DISTANCE
485 Words
Damon didn’t like being watched.
He never had. People’s eyes felt heavy on him like weight, pressing, judging, expecting. And now… they weren’t just watching him. They were watching him and Aria.
It wasn’t fair.
He tried to act normal, but normal felt impossible. Every hallway felt smaller, every glance sharper. Even Mason noticed.
“You’re quieter than usual,” Mason said one afternoon, leaning against Damon’s locker. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
Damon shrugged. “Nothing. Just school.”
“Yeah… school that has everyone whispering about you and her,” Mason replied casually.
Damon’s jaw tightened. “It doesn’t matter.”
Mason shook his head. “It does to you. Admit it.”
He didn’t answer. He hated admitting anything. Especially that her presence was doing something to him and the way people were talking about them was rattling him more than he wanted to admit.
For the rest of the day, Damon kept his distance. He didn’t walk near her in the hallways. He sat a row further back in class. He ignored the way she sometimes glanced at him from across the room.
It felt… wrong.
By the afternoon, Aria noticed. She was quiet at lunch, sitting with her friends but stealing glances every now and then. Finally, she approached him as he leaned against the lockers, waiting for Mason.
“Why are you avoiding me?” she asked softly.
Damon’s hands flexed in his pockets. “I’m not.”
“You are,” she insisted. “I can see it.”
He looked at her, really looked, and for a moment, the walls he always built faltered. “I don’t want people talking about you because of me,” he admitted quietly.
Her eyebrows rose. “Talking about me?”
“Yes. You don’t know them like I do,” he said. “People… they twist everything. Make stories. And I… I don’t want them affecting you.”
She stepped closer, calm and steady. “Damon, I can handle them. You don’t need to protect me.”
He blinked. She wasn’t afraid. She wasn’t shrinking. And that made his chest tighten. “I know. It’s just… instinct.”
Aria tilted her head, studying him. “You care too much.”
He scoffed, almost laughing at the truth. “Don’t make me sound soft.”
“I’m just saying,” she replied lightly, “you’re not as untouchable as you think.”
He wanted to argue. Wanted to retreat behind the walls he had always relied on. But instead, he only nodded.
Because she was right.
By the end of the day, Damon walked home slowly, hands deep in his pockets. He didn’t know how to handle this or her, the rumors, the weight of attention . But one thing was certain:
Distance wasn’t going to protect him.
And maybe… it wasn’t what he wanted either.
- Writer
