HE LOVED ME LAST

Chapter 53

Alice’s POV

I didn’t answer him.

Not in the library. Not after he looked at me like that—with so much honesty it made my chest ache.

I just turned and left.

My heart was racing the whole way out, but my steps didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. If I stayed any longer, I might have said something I wasn’t ready for.

That night, I sat on my bed staring at the ceiling, playing the whole conversation over again.

“Because when you talk, I actually want to listen…”

“Because you challenge me…”

“I didn’t ask to like you…”

His voice echoed in my mind like it had carved itself there.

Why couldn’t he just be the jerk I thought he was?

Why did he have to say things like that?

It would’ve been easier to hate him. Easier to ignore him. But now, my chest felt tight with confusion and something else I didn’t want to name.

No.

It couldn’t happen. We were from different worlds. I was already getting laughed at, pushed, teased… dragged into whispers I never asked for. Being around him just made it worse.

So the next morning, I walked into school and did exactly what I told myself I’d do.

I ignored him.

I didn’t look at him in class. I didn’t glance his way in the hallway. Even when I felt his eyes on me—especially then—I kept walking.

Lucas didn’t chase me.

He didn’t pass a note. Didn’t show up behind me like he usually did.

By the end of the day, I realized he was giving me what I asked for.

Space.

Distance.

Silence.

So why did it feel like something was missing now?

I thought ignoring him would feel like winning.

Like taking control.

But instead, every moment of silence between us felt heavier than the last. In class, I could feel his presence behind me, just a few seats back—quiet, still. Not the usual Lucas who whispered smart remarks under his breath or nudged me just to get a rise out of me.

No teasing. No notes. No smile.

Just... nothing.

At lunch, I sat with Noah and the others, forcing myself to laugh at their jokes. Pretending I wasn’t checking the cafeteria door every five minutes. Pretending my eyes didn’t drift toward the corner where he usually sat with Henry and Amelia—only today, he wasn’t even there.

“Hey,” Noah nudged me, “you good?”

I blinked. “Yeah. Just… tired.”

He didn’t buy it, but didn’t push either.

That night, I found myself staring at the dress again. The one I’d worn to his party. It was still hanging near my closet. Untouched since that night.

I remembered how I felt walking in. Nervous. Out of place.

And how I felt when he grabbed my hand in front of everyone. Like I belonged. Like—for once—I wasn’t just the quiet girl in the background.

I touched the fabric lightly.

Then quickly looked away.

It doesn’t mean anything. It *shouldn’t* mean anything.

Lucas Stone was trouble. I’d told myself that since day one. Cold, arrogant, untouchable. The last person I should ever fall for.

So why did I miss hearing his voice?

Why did my chest ache every time I saw the empty chair beside mine in the library?

Why did I feel like *I* had walked away from something important?

But I couldn’t let myself go there. Not yet. Not when everything around us was still so loud, so dangerous.

So I convinced myself again: He’ll move on. He’ll forget. And I’ll survive this—quietly, like I always do.

Still… it didn’t stop the feeling that something between us had shifted.

And that maybe, this silence wasn’t the end.

Maybe it was the beginning of something neither of us understood yet.