The bell rang, sharp and sudden, breaking the silence that had settled over Section E like fog.
Jay stood up first.
"I need the washroom," she said quietly.
Lia was already moving. "Me too."
They didn't look back. They didn't need to.
The moment the door closed behind them, the room exploded.
Angelo barely had time to sit before voices came at him from every direction.
"Bro—what was THAT?" Kit blurted out.
Aries leaned against a desk, arms crossed, jaw tight. "Jay saw it. She definitely saw it."
Mayo slammed his palms on the desk. "She didn't freak out. She didn't even freeze."
Eren frowned. "That's not normal. Not for her."
Angelo exhaled slowly, already knowing where this was going.
"She's scared of blood," Denzel said quietly. "Everyone knows that."
"Yeah," Kit added, eyes sharp. "But today? Nothing happened."
Aries ran a hand through his hair. "It's not the first time."
The room went still.
Angelo looked at him. "What do you mean, not the first time?"
Aries hesitated, then spoke. "When it's… Lia's blood."
That landed hard.
"What?" Mayo said.
Aries continued, voice low. "It doesn't hit Jay the same way. Her trauma doesn't react. Or it reacts less."
Angelo straightened. "That's not—"
"And sometimes," Aries added, cutting him off, "even if it's someone else's blood… if Lia's there, Jay stays in control."
Silence.
Kit swallowed. "You're saying Lia grounds her?"
"I'm saying Lia keeps her anchored," Aries replied.
Angelo didn't answer immediately. His mind replayed the scene in the hallway. Jay's eyes flicking to Lia. Lia's voice. The way Jay steadied herself.
"It's not that Jay changed," Angelo finally said. "She hasn't."
Mayo nodded slowly. "It's Lia."
No one argued.
They all knew it now.
In the washroom, Jay stood at the sink, gripping the edge so hard her knuckles were pale. She splashed water on her face, breathing slowly.
"I almost lost it," she muttered.
Lia leaned against the counter beside her. "But you didn't."
Jay laughed weakly. "Because you were there."
Lia met her eyes in the mirror. "You didn't look at it."
"I didn't have to," Jay said. "I heard you."
Her voice dropped. "When you said you were here… my head stopped spinning."
Lia didn't say anything. She reached out, steadying Jay's wrist gently.
"You don't have to be strong alone," Lia said.
Jay nodded, eyes still on the mirror. "Don't leave."
"I won't."
They stayed there a moment longer, letting the world settle back into place.
Back in Section E, the questions hadn't stopped.
"So it's only with Lia?" Kit asked.
Aries shook his head. "Mostly. But not always. Sometimes just her presence is enough."
Angelo leaned back, eyes dark with thought. "Which means if Lia isn't there—"
No one finished that sentence.
The door opened.
Jay and Lia walked back in.
Every conversation died instantly.
Jay felt it—the stares, the curiosity, the worry—but she didn't look away. Lia walked beside her, calm, steady, unbothered.
Jay sat down.
Lia leaned against the desk near her.
No one asked a single question.
But inside every mind in Section E, the same realization echoed—
Jay didn't conquer her fear.
She survived it because Lia stood beside her.
And that made Lia more dangerous than any rumor ever could.
The bell rang again.
Classes resumed.
But something fundamental had shifted.
And Section E knew—
Whatever was coming next,
Jay and Lia would face it together.