Maybe I Am, Actually
Jay had barely stepped into campus when she felt it — the change.
The stares.
The whispers.
The fake coughs followed by very real words like "date," "Keifer," and "not even hiding anymore."
She kept walking.
Head up. Eyes forward. Don't trip. Don't blush. Don't—
"Jay," someone gasped near the lockers, "you glow now."
She blinked. "What?"
"You're like… radiant. Like someone fed you compliments and carbs."
Jay forced a laugh and kept moving. Yuki caught up with her by the stairwell, phone already out.
"You're a trending topic in the girl's GC," Yuki whispered, grinning like the devil. "Someone saw you and Keifer at that ramen place. You're literally tagged in a pic."
Jay nearly choked. "A pic?"
"Chill, you can only see the back of your head. But girl, your aura was screaming taken."
"I swear I will burn this school down," Jay muttered.
Yuki gasped. "Is that what love sounds like? Arson threats?"
Before Jay could respond, Keifer himself strolled past like a scene from a K-drama — crisp white uniform, bag slung over one shoulder, hair perfect like he just knew people were watching.
He winked at her. WINKED.
Jay forgot how to breathe.
Yuki nudged her so hard she stumbled.
"Don't look at me like that," Jay hissed.
"I'm not. But you're looking at him like he invented oxygen."
Things only got worse during lunch.
Jay walked into the canteen, ready to sit with Yuki, when she saw Keifer at his usual table. He was mid-conversation with his friends but caught her eye—and patted the seat next to him.
Like it was normal.
Like it was theirs.
Her feet moved before her brain did.
She sat beside him. He nudged her tray closer. She stole one of his fries. He didn't blink.
"You have ketchup," he murmured, reaching forward.
His thumb brushed the corner of her lip.
Jay froze.
Her heart went feral.
Keifer smirked, leaning back like he hadn't just emotionally assassinated her.
His friend coughed pointedly. "Should we just… leave?"
Jay snapped back to reality. "I—uh. Sorry. I—bye."
She picked up her tray and fled to the far end of the cafeteria.
Five minutes later, Yuki plopped down beside her, biting back a grin.
"Jay. Babe. That was the most girlfriend-y thing you've ever done."
Jay groaned. "It wasn't—I'm not—he—ugh!"
"You wiped ketchup off your mouth with his thumb," Yuki said. "That's literally level eight intimacy."
"There are levels?!"
"Oh, there's levels. And you just speedran the dating route."
Jay buried her face in her hands.
This fake dating thing was starting to feel way too real.
And maybe, just maybe… that's exactly what scared her the most.