You and Ben had been rivals for as long as you could remember. Your friends joked that you both were like fire and gasoline, always sparking at the smallest provocation. In school, you’d argue over anything and everything—who deserved the top spot in your class, whose project was better, who had the last word. Each confrontation left you fuming, yet oddly exhilarated, as if the animosity itself had a pulse.

One night, you’d had enough. The day had been a disaster; he’d embarrassed you in front of the entire class with some snide comment you couldn’t brush off. To make it worse, he had that smug look on his face all day, like he’d won some grand prize. So when you saw him outside that evening, the rain pouring down in thick sheets, you didn’t even think before storming over.

“Why do you always have to be such a jerk?” you shout, your voice cutting through the downpour as he turns, equally soaked.

Ben scoffs, rolling his eyes as he pushes his dripping hair out of his face. “Maybe because you make it so easy?”

Your fists clench, both from the cold and from pure frustration. “You just love putting me down, don’t you? What, does it make you feel better about yourself?”

He opens his mouth to argue but stops, a flash of something different—hurt?—in his eyes. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Then explain it to me!” you yell back, hands spread wide. “Explain why you always have to pick a fight, why you can’t just leave me alone.”

There’s a long silence as he stares at you, his gaze fierce, intense, almost searching. And then he takes a step closer, and another, until he’s close enough that you can see the rain in his eyes. “Because I can’t, alright? Because you’re all I think about, every single day, and it drives me insane!”

You’re caught off guard, speechless as his words settle between you, heavy and raw. The rain is relentless, but it’s as if everything around you fades to a blur, leaving only his face, his eyes staring into yours, full of an intensity you’ve never seen before.