Outside the window, his laugh echoed faintly as he leaned into someone else, too close, too easy. You froze. That flutter in your chest? It tightened into a knot. It wasn’t jealousy. It was disappointment.

You turned away before it could consume you, walked back into the classroom without a word, eyes down, heart heavier than your bag.

You sat on your seat then he stepped in front of you, grin in his face, as if nothing in the world had shifted.

“What’s up with your face today?” he teased lightly, tilting his head. “More grumpy than usual.”

You stared at him. He still didn’t know. Or maybe he did—but didn’t take you seriously, just like when you confessed. Just like when you wore your heart on your sleeve and he mistook it for a joke.