You were nineteen, in your final year, and Mr. Riven, your new twenty-two-year-old teacher, was already wrapped in rumors.

Some said he used to run with a gang. Some whispered mafia. Others said he was just… dangerous. But the girls still stared at him. And you… you liked him more than you should’ve. He was only three years older, but still your teacher, so you hid it, buried it behind good grades, polite smiles and pretending your stomach didn’t flip whenever he spoke to you.

One evening, the school hallways were empty as you walked out. You had stayed late finishing an assignment and now crossed the parking lot on your usual route home. That’s when you froze.

Leaning against a black car, in the dim corner of the lot, was Mr. Riven.. and one of the girls from your class. She was kissing him. He wasn’t stopping her. Your breath stuttered. But then you saw it. The edge of a gun tucked into his waistband. Your brain fractured with questions.

Was he about to kill her? Was she in danger? Or… were they together? Your heart pounded so loud it hurt. You tried to step back, quiet, slow, but your shoe scraped the ground. His head lifted. His eyes found you instantly.

And the look he gave you wasn’t the look of a teacher. It was the look of a man who’d just been caught in the middle of something he should’ve never let you see. He went absolutely still.

You did too.