My Last Year

He stared at me

I couldn’t sleep that night.

No matter how tightly I shut my eyes, my mind replayed the scene from the classroom over and over. Conrad Fisher. Sitting beside me as if the summer hadn’t happened, as if he hadn’t kissed me beneath the Cousin’s beach fireworks only to vanish without a word.

And then Jake of all people sitting behind me. His mocking smirk, his presence like a shadow I could never shake off.

It felt like the universe was deliberately placing me in the middle of a storm.

I tossed and turned, staring at the ceiling as though the pale paint might whisper answers back.

“What am I supposed to do now?” I muttered into the stillness.

The ceiling, of course, stayed silent.

By the time exhaustion finally dragged me under, dawn was already crawling through my curtains.

My alarm shrieked me awake. The sound was so sharp, so merciless, that I wanted to throw it against the wall. But it wasn’t the alarm that was my real problem it was my feelings. My tangled, messy, uncontrollable feelings.

Dragging myself from bed, I slipped into my worn slippers and trudged to the bathroom. The mirror fogged slightly from the steam, and for a long time I just stood there, staring at my reflection.

At least the mirror told me the truth, unfiltered and blunt. There were dark circles beneath my eyes, a faint flush on my cheeks. I wasn’t sure if it was nerves or the memory of Conrad’s smile haunting me.

“Lily, aren’t you ready for school?”

The voice of my mom floated up the stairs.

Just hearing her made my chest loosen. Ever since Dad left, Mom had carried everything on her shoulders. She was the reason we hadn’t crumbled, the reason I could still stand and smile, even on the hardest days. To the world, she was just a single mother. To me, she was everything—my hero, my anchor, my entire world.

“Almost ready, Mom!” I called, quickly braiding my hair and grabbing my backpack.

I hurried downstairs, only to freeze mid-step when I heard a deep, familiar voice speaking with her in the living room.

Noah.

Conrad’s father.

He looked older, wearier than I remembered, but his smile was warm when his eyes landed on me.

“Lily, how are you, dear? It’s been such a long time.”

“I’m good, Mr. Fisher. And you?” I asked politely.

“I’m fine, just… busy.” His tone dipped slightly before he cleared his throat. “I actually came to ask if it would be alright for Conrad to stay here for a while. I’ll be leaving for France on a business trip, and after… everything, I don’t want him to be alone.”

For a moment, my heart clenched. After everything. He meant after losing his mom.

“It’s perfectly fine,” Mom said gently. “He’ll be safe here. Isn’t that right, Lily?”

I nodded, forcing a small smile. “Of course, Mom’s right.”

When I finally looked at Conrad, he wasn’t smiling. His jaw was tight, his eyes shadowed with something far heavier than I could carry. Pain. Anger. Loss.

My chest ached just looking at him.

“Alright then,” Noah said, clapping his hands softly. “Let’s get going. I’ll drop you both off at school.”

The drive was suffocating.

I slid into the backseat, my bag clutched tightly against me, while Conrad sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window as though the world outside offended him. Silence pressed heavy on us until Noah broke it with a gentle reminder.

“Conrad, take care of yourself, and don’t forget to"

“I get it, Dad.” Conrad’s voice was clipped, sharp enough to slice the air. Without waiting for another word, he pushed the car door open as soon as we pulled into the school parking lot.

I winced. I’d known Conrad didn’t get along with his father, but I hadn’t realized the distance between them was this wide, this raw. The tension had been thick enough to choke on.

“Thank you for the ride, Mr. Fisher,” I said softly, offering him a smile I hoped was reassuring. “I’ll… talk to him.”

“Thank you, Lily.” His eyes flickered with sadness, the kind that made me want to hug him, though I knew it wouldn’t fix anything. “You’ve always had a way with people.”

I wasn’t sure about that. But I nodded anyway before stepping out and waving as he drove away.

I’d barely taken two steps when a car screeched toward me, tires squealing against asphalt. My heart leapt into my throat.

I froze, eyes squeezing shut. “God, is this how it ends?”

The car halted just inches from me. A laugh, low and mocking, reached my ears.

“Wow, Lily. That terrified look suits you.”

My eyes snapped open. Jake.

Of course.

He leaned casually against the door of his car, every line of his posture radiating arrogance. His grin widened when he noticed my expression.

Wait. Did he just call me by my name?

For a second, I thought I’d misheard. I wasn’t the type of girl Jake normally noticed. I was the timid one, the quiet one who blended into the background. Forgettable. Invisible.

But now, here he was, saying my name as though he’d always known it.

He gave me the same devastating smile that had half the school wrapped around his finger, then leaned closer just enough to flip a strand of my hair between his fingers.

And then he walked away, just like that.

I froze. Completely.

My lungs forgot how to work. My legs forgot how to move. My heart? It wasn’t just pounding, it was sprinting a marathon inside my chest.

“Lily?”

Conrad’s voice. Behind me.

I couldn’t turn. I couldn’t even breathe properly.

“Lily.” His voice was closer now, steadier, warm in a way that reminded me of summer nights and first kisses. “What’s wrong?”

I opened my mouth, but words failed me. My lips trembled, no sound coming out.

Without hesitation, Conrad placed his hand gently on my shoulder. “Come on.”

When my feet refused to move, he didn’t sigh or get frustrated. He simply scooped me up in his arms as though I weighed nothing, carrying me into the building. Gasps and whispers rippled across the hallways as every eye followed us.

But in that moment, I didn’t care.

All I could think about was Jake.

Jake knew my name.

Jake had touched my hair.

And I hated how much that small detail rattled me.

Conrad set me down gently in my seat, his hand brushing against mine for just a moment longer than necessary. “Are you alright?” he asked quietly.

I forced a smile, though it felt hollow even to me. “Yeah. Thanks.”

The rest of the class was a blur. My pen hovered over my notebook, my eyes glued to the board, but none of it registered. My mind kept circling back to Jake’s smirk, his voice, the casual way he’d said my name.

He remembered me.

Why?

Conrad caught my gaze at one point and smiled, that same breathtaking smile that used to melt me under the fireworks. I tried to return it, but what came out was more of a grimace. And I hated myself for it.

When the bell rang, the noise jolted me back to reality. Students poured out into the hallway. Conrad walked beside me while Jake brushed past, his eyes locking onto Conrad’s with a glare sharp enough to wound.

Conrad raised a brow, unbothered. “Does he always look at people like that, or is it just me?”

“That was Jake’s version of a welcome,” I muttered.

Conrad chuckled. “Wow. Should I be scared?”

For the first time all day, I laughed. Really laughed. The tension eased just a little.

But then he turned to me, his eyes soft, his voice casual yet weighted. “So… lunch break. Want to go to the cafeteria with me? I’m starving.”

And just like that, my stomach twisted. Heat pooled in my chest.

I froze. Again.

Because between Jake’s smirk and Conrad’s smile, I wasn’t sure which one scared me more.