For the first time since the semester began, the campus was quiet. No engines tearing across the quad. No mocking laughter echoing off the brick walls. No eyes burned into Leona's back whenever she crossed the courtyard.
It was as if Zachary Moreno had disappeared.
And at first, it almost felt like a blessing.
The bruises on her arm from where he'd grabbed her still throbbed beneath her sleeve. Leona pressed her books tighter against her chest as she walked Alex to class, doing her best to ignore the stares. Most people weren't whispering anymore.
It was… odd.
She expected to see him leaning against a wall, helmet in hand, smirk carved into his mouth as if he owned the pavement under her feet. She expected the Pumas to surround Alex again, jeering, recording, circling like sharks.
But nothing happened.
Three days passed. Then four. And not a single sight of him.
Leona should've been relieved. She told herself she was. She told Alex the same.
"See?" she said as they walked into the library together. "He's bored already. Guys like him, they lose interest fast. That's all he ever wanted. A reaction. Now that he knows he can't get one from us, he's moved on."
Alex didn't look convinced. He rubbed at the back of his neck, still glancing over his shoulder every few seconds. "You don't think he's planning something?"
Leona forced a laugh. "He's not that complicated. Trust me. The best way to deal with Zac Moreno is to starve him. No attention, no fuel. And right now? He's choking on silence."
But late that night, when her room was dark and her laptop cast shadows across the wall, she wasn't so sure. She hadn't seen him. Not once. Not on his bike, not with the Pumas, not even across the quad.
It was as if he'd erased her.
And somehow, that unsettled her more than his presence ever had.
Meanwhile, Zac had his own war to fight.
He hadn't told the Pumas why they stopped circling the Campbell siblings. When Rico asked, laughing, why he'd dropped his "princess game," Zac only shrugged. "Got bored."
Evan didn't buy it. He never did. But he didn't press.
Truth was, Zac hadn't been bored. He hadn't lost interest. If anything, the opposite. He couldn't shake her.
Her voice kept replaying in his head. You're just a spoiled little boy throwing tantrums… pathetic… nothing without your gang…
The words cut sharper than anything anyone had dared throw at him before.
Because they weren't lies.
And the way her eyes had locked on his, even with his hand bruising her arm, even with his fist in the wall, she hadn't been afraid. She'd looked at him like she saw straight through him, stripped down to the hollow inside he'd spent years covering up.
It rattled him.
So he did the only thing he could.
He walked away.
And he stayed gone.
Pretended she didn't exist. Pretended Alex didn't exist. Pretended that night hadn't happened.
If he couldn't control her, then he'd erase her. Simple.
At least, that's what he told himself.
But the silence burned. Every time he saw her across campus, standing in a circle at her activist group meetings, laughing with her brother in the cafeteria, reading under a tree with headphones in, he had to force himself to look away.
And every time, it felt like she was winning.
By the end of the week, Leona's confidence had started to rebuild. Without Zac shadowing her every step, she could breathe again. She poured herself into planning the student rally for better security on campus, channeling every ounce of her anger into something productive.
She almost believed he was gone for good. Until one evening, as she was pinning posters on the community board in the student union, she caught sight of him.
He wasn't looking at her. He was leaning against the far wall, scrolling through his phone, a cigarette tucked behind his ear. Evan was beside him, arms crossed, saying something low.
Leona froze mid-motion, poster still half-pinned.
Zac didn't glance up. Didn't smirk. Didn't acknowledge her at all.
He just turned, flicked his lighter open, and walked out.
Like she wasn't even there.
Her stomach twisted.
It should have been a relief. She told herself it was. But it didn't feel like winning. It felt like being erased. Like he'd stripped her of even the satisfaction of fighting back.
For the first time since meeting him, Leona realized something terrifying: She didn't know which was worse. His presence, or his absence.
Zac stubbed his cigarette out against the wall outside, jaw tight. He hadn't looked at her. Not once. And yet, he could still feel her eyes burning into his back.
"Thought you said you were over it," Evan muttered beside him.
Zac didn't answer.
Because the truth was, he wasn't.
Not even close.
Later that night, Leona sat at her desk, scribbling notes for her rally speech. She had promised Alex she'd send him her draft for feedback, so she typed until her fingers cramped.
When her phone buzzed, she reached for it, expecting a text from him. But it wasn't.
It was an email. Anonymous.
If you think Moreno's done with you, you're wrong. Watch your back.
Leona's heart dropped.
Her fingers trembled over the keyboard. She looked around her small dorm room, shadows stretching across the walls.
Zac's silence hadn't been mercy.
It was the calm before something worse.