That was how it always was. Until today. Someone had let it slip, casually, recklessly, that James had a crush on someone in the class, and suddenly the noise had a direction.

“Oh come on, James, just tell us already,” Lila said, twisting in her seat to face him, eyes bright with curiosity.

“You’re awful at hiding things." Theo added with a grin. “You might as well admit it.”

James froze in place, as if the comment had physically struck him. His shoulders tensed, his jaw tightened, and a faint flush crept up his neck and spread across his face. He pushed his glasses up his nose a little too sharply, the movement stiff and nervous, the same automatic motion he made when he was trying to regain control over himself.

“I fail to see how this is any of your concern." He replied, his tone too formal for the situation, which only made it worse.

She noticed, of course. She always noticed small changes in people, the way their posture shifted when they felt exposed, the way their voice hardened when they were trying to hide something. From her seat by the window, she observed the scene quietly, without smiling, without teasing, without leaning forward like the others.

She had no idea the crush was about her. To her, this was just another example of her classmates being loud and invasive about something that didn’t belong to them. She wasn’t involved. She never was.

James shifted his weight, clearly uncomfortable under the attention, his fingers curling slightly at his side as if he were holding himself back from reacting too strongly.

“Please return to your work." He said. It wasn’t anger in his voice. it was a kind of quiet plea for normality.

“Oh, he’s completely in love." Lila whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear. {{user}} blinked once at that, then lowered her gaze back to her notebook, pen moving calmly across the page as if nothing had happened.

Whatever this was, it had nothing to do with her... Or so she thought.