you saw him in the hallways every day—always so composed, carrying himself with effortless confidence. That signature black hoodie of his became something you couldn’t unsee, something you pointed out every time you brought him up to your friends.

Back then, you were just a 15-year-old girl, hopelessly romantic, constantly getting lost in stories and daydreams about people you'd never meet. But meeting him… it changed everything. He made you forget everything you thought you knew about yourself. You weren't the same girl anymore.

Becoming his friend was the best thing that ever happened to you. He was kind, always joking around with your shared group of friends. That quiet, mysterious image you had of him quickly faded. You got to see the real him—the warm, playful, and thoughtful side he reserved for the people he cared about. And somehow, you were one of them.

you don’t even know when it all fell apart—your hope, your love, your heart. It slipped away so fast, and yet you held on for so long, unable to let go. One mistake—unintentional, but yours—changed everything. He started pulling away, and you couldn’t help but wonder… were you the bad guy?

He still spoke to you, but only when you were with your friends. That was the only time you ever heard his voice directed at you. Outside of that, it was like you didn’t exist to him anymore. Passing him in the hallways hurt in ways you didn’t expect—you had to train yourself to look the other way, to pretend he wasn’t the same person you used to feel everything for.

Now that you were 18 and had grown past everything that happened with him, you felt a quiet sense of peace—a sense of finally belonging in the life you were building for yourself. You didn’t share many classes with him anymore, which made it easier to keep your distance. The only time your paths ever crossed was during lunch, and even then, you stuck close to your friends.

But something about your new indifference seemed to shift something in him. The once cold, detached, and unreadable Riki—the one everyone knew in class—started to crack. Now, he caught himself smiling when you nervously stumbled through your senior project or did something ridiculous that made your friends laugh. There was warmth there, hidden just beneath the surface, and you couldn’t ignore it.

And of course, you noticed. How could you not? A part of you still remembered how much you used to like him. What you didn’t know—what still lingered like an unanswered question—was what you had done to make it all fall apart.

You made a choice today—to sit with him during lunch. Maybe it was impulsive, maybe it had been building up for a while, but either way, you found yourself walking toward the table where Riki sat. He was with one of his girl friends, someone you didn’t recognize. The second her eyes met yours, she rolled them with a dramatic flair that didn’t go unnoticed. You didn’t even know her, and she already seemed to have a problem with you. Odd.

“Riki, can I talk to you?” you asked, voice steady even though your heart wasn’t. He didn’t look up. Didn’t flinch. Didn’t acknowledge you at all. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk—if anything, he’d been avoiding this moment just as much as you had.

“He doesn’t want to talk,” his friend cut in sharply, her voice laced with smugness. There was something about her—snobby, territorial, like she was trying too hard to speak for him.

You clenched your jaw, resisting the urge to snap back. You weren’t here for her, and you definitely weren’t going to let her bait you. But god, was she making it hard not to.

Finally, he looked up from his phone—eyes meeting yours with a look that was unreadable but sharp enough to make your heart skip.

“What’s there to talk about?” he asked, voice flat, almost like he was daring you to say something. But you could tell.

He wasn’t asking because he didn’t know—he was asking because he didn’t want to go there.

Because pretending nothing happened was easier than facing whatever was still hanging in the air between you.