Avoid but forgotten
821 Words
Matilda avoided the science wing for the next two days.
She took longer routes to class, kept her head down, and made sure Zara was always walking beside her—just in case. The hallways felt narrower somehow, like they knew she was trying to outrun something inside her own chest.
Jason didn’t approach her. But she felt him everywhere.
A flicker of his hoodie in the corner of her eye. The sound of his voice in the cafeteria. A laugh, too low and easy, making her flinch when she wasn’t expecting it.
She told herself she was doing the right thing.
She even started praying again—quiet, guilty prayers asking for the feelings to go away.
They didn’t.
---
By Thursday afternoon, she was the last to leave Chemistry.
She had stayed behind to ask a question, but her mind wasn’t on atoms or formulas. She was just trying to stay invisible long enough to be alone when she walked out.
But when she stepped into the hall, Jason was there.
Waiting.
Leaning against the lockers again, hands in his pockets, head tilted slightly as if he’d been expecting her all along.
“Did I do something?”
Matilda froze.
“What?”
“You’ve been avoiding me,” he said simply. “Since Monday.”
Her mouth went dry. “I haven’t—”
“You have,” he said, but there was no accusation in his voice. Just quiet disappointment. “Was it something I said?”
“No,” she said quickly. Then added, “It’s not you. It’s just… complicated.”
Jason raised an eyebrow. “It’s always complicated when people pretend not to know you.”
That hit harder than she expected.
She looked away, heart thudding. “It’s not about you.”
“It kind of feels like it is.”
She bit her lip. “You don’t know my life.”
“Then tell me.”
Her eyes snapped up to his. He looked genuinely curious. Not pushy. Not smug. Just there—calm and open in a way that made her want to fall into him and cry at the same time.
But she couldn’t.
Because if she opened that door, her whole world might fall through it.
“I can’t,” she whispered.
Jason studied her for a moment, then nodded once.
“Okay,” he said, stepping back. “But for the record… I meant what I said. You’re not like the others.”
Then he turned and walked away.
Matilda stood frozen in the hall, her books clenched against her chest like armor.
She had done the right thing.
She was sure of it.
Then why did it feel so wrong?
---
Zara always acted like she was protecting Matilda.
She warned her about Jason. She reminded her of her father’s wrath. She played the loyal best friend.
But sometimes, loyalty wore a mask.
---
It was after gym class, on a rainy Thursday, when Zara found herself in the hallway alone—except for Jason Rivera, leaning against the trophy case like he had nowhere in the world to be.
She adjusted her hoodie, checked that no one was nearby, then walked up to him like it was casual. Like she hadn’t been watching him since the beginning of the semester.
“You really do have a thing for invisible girls, huh?” she said lightly, a teasing edge in her voice.
Jason didn’t even look up. “I’m sorry?”
“Matilda,” Zara said, stepping closer. “She’s not like us. Too much fear in that girl. Too many rules.”
Jason finally met her eyes, brow raised. “She’s not scared. She’s cautious.”
Zara laughed softly. “Same thing.”
A beat passed. She shifted her weight, letting her shoulder brush against his arm. “You know,” she added, quieter now, “you don’t have to chase someone who’s always going to run. There are girls who’d actually say yes.”
Jason stepped back.
“Zara,” he said carefully, “you’re Matilda’s best friend.”
She smirked. “And she’s wasting time pretending she doesn’t want you.”
Jason shook his head. “Whatever game you’re playing, I’m not in.”
Zara’s eyes flickered—hurt, then anger.
“So what, you’re some kind of saint now?”
“No,” Jason said. “But I don’t lie to people I care about. You should try it.”
Then he walked off, leaving Zara standing in the hallway with her pride cracking around her.
---
She never told Matilda what happened.
But something shifted between them. Matilda couldn’t name it, not yet. Just small things—Zara’s sudden silences, her new bitterness when Jason’s name came up.
Matilda assumed it was just more of the same.
But it wasn’t.
Zara had crossed a line.
And Jason… had chosen not to.
---
- Writer
