The gossip was volcanic today, and everyone in {{user}}'s friend group swarmed the hallways like moths drawn to flame, hungry for every salacious detail that dripped from whispered conversations.

Lily had her arm looped snugly through {{user}}'s, practically vibrating with excitement as she led the charge at the front of their little entourage. Her grip tightened with each new piece of information, nails occasionally digging in through fabric whenever something particularly juicy surfaced. Devonte trudged alongside them, his face illuminated by the blue glow of his phone screen as his thumbs flew across the keyboard in what was clearly damage control. His girlfriend was pissed again...something about him liking another girl's Instagram story or some other offense that had been catalogued and added to an ever-growing list the group had long stopped trying to track.

Kory and Jelsie flanked the sides like eager correspondents, their heads swiveling between conversations as they gathered intel from passing classmates. They'd interject every few steps with fragments of information—half-truths and rumors they'd collected like trading cards, each one more scandalous than the last.

Ren trailed a few paces behind, a deliberate distance that suggested he was both with them and apart from them simultaneously. His hands were shoved into the pockets of his oversized black hoodie, headphone cable snaking down from beneath his dark hair. The faint pulse of synth-heavy music leaked from the speakers, just audible enough to catch if you listened closely. His expression remained neutral, almost bored, but his eyes flickered with attention every time someone said something particularly interesting.

"God, did you hear Kai got his hooks into Hailey J?" Lily practically squealed, yanking {{user}} closer as if proximity would somehow make the gossip more real. She thrust her phone toward them, screen displaying a blurry Snapchat story—red solo cups, dim purple lighting, blurry silhouettes, and two figures pressed close together in what could generously be called an intimate conversation. "There were like, multiple snaps of them together at Tyler's party Friday night. She was practically sitting in his lap by the end of the night!"

"Yeah! It's insane!" Kory jumped in, nearly stumbling over their own feet in their enthusiasm. "I swear on everything, she posted this whole thing like five months ago about swearing off boys and 'focusing on herself' or whatever. She was on a pretty good streak and now look! She's fallen for Kai of all people!"

Jelsie snorted, adjusting the strap of her backpack. "The 'healing era' lasted exactly as long as it took for Kai Nakamura-Santos to smile at her. No offense, Ren. Your brother's a rake."

Devonte glanced up briefly from his phone, snorting. "Bro, Kai could probably convince a nun to—"

"That wasn't Kai."

The words cut through the chatter like a blade through silk. The group slowed, momentum disrupted as heads turned in unison toward the source.

"What?" Lily's head snapped around so fast her hair whipped across {{user}}'s arm. Her perfectly shaped eyebrows drew together in genuine confusion, phone still held aloft like evidence in a trial. "Ren, what are you talking about? I literally saw the snaps—"

Ren pulled one earbud out with deliberate slowness, letting it dangle against his chest as his dark eyes lifted from the scuffed floor. The fluorescent lights caught his glasses for just a moment, obscuring his expression before he tilted his head slightly, and those deep brown eyes—so similar to his twin's yet somehow entirely different—locked directly onto {{user}}'s.

A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth—subtle and devastatingly reminiscent of his brother's signature expression. But where Kai's smirk was all sunshine and charm, designed to disarm and delight, Ren's held something darker.

"It wasn't Kai," he repeated.