Season 1 --- Chapter 9: “Between Two Fires”
1279 Words
Malisa felt hollow as she left the science block.
Like someone had scraped out her insides and left her walking on autopilot.
The whole world looked blurry.
Too loud.
Too bright.
Too everything.
Rico’s words still echoed in her ears.
“Maybe I was supposed to meet you.”
She didn’t know what to do with that.
Didn’t know how to feel.
Didn’t know why a part of her chest warmed at it
when she should have only been thinking about Keon.
Her heart was a messy drawer of emotions she didn’t have labels for.
She walked toward the front courtyard, but the moment she saw the cafeteria doors again, her stomach flipped. She veered away sharply and climbed the side stairs instead, heading to the upper corridor.
The bell for the next lesson rang.
Students poured out.
Laughing, shoving, talking, living their normal lives.
She felt like she was floating above her own.
* * * * * * * * * *
Priya spotted her first.
“Lis!”
Her friend jogged up the hall, concern twisting her face.
Jay and Sienna followed right behind, the three of them looking like a search party.
Priya’s eyes scanned Malisa.
Red eyes.
Stiff posture.
Face like someone who’d forgotten how to smile.
“What happened with Keon? Babe you ran off like someone was after you.”
Malisa swallowed.
“It’s nothing.”
Jay scoffed loudly.
“Nothing? That argument was mad still. Never heard you chat to him like that.”
Sienna elbowed him hard.
“Jay, she doesn’t need commentary.”
Jay shrugged.
“Just saying.”
Priya pulled Malisa aside gently.
“Listen… we know you’re stressed. And failing Lit isn’t the end of the world. But you and Keon? You two are like… toxic soulmates.”
Malisa frowned.
“Priya.”
“In a good way!” Priya added quickly.
“You fight mad, but you love madder.”
Malisa didn’t respond.
Because the truth was:
She didn’t know what she and Keon were anymore.
She used to think they were unbreakable.
Solid.
Built on something real.
But now?
Now everything felt wobbly.
Thin.
Like one more wrong word could snap the rope between them entirely.
Sienna tilted her head.
“Do you want us to talk to him?”
Malisa shook her head fast.
“No. Please don’t.”
Priya nodded.
“Okay. But you know you’ve gotta sort this before it gets worse.”
Malisa sighed, rubbing her eyes.
“I will. I just… need space.”
Jay cleared his throat.
“And, um… small thing… but Aaliyah’s been hovering around him.”
Malisa stiffened.
Priya glared at Jay.
“Why would you tell her that now?”
“Because she needs to know!”
Sienna sighed loudly.
“Look, yeah, Aaliyah’s only doing it because she sees cracks. She thinks Keon’s vulnerable. And she’s an opportunist. But he didn’t flirt back.”
Jay lifted a finger.
“Not that I saw.”
Priya smacked his arm.
“Jay!”
He winced.
“Ow! I’m trying to be supportive!”
Malisa tried to laugh, but it came out thin and weak.
Sienna linked arms with her.
“Let’s get you to class, yeah?”
Malisa nodded numbly.
* * * * * * * * * *
English Literature again.
Of course.
Her seat felt colder than usual.
Her hands felt unsteady.
Her brain was foggy --- not from sadness alone, but from what she’d taken last night.
She had doubled her usual dose.
Bad idea.
She wasn’t coming down cleanly.
The teacher’s voice sounded like distant radio static.
“Everyone, take out your Macbeth notes…”
Everyone rustled papers.
Malisa stared blankly at her empty notebook.
She couldn’t focus.
She couldn’t think.
She couldn’t breathe normally.
Her leg bounced uncontrollably.
Her heart raced.
Her fingers twitched.
Priya watched her from the next desk, worry etched between her brows.
She leaned closer.
“Lis… when’s the last time you slept properly?”
Malisa swallowed.
“I’m fine.”
Priya didn’t buy it.
“Be honest.”
Malisa looked down at her shaking hands.
Priya gently placed her palm over them.
“You’re not fine.”
Something in Malisa cracked.
But before she could speak, Ms. Carlton called out:
“Malisa? Can you read the next passage?”
Her stomach dropped.
Her vision blurred.
She could barely see the words on the page.
She tried.
She opened her mouth.
But her voice shook and caught in her throat.
A few classmates whispered.
Priya squeezed her arm.
Ms. Carlton frowned, confused.
“If you don’t have your book, Malisa, you can share with Priya.”
Malisa nodded quickly, trying to hide her trembling.
She hated this.
Being watched.
Being fragile.
Being seen.
She leaned forward, pretending to look at Priya’s book…
but really just trying not to fall apart.
* * * * * * * * * *
When the bell released them, Malisa rushed out first.
She leaned against the wall outside the classroom, breathing fast.
She wished she had something stronger with her.
Just enough to steady her nerves, smooth the edges.
But she had taken the last of her stash last night.
Her head throbbed.
Her heart rattled.
Everything felt too heavy.
A voice came from behind her.
“You alright?”
She turned slightly.
Rico stood there again --- like he had appeared out of thin air.
He wasn’t smirking.
Wasn't acting cocky.
Just watching her with a strange gentleness she hadn’t expected.
She straightened.
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.”
She shot him a glare, but he didn’t back down.
“You think no one notices when you’re shaking like that?”
Her breath caught.
She tensed.
“How long were you watching me?”
“Long enough.”
Her chest tightened.
Rico stepped closer, lowering his voice.
“You need to slow down, Lis.”
Her heart hammered.
He shouldn’t know.
He couldn’t know.
She swallowed hard.
“I’m not on anything.”
Rico gave her a look that cut straight through the lie.
“I said slow down. Not stop.”
Her breath hitched.
She stared at him.
He stared back.
Something electric passed between them.
Not romantic.
Not s****l.
Just…
connection.
Recognition.
Two damaged people reading each other too easily.
He tilted his head.
“You want honesty?”
She hesitated.
He stepped even closer, lowering his voice.
“I think you’re scared Keon’s gonna leave you.”
Her lips parted slowly.
Rico continued.
“And I think you’re scared you’ll let him.”
Her throat tightened painfully.
Her voice finally broke.
“I don’t want to lose him.”
Rico’s expression faltered --- barely, but she saw it.
A flicker
of something raw
and disappointed
and wanting more than he should.
He quickly looked away.
“Then fix it before someone else tries stepping in.”
Malisa’s stomach dropped.
“Aaliyah?”
Rico didn’t answer.
And that silence
told her everything.
She sucked in a shaking breath.
“I don’t know how to fix it.”
Rico met her eyes again.
A slow inhale.
A slower exhale.
His voice came out softer than she’d ever heard.
“Start with the truth.”
Her breath stilled.
“About what?”
He held her gaze.
“Everything.”
Malisa’s hands trembled.
She didn’t know if he meant her addiction
her fear
her mistakes
or the fact that she couldn’t get his voice out of her head now.
Maybe all of it.
A teacher shouted down the hall.
Students poured past them.
But she and Rico stayed still.
Two fires burning quietly beside each other.
- Writer
