I realized something was wrong the moment Jack didn't take the seat beside me.
It wasn't assigned or anything... just a habit that had formed over time. He usually dropped his bag on the desk next to mine, leaned over, and asked if I'd finished the math homework. Today, he didn't. He stopped midway down the aisle, laughed at something someone said, and sat elsewhere.
I told myself not to care.
Still, my eyes drifted toward him without permission. Jack looked the same as always... easy smile, relaxed posture, sunlight catching in his honey-brown eyes. He was surrounded by people, yet somehow felt farther away than he ever had before.
Someone sat behind me. I felt it before I saw it.
Edward.
His presence was different... quiet but heavy, like a shadow that didn't belong to the light-filled classroom. I didn't need to turn around to know he was there. I just knew. The air felt tighter, charged in a way that made it hard to focus on the lesson.
When I finally glanced back, his eyes were already on me.
Dark. Observant. Unapologetic.
There was no smile. No warmth. Just a look that felt like it stripped me down to something vulnerable. I looked away quickly, my heart beating faster for reasons I didn't understand.
Why did it matter?
Jack laughed again. The sound reached me, familiar and comforting, and I found myself holding onto it like an anchor. I'd liked him for so long that the feeling had become part of me... quiet, patient, and unspoken.
But Edward didn't look at Jack.
Not once.
Every time I shifted in my seat, every time I smiled, every time my attention wandered... his gaze followed. It wasn't anger. It wasn't curiosity.
It was something darker.
Something that made my skin prickle and my chest tighten.
Spring had arrived softly.
I just didn't expect it to bring a storm with it.