The rest of the school day moved like molasses — slow, heavy, impossible to get through. Velithra couldn't focus. Words on the board blurred together, conversations washed over her, and every sound felt muted.
Because all she could think about…was him.
Every time she blinked, she saw the way Kai had looked at her in the hallway — like she was something he didn't know how to handle, but couldn't walk away from either. Something he wanted in a way that scared him.
By lunch, Velithra was still distracted, playing with the edge of her sleeve as she sat at her usual table. Her fake friends were loud again, arguing about something stupid. None of it reached her.
She kept checking the cafeteria door.She didn't even realize she was doing it.
Kai walked in five minutes later.
Her breath froze.
He scanned the room once, eyes sharp and unreadable — until they landed on her.
And softened.
Just barely.
No one else would've noticed.She did.
He didn't go to the food line.He didn't sit with the group of girls who were waving him over like they were a fan club.
He walked straight toward her.
Velithra's heartbeat surged.Her fake friends all fell silent, tense, curious, jealous — but she barely registered them.
Kai stopped at the edge of her table.
He didn't ask if he could sit.
He just sat.
Right next to her.
Close enough that she felt the warmth of his arm.Close enough that her breath stuttered.Close enough that her fake friends' mouths hung open.
Kai didn't look at any of them.He only looked at her.
"…Hey," he said softly.
Velithra almost forgot how to breathe.
"Hey," she whispered back.
His shoulders relaxed at her voice. It was subtle, but she saw it. Felt it.
"Sorry about earlier," he muttered. "I just—"He paused, eyes darting away."Got… weird."
Velithra's lips parted. "You weren't weird."
"I almost…"He stopped himself again, jaw tightening."I don't want to freak you out."
"You didn't," she said, quieter, more honest than she meant to be.
Kai looked at her. Really looked.
His expression changed — something warm, something dangerous, something so gentle she felt it like a hand pressed to her chest.
"…Good," he said, voice rough.
The air between them tightened.
She looked at the table, feeling her cheeks warm. "So… why did you come sit with me?"
He blinked once like the question surprised him.
Then he said, simple and unfiltered:
"Because I wanted to."
Her breath hitched.
A few girls across the cafeteria whispered loudly.Her table stared.No one mattered.
Velithra could only think one thing:
He chose me.
Kai shifted a little closer, lowering his voice so only she could hear.
"I checked the hall earlier," he murmured. "You weren't there. Thought something happened."
Velithra's chest fluttered. "You were… looking for me?"
He didn't hesitate. "Yeah."
Her hand trembled slightly on the table.Kai noticed. His eyes flicked to it — and for a second, he looked like he wanted to reach out and steady it.
But he didn't.
He swallowed instead, voice softer.
"You okay?"
Velithra nodded too quickly. "I'm fine."
"Velithra."Her name again, low and careful."Don't lie."
She looked up at him.
The room disappeared.
"I… I was thinking about earlier," she admitted.
Kai's eyes darkened — not in anger, but in something deeper.
He exhaled shakily, leaning an inch closer.
"Yeah," he whispered. "Me too."
The moment stretched — delicate, intimate, almost dangerous.
And Velithra realized something terrifying:
Every chapter up until now had been the slow build.
But this—this was the beginning of the shift.
The point where pretending they didn't want morewould become impossible.