. Like a glance that both cut and soothed at once.
His lungs locked. He was about to speak, maybe even say something decent when her friend chimed in.
"Oh, Kael." She said it loud enough for the nearby chatter to hush. "I literally saw you yesterday. With that girl leaning all over you."
The room might as well have exploded.
Kael's heart went berserk. His throat dried. His brain screamed every curse word in the dictionary.
"U-uhn… nn-no, I uh—it's not " Kael's words broke like a dying flute. His hands flailed halfway before he froze, looking like he was practicing interpretive dance.
Jacob's eyes went wide from across the room. He could see his boy combusting in real-time.
Before Kael could fully self-destruct, Jacob bolted over, slid an arm around his shoulder like the world's worst bodyguard and said, "Haha, yeahhh, funny story anyway, we'll see you girls later, BYE!"
He dragged Kael like a sack of rice, ignoring the bewildered looks from Aimee and her friend.
The girls watched them go, whispers and giggles trailing behind.
Kael's soul left his body. His head hung low as Jacob pulled him outside the classroom.
Inside, the buzz started again.
Aimee, still seated, smirked faintly to herself. Her friend leaned in, whispering something that made her cover her mouth and laugh.
Meanwhile, Kael was outside, finally freed from the lion's den only to realize he'd just been saved into a bigger storm with Jacob.
The hallway was quieter than the buzzing classroom they left behind. Kael leaned against the wall, palm pressed into his forehead, a grin splitting his face but not the happy kind. More like the "why-does-God-hate-me" kind.
"Why…" he muttered to no one. "…why does everything have to be this way for me?"
His chest rose and fell in dramatic sighs, eyes glazed at the ceiling as if the universe might send down a manual for his life.
Jacob crossed his arms, shaking his head like a disappointed parent but with the grin of a best friend who smelled gossip.
"Bro," Jacob started, voice low, almost serious. "I knew you weren't telling me something."
Kael froze.
Jacob leaned closer. "I literally heard what her friend said 'a girl leaning toward you'? Oh-ohhh…" His eyes widened, then narrowed, the smirk spreading. "You mean that hot girl earlier this morning?"
Kael choked on air. His hand shot up in protest but no words came out.
Jacob slapped his arm. "Haha! I knew it! Don't even try denying it. You just keep a lot of girls behind us, huh?"
Kael's mouth hung open. "I what—NO!"
But Jacob was already pacing, rubbing his chin like a detective. "So let me get this straight: Aimee's shy glancing at you, Mia's all in your face, and now there's some mystery girl leaning over you yesterday? Man…" He whistled. "You're living a whole anime harem and didn't even tell me."
Kael covered his face with both hands, groaning into his palms. "Kill me. Just kill me now."
Jacob burst out laughing, loud enough to make a few students walking past glance their way. "Oh nah, bro you're not dying yet. You're living my dream, and I'm gonna watch every episode!"
Kael slid down the wall, sitting on the floor, muttering under his breath. He couldn't tell Jacob the truth, not about Selira, not about last night, not about the burning mark on his wrist.
Jacob crouched beside him, smirk carved deep. "I don't know what you're hiding, Kael, but one thing's clear your peaceful school life is officially dead."
And in Kael's chest, his heart thumped harder. Jacob was right.
He lowered his head as he walked across the street.