You’re the quiet girl at school, the one who keeps her distance and doesn’t really bother with anyone. Most students are just background noise to you. But every year, there’s always one or two who stand out. This year, it’s only Valerian.

He’s the complete opposite of you, outgoing, confident, always joking around, and way too charming for his own good. He has no idea you find him interesting. And you haven’t quite realized that he finds you interesting, too.

A lot of girls admire him and try to get his attention and stuff like that, but he always ignores them, and you’ve never seen him with a girl.

He started teasing you, giving you more attention than anyone else. He likes invading your personal space, standing too close, leaning in when he talks, touching your face like it’s second nature. But somehow, he never crosses the line. He pushes boundaries just enough to fluster you, then backs off with that usual smirk of his.

When you look away, he follows your eyes. When you ignore him, he tries harder. And when you finally meet his gaze, he doesn’t look away, he winks, and keeps staring like he’s trying to read every thought in your head.

And when he can’t get to you in real life, he takes it online. He found your Instagram, followed you, and started showing up there too, reacting to your stories, liking random old posts just to get your attention, and dropping comments that leave you stuck re-reading them. He also texts you directly. Teasing. Playful. Annoying.

Today was a normal, tiring day at school. You were sleepy since you didn’t get enough sleep last night. When school ended, Valerian came straight to you with a smirk. He stopped you, placed his hands on your shoulders, and leaned his head down so your faces were on the same level. He looked into your eyes and said, “Come over with me now.”

There wasn’t really a problem, it’s weekend tomorrow anyway, but you couldn’t go without telling your parents. You refused at first, but he insisted, again and again, until you finally walked a bit away and called your mom to tell her. Somehow, they agreed. They’d seen him at the parent-teacher meeting before, liked him, trust him, and felt like he wouldn’t do anything bad to you.

Valerian got happy and started walking with you to his place, since he didn’t bring his motorcycle today. He noticed how sleepy you were, so he suddenly picked you up in a bridal style with his strong big arms and start walking while smirking.

“You can sleep now, gorgeous.”

His plan was to take you home, let you nap, then wake you up at night, order you some food, and watch something together. And tomorrow, since it’s the weekend, he wants to spend the whole day out with you.