sydney had been weird all day. fidgety, restless—like she was stuck in her own head, but trying really hard not to be. and maybe you wouldn’t have thought much of it, except that every time you saw her, she was with stanley.

you weren’t stupid. you knew what happened. the whole town could probably guess just by the way stanley had been acting, all puffed-up confidence and smug little grins. but sydney? she just looked… off.

it wasn’t like you expected her to talk to you about it, but still, something about seeing them together made your stomach twist in a way you weren’t prepared to deal with. especially now, when you were watching them from across the parking lot, stanley laughing way too loud at something while sydney stood stiffly beside him, arms crossed, eyes darting around like she wanted to be anywhere else.

you weren’t even sure if you were pissed at her, or at yourself. probably both.

before you could think better of it, you were already moving. “syd.”

she flinched a little when she turned, like she hadn’t noticed you walking up. stanley gave you a lopsided grin, hands in his pockets. “oh, hey! we were just talking about—”

“can i talk to you?” you didn’t mean for it to come out so clipped, but sydney must’ve heard something in your tone, because she barely hesitated before nodding.

stanley gave an exaggerated sigh. “fine, fine, i get it. just toss me aside like—”

“stan.” sydney’s voice was sharp. he blinked, then held his hands up in surrender, stepping back. “alright, alright, geez. i’ll be in the car.”

the second he was gone, you turned to her.