After the exchange of confessions, Ace sat back, his mind still buzzing with the weight of Annie's words. It felt surreal—almost too good to be true—but it was happening. Still, something nagged at the back of his mind. Annie’s tone, the way she had phrased her messages, felt a little… off. But maybe he was just overthinking it.

Before he let himself spiral into uncertainty, Ace decided to do one more thing. He had to check in with someone he trusted. His thoughts shifted to Dav—Annie’s best friend. If there was something he should know about Annie, maybe Dav could shed some light on it.

With a deep breath, Ace grabbed his phone again, dialing Dav’s number.

The phone rang twice before Dav picked up.

"Yeah, what's up?" Dav's voice came through, casual and calm.

Ace hesitated for a second, unsure if he was being paranoid. But the feeling wouldn’t leave him, so he pushed forward. “Hey, bro, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Sure, what’s going on?” Dav replied, his voice laced with curiosity.

Ace’s grip tightened on the phone. “Umm… Did something happen to Annie? I mean, is there something... off about her? She seemed kind of distant when we talked earlier, and I just—” He paused, realizing he sounded like he was overreacting.

There was a brief silence on the other end before Dav responded. “Huh? What do you mean ‘off’? You’ve got me confused here.”

Ace scratched the back of his neck, feeling embarrassed for even bringing it up. “Ahh! Never mind. Forget I asked. See you later, man. Bye.” He quickly hung up, his face flushed with discomfort.

As the line went dead, Ace let out a frustrated sigh, tossing his phone onto the bed. What the hell was I thinking? He ran a hand through his hair. Was that a prank? Damn, I should’ve known better than to get caught up in it.

He could already feel the tension building in his chest. Maybe he had overstepped, but the confusion gnawed at him. I’ll apologize later today. No big deal.

After a deep breath, Ace pushed the unease aside, determined not to dwell on it. He had work to do—work that required his full attention. He grabbed his notebook from the desk and began scribbling down his thoughts, trying to clear his mind. But in the back of his head, that lingering feeling remained.