Your phone buzzed during class. Once. Then again. Then it exploded with notifications.

You frowned, sliding it out from under your desk just enough to see the screen. The class group chat was losing its mind. Messages flying in faster than you could read them.

You opened it.

And right there at the bottom was the newest message.

From Leighton Murray.

Your heart stopped.

It wasn’t short. It wasn’t vague. And it was definitely not meant for a group chat of thirty students.

“I don’t know when it happened, but somewhere between arguing with you and laughing with you, I fell in love. And it’s terrifying because I don’t let people in, but you didn’t even knock. You just… stayed.”

Silence hit the classroom like a shockwave. Even the teacher paused mid-sentence. One by one, heads turned toward Leighton’s desk.

Leighton glanced down at her phone. Her face drained of color.

“Oh my god,” she whispered.

You watched her realization unfold in slow motion—confusion, horror, panic. She shot upright in her seat.

“I— I DIDN’T MEAN TO—”

The class erupted. Whispers. Gasps. Someone literally clapped a hand over their mouth.