The thought of each other lingered

**That evening in Angelo's room***

Angelo told himself it was nothing.

Just a girl....

Just a moment in a hallway....

But that night, alone in his room, the quiet was too loud.

He lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, replaying it all—the way she froze when he spoke, the way she held her books like they were a shield, the way she never quite met his eyes. He’d seen confidence before. He knew loud, fearless girls. Mariah wasn’t like them at all.

And somehow, that was what stayed with him.

He remembered the way she flinched when he got too close, how quickly she apologized even when she’d done nothing wrong. That look she wore—like she was always bracing for something to hurt.

It bothered him.

Not in a way he could explain. Not in the way his friends joked about. This was different. Quieter. Heavier.

He rolled onto his side and exhaled slowly.

When she nodded at him in the corridor, when she said nothing and walked past, he’d felt it—a strange ache in his chest. Like he’d missed something important without even knowing what it was.

He wondered what made her like that.

Who had taught her to look down instead of forward.

Who had made her believe she wasn’t worth being looked at?

The thought tightened his jaw.

Angelo wasn’t sure when it happened, but somewhere between the laughter of his friends and the silence of his room, he realized the truth.

He didn’t just notice her.

He cared....

And that scared him more than anything else.

Because for the first time, he didn’t want to be the loud one, the charming one, the guy who joked his way through everything.

He wanted to be careful.

With her.

**At the same time in Mariah's Room**

At first, Mariah thought she was imagining it.

She wasn’t the kind of person people noticed—not the kind they watched over. So when she began to feel it, that quiet awareness, she dismissed it as paranoia. Years of being bullied had taught her to expect the worst, not… this.

But it kept happening....

In the corridor, when laughter grew too loud and bodies pressed too close, she noticed him step closer—not enough to draw attention, just enough to be there...

When someone brushed past her too roughly, his voice cut in, easy and casual, pulling the attention away before it could turn into something worse.

She never heard him say her name.

But she felt it anyway.

Once, she dropped her pen in class and watched it roll beneath another desk. Before she could bend down, it was already in her hand. Angelo didn’t say anything—just placed it there and walked back to his seat like it was nothing.

It wasn’t nothing.

Another time, she overheard a snide comment—low, careless. Her shoulders tensed, waiting for laughter. It never came. Instead, she heard Angelo laugh louder, redirecting the conversation, drowning it out before it could reach her.

That night, she lay awake wondering why.

Why him?

....

Why now?

...

No one had ever done that for her before—not without expecting something in return. And that scared her. Kindness always came with strings. She knew that.

Still… she started to look for him.

Just once....

Just to check.....

And every time she did, he was already looking her way—never staring, never obvious. Just there. Like he was making sure she was okay.

It made her chest ache in a way she didn’t understand.

For the first time, Mariah wondered what it would feel like…

to....

not be alone.....

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