Nobody Knows

Chapter 8: Lingering Eyes

The professor capped his marker and turned to face the class.

“Since some of you look half alive today, we’ll do something practical. Pair up with your assigned partner and work through problem three. You have fifteen minutes.”

Groans filled the room.

I exhaled slowly.

Fifteen minutes.

I can survive fifteen minutes.

Chairs scraped against the floor. Papers shuffled. The room shifted into small clusters of quiet discussion.

Vhan’s chair dragged closer behind me.

“Well,” he said lightly, “guess we’re stuck together.”

“Tragic,” I muttered, not turning around.

“Very,” he agreed.

He moved to the desk beside mine instead, sliding into the seat so we were side by side. Too close. Our elbows almost touched.

Cael didn’t move far either. Engineering or not, he had ways of orbiting back into my space. His chair angled slightly toward us.

The detective duo.

I opened my notebook, trying to ignore the heaviness pulsing faintly at the back of my skull.

“Okay,” Vhan said, leaning in. “Walk me through this before I embarrass myself.”

“You embarrass yourself without help,” I replied.

He grinned. “True. But at least now I have an excuse.”

I pointed to the first line of the equation. “We substitute here. Then simplify before integrating.”

He nodded, watching my hand instead of the paper.

“Focus,” I said.

“I am.”

“No, you’re not.”

“I am,” he insisted, though he was clearly not looking at the numbers.

I ignored him and continued writing.

The room felt warmer.

Or maybe that was just me.

My breathing felt slightly uneven. Not dramatic. Just… off.

“You’re shaking,” Vhan said quietly.

“I am not.”

He gently tapped the chalk in my fingers.

It was trembling.

Just slightly.

I put it down immediately.

Cael noticed.

Of course he did.

“You okay?” he asked again, voice lower this time.

“I said I am fine.”

“You keep saying that,” Vhan added.

“And you both keep asking.”

Vhan leaned back slightly, studying me now instead of teasing.

“When you solved on the board earlier, you were solid,” he said. “Then you sat down and looked like you were about to faint.”

“I did not.”

“You did.”

Cael folded his arms. “She steadied herself on the desk.”

I shot him a look. “You’re taking notes now?”

“Maybe.”

The word was half joking.

Half not.

The professor walked past our row, glancing at our work. “Progress?”

“Yes, sir,” I answered automatically.

“Good.”

He moved on.

The moment he was gone, Vhan lowered his voice.

“You don’t look like someone with a basketball injury.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means you look like something else.”

My stomach twisted.

Something else.

“Wow,” I said flatly. “That’s very specific.”

Cael didn’t smile.

“You’ve been off since Sunday,” he said.

My heart skipped.

“Sunday?”

“At the park,” he clarified.

The pressure behind my temples pulsed again.

Too many observations.

Too many dots connecting.

“Maybe I’m just tired,” I said. “Has that possibility occurred to either of you?”

“It has,” Cael said calmly. “It just doesn’t explain everything.”

The way he said everything made my chest tighten.

Vhan tapped his pen against the paper thoughtfully.

“If we’re detectives now,” he said casually, “you’re a terrible liar.”

I forced a laugh.

If only you knew.

The bell rang sharply, cutting through the tension.

Saved.

The hallway flooded with noise the second the bell rang.

Voices overlapping. Footsteps echoing. Lockers slamming shut.

Normal.

Everything looked painfully normal.

I moved with the crowd, keeping my pace steady, head slightly down. If I walked fast enough, maybe the pressure inside my skull would stay contained.

Vhan fell into step beside me.

“You sure you don’t want to get that checked?” he asked, not teasing this time.

“I said I’m fine.”

“That’s the third time you’ve said that in ten minutes.”

“Maybe because it’s true.”

Cael caught up on my other side. “You almost dropped the chalk.”

“I didn’t.”

“You did.”

“I said I didn’t.”

My voice came out sharper than I meant it to.

They both went quiet.

We reached the lockers. I pulled mine open harder than necessary. The metal door clanged against the one beside it.

“Okay,” Vhan said slowly, “that was aggressive.”

“I am not aggressive.”

“You’re defensive,” Cael corrected.

I slammed a book inside the locker.

“Can you both stop?” I snapped.

The words hung there.

Too loud.

Too sudden.

A few students nearby glanced over.

Vhan blinked first.

“I was just asking,” he said, not offended. Just… confused.

Cael’s expression changed.

Not playful anymore.

Measured.

