The unexpected

“Have a nice day at school,” Mom smiled as she dropped Lyla off at the gate.

“Yeah… sure.” Lyla forced a smile, pushing the door open. She waved goodbye, and her mother waved back before driving away.

Turning around, Lyla walked toward the entrance, lost in her own thoughts. She wasn’t paying attention when she almost stumbled straight into someone.

“Goddamn, watch where you’re going,” a sharp voice snapped.

Her heart skipped. That voice was all too familiar.

She looked up. “Kael?”

“Lyla?” He blinked, then scoffed. “Of course it was you.”

He stepped closer, his presence towering over her. Instinctively, Lyla backed away, her grip tightening on her bag strap.

“I don’t think this was a coincidence,” Kael muttered with a smirk. “Probably planned.”

Before she could reply, he turned and walked away, throwing one last menacing look over his shoulder.

Lyla’s chest tightened with frustration. Stupid… I should’ve been more careful. She cursed herself under her breath and headed toward her locker.

As she fiddled with her books, a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around her waist from behind.

“Hey, girl!”

She jumped. “Celine! You startled me.”

Her best friend laughed, resting her chin on Lyla’s shoulder. “Relax, it’s just me. First class is physics… we’re so unlucky.”

Lyla groaned. “Ugh, don’t remind me. Wait—did you do the homework?”

Celine blinked. “There was homework?”

Lyla turned, staring at her in disbelief. “You can’t be serious.”

Celine giggled, linking arms with her as they walked toward class. “Guess we’re both doomed then.”

Celine and Lyla sat side by side, trying not to draw too much attention. The classroom was loud, filled with gossip and laughter, but everything went quiet the second the teacher walked in. His presence alone was enough to silence everyone.

“Good morning, students. I hope you all did the homework I gave you on Friday,” he said, his voice firm as he looked around the room.

“Yes, sir! I did!” Zoey answered quickly, her voice a little too eager. She sat up straight, her books stacked neatly in front of her. Zoey was known as the class nerd, and her response made everyone groan in annoyance. Most of them hadn’t even opened their notebooks, and now they were glaring at her for reminding the teacher.

The teacher started calling on students one by one, demanding their excuses. Celine felt her heartbeat grow faster as her name got closer. She could feel her palms sweating, and the eyes of the class pressing down on her.

“And your excuse, Miss Celine?” His tone was sharp, making her flinch a little.

She shifted nervously in her seat, her voice coming out quieter than she wanted. “Sir… I was busy over the weekend. We had guests over.”

The teacher raised his eyebrows, clearly unimpressed. His eyes moved to Lyla, who sat stiffly beside her. “And I suppose your friend Lyla has the same excuse?”

A few students chuckled under their breath, and Lyla felt her stomach twist. She hated being called out, especially like this. The teacher’s disappointed look stayed on them for a moment before he let out a sigh and shook his head.

“Sit down,” he said, before turning back to the board. The lesson went on, but both girls could still feel the embarrassment burning on their faces, as if the whole class hadn’t already moved on.

Later at recess, Lyla and Celine sat together in their usual corner of the cafeteria—just the two of them, like always.

“What’s everyone whispering about over there?” Celine asked, nodding toward a noisy table where a group of students seemed to be plotting something big.

Lyla took a bite of the sandwich her mom had packed for her, chewing slowly. “Don’t you know? Kael’s birthday is coming up. They’re probably planning for that.”

Celine raised her brows. “Ah, that explains why Sabrina is extra bossy today. She’s always glued to Kael, but he barely tolerates her.”

Lyla chuckled faintly and lowered her voice. “If it were me, I’d bake chocolate chip cookies for him. He likes them.”

Celine blinked, staring at her in disbelief. “Are you serious? Girl, we both know he’d reject them.”

“Maybe,” Lyla admitted with a small shrug. “But… it’d be worth a try.”

Her best friend sighed, shaking her head as if Lyla had completely lost it.

Just then, a group of girls strutted past their table. One of them sneered, “Losers,” loud enough for everyone nearby to hear. The whole group burst into laughter as they walked away, flipping their hair.

Lyla kept her eyes on her half-eaten sandwich, pretending she didn’t care. But her grip tightened slightly around the bread, her appetite fading with the echo of their laughter.

As soon as Kael walked into the cafeteria with Jeremy and Liam, the entire place seemed to fall into silence. Conversations hushed, all eyes turning toward him like he carried his own spotlight.

