By the morning of the second day, there was no more whispering at Hillcrest Academy.
It was all very loud.
The difference was slight but clear. People talking were heard more, the sound of laughter was sharper, footsteps were faster, people were more purposeful.
Girls went to the mirrors more than once, straightening their skirts, doing hair, checking their faces in the mobile screens as if today was really going to be the day.
Isabella saw this kind of behavior all over the moment she entered the campus.
She really didn't want to see it.
She kept her eyes on the ground, fixed the strap of her bag, and moved in the same regular way as always.
But it was absolutely impossible to ignore how groups of girls were standing close to the senior building, acting as if they were not waiting for anything.
Or how a conversation would stop the moment that someone looked towards the entrance.
"Mr. Charming."
She held her breath.
Mia came up all excited to her side, practically bouncing.
"Okay, I am telling you, this is even more terrible than yesterday.
""People will tire of it soon," said Isabella.
"They just won't," answered Mia in a very serious voice.
"Especially not when he looks like that.
"Isabella didn't want to hear any details.
She was afraid that pictures would start to form in her mind.
She couldn't say why, but she really didn't want to fantasize about that boy from the library corridor.
They split at the junior corridor and Isabella entered the classroom when the bell rang.
It was by the window that she took her usual seat.
From there she was able to see a part of the yard—the benches, the trees, the walk that went to the senior block.
It was something she knew.
Something that made her feel secure.
Until she spotted him.
Liam Weston was at the fountain with a bunch of people whom Isabella identified as seniors.
He wasn't craving being the center of attention, but attention just naturally turned to him, attracted by some quiet and undoubted quality.
He was smiling at something said by Jordan Matthews, the sound was soft, short.
Not loud enough to be demanding attention—just enough to make it sound like it was deserved.
Isabella quickly looked in another direction.
She kept telling herself it meant nothing.
Liam knew her timetable by heart already.
Not purposely.
That, at least, is what he was telling himself.
It first began as a mere idle curiosity - a mental note, nothing more.
How she always got there seconds before the bell.
Her disappearing through the junior corridor.
Her taking the window seat every morning.
People revealed themselves to be patterns.
And Liam had always been a really good pattern-spotter.
Jordan leaned on the locker next to him.
"You're already popular.
It didn't even take forty-eight hours.
"Liam gave an acknowledging hum.
Jordan followed his looking direction.
"Are you looking at someone?
"Liam didn't respond straight away.
Actually, he shouldn't have responded at all.
"She's different," he eventually said.
Jordan showed a puzzled face.
"Different how?
""She's not looking," Liam answered.
Jordan chuckled.
"Maybe she's blind.
"Liam did not react with a smile.
When it was lunchtime, Isabella sensed the change.
It wasn't obvious - nobody said anything to her directly - but something at the place was different.
The voices were lowered when she came by.
The glance seemed to have stayed a little longer.
She joined Mia to have a lunch together, she was slowly taking out her lunch.
"Do you think people are staring?
" Mia whispered.
Isabella tightened.
"To you?
"Mia was uncertain.
"To...
us.
"Isabella looked around.
A group of older girls was standing near the vending machines.
One of them - tall, elegant, with great confidence - was openly watching her.
Ava Collins.
Isabella looked away.
Her hunger disappeared.
The first rumor got to her even before she had left the school.
She got a chance to hear it in the girls' restroom.
"...
it's said that he just bumped into her deliberately.
""No way.
""Yes.
He talked to her.
Like, he actually talked.
""She's just a junior.
"Isabella stood frozen by the sink.
Her reflection was looking back at her, eyes wide open, face turning pale.
She left the room with her hands still wet.
Liam was once again found himself waiting near the library.
He believed it was a coincidence.
Isabella's steps were shaky when she came out.
This time she noticed him at once.
Their eyes locked.
The gap between them was almost palpable—tight, awaiting.
"Isabella," Liam uttered.
She came to a halt.
