The sun had started dipping, gold spilling low across the park as people began to leave families packing up, kids dragging scooters, someone chasing a dog that clearly had no plans of slowing down. Alex and Riley stayed. They found a bench just off the main trail, tucked in enough to feel like the world had dimmed its volume for them alone. No one nearby. No pressure to talk. Riley kicked off her shoes and pulled her knees up, hoodie sleeves half-covering her hands. Alex leaned back, arms stretched across the top of the bench like he didn't have a hundred thoughts spinning in quiet orbit behind his eyes.
"Ever think about how weird all this is?" he asked finally. "Like… this stage of life. All of it."
She tilted her head. "You mean high school?"
He shook his head. "No, I mean… this. Us. You, me, walking around pretending everything's normal when it so isn't."
Riley gave a small smile. "What gave it away? The mysterious wind?"
"More like the part where you dodge every strange moment like a ninja."
She nudged him with her knee. "You don't make it easy to dodge."
"Good."
The silence that followed wasn't awkward. It was packed.
Riley stared at the sky. "If I ever told you the truth like, the real truth what would you do with it?"
Alex considered that. "I think I'd still sit here. Still listen. Still trust you."
Her lips pressed together. "Even if it's dangerous?"
"Especially then."
She turned her head toward him. "Why?"
He met her gaze. "Because you've already had a hundred chances to lie better, and you haven't taken any of them."
That landed harder than she expected. For a second, her expression cracked just slightly. Like a door creaking open, showing something raw behind it. Then, just like that, she shut it again.
"Alex?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for not pushing. But also… thanks for not ignoring it."
"I'm not great at ignoring things."
"Yeah. I noticed."
The moment stretched. The quiet between them was no longer just silence it was safety. Tense and strange and still, somehow, safe.
She stood up looking down at Alex, "can you escort me home?"
"Sure,why not'
Walking side by side, while Alex stole a glance of her having a lot of thought on who she really is but one day she will open up herself.
________________________________________________
The streets were quieter by the time they reached Riley's neighborhood. Evening had slipped in fully now soft and blue, brushing gold from the edges of buildings and trees. Streetlights flickered on like someone flipping switches in slow motion. Alex walked a step behind her, hands in his jacket pockets, watching the way she moved deliberate, guarded, but relaxed enough that he knew she was letting him in. In her way.
"You sure you don't want me to walk you all the way?" he asked, nodding toward the last bend in the road.
Riley glanced at him over her shoulder. "What, afraid I'll get snatched by shadows?"
"After today?" He half-smiled. "I wouldn't be surprised if the shadows answered to you."
She didn't laugh, but she didn't deny it either.
"Fair," she said.
They stopped near the corner, the unspoken boundary where her space started and his ended. She didn't say goodbye yet. Neither did he.
"You ever gonna tell me what's really going on?" he asked, voice low.
She looked at him really looked. Her gaze searched his face like it was reading a story she wasn't sure she was ready for.
"I want to," she said.
"Then do."
"I will."
"When?"
Riley's fingers toyed with the hem of her hoodie. She looked down, then back up. "When you're ready."
He blinked. "I'm not the one holding secrets."
"No," she said. "But you are the one who'll have to live with them once they're out."
Alex didn't have a good answer for that. Just a quiet nod. And then
"Hey," Riley said, softer now. "Thanks… for today. Just… being here."
He stepped closer, close enough that her breath caught just a little.
"Anytime."
A beat.
Then she stepped back.
"I'll see you tomorrow."
He stayed at the corner as she disappeared around it, the sound of her steps fading with the wind. That strange wind again soft now, like it was saying something only she could hear. Alex didn't move right away.
Till he's sure she is out of sight before walking away from there, and there it was a pair of eyes watching from a distance, not curious but observing.
________________________________________________School on Monday felt off. Not in the dramatic, skies-are falling kind of way. More like everything was tilted a few degrees left and nobody noticed but him. Alex leaned against his locker, watching students swarm the hallway like usual loud, chaotic, forgettable. But Riley wasn't forgettable. Not when she walked past with that distant look in her eyes and a careful smile that didn't quite reach her lips. She caught his eye from across the hall and gave him a quick nod. It should've been enough. But after the weekend after that moment everything felt like a puzzle missing a corner piece. He didn't walk over. Not yet. Instead, he watched her disappear around the corner with her hood pulled up, earbuds in. Like they hadn't nearly had a conversation that might've changed everything. And he wasn't the only one watching her. Someone else was there. At first, Alex thought he was imagining it. The boy by the stairwell didn't move, didn't talk to anyone, didn't even blink when the bell rang. Dark clothes, pale skin, and eyes that flicked to Riley like they knew something he didn't. Alex narrowed his gaze. Second period started. He was late. He didn't care. The mystery boy was gone by the time he turned the corner. No footsteps. No sound. Just absence. Alex shook it off and headed to class, but the itch between his shoulders didn't leave him. Later, in third period, Riley slid into the seat next to his.
"You good?" she asked, scribbling the date on her notebook without looking up.
"I saw someone watching you earlier," he said quietly.
She paused, her pen stilling just for a second. Then she turned a page and said, "Yeah? Maybe they were just watching you."
"Riley."
She glanced at him, her eyes guarded. "Don't start."
"I'm just really worried that's all"
"Can we stop talking about this"?
"If you say so"