“Kael! Oh my gosh, I was waiting for you,” Sabrina practically leapt from her seat, strutting straight to his side like she owned him.

Kael didn’t even blink. “But I wasn’t waiting for you. Now move,” he said flatly, brushing past her.

The rejection hit hard, Sabrina’s smile dropping in an instant. Lyla and Celine exchanged a quick glance, trying not to laugh at the priceless expression on her face.

Kael and his friends settled at a table just one row away from Lyla and Celine. Liam leaned back in his chair, sipping his coffee. “What do you think those girls are talking about?” he asked, nodding toward the girls.

“I’m curious too,” Jeremy added, smirking. “What about you, Kael?”

Kael shrugged, a cocky grin tugging at his lips. “Middle-class girls? Who even wastes a thought on them?”

Liam snorted. “Facts.”

At the girls’ table, Lyla was frozen, her eyes lingering on Kael a second too long.

“Lyla!” Celine hissed, nudging her sharply. “Stop staring. If he catches you, you’ll literally die of embarrassment.”

“What? I wasn’t—” Lyla stammered, cheeks heating.

Before she could defend herself further, the bell rang, and the cafeteria erupted into noise again as everyone scrambled for class.

Lyla and Celine slid into their seats for the last class of the day, both looking drained. The teacher began the lecture, but Lyla’s mind was far from equations and notes. After a few minutes, she nudged Celine with her elbow, eyes shining.

“Come to my house at five,” she whispered. “We’ll bake cookies for Kael… and maybe write him a cute letter.”

Celine’s eyes widened. “You’re seriously planning that? Girl, I doubt he’d even touch them.”

Lyla pouted, leaning closer. “Why are you always so negative?”

“I’m not negative, I’m realistic.”

Before Lyla could argue, the boy sitting in front of them suddenly spun around, annoyance written all over his face.

“Can you two keep it down? Some of us are actually trying to take notes.”

Lyla blinked and quickly muttered, “Sorry…” Her cheeks warmed under his sharp stare before he turned back to his notebook, scribbling away.

Celine sighed and whispered, “See? Now we’re annoying people. Just focus on the lecture. I’ll text you later if I can come.”

Lyla sank into her seat with a small nod, pulling out her pen. Still, her thoughts wandered back to Kael as she forced herself to copy down notes, her heart beating faster at the plan forming in her mind.

The car pulled up to the school gates, and Lyla spotted her mom waving enthusiastically from the driver’s seat. She hopped in, and her mom immediately beamed.

“There’s my girl! How was school today?”

Lyla shrugged, trying not to smile. “It was okay… same old stuff.”

“Same old stuff?” Her mom teased, pulling the car into gear. “That doesn’t sound exciting at all. Did you at least ace a quiz or make the cafeteria lady laugh?”

Lyla giggled softly. “No quiz today… and you know she never laughs.”

Her mom gasped playfully. “Then we’ll have to celebrate something else. Ice cream stop before home?”

Lyla’s eyes lit up despite herself. “Really?”

“Of course,” her mom grinned. “My Lyla deserves a scoop, even on boring days.”

For the first time all day, Lyla relaxed, letting herself smile.

Later at home, Lyla found her little brother waiting by the door. He ran up and hugged her legs tightly, making her laugh as she bent down to ruffle his hair. After playing with him for a while, she flopped onto the couch beside her mom.

“Mom, when’s Dad coming home today?” she asked, absentmindedly scrolling through her phone.

“Probably around seven, sweetheart,” her mom replied while folding some laundry.

“Oh, and Mom… I might bake cookies with Celine today,” Lyla said just as her phone buzzed with a notification—Celine had texted that she would come at 5.

Her mom raised an eyebrow. “Wow, all of a sudden?”

Before Lyla could answer, her little brother pouted dramatically. “I want cookies too!”

Lyla laughed and pinched his cheek. “Aww, don’t worry. I promise I’ll give you some. And Mom, you’ll get yours too. I’ll even save a few for Dad. I’m planning on making a big batch.”

Her mom gave her a small smile, though she wagged a finger. “Alright then, but don’t mess up my kitchen.”

Lyla grinned and nodded. “Deal.”

Lyla felt excited, but deep down her stomach twisted with nerves. What if Kael didn’t even like her cookies? Or worse—what if he refused to take them at all? The thought of Liam and Jeremy mocking her in front of the whole cafeteria made her palms sweat. And what if… what if he opened her little handwritten note in front of everyone? Just imagining their laughter echoing through the room made her want to curl up and hide.

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