DETENTION HEARTS

### Chapter Ten: Almost Friends

The first thing Scarlett noticed Friday morning was that her ankle barely hurt anymore.

The second thing she noticed was that Ethan Carter was waiting outside the English building.

Her heart did something strange.

She ignored it.

"Morning," he said as she approached.

She slowed. "Why are you standing here?"

He held up a notebook. "You left this in the library."

She blinked.

Her literature notebook.

The one filled with color-coded notes she'd spent weeks making.

She took it carefully. "You could've kept it until class."

"I know."

"So why bring it now?"

He shrugged.

"I was already here."

Jayden walked by at that exact moment.

"Liar."

Ethan sighed.

"I knew you were gonna ruin this."

Jayden pointed dramatically at Scarlett.

"He got here fifteen minutes early."

Scarlett raised an eyebrow.

"For a notebook?"

Jayden grinned.

"For you."

Ethan threw an eraser at him.

It missed.

Unfortunately.

Scarlett laughed.

"There it is again."

She rolled her eyes.

"You seriously count my smiles?"

"I'm keeping statistics."

"You're weird."

"I'm committed."

English class started with applause.

Not because of anyone's presentation.

Because Mrs. Benson had graded their first project checkpoint.

She returned the folders one by one.

"Tessa and Olivia."

"Ninety-one."

The girls high-fived.

"Scarlett and Ethan."

Mrs. Benson paused.

"Ninety-eight."

The classroom erupted.

Jayden gasped dramatically.

"The enemies cooked."

Mrs. Benson smiled.

"I expected improvement."

She looked directly at them.

"I didn't expect this."

Scarlett opened the folder.

Across the front page—

Excellent teamwork.

She couldn't stop smiling.

Ethan leaned over.

"Told you we'd survive."

"We almost killed each other."

"Details."

Competition Week officially ended with the annual Fall Festival.

The campus transformed again.

String lights hung between trees.

Food trucks lined the courtyard.

Music echoed from the outdoor stage.

Students forgot about homework for one night.

Tessa practically bounced with excitement.

"We're riding everything."

Scarlett laughed.

"There are three rides."

"We're riding all three."

Olivia pointed toward the stage.

"The talent show starts later."

Jayden suddenly appeared.

"So does public embarrassment."

Tessa frowned.

"What'd you do?"

Jayden smiled proudly.

"I signed Ethan up."

Scarlett turned.

"You what?"

Across the courtyard—

Ethan was arguing with the event organizer.

"I never agreed."

Jayden raised his phone.

"You said."

He played a recording.

"Sure."

The organizer smiled.

"That's consent."

The crowd laughed.

Even Scarlett couldn't help it.

Ethan spotted her laughing.

"Traitor."

"I support justice."

"I'll remember this."

The talent show became instant chaos.

Someone juggled oranges.

Someone performed magic.

Someone forgot all their lyrics.

Then—

"Ethan Carter."

The crowd cheered wildly.

Ethan walked onto the stage.

Scarlett expected him to complain.

Instead—

He grabbed a guitar.

The courtyard fell quiet.

"You play guitar?" Scarlett whispered.

Tessa looked confused.

"You didn't know?"

"No."

Ethan adjusted the microphone.

"I'm only doing one song."

He glanced toward Jayden.

"And I'm blaming him."

The first chord echoed through the courtyard.

Scarlett froze.

He was good.

Really good.

His voice wasn't professional—

But it was warm.

Honest.

Different.

No jokes.

No arrogance.

Just music.

When he finished—

The applause felt endless.

Scarlett realized she'd forgotten to clap.

Until everyone else started.

Ethan stepped offstage.

His eyes immediately searched the crowd.

For one second—

They landed on her.

She smiled.

He smiled back.

Then quickly looked away.

Later that evening—

Blue House celebrated their championship victory.

Confetti filled the air.

Coach Reynolds shouted proudly.

"We're bringing the Founder Cup home!"

