CREEPY
740 Words
AURORA’S POV
I blinked.
Once.
Twice.
“I’m sorry, what?” My voice came out smaller than I wanted.
The guy—whoever he was—didn’t flinch.
Didn’t laugh.
Didn’t smirk like Damien used to when he said something cryptic and thought it was clever.
He just looked at me with those eyes.
Those stormy gray eyes that held something too heavy to name.
“You’ll understand soon,” he said, as if that cleared up anything.
I leaned back in my seat, heart thudding like it had been dropped into cold water. “If this is some kind of joke—”
“It’s not.”
“Okay, then… what is it?” I demanded, trying to sound braver than I felt. “Do we have mutual friends? Did you see me crying online or something?”
“No.” His voice was firm. “But I’ve been… watching you.”
Creepy.
That was creepy.
My instincts screamed run.
But for some strange reason, my body didn’t move.
Not out of fear.
Out of curiosity.
“You’re not doing a great job at sounding normal, you know.”
He actually chuckled. It was low and soft and surprisingly warm.
“I get that a lot.”
I narrowed my eyes. “So who are you?”
He paused, glancing at the window before turning back to me. “Call me Killian.”
Killian.
The name didn’t sound familiar.
It sounded… powerful.
Dangerous.
Like it belonged to someone who could tear your world apart with a whisper.
But why would he know me?
“What do you want from me?” I whispered.
His eyes softened, and for the first time, his gaze didn’t feel so cold.
“Nothing,” he said. “I just want you to stop pretending to be less than you are.”
That hit deeper than I expected.
Because how could someone who didn’t know me—really know me—say something like that?
Before I could respond, the barista called out an order.
A distraction.
A chance to breathe.
Killian stood. “Don’t be afraid of yourself, Aurora.”
And just like that, he left.
No number.
No explanation.
Nothing.
I sat there for several minutes, trying to process what the hell just happened.
Because if I wasn’t already falling apart, I was unraveling now.
That night, I couldn’t sleep.
I kept seeing Killian’s eyes, the way they looked at me like I was a puzzle he already solved.
I kept hearing his voice—stop pretending to be less than you are.
But what if this was all I was?
The next day at school was like waking up inside a nightmare I couldn’t escape.
The whispers started the second I walked in.
“She’s still here?”
“Did you hear Damien dumped her during lunch?”
“I heard he said it was out of pity he dated her in the first place.”
I kept walking.
I always did.
But today, I couldn’t drown it out.
Not when every hallway I turned down had them.
Madison and her little minions, clinging to Damien like he was a prize instead of the human equivalent of a cracked mirror.
And the worst part?
He didn’t even look at me.
Not once.
Until third period.
I sat in the back of the class, doodling invisible patterns on my desk, when the door opened late.
Damien strolled in, laughing at something Madison whispered in his ear.
Then, his eyes found mine.
He smirked.
Not in amusement.
In mockery.
It was a silent victory to him—how easily he could toss me aside.
How quickly I disappeared from mattering.
But then, behind that smirk, something flickered in his eyes.
Something like… confusion?
No.
Curiosity.
And it wasn’t until then that I realized—my tears had dried.
My shoulders didn’t hunch.
I wasn’t looking down.
For the first time in years, I was looking up.
Right at him.
And I didn’t flinch.
Because something inside me had shifted.
Maybe it was Killian’s words.
Maybe it was the raw humiliation still burning in my chest.
But I wasn’t going to crumble anymore.
Even if I had to tape every broken piece of myself back together, I would.
Because something was coming.
Something big.
And for once, I wanted to be ready.
Even if I had no idea what I was about to face.
- Writer