"Yes?
""I was wrong creating an uncomfortable situation yesterday.
"She looked at him, searching for mockery or arrogance.
She found neither.
"You didn't," she said.
"It's just that… things are.
"He gave a slow nod.
"People talk.
""They always do.
""Does it bother you?
"Her jaw became tense.
"It's not something you should be worried about.
"A faint light behind his eyes—no anger.
Curiosity.
"I'd love to.
"She raised her hand in denial.
"You're not allowed to make that choice.
"She left before he answered.
Liam stood there, watching her disappear, calm heartbeat, rushing thoughts.
Being refused didn't hurt.
It was a matter of curiosity.
That night Isabella came across a note in her locker.
Beautiful handwriting.
Very simple language.
I don't expect anything.
I just want to understand you.
No signature.
But she knew.
Her hands were shaking when she unfolded the note and stuffed it into her backpack.
Ava Collins saw everything from the other side of the hall.
And smiled.
Later that night, Liam was in his room, the lights were low, and the phone was on his desk, untouched.
He was thinking about the day back again and again.
How Isabella stood her ground.
How she didn't give in to the temptation.
He was not mad at her.
He was… determined.
For a long time in years, everything had always been so easy.
Liam Weston was a person who had never learned to walk away from the things he genuinely wanted.
Isabella couldn't sleep the whole night.
She was lying on her narrow bed, staring at the faint crack in the ceiling where the paint was peeling off like a half-healed wound.
The room had the scent of detergent and old books, it was comforting and safe, but still, there was a tightness in her chest—as if something that had been to school with her had followed her and was now standing just outside her door.
Every time she shut her eyes, she saw him.
Liam Weston.
No smile.
No words.
Just eyes.
She turned over, hugging her pillow.
Come on, Isabella, get hold of yourself, she said to herself.
He's just a new student.
Rich.
Popular.
That's it.
But the image kept holding on to her.
How the corridor fell silent when he walked past.
How teachers would unconsciously straighten up when he spoke.
How senior girls whispered his name like it was a prayer, or a curse.
And how his eyes closely followed her, slow and deliberate, as if he was making a mental picture of her.
There was a gentle knock on her door.
"Bella?"
her mother's voice came softly.
"Are you still awake?"
"Isabella gulped.
"Yeah. Come in."
The door slowly opened and her mother came in, wrapping her blouse tighter around her waist.
When she saw Isabella sitting up in bed, pulling her legs to her chest, her eyes immediately softened.
"You are thinking too much again," her mother said, sitting by her side.
Isabella gave a weak smile.
"You say that all the time."
"And I'm usually right."
The mother gently pushed Isabella's hair back; her touch was warm and steady.
"It's a new school, new people, new sounds.
That's why the first week always gets you like this."
Isabella was unsure.
She wanted to reveal everything to her mother.
The boy.
How everything at school felt strange now—like the atmosphere was charged and unsettled.
But she didn't.
Because how do you explain the sensation of being noticed so intensely by a stranger?
"I'm fine," she replied.
Her mother looked at her for a long time and then nodded.
"Okay.
Sleep well.
"Once the door was shut, Isabella lay back and looked at the darkness.
Unknown to her, on the other side of the city, Liam Weston was also struggling to sleep.
Liam Weston was standing against the bedroom window that went from the floor to the ceiling, hands shoved deep in the pockets of his jeans.
The city lights below him looked so pretty as if they were a kingdom that had been conquered.
At such a height, everything looked small.
Manageable.
People always did.
His mobile suddenly vibrated on the glass coffee table behind him.
Unknown Contact: You made quite the entrance today.
Liam didn't move his head.
He already knew who it was.
Liam: Just looking better doesn't count as an entrance.
A few seconds flew by.
Unknown Contact: She has spotted you.
Liam clenched his fists a bit more in his pocket.
Liam: Everybody saw me.
Unknown Contact: Nobody saw you like she did.
