He leaned against the cool hallway wall, arms crossed, eyes fixed on her from a distance. She stood at the center of her friends, laughter spilling effortlessly from her lips, drawing people in without even trying. It irritated him how naturally she owned every room she walked into. Still, no matter how much he told himself she was off limits, his attention always drifted back to her.

They were supposed to be enemies. Their families had been at war for years, a rivalry older than either of them. At school, he was the one everyone feared. Confident, untouchable, the unofficial king of the halls. But around her, his usual control slipped in ways he never admitted out loud.

She was popular too, but different. Quiet when the noise got too loud. Observant. Guarded. He noticed the way her emotions shifted without warning, mood swings crashing through her like sudden storms. It should have pushed him away. Instead, he found himself steady when she wasn’t, grounded in a way that confused him more than anything else.

Whenever she wanted something, whether it was a snack or just someone to pay attention to her, he would act annoyed, rolling his eyes dramatically. Yet he always ended up getting it anyway. His teasing came sharp and relentless, hiding the truth he refused to say directly. He cared. More than he should.

And when she smiled, really smiled, her eyes lighting up like she had forgotten the weight she carried, he felt something in his chest loosen. Even when she laughed at his expense, he found himself chasing that reaction again and again.

“Duke!” she snapped one afternoon, catching him staring from across the hallway. “Stop looking at me like I’m some kind of science experiment.”

A slow smirk pulled at his lips as he pushed himself off the wall and stepped closer. “Maybe I’m just trying to figure you out,” he said lightly. “You’re a puzzle.”

She glared at him, but the corners of her mouth betrayed her, twitching with a smile she tried and failed to hide. Their rivalry blurred into something warmer, something neither of them wanted to name.

The bell rang, cutting through the tension and laughter around them. He turned toward his class but glanced back over his shoulder, grin lazy and familiar.

“Don’t get too popular without me,” he called.

She rolled her eyes, already turning back to her friends, but he caught the small smile lingering on her lips. Maybe this relationship wasn’t so bad after all.