“You don’t have to bite,” he said quietly.

I exhaled sharply, realizing my hands were shaking again.

I closed the locker more gently this time.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered.

The pressure behind my eyes burned slightly.

“I just… I don’t need a medical committee following me around.”

There was a pause.

Then Vhan softened first.

“We’re not a committee,” he said lightly. “We’re mildly annoying friends.”

“Extremely annoying,” Cael corrected.

That should have made me smile.

It didn’t.

Because something else was happening.

They were aligning.

Standing there side by side.

Same posture.

Same concerned expression.

When did they start moving like that?

When did they start agreeing so easily?

“You two look like you rehearsed that,” I said.

“Rehearsed what?” Vhan asked.

“The way you both talk like I’m some case study.”

Cael’s jaw tightened slightly. “No one’s investigating you.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Then stop watching me like I’m about to collapse.”

Silence.

That did it.

The snap wasn’t dramatic.

It wasn’t explosive.

But it was real.

Vhan straightened slightly.

“We’re watching you,” he said carefully, “because you don’t look like yourself.”

That hit deeper than it should have.

“Maybe this is myself,” I shot back.

Cael held my gaze.

“No,” he said softly. “It’s not.”

For a second, none of us moved.

The hallway noise faded into something distant and muffled, like it was happening underwater.

Vhan was the first to shift.

He stepped closer.

Not dramatically.

Just enough to close the space between us.

“You’re shaking again,” he said quietly.

“I’m not—”

His hand reached out instinctively.

Not to grab.

Not to pull.

Just to steady.

His fingers brushed my wrist.

Warm.

Firm.

Grounding.

And everything inside me tightened.

Not because of fear.

Because of how natural it felt.

Before I could process it, another movement cut through the moment.

Cael.

He didn’t push Vhan away.

He didn’t say anything sharp.

But his hand came up too.

Not touching me.

Hovering just slightly above my elbow.

Ready.

Like if I leaned too far, he would catch me.

The space between the three of us shifted.

Small.

Charged.

“You’re not fine,” Vhan said softly now.

Cael didn’t argue this time.

He just watched my face carefully.

Too carefully.

My pulse thudded in my ears.

“I don’t need to be handled like glass,” I said, pulling my wrist back gently.

Neither of them moved immediately.

Vhan dropped his hand first.

Cael’s hovered half a second longer before lowering.

It was subtle.

But I saw it.

That split-second of hesitation.

Territorial? Protective? Instinct?

I couldn’t tell.

And that scared me.

“I can stand on my own,” I added, steadier this time.

“I know you can,” Cael said quietly.

“That’s not the point,” Vhan added.

“Then what is the point?” I demanded.

They exchanged a look.

Just a quick one.

But it was enough.

The detective duo.

Aligned.

Again.

And for the first time, I realized something else.

It’s not just that they’re watching me.

They’re watching each other.

Over me.

The second bell rang.

Sharp. Loud. Final.

The hallway snapped back to life around us. Students rushed past, lockers slammed, conversations restarted like nothing fragile had just happened between the three of us.

The moment broke.

Vhan stepped back first, clearing his throat lightly. “We’re going to be late.”

“Yeah,” Cael said.

But neither of them moved immediately.

I adjusted my bag strap, needing something to do with my hands.

“I told you,” I said, quieter now. “I’m fine.”

The words sounded thinner this time.

Vhan searched my face one last time, like he was deciding whether to push again.

He didn’t.

“Okay,” he said finally. Not convinced. Just… backing off.

Cael’s gaze lingered a second longer than Vhan’s.

“If you’re not,” he said softly, “don’t wait until you drop.”

That wasn’t teasing.

That wasn’t dramatic.

That was warning.

I forced a small nod. “I won’t.”

We started walking again, but the space between us felt different now.

Not wide.

Just careful.

No one joked.

No one nudged.

No playful comments about detectives or suspects.

Just footsteps echoing in sync.

As we turned the corner toward the next building, I felt it again.

That strange awareness.

I glanced down the hallway.

Lucas stood near the water fountain.

He wasn’t approaching.

He wasn’t smiling.

He was just… watching.

Not at the crowd.

Not at random.

At us.

More specifically—

At me.

For a split second, our eyes met.

And I couldn’t tell if he looked curious.

Or calculating.

Or amused.

Then he looked away first.

My chest tightened.

Two names.

Two lives.

And now three pairs of eyes paying attention.

How long before one of them stops pretending not to notice the cracks?