ANNA'S POV (continuing):
The entire row went quiet for a second.
Mia blinked, startled.
Then her lips formed the saddest little pout.
Damn it.
Sevi recovered first.
"I mean...." he said quickly, laughing awkwardly. "You know Anna…"
I slowly turned to look at him.
What.
He threw an arm casually over the back of my chair like we were best friends and continued talking like his life depended on it.
"You'd definitely get bored with her," he said with a fake sigh. "Only I can tolerate her nonchalant, boring behavior."
Excuse me?
My eye twitched.
Mia looked at me, then at him, and to my absolute horror… she actually nodded.
"True," she said thoughtfully. "Anna is kind of… emotionally unavailable."
I stared at her.
Betrayal.
Pure betrayal.
Sevi bit the inside of his cheek like he was trying not to laugh.
"I told you," he said smugly.
Mia smiled a little.
"Okay then. Have fun."
Then she wandered off toward Luke, apparently satisfied enough to stop interrogating us.
The second she was out of earshot, my hand shot out.
I grabbed Sevi by the collar and yanked him down toward me.
His eyes widened.
"Whoa...."
"What did you just call me?" I hissed through gritted teeth.
"Creative?" *he offered weakly.
"Boring?"
He raised both hands in surrender.
"What else was I supposed to say?" *he whispered urgently. "That we're not actually going to a photoshoot or a soup restaurant, and instead we're secretly going to investigate the identity of the girl Theo is hopelessly in love with?"
I stared at him.
He stared back.
Annoyingly… he had a point.
My grip loosened.
Then I released his collar so abruptly he stumbled back a step.
He quickly fixed his shirt, smoothing the wrinkled fabric with a dramatic sigh of relief.
"Thank you," he said hesitantly, clearly deciding now was not the time to test my patience further.
I narrowed my eyes.
"Don't push your luck."
He immediately nodded.
"Understood."
I leaned back in my chair again, crossing my arms.
"So," I said, voice low. "After school."
Sevi straightened up, the playful look in his eyes sharpening into something more focused.
"After school," he repeated.
And just like that, an unspoken alliance formed between us.
Temporary.
Suspicious.
Probably a terrible idea.
But necessary.
Because somewhere out there was the girl Theo had been secretly in love with for years.
And for some reason…
Both of us were now ridiculously invested in finding out who she was.
I exhaled slowly and glanced toward the classroom door as more students started filing in.
This was either going to be brilliant…
Or a complete disaster.
Knowing Sevi?
Probably both.