Perfect! I'll rewrite Chapter 1 fully, keeping
Lila's inner thoughts and confusion
Ryan's quiet
The bell rang, loud and sharp, echoing through the busy high school hallway. Lockers slammed, sneakers squeaked on polished floors, and voices bounced off the walls. Lila Evans hugged her backpack straps tighter, pretending to fix them, but her eyes were fixed on him.
Ethan Carter.
He leaned against his locker like he owned the place, a textbook under one arm, that effortless, irritatingly confident smirk on his face. His hair fell perfectly over his forehead, and when he laughed at something one of his friends said, it was impossible not to stare.
Her stomach fluttered, the familiar mixture of excitement and dread that came every time she saw him. She knew it was silly, but she couldn't help it. She looked down at her shoelaces, pretending to tie them, but she could feel his eyes—or maybe just the idea of him—pulling her in.
Then she felt it: a presence next to her, quiet, solid, steady.
"Hey," Ryan Moore said softly, his voice almost swallowed by the hallway chaos.
"Hey," she whispered back, careful not to look directly at him.
Ryan's eyes flicked toward Ethan, catching her gaze from earlier. He didn't say anything, but she could see it—the faint tension, the small disappointment hidden behind his calm expression. It was subtle, almost invisible, but she felt it deep in her chest.
"Do you… like him?" Ryan asked quietly, his voice so low that she had to strain to hear it.
Lila froze. She wanted to deny it, to say it was nothing, but the truth was complicated. Ethan was exciting, fun, impossible to ignore. But Ryan… he was constant, reliable, and somehow, even in this crowded hallway, he made her feel safe.
"I… I don't know," she admitted, her cheeks heating up.
Ryan didn't respond, just watched her with something between hope and pain flickering in his eyes. For a moment, the noisy hallway disappeared, leaving just them, suspended in a small bubble of tension neither wanted to break.
Then Ethan laughed, loud and clear, and it shattered the bubble. Lila turned, heart racing, and saw that he had noticed her glance. He raised an eyebrow, just for a moment. Her stomach did that weird flutter again, the one that always came when he looked at her.
Ryan cleared his throat, breaking the spell. "Class in five," he muttered, walking ahead toward their shared homeroom. Lila followed, confused and unsettled. Her chest felt heavy. How could she have feelings for both of them?
In the classroom, Lila tried to focus. Mr. Thompson droned on about the American Revolution, but her mind refused to cooperate. She could see Ethan in her thoughts, leaning over a desk, laughing, charming everyone around him. And Ryan—quiet, thoughtful, always noticing her in ways no one else did.
During a break, she noticed Ryan fiddling with his pencil, glancing her way before looking down again. He didn't speak, but somehow, that silent attention made her heart ache more than Ethan's loud charm ever could.
At lunch, the cafeteria buzzed with noise: trays clattering, voices shouting, the faint smell of pizza and fries mixing with the sharp tang of the cleaning spray. Ethan was at his usual table, surrounded by his friends, laughing, joking, his presence like sunlight that everyone gravitated toward. Lila felt the pull instantly, a magnetic tug toward him that made her stomach twist.
But then she spotted Ryan, sitting alone at a corner table, quietly eating while sketching in a small notebook. She wanted to go to him too, to feel the calm, comforting warmth that seemed to radiate from him, but she hesitated. The pull toward Ethan was stronger in that moment, louder, harder to resist.
"Who is it now?" her best friend Mia whispered, nudging her.
"Both of them," Lila admitted softly, eyes on Ryan in the corner.
Mia groaned. "Girl, pick one! You're going to go crazy if you keep staring at two boys at the same time!"
"I can't," Lila muttered. And she couldn't. One was thrilling, exciting, impossible to ignore. The other was gentle, steady, and somehow… perfect in a way that mattered more than excitement.
The rest of the lunch period was a blur. She found herself splitting her attention: laughing at Ethan's jokes when he waved at her, then glancing at Ryan to see if he noticed. He did. He always noticed. And every time their eyes met, a small pang of longing and guilt pierced her chest.
Later, in the library for a group project, the triangle pulled tighter. Ethan leaned over to whisper something funny, and she laughed, the rush of attention and warmth making her cheeks burn. Across the table, Ryan watched quietly. His expression was unreadable, but there was something there—something she couldn't ignore.
After class, she walked toward her locker, thoughts tangled like knots. Ethan had already disappeared into the hall, leaving a ghost of his presence behind. Ryan walked beside her, careful to keep his distance but close enough that she felt it.
"You okay?" he asked softly.
"I think so," she said, forcing a smile she didn't feel.
Ryan's lips pressed together. He wanted her to notice him, maybe to choose him, even just a little. Lila didn't know what to do. Her heart felt torn in two directions, and she didn't know which path to follow.
The afternoon sun filtered through the windows, casting long shadows in the hall. Students rushed past, but Lila walked slowly, caught between two boys, two feelings, and two choices. One would make her laugh and feel alive, the other would make her heart steady and full.
And maybe… maybe she wasn't ready to choose at all.