Escalation or Declaration

From our first year until the end of 9th grade, our dynamic turned into a full-blown war.

When we entered our first year in high school, I thought things would change. I thought maybe we'd grow up, go our separate ways, and find different crowds. But fate is cruel, and we ended up in the exact same classroom again. AGAIN. I always ended up either being classmates with him or our classroom being next to each other.

We became known as the class enemies. One second we'd be minding our own business, and the next, I'd find some random reason to pick a fight with him.

"Leeron, you took the last blue marker from the podium on purpose," I'd snap during a group poster project, standing right in front of his desk.

He wouldn't even look up from his textbook at first. He'd just turn a page, take a slow breath, and say, "Zeanne, there are five other blue markers in the box. Take one of those. I'm trying to study."

"No, that specific one writes better! You're just doing this to annoy me!"

He would finally look up, his face expressionless, that same old completely mature and unbothered aura he has,

"I don't have time for this. If a marker is enough to ruin your day, you have bigger problems to worry about."

It was infuriating. He treated me like a bug he wanted to swat away. But the real reason I was so frustrated-the secret I wouldn't even admit to myself back then-was that Leeron was popular. Everyone loved him. He was the guy who would happily explain a math problem to a struggling classmate, or stay late to help the sports club clean up the field. He was warm, he was interactive, and he smiled easily.

Except when it came to me.

Whenever I was around, his friendly side completely vanished. He became closed off, quiet, and distant. He never initiated conversations with me. If I didn't go out of my way to follow him around or start an argument, he would literally act like I didn't exist. It felt like unrequited hatred, and it made my chest ache in a way I couldn't explain. I hated that I was the only person in the school who couldn't get a genuine, friendly smile out of him.

Well... I guess I really could never control whatever fate brings into my chaotic life.

By the start of our 10th grade year, things started getting weirdly complicated.

The bickering didn't stop, but the energy changed. We started catching each other staring across the room. There were these strange, quiet misunderstandings where he would accidentally touch my hand while handing over a class roster, and we'd both freeze, but he stayed unbothered like the annoying idiot he is, but I looked away instantly. I started noticing small things-like how he'd always happen to be walking out of the school gates at the exact same time as me, or how he'd calmly sit at the library table right across from mine without saying a word.

I don't even know if I was overthinking it or if they were just coincidences.

The tension kept building and building during those first few weeks of the new semester.

We were stuck alone in the student council room after hours, counting up the inventory for the school festival. I wasn't part of the council at all but instead my best friend, Trix, is. I ended up covering for her task since she had an emergency back home.

Outside, a heavy rainstorm was pouring, making the air inside the student council room damp and heavy. I was already stressed, and as usual, I started a fight over nothing.

"You're counting those wrong," I muttered, snatching a stack of papers out of his hands. "Can you do anything right for once?"

Leeron didn't take the papers back. Instead, he stood up from his chair. For the first time in five years, his calm, composed mask completely broke. His eyes were dark, intense, and he stepped right into my space, pinning me against the edge of the table.

"Why do you do this, Zeanne?" he demanded, his voice dropping low, losing all of its usual patience.

"Why do you constantly follow me around just to pick a fight? Why do you hate me so much?"

"Because you hate me. It's obvious!" I screamed back, my voice echoing in the empty room. "You're nice to everyone and every girl in this building except me! You treat me like I'm nothing! You don't care about me at all!"

Leeron stared down at me, his breath hitching. His hands clutched the edge of the table on either side of my waist, trapping me. "Are you really that stupid?" he whispered, his voice trembling with a mix of anger and something else entirely.

"You think I treat you differently because I hate you? Zeanne, I can't even focus on my own life because you're the only thing I see in every single room I walk into."

"... What?"

what does that mean?

We both froze, our chests heaving, standing inches apart in the dark room, the realization of what we were actually saying caught us both completely off guard.

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