Students screamed.

Jayden somehow ended up wearing a traffic cone as a hat.

Nobody questioned it.

Scarlett wandered toward one of the quieter pathways to escape the noise.

She found Ethan sitting on a stone bench beneath fairy lights.

"You escaped too?"

He nodded.

"My social battery died."

She laughed.

"I didn't think yours could."

"It shocks people."

She sat beside him.

Not too close.

Not too far.

Comfortable.

The silence between them no longer felt awkward.

"You were good."

He looked over.

"At basketball?"

"The guitar."

He smiled.

"My mom taught me."

Scarlett blinked.

"Really?"

"When I was little."

"Do you still play often?"

"Only when nobody's watching."

She looked at him thoughtfully.

"That's ironic."

"Why?"

"You act like you love attention."

He chuckled.

"I love choosing when people see me."

The sentence lingered.

Scarlett understood exactly what he meant.

A cool breeze drifted through the trees.

Students laughed somewhere in the distance.

The festival lights reflected softly in the small lake nearby.

For a while—

They simply existed.

Together.

Finally—

Ethan spoke.

"Can I ask you something?"

She nodded.

"Were you always this brave?"

Scarlett looked surprised.

"Brave?"

"You stood up to me on day one."

She smiled.

"I was terrified."

He blinked.

"You hid it well."

"My mom used to say courage isn't about not being scared."

"What is it?"

"Doing the right thing while you're scared."

Ethan looked at her for a long moment.

"I like your mom."

"You've never met her."

"I know."

"But I like her."

Scarlett laughed softly.

"I'll tell her."

Then—

Something unexpected happened.

A group of freshmen walked past.

One girl whispered loudly—

"They'd be such a cute couple."

Another replied—

"They're definitely dating."

Scarlett and Ethan spoke at the exact same time.

"We're not dating."

The girls giggled before running away.

Scarlett sighed.

"This rumor's never dying."

Ethan leaned back.

"It could be worse."

"How?"

"They could think we're engaged."

She laughed.

"Don't even joke."

He held up both hands.

"I value my life."

As the festival wound down—

Students gathered around a giant bonfire.

Music played softly.

People roasted marshmallows.

Tessa dragged Scarlett toward the fire.

"Come on!"

Jayden grabbed Ethan's sleeve.

"You too."

Five minutes later—

Their entire friend group sat together.

It felt strangely natural.

Like this had always been normal.

Jayden burned his marshmallow completely black.

"Perfect."

Olivia stared.

"That's charcoal."

"It's flavor."

Scarlett laughed so hard she nearly dropped hers.

Ethan watched quietly.

Smiling.

Not because of the joke.

Because of her.

He caught himself doing it.

Again.

As the bonfire burned lower—

Students began heading back to their dorms.

Scarlett stood.

"I should go."

Tessa hugged her dramatically.

"Champion."

Scarlett laughed.

"Goodnight."

She turned.

"Ethan."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

He looked confused.

"For what?"

She smiled.

"The notebook."

"The project."

"The chocolate."

"The guitar."

He rubbed the back of his neck.

"You remembered all that?"

She nodded.

He smiled.

"Anytime."

She started walking away.

Halfway across the courtyard—

She glanced back.

He was still watching.

Again.

This time—

She didn't pretend not to notice.

She waved.

Just once.

He waved back.

From the shadows near the administration building—

Bianca Parker watched the entire exchange.

Her expression hardened.

One of her friends folded her arms.

"They're basically friends now."

Bianca shook her head.

"No."

"They're becoming something worse."

"What?"

Bianca's eyes stayed fixed on Scarlett.

"A threat."

She reached into her bag.

Pulled out her phone.

And smiled.

"It ends before it begins."

Somewhere inside that phone—

A plan was already taking shape.

One fake message.

One lie.

One betrayal.

And everything Scarlett and Ethan had slowly built would soon be tested.

End of Chapter Ten.