The classroom hums with low chatter, pencils tapping, chairs scraping. You’re settling into your seat when you hear the soft tick-tick of Darcy’s nails on her desk—her signature impatience.

Audrey leans in first, whispering something you can’t quite catch. Darcy snorts under her breath, then glances your way with that too-sweet smile she uses right before she says something awful.

She scoots her chair closer to Audrey, lowering her voice but not enough to keep it from drifting across the room.

“Okay, so tell me why they showed up looking like that today,” Darcy mutters, flipping her hair and pretending to check her phone. “I mean, it’s kinda cute… if you squint.”

Audrey stifles a laugh. “Darcy…”

“What?” Darcy whispers louder, rolling her eyes. “I’m just saying, if they’re trying to impress someone, it’s… bold. Brave. Questionable.”

Audrey bites back a grin. Darcy leans in even closer.

“And did you see their post last night? Deleted it like ten minutes later. I swear, they’re having some kind of identity crisis. It’s kinda… sad? But like, the entertaining kind of sad.”

She says the last part like she’s doing you a favor.

You shift in your seat, pretending not to listen. Darcy notices and immediately switches to her “innocent” voice.

“Oh my god, Audrey, stop,” she says loudly, acting like Audrey was the one gossiping. “You’re so mean.”

Audrey shoots her a warning look, but Darcy just smirks—slow, confident, like she knows exactly what she’s doing.

As the teacher begins the lesson, Darcy leans over again, softer this time, thinking you can’t hear:

“Don’t look now, but they totally heard us.” A pause. “…Good.”

Audrey elbows her, but Darcy only smiles wider, tapping her nails in a smug rhythm against the desk.