The narrow pavement forced Jean to walk slightly ahead of Diane and Renee, their laughter rising and falling behind her in little bursts of joy, like champagne bubbles on a summer’s afternoon. The sun, already beginning its descent, cast long, stretching shadows from the buildings, painting the ancient cobblestone path in hues of deepening gold and dusky grey.

Jean glanced over her shoulder, still caught in the afterglow of a joke Diane had made something cheeky and ridiculous, undoubtedly. Her head was tipped back mid-laugh when she collided, with a surprising force, into something solid.

Or rather, someone.

"Oof—!" she gasped, the air momentarily expelled from her lungs, her footing thrown off.

A hand caught her arm, quick, steady, instinctive. Firm enough to ground her without startling her further.

“Whoa there,” came a low, amused voice, edged with unmistakable familiarity. “We really can’t keep bumping into each other like this, can we?”

Jean blinked, a flush of surprise and mild embarrassment warming her cheeks. She looked up and met the same pair of baby-blue eyes, glinting with amusement. 

It was Elliot again.

There was something untamed about him. A peculiar blend of carefree and mildly careless clung to the way he moved like someone half-drifting through the world, never quite tethered to the present moment. He didn’t seem to notice his surroundings, which made bumping into Jean feel almost fated; her mind, after all, was so often elsewhere too. 

Elliot’s shoulders were always relaxed, a thoughtful smirk played on his lips, and there was a glimmer of chaos in his eyes just enough to make him feel dangerous in the most maddeningly distracting way. His outfits were effortlessly stylish but never overdressed, always just enough to make people wonder if he had planned it or if he simply looked good in anything?

His grin was wide, spontaneous. Disarming. Of course.

“Haha—urgh. Sorry again,” Jean mumbled, trying to collect herself. “That was definitely my fault, wasn’t it?”

“Well, I’m just chuffed I caught you,” he said, still smiling. “You do still remember me, don’t you?”

Jean tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, hoping to regain some semblance of composure.

“Yeah. Of course I do, Elliot.”

He laughed softly, and rubbed a hand at the back of his neck, a gesture that seemed both boyish and endearing.

"You're making me go all red now."

Before the moment could stretch into anything too loaded, Jean turned slightly and nodded towards the girls behind her, slipping back into a more confident rhythm.

“Oh—these are my mates. Diane and Renee.”

“Alright,” Elliot said easily, offering them both a friendly nod. His charm was inclusive, never showy like he knew how to hold attention without needing to steal it. “I’m Elliot. Hilltop Academy.”

Renee tilted her head, watching him with quiet interest. Her eyes, a piercing steel-blue, glinted with something that suggested she’d already clocked every detail about him.

“Thought I recognised you. You were at our school for last week’s match, weren’t you?”

"That's right," Elliot confirmed with a good-natured shrug. "We got thrashed that day, didn't we? Sadly, our team isn't a patch on yours." His eyes drifted back to Jean, soft with admiration.

“I’d love to see you play sometime.”

Jean gave a small shake of her head, laughing lightly, trying to brush it off.

“Oh, I’m really not all that good.”

Renee scoffed immediately, her loyalty fierce and unwavering.

"What are you on about? You're our captain. Course you're good."

Elliot's eyes lit up, his interest clearly piqued.

“Captain? Well now I definitely need to see a match. When’s your next one?”

Jean hesitated, thrown by the steady focus of his gaze, the way he didn’t look away. It wasn’t performative. It was pure intent.

“Um... tomorrow. Afternoon.”

“Perfect,” he said, already reaching for his phone. The movement was swift, assured like he was used to getting people to agree with him without really trying. “Let’s swap numbers then—so you can send me the details.”

There was a brief, charged silence as Jean hesitated, her eyes flicking to Renee and Diane, who were both watching the exchange with undisguised fascination, as if front row to some long-awaited rom-com moment.

"Alright then," Jean said calmly as she pulled her own phone from her bag. Their fingers brushed in the handover, barely a touch, but enough to register.

Enough to spark.

She caught the brief shift in his grin, how it widened just slightly, as though he’d felt it too.

"Splendid," he said, saving her contact with a satisfied nod. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

“Yeah,” Jean replied, as if she wasn’t entirely sure he meant it. “See you.”

He gave a lazy wave and turned down the lane, his silhouette growing smaller as he walked into the shadowed stretch of the street, swallowed by the golden dusk.

Diane barely waited a second before exploding.

“Right, I need your wisdom, Jean. Tell me what spell you’ve cast and where can I learn it?”

"I don't even know what it is I did!" Jean replied as she slipped her phone back into her bag, her mind still replaying the unexpected encounter.

"You're exotic, pretty, a bit clumsy, and completely oblivious to the attention you get," Renee declared, folding her arms with an air of smug certainty. "Need I say more?"

Jean wrinkled her nose.

“Not entirely sure those are compliments, Ren.”

“They are when blokes fall over themselves for exactly those reasons,” Renee shot back, as if it were the most obvious truth in the world.

“Right,” Diane announced grandly, looping her arms through both their elbows. “I’m starving. Let’s go drown my romantic misfortunes in something fried and smothered in salt. I need chips. Mountains of them.”

Jean managed a faint smile, but her eyes drifted down the path again towards the place where Elliot had vanished.

Her thoughts tangled quietly, a crease forming between her brows.

She wasn’t quite sure what had just happened.

But she had a feeling things were about to get more complicated.

And possibly, a whole lot messier.