Chapter 2 ‘Female Lead pov’

I had just started middle school, and I was excited and proud of myself. It felt like the beginning of a brand-new chapter in my life. But, of course, nothing started the way I imagined.

The first year of middle school was stolen by the coronavirus pandemic. We were locked inside our homes, attending classes through Zoom, and we never got the chance to meet each other or make real friends.

So, my middle school experience didn't truly begin until second grade.

I couldn't wait to finally meet my classmates. I only knew their names because we'd spent the previous year staring at each other through tiny squares on a screen.

On the first day, Lara and Mia walked up to me.

"You can be our best friend," they said with bright smiles.

I was happy at first, but it didn't take long to realize I was nothing more than the third wheel.

Lara had a huge crush on Stephen, a boy I recognized from elementary school. We had never spoken back then, but everyone knew two things about him—he came from a wealthy family, and he was incredibly full of himself.

To my surprise, one day he decided to sit in front of me in class.

After that, he started talking to me almost every day. Sometimes he'd ask random questions, and other times he'd simply annoy me for no reason.

I didn't have feelings for him.

And even if I had, I would have buried them. Lara was my friend, and I would never do anything to hurt her.

Apparently, she didn't believe that.

One afternoon, she suddenly shouted at me.

"Don't talk to him! I told you I like him! I'm jealous!"

Her words hurt more than I expected.

She sat close enough to see that I never started those conversations. Stephen was always the one talking first. I barely even looked at him when I answered his ridiculous questions.

"What time is it?"

"Can I borrow a pen?"

Simple things like that.

The next day, he turned around again.

"Hey, can—"

I cut him off.

"Sorry, but could you please stop talking to me?"

He looked confused.

After a week of him continuing to bother me, I finally sighed.

"Fine. The reason I asked you to stop talking to me is because of Lara. She's jealous."

He didn't say a word.

A few days later, Lara confessed her feelings to him.

I didn't know how to feel.

It just seemed strange.

For weeks, he had been talking to me every single day...

...and now he was dating her?

Was he even a good person?

Their relationship only lasted a week or two before they broke up.

After that, he became even stranger.

For the next three months, he'd appear out of nowhere just to tease me, make weird comments, or find another excuse to get my attention.

I didn't understand why.

I was only thirteen.

Eventually, I figured it out.

He confessed—or at least, what he considered a confession. His ego was too big to simply admit he liked me like everyone else would.

Instead, he played games.

By then, I'd had enough.

Every day he pushed my patience a little further.

As shy and introverted as I was, I decided to confront him.

I walked over to him, my heart pounding.

"Can we talk?"

Stephen looked at me with a smug little smirk.

"Hey, Armela. You stole my job today, huh?"

That stupid smirk only made me more nervous.

Too late to back out now, I told myself.

"You can do this."

"So..." I began. "I wanted to tell you that what you're doing every day isn't right. We're not even friends, so you should stop bothering me or else..."

I froze.

I had no idea how to finish that sentence.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Or else what?" he asked, crossing his arms. "I'm listening."

The first thing that came out of my mouth was—

"We'll be enemies."

For a second, there was complete silence.

Then Stephen burst into laughter.

It was the first time I'd ever seen him genuinely laugh.

My face burned with embarrassment.

What did I just say?

When he finally stopped laughing, he looked at me again.

"So... you said we're not friends."

"Yes."

"And you said we'll be enemies if I keep annoying you."

"Yes."

"Okay."

He smiled.

"So if I stop annoying you, we won't be enemies."

I nodded.

"But you also said we're not friends."

"Right."

He tilted his head.

"Then what are we supposed to be, Armela?"

"Nothing," I answered quickly. "Just... nothing."

Instead of dropping the conversation, he started walking toward me.

"What are we, then?"

"Nothing."

He took another step.

"We have to be something."

I kept backing away without realizing it.

"I said nothing."

"But that's impossible."

Another step.

"We have to be something."

Only then did I realize I was standing at the top of the staircase.

Stephen took one last step toward me.

"Come on," he said with that teasing grin. "You know what I mean. Stop acting innocent."

My mind went completely blank.

What did he mean by that?

I had already made myself clear.

Why wouldn't he just stop?

I stepped backward one more time—

—and missed the stair.

For a split second, I thought I was going to fall all the way down.

I squeezed my eyes shut, already imagining a broken arm... or worse.

Instead, I felt a strong hand wrap around my waist and pull me back.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself staring into Stephen's bright green eyes.

My first thought was simple.

At least he finally stopped talking.

Then I looked down.

His arm was still around my waist.

Panic rushed through me.

Without thinking, I shoved him away and ran back to the classroom.

Stephen thought the world revolved around him.

He didn't know me.

He didn't know how I had been raised.

My family was strict. They taught me that dignity and respect were everything.

I would never do anything that could embarrass my family.

And with Stephen's attitude...

Honestly, he seemed like a boy who only wanted attention.

Just because I was quiet didn't mean I was weak.

Or naive.

Or easy to fool.

Maybe he was different.

Maybe he really did like me.

But I'd spent my whole life building walls around my heart.

People called me heartless.

The truth was much simpler.

I was just scared.

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