When Alax arrived, we both walked into the classroom and took our seats in the same row as Rowan and Sophia, but in a different column.

  Rowan was sitting near the wall, eyes buried in his notebook, completely ignoring my presence. Sophia sat on the opposite end of the row, diagonally across from me, and unlike Rowan, her gaze was locked onto me the entire time.

  I didn’t know why, but there was something in her stare, sharp, cold, and filled with something that looked a lot like hate. It made my skin crawl. I looked away, trying to shake off the discomfort, but I could still feel her eyes boring into me.

  “Hey… can you take out my notebook and pen from my bag?” Alax asked, his voice soft.

  I was distracted, my eyes still drifting toward Rowan.

  “Hmm? Yeah, sure,” I said absently, reaching into Alax’s bag to pull out his notebook and pen.

  I placed them on the desk in front of him, but my gaze once again wandered toward Rowan. He still hadn’t looked up. Not once.

  “Can you not look at him?”

  Alax’s voice wasn’t soft this time. It was sharper, edged with something raw.

  I turned to him. “What?”

  “I hate it,” he said, locking eyes with me. “When you’re sitting next to me, but your mind is still with him.”

  My chest tightened. “Weren’t you okay with that?” I asked, trying to sound unaffected.

  “I said I was,” he replied, his voice low. “But I lied.”

  There was a pause. A heavy silence seemed to stretch between us.

  “I was never okay with it,” he continued. “Not even once.”

  I blinked at him, the weight of his words settling hard in my chest.

  “I keep pretending that being close to you is enough,” he added. “But it’s not. It’s killing me when you look at him with those eyes.”

  Before I could say anything, before I could even process what he’d just confessed, confessed-the professor walked in, and class began.

  But I couldn’t focus. Not with Alax’s words still echoing in my head.

  Not with Rowan just a few seats away.

  Not with Sophia’s cold eyes still on me.

I was waiting for Rowan to leave the classroom.

  It was lunchtime, and I stood in the corridor, restless, uncertain. My palms were cold even though the sun was warm outside.

  As Rowan finally stepped out, walking beside Sophia, our eyes met. It was brief, but sharp, like the air between us changed. Sophia immediately tried to pull him in the opposite direction, saying something under her breath.

  But I didn’t stop myself. I stepped forward and grabbed his hand from behind.

  He turned around, and so did Sophia.

  Rowan looked down at where our hands touched, then slowly raised his gaze to meet mine. He didn’t say anything.

  He didn’t pull away either.

  Sophia’s voice came quickly and sharply.

  “Let go of his hand.”

  I ignored her.

  Without saying a word, I tugged gently and led him down the corridor, into one of the empty classrooms. The lights were dim inside, the air heavy with silence. I finally let go of his hand, and we stood facing each other, the distance between us suddenly unbearable.

  “Why are you behaving like this?” I asked, my voice low, but tight.

  “Like what?” he replied, his tone unreadable. His eyes… distant.

  “You’re not talking to me. You’re ignoring me.”

  He stepped closer, just two quiet steps, but it felt like a shift in gravity. He was tall enough that I barely reached his chin. When I looked up, his eyes were already on me.

  “Think carefully about who’s ignoring whom. And by the way, were we ever close enough for you to say I’m ignoring you now?” he said, his voice low and cool.

  “I like you,” I blurted out.

  A pause.

  Then a small smirk curved his lips. “You say you like me,” he murmured, “but you seem a lot closer to Alax. And that…”

  The classroom door creaked open.

  We both turned.

  Nora stood in the doorway, frozen. David was beside her, looking at his phone, until he looked up and saw how close Rowan and I were.

  By the time he fully registered it, we had already stepped away from each other.

  The moment… shattered.

My comfort note

Dear comfort note,

I don’t know what to do these days. Everything feels confusing. Rowan won’t even look at me; he keeps ignoring me like I don’t exist. And Alax…

I think I need to start keeping some distance from him now. He’s doing better; he doesn’t really need me around anymore. And honestly, I’m starting to feel unexpectedly comfortable around him… which scares me.

I’m afraid I’ll fall for him. And I don’t want to.

Even if Rowan isn’t saying anything, even if he’s not stepping in, I still feel something for him. I want to be loyal to that. I have feelings for Rowan, and falling for someone else just because Rowan isn’t responding… it doesn’t feel right.

I think I’ve just been around Alax too much lately. Maybe that’s why I’m overthinking everything. Once I start focusing on Rowan again, once I remind myself what I feel for him, these thoughts will go away.

I just… need to find a way to talk to Rowan. To know where I stand. Before this all gets even messier.

Actually…………… I told Rowan that I like