The morning felt heavier than usual. The sunlight that poured into Liora's room seemed too bright, too sharp — almost like it was mocking the storm in her chest. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, still trying to make sense of last night. The argument. The way his voice had cracked. The moment when anger had turned into silence, and silence into something that shouldn't have happened — that charged look they'd shared before she'd walked away.
Adrian Vale had always been the storm in her sky. But lately… it felt like he was the gravity pulling her toward it.
At college, the halls buzzed with the usual chatter, but every sound seemed distant. Her focus drifted, her notes a blur, her mind replaying the same moments she didn't want to remember. She forced herself to look composed, pretending nothing had changed. Pretending she wasn't aware of every single time he passed by her classroom door — without looking in, yet never far.
When she finally stepped out after class, she almost collided with Ethan. He caught her wrist before the books could fall, concern shadowing his eyes."Hey. You look… off. Did something happen?"
Liora forced a smile. "Just tired. Exams, projects, all of it."
Ethan didn't look convinced. He studied her for a moment longer, like he could see the cracks she was trying so hard to hide. "You've been distracted. Ever since that argument with Adrian. He's been acting weird too."
Her breath caught, but she forced a small laugh. "Weird? Adrian Vale doesn't do weird."
Ethan tilted his head slightly, his tone quiet but sharp. "Maybe not before. But lately, he's different. He watches you when he thinks no one notices. And he hasn't said a single word that isn't about the project or you."
Liora froze, her pulse jumping. She wanted to deny it, to tell Ethan he was imagining things — but she couldn't. Not when the same truth had been haunting her.
"Whatever it is," Ethan continued softly, "don't let him pull you back into it. You don't deserve the way he messes with you."
His words stung — not because they were harsh, but because they were true.
Across the courtyard, Adrian appeared from the opposite hall, hands in his pockets, expression unreadable. For once, he didn't look smug or proud — just… conflicted. His gaze met hers for a heartbeat, something raw flickering in those cold eyes before he looked away.
The world seemed to still around her.
He turned and left, but the silence he left behind wrapped tighter around her than his words ever had.
That night, as Liora sat by her window, trying to study, she realized something terrifying — she wasn't angry anymore. She missed the way he challenged her, the spark that came alive in every argument, the intensity that no one else could match.
And that scared her more than anything.
Because the moment she started missing him, she'd already begun to lose the war she'd promised herself she'd win.