Fifth period felt like slow suffocation.
Talia wasn't in the cafeteria. She couldn't deal with the eyes — Maya's especially — or the whispered fragments of "She's back," as if she were some ghost returning to haunt the hallways.
Instead, she wandered. East hallway. The quiet one. The part of Willowridge no one cared about anymore.
She paused near an old door with a rusted handle.
> "Are you actually doing this?" she whispered to herself.
The door creaked open.
Inside: a forgotten drama room — dim, dust-lined, and eerily still. Broken props, a single cracked mirror, a torn Pride flag folded on a chair like someone once meant to hang it but never did.
On the far wall, words were scrawled in black marker:
> "Love doesn't ask permission."
Beneath it, the initials: J.T. + T.M.
Her heart twisted. Jace Taylor. Talia Morgan.
> "Bit on the nose, don't you think?" came a familiar voice.
She turned sharply. Jace.
Hair messy like he'd run his fingers through it in frustration. That same cocky half-smile, though something behind his eyes was... softer.
> "This your hideout?" she asked.
> "You found it. Guess that makes us both fugitives."
Talia smirked, but her arms were crossed. Defenses up.
> "So... you write love notes on walls now?"
He shrugged. "You don't believe it?"
> "I believe love is complicated," she said. "Especially when it sneaks in through the back door."
He raised an eyebrow. "Cryptic much?"
> "I kissed Maya during Pride week sophomore year. She kissed me back. Then ignored me for six months."
"I dated Logan over the summer. He dumped me because I wasn't 'fully into guys.'"
"So yeah… love's complicated."
Jace blinked. "So you're—?"
> "Bisexual. Not confused. Not experimenting. Just me."
He nodded slowly. "Good. You should be."
Just then, the door opened again.
> "Oh my God, I knew it! I knew you two were sneaking around!"
It was Elijah, her best friend, dramatic as ever, dressed like a thrifted god and waving his iced coffee like a sword.
> "You ghost me for two periods and disappear into the Phantom of the Opera wing of the school — I knew it was romantic drama!"
Talia burst out laughing.
> "Jace, this is Elijah. Elijah, meet chaos personified."
Jace gave a mock bow. "Nice eyeliner."
> "Thank you," Elijah said with a wink. "I was going for 'sassy archangel.'"
The tension broke for a moment — until Elijah spotted the graffiti.
> "Wait… are those your initials?"
Talia flushed.
> "It's nothing. Just… a stupid quote."
> "T," Elijah said seriously, "you do realize Maya still has feelings for you, right? And now you're holding hands with your stepbrother in a secret love den?"
She pulled her hand away from Jace's without even realizing she'd taken it.
The silence in the room thickened again.
> "This isn't what it looks like," she said.
> "Then what is it?" Jace asked, almost daring her.
She didn't answer.
Outside, thunder rolled like a warning.
As the three walked out, none of them noticed Maya, standing down the hall with her phone recording through the sliver in the door.
She zoomed in. Captured everything.
> "You want secrets, Talia?" she muttered. "Let's see what the world thinks of yours."