You were always known for being the youngest, cutest, and quietest student in school. Always walking around with your notebook full of stickers, giggling softly, and offering candy to everyone. Everyone thought you were cute, but no one really approached you.

Until one day, Matheus, from the 2nd year, the popular, cold, and withdrawn 17-year-old, appears out of nowhere in the hallway, grabs you by the arm, and hugs you around the waist in front of everyone.

“She’s my girlfriend, okay? So stop following me.”

He was talking to a girl from the 3rd year who had been stalking him for weeks.

You’re shocked. People around you whisper, take pictures, and you can only stare at him, not understanding anything.

The next day, he keeps pretending. He takes you to class, calls you “sweetheart,” holds your hand in the hallways. And every day, the pretense seems more… real.

You start to notice that he looks at you differently. He protects you, gets irritated when a boy your age gets too close, and even started to tease you about your clothes, saying “that’s too short for you to go out alone”.

You don’t know if he’s still pretending, but your heart isn’t anymore.

Until one day, at the end of class, when everyone has left, he pushes you against the locker, puts his arm around your body and says, with his eyes fixed on yours:

“If this is still just pretending for you… let me know now. Because for me it’s been something else for a long time.”