In Denial

Chapter 3: In Denial

Monday morning felt like getting hit by a truck.

I shuffled through the school gates half-asleep, every step a reminder that staying up until nearly 1 AM was a mistake. My backpack weighed a ton, my brain even more.

Yawning, I dragged myself into the classroom, and there he was: Nico, already slouched in his seat with his phone in hand, that smug, unbearable grin plastered across his face.

I knew that look.

I hated that look.

"Morning, Raiii," he sang out, way too happy for a Monday.

"Don’t start," I said, dropping my bag onto my chair with a heavy thud.

"Start what?" he asked, twirling his pen between his fingers like he was the picture of innocence. "I’m just being friendly."

I shot him a suspicious glare.

He lasted all of two seconds before cracking up, snorting loud enough that a few classmates turned to look.

"So," Nico said, leaning in, his grin growing even wider. "How’s your assassin boyfriend?"

I froze mid-unpacking, my hand gripping my notebook a little too tight.

I stared at him, unimpressed. "He's not my boyfriend. It's just a duo, not a relationship."

"Sure, sure," he said, mock-nodding. "Totally normal for someone to get confessed to mid-match and then duo for, oh, I don’t know, three straight hours."

I rolled my eyes, refusing to take the bait.

"It wasn’t like that. It was just a few games."

"Three. Hours," he repeated, holding up three fingers like I somehow didn’t know how to count. "After midnight. With one guy."

I shrugged, pulling out a pen and pretending my notes were suddenly the most fascinating thing on earth.

"We had good synergy. That's it," I said.

Nico snorted so hard he almost dropped his pen.

"Synergy, huh? That what the kids are calling it these days?"

I shot him a glare. "It’s called playing the game, Nico. You should try it sometime instead of feeding every match."

He grinned, completely unfazed.

"Hey, at least I’m not the one getting public proposals in the middle of ranked," he said, tapping his pencil rhythmically against the desk. "‘Be my duo, Rai.’ Bro didn’t even hesitate."

My ears burned just remembering it.

The sheer audacity of Jairem—messaging like that in All Chat, right after trying to murder me all game.

"I didn’t even answer him during the match," I muttered, flipping a page way louder than necessary.

Nico smirked. "Yeah, but you accepted his friend request."

I gritted my teeth. "Out of curiosity."

"Mhmm, curiosity. Classic."

I pressed the pen harder into my notebook, pretending to take notes even though the page was still blank.

"It’s not a big deal," I said, voice low.

"Right," Nico said, nodding sagely like he was some kind of wise old monk. "Not a big deal. Definitely explains why you were smiling at your screen like an idiot the whole time."

"I was not—!"

The bell rang, mercifully cutting off my denial before it could get any louder. I ducked my head, focusing intensely on the front of the classroom as the teacher walked in.

Nico, of course, leaned over and whispered one last thing before class officially started:

"You’re really red."

I elbowed him under the desk without looking.

He chuckled but let it drop, finally turning his attention to his notes—or more likely, just pretending to.

I should’ve been relieved.

But instead, I sat there, staring at my empty notebook, pretending to focus, pretending I didn’t hear Nico’s words echoing in my head.

Whipped.

Ridiculous.

It didn’t mean anything.

It was just games.

Good synergy, smooth teamwork, that’s all.

But even as I scribbled nonsense onto my paper, I couldn't quite chase away the memory of Jairem’s voice through chat.