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It started raining before Maya even left the school.
Not soft rain. Not the quiet kind that tapped politely on windows. This rain came down hard, fast, like the sky had decided to empty itself all at once. The courtyard lights reflected off the wet ground, turning everything into gold and black and moving shadows.
Maya pulled her trench coat tighter and stepped outside anyway.
Alex was already there.
He stood near the far end of the courtyard, black hoodie dark with rain, hands in his pockets, head slightly lowered like he was thinking too hard about something. He looked up when he saw her, and for once, he didn’t look calm.
He looked… angry.
“You shouldn’t have come out alone,” he said as she walked toward him.
“You said to trust you,” Maya replied. “So start talking.”
Rain soaked her braids, water running down the sleeves of her coat, but she didn’t care. She was tired of shadows. Tired of notes. Tired of feeling like the last person to understand her own life.
Alex ran a hand over his face, then looked past her, scanning the empty courtyard.
“He took the note for a reason,” Alex said. “It means this isn’t just a warning anymore. It’s a countdown.”
“A countdown to what?”
Before he could answer, a slow clap echoed from the covered walkway.
Maya turned.
The boy from the library stepped out of the shadows, completely dry from standing under the roof. Hands in his pockets. Calm. Like he had all the time in the world.
“Wow,” he said, looking between them. “You two really do have a thing for dramatic meetings in the rain.”
Alex stepped slightly in front of Maya. “Leave.”
The boy smiled. “You know I can’t do that.”
Maya’s heart pounded. “Who are you?” she demanded again.
This time, he answered.
“My name’s Daniel,” he said. “And I’m not the problem.” He tilted his head toward Alex. “He is.”
Maya looked at Alex. “What is he talking about?”
Alex didn’t look at her. His eyes were locked on Daniel, his entire body tense.
“Tell her,” Daniel said softly. “Or I will.”
“Don’t,” Alex said, his voice low and dangerous.
Daniel’s smile faded. “You don’t get to control the story anymore.”
The rain got heavier, pounding against the concrete, against the metal railings, against Maya’s heartbeat.
“Tell me what?” Maya said, her voice shaking now. “Alex, tell me what?”
Alex finally turned to her, and for the first time since she had met him, she saw something she had never seen before in his eyes.
Fear.
“I knew this was going to happen,” he said quietly. “I just didn’t want it to happen to you.”
Her stomach dropped. “Alex…”
Daniel stepped closer, his shoes splashing in the puddles now. “He didn’t tell you, did he? That the notes? The watching? The threats?” He looked directly at Maya. “They’re not meant for you.”
The world seemed to go very, very quiet.
“What do you mean?” Maya whispered.
Daniel pointed at Alex.
“They’re meant for him.”
Maya looked at Alex, rain running down her face, her vision blurring slightly. “That’s not true,” she said, but it came out more like a question.
Alex didn’t deny it.
“I told you,” he said softly. “I have problems that don’t go away.”
“What did you do?” she asked.
Alex’s jaw tightened. “I didn’t do anything. My brother did.”
Daniel let out a quiet laugh. “And there it is.”
Maya felt like the ground had shifted under her feet. “Your brother?”
“He’s in prison,” Alex said. “But the people he was involved with? They think I know things. They think I have something that belongs to them.” He swallowed slightly. “So they watch me. They follow me. They send messages.”
Maya’s mind raced. The notes. The shadow. The library. The rooftop.
All of it.
“All this time…” she said slowly, “I thought I was the one in danger.”
“You are,” Alex said. “Because you’re always with me.”
Daniel nodded slightly. “Now you understand the problem.”
Maya looked between the two of them, rain pouring, heart racing, everything changing too fast.
“So what happens now?” she asked quietly.
Daniel’s expression turned serious now, the amusement gone.
“Now?” he said. “Now they stop watching… and they start acting.”
A loud crack of thunder rolled across the sky, and Maya flinched slightly.
Alex stepped closer to her, his voice low so only she could hear.
“I’m going to ask you something,” he said. “And you need to think very carefully before you answer.”
She looked up at him, rain dripping from his hair, his eyes intense, protective, and dangerous all at once.
“Do you still want to stand next to me,” he asked, “now that you know the truth?”
Maya stared at him, her heart pounding, the storm roaring around them, the world feeling like it had narrowed down to this one moment, this one choice.
The safe answer was obvious.
But Maya had a feeling she was never going to choose the safe answer again.
She stepped closer to him.
“I’m not walking away,” she said.
Daniel watched them both, then shook his head slightly, like he already knew how this would end.
“Then,” he said quietly, “you’re both in more danger than you think.”
The storm raged around them.
And none of them knew that this was only the beginning.
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