Chapter 17
1009 Words
The Unmasking
The campus slept uneasily that night. Somewhere between the quiet tick of clocks and the hush of crickets, Ethan’s dorm buzzed with restless energy. Midnight felt too close, too heavy.
Ethan sat on his bed, staring at the newest note — the one that demanded he meet on the rooftop alone. His fingers traced the ink without meaning to.
“Stop touching it like it’s a love letter,” Leo snapped, pacing the room like a storm about to break.
“I wasn’t—” Ethan started, cheeks burning.
“You were,” Kai cut in smoothly, lounging against the desk with his usual maddening calm. “He has a bad habit of romanticizing everything, even danger.”
Ethan bristled. “I do not—”
Adrian’s voice cut through, quiet but firm. “Enough. He’s scared.”
Ethan blinked up at him. Adrian was standing close, arms crossed, eyes softer than his voice. That steadiness alone kept Ethan from unraveling.
---
By the time the clock struck midnight, the group had gathered: Ethan, flanked by Adrian, Leo, and Kai, with Jamie and Mark trailing behind like two kids sneaking into a movie theater.
“You two shouldn’t be here,” Adrian murmured.
“Neither should he,” Jamie shot back, jerking his thumb at Ethan.
“Exactly,” Mark added. “So if our roommate’s bait, we’re emotional support.”
Ethan groaned. “This is ridiculous…”
But his voice trembled, and he hated how it betrayed him. Adrian noticed. So did Kai, though Kai only smirked knowingly, while Leo hovered close enough to brush Ethan’s shoulder every time they turned a corner.
The night air grew sharper as they climbed the final stairwell. The rooftop door creaked open with a sound that scraped down Ethan’s spine.
---
At first, it looked empty. The city lights stretched endlessly, neon bleeding into the horizon.
Then movement near the water tank caught Ethan’s eye. A figure stepped forward.
“Daniel?” Ethan breathed.
It was Daniel — the quiet boy from psychology class, always in the back, always unnoticed. His smile was too small, too wrong.
“I knew you’d come,” Daniel said softly, ignoring the three bodies that instantly shifted in front of Ethan.
Leo’s eyes blazed. “You? You’re the one writing this creepy trash?!”
Daniel tilted his head, expression unbothered. “Not trash. Confessions. Promises. Ethan understands.”
“I don’t!” Ethan’s voice cracked, louder than he expected. His pulse hammered in his ears. “I never— I didn’t even know it was you—”
Daniel’s eyes flicked to him, softening in a way that twisted Ethan’s stomach. “Of course you didn’t. You never notice. That’s why you’re perfect.” His gaze slid to Adrian, Leo, and Kai, hardening. “They don’t deserve you. They circle you like wolves. I only wanted to keep you safe. From them.”
---
Kai’s smirk dropped, his voice cold. “You’ve been watching him. Haven’t you?”
Daniel’s lip twitched. “Protecting him.”
“Protecting?” Adrian’s calm cracked, his fists clenching at his sides. “You nearly pushed him down a staircase.”
“That was an accident!” Daniel shouted suddenly, the rooftop echoing with his voice. “I just— I panicked. He was laughing with someone else. With people who don’t care about him like I do.”
Leo took a step forward, his presence like fire. “You don’t know the first damn thing about him.”
Daniel’s hand trembled as he pointed at Ethan. “I know he’s pure. I know he doesn’t see the world’s filth. That’s why he’s mine. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
Ethan’s chest tightened. His voice came out small. “I’m not yours, Daniel.”
That single sentence sliced through the air sharper than anything else.
---
Before Daniel could step closer, Adrian’s arm shot out like a wall. “You’re done.”
Leo moved to the other side, cracking his knuckles. “Try me, freak.”
And Kai, with dangerous calm, circled behind Daniel, cutting off any escape. “Checkmate.”
Daniel’s face crumbled, torn between rage and heartbreak. For one terrifying second, Ethan thought he might lunge. But the sound of approaching footsteps cut the moment short — campus security, summoned by Jamie, who had texted them the second they’d stepped onto the roof.
Daniel didn’t resist as they led him away. His eyes, however, never left Ethan’s.
“You’ll remember me,” he whispered, almost tender. “You’ll see I was right.”
---
The silence that followed was heavier than any shout. Ethan sat on the rooftop bench, his knees weak. His roommates hovered, unusually quiet.
Leo crouched down beside him first, voice softer than Ethan had ever heard. “Hey. You okay?”
Ethan nodded faintly, though his hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
Adrian knelt too, steady as stone. “You’re safe now. That’s what matters.”
Kai leaned against the railing, arms crossed, eyes unreadable. “Safe from him. Not from us.”
Ethan blinked, confused.
Kai’s smirk returned, sharper than ever. “Now that the pest is gone, you’ll finally notice what’s right in front of you.”
Ethan’s heart lurched. He looked from Kai’s piercing gaze, to Leo’s worried grin, to Adrian’s steady hand on his shoulder. His chest squeezed with something he couldn’t untangle.
For the first time, Ethan realized Daniel hadn’t been entirely wrong. Maybe he hadn’t been seeing what was right in front of him.
---
As they left the rooftop, Jamie whispered to Mark, “So… who do you think he’ll pick?”
Mark smirked. “Oh, he’s doomed. He doesn’t even know he’s in a love triangle. Or square.”
Ethan walked in silence, Daniel’s last words echoing in his head.
You’ll remember me.
But it wasn’t Daniel’s face he remembered. It was Adrian’s steady eyes, Leo’s fiery grin, Kai’s dangerous smirk — and the terrifying realization that his heart beat differently for each of them.
- Writer
