Chatter swirled through warm air as students filled every corner of school grounds, except your bench. Jake hovered at the edge of your vision.. again. His shadow stretched across your textbook as he shifted his weight, the scent of his expensive cologne mingling with the autumn leaves.

"Ugh, why are you avoiding me?"

His voice cracked in that way it only did around you. When you glanced up, his fingers were twitching at his sides like he wanted to reach for your hijab’s loose edge. The one that always fluttered in the wind. You recoiled instinctively, and something in his face shattered.

"I just–" He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. "I think about you. All the time. Isn’t that enough?"

Just then, a ping from your Quran app cut through the tension. Asr reminder. Jake’s gaze dropped to the screen, to your long sleeves in 90 degree heat. Where the space kept between you like a moat.

Somewhere beyond the school walls, a church bell rang. Yep, that was final answer either of you would get.