This had made him let out a slow breath.
Liam finally faced the phone, took it, and carefully typed.
Liam: Please don't mention her.
Three dots came up.
Went away.
Came up again.
Unknown Contact: You are violating the rules you set yourself, Liam.
His jaws got tight.
Rules had always been his armor.
Control was his religion.
He had based his life on distance and discipline - never desiring anything too much.
Until today.
Until a girl with weary eyes and ink-stained fingers had looked at him as if he were something untrustworthy.
He locked his phone and put it face-down.
"That's the problem," he whispered to the empty room.
She doesn't look at me as the rest of the world do.
That was enough for her to be a threat.
Or a rarity.
He was not sure yet.
The following day, the school was buzzing like a hive that had just been disturbed.
From the time Isabella entered the school gates, she could sense the tension.
Talking voices were hanging in the air.
People looking at each other secretly.
Phones had come out and the fingers were already flying across the screens.
"Bella!"
Mia whispered loudly as she grabbed her arm.
"Have you seen social media?"
Isabella knitted her brows.
"Why?"
Mia shoved her phone in Isabella's face.
At the top of the screen was a post from one of the school's biggest gossip pages.
'Weston at Ashford.
Guess who caught his attention?
'Underneath it was a blurry picture.
Isabella gasped.
It was here.
Only the back was shown, the place was the hallway they were in yesterday—Liam was in the background, and his head was turned in her direction.
I felt sick.
"That's not—" Isabella tried to say.
"I know," Mia very fast continued.
"But it's already the talk of the town."
Isabella's fingers slightly trembled as she handed the phone back.
"Please take it down," she murmured.
It is better that they take it down.
Mia pressed her lips together.
"You know they won't."
Just like that laughter came from the corridor.
Senior girls.
They walked as if they owned the whole building, their heels clicking sharply against the floor.
Ava Collins was leading them, her perfect smile looked like a knife.
"Well," Ava said after her gaze fell on Isabella.
"Seems like we have a brand new celebrity in town.
Isabella froze.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she muttered.
Ava went closer to her and her breath was felt.
"Oh, darling.
Don't pretend to be dumb.
That guy — " she whispered the rest, " — isn't for girls like you.
Mia was about to have a fight; "Ava, back off".
Ava chuckled.
"Or what?"
Before Isabella answered the quiet fell again.
Someone was coming—walking slowly.
Liam Weston was next to them and his presence was very powerful.
"Is there a problem here?"
he asked.
Ava's smirk disappeared just for a second—which was enough time for Isabella to spot it.
"Oh, Liam," Ava said in a sweet voice.
"We were just welcoming your… friend…"Liam shifted his eyes, not towards Ava, but to Isabella.
His eyes were a shade darker than what Isabella had remembered.
They were not cold but intense.
"She doesn't need your welcome," he said.
The sentence was simple.
The effect was enormous.
A sound went through the hallway.
Ava's cheeks turned red.
"What?"
Liam looked at her for the first time after a while, his expression was not revealing.
"Go, you're free."
The silence was thunderous.
Ava looked at him, fury mixed with humiliation in her eyes, then she turned around without a word and left with her friends.
Isabella's heart was beating so hard.
She didn't want this.
She was only forced into it.
Turned to her again, Liam.
"You should ignore them," he said softly.
When they're bored, they stop caring.
She looked into his eyes.
A kind of bitterness filled her heart.
"You can't choose what happens to me."
On his face, for the first time, there was a brief flash of something like surprise.
Then, he was smiling.
"Right," he nodded.
But, it's already happening.
He went past her.
The hallway seemed to get louder when he left.
Mia's hand was holding Isabella's.
"Bella … I think you're in some kind of trouble."
Isabella was still looking at Liam going away.
So did Ava, from the other side of the hallway, with an angry look that was even more than jealousy.
Rumor started to be the leading topic above them all.
It was neither completely obsession nor resistance, but the beginning of a dangerous story.