Dangerous Illusion

Nine Years Ago “We’ll be best friends forever!” I giggled and tossed a Lego brick at him. “Of course we will.” Lucas and I were completely inseparable back then. We did absolutely everything together—from building Lego cities to playing superheroes in the backyard. Our parents eventually stopped trying to separate us because they knew what would happen: one of us would cry, and the other would cry louder. Our bond felt like something unbreakable, like it was stitched into the fabric of our childhood. But then came junior high. A new school. A different environment. Unfamiliar faces. I made a quiet promise to myself the night before school started: no chaos, no drama, no attention. I’d already had my fair share of bullying at my old school, and I wasn’t going to let that happen again. This time, I would blend in. Keep my head down. Stay invisible. And as much as it hurt—I decided that meant no one could know I was still friends with Lucas. Eight Years Later The cafeteria buzzed with its usual midday noise—echoes of laughter, overlapping conversations, trays clattering, and someone in the far corner arguing over how many pizza slices they could down without exploding. I held a grape between my fingers, pausing mid-air as I chewed the one already in my mouth. “I can’t concentrate when he’s around,” Lara moaned, collapsing dramatically across the lunch table. “And if I can’t concentrate, I’ll flunk that class. If I flunk that class, I won’t graduate. If I don’t graduate, my parents will disown me and ship me to some abandoned monastery in the mountains—” Her forehead smacked against the table with a loud thunk, her long hair spilling across her tray and dipping into the last few bites of her lunch. “I’m doomed. Doomed, doomed, doomed.” I popped the grape into my mouth and stared at her with an amused smile. “Then stop staring at him. Problem solved.” I said it like it was the simplest thing in the world, but honestly, I didn’t care. This was at least the fifth time this week she’d brought up the same guy, and I was tired of hearing about him. “I can’t just stop. Not when he looks like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Like, how is that level of perfection even legal?” I rolled my eyes, chewing on another grape with deliberate indifference. My lips curled slightly in disgust. Lara noticed. She narrowed her eyes at me. “Why do I even bother telling you this stuff? You wouldn’t know hot if it slapped you in the face.” “I just don’t think he’s all that good-looking,” I said flatly. Lara gasped as if I’d committed some unspeakable crime. “Girl, you better get your eyes checked before you spread any more lies. How can you look at him and say that with a straight face?” She pointed across the room at a table near the windows and motioned for me to look. I sighed and turned reluctantly in that direction. And then I froze. There he was—Lucas. Laughing, animated, completely in his element among a group of classmates. His presence still stood out, even after all these years. Our eyes met, just briefly, but it was enough. He didn’t hesitate—he sent me a playful wink, subtle but unmistakable. My heart skipped. My fingers twitched. And the grape I had been holding slipped from my hand, smacking my wrist and trailing sticky juice down the sleeve of my uniform. Lara stared at me, blinking in shock. “What the hell was that?” I whipped my head back around. “What was what?” “Did he just wink at you?” Her tone was incredulous. “What? No!” I waved my hand dismissively. “You must’ve seen it wrong. He probably winked at someone behind me.” She squinted at me suspiciously, but I stood up, grabbing my tray. “Come on, let’s go. You’re done eating anyway.” Outside the cafeteria, we split ways—Lara rushed off toward the counselor’s office (for reasons unknown), and I made my way to my locker. As I dug through my bag, looking for my notes, a shadow fell over me. I felt a presence—close. Then a palm pressed flat against the locker beside my head. I didn’t need to look. Speak of the devil. With a sigh, I hugged my book to my chest and slowly turned. Lucas stood there, casually leaning against the locker, his grin just as infuriatingly smug as I remembered. “What do you want?” I asked, not bothering to hide the annoyance in my voice. He leaned in a little closer, and I instinctively took a step back, putting space between us. I didn’t like how easily he got under my skin. His eyes glinted with mischief, and I could practically hear the teasing in his silence. “You,” he said, dragging out the word with a low chuckle. I rolled my eyes and shoved my book into his chest—not too hard, just enough to send a message. He laughed and fell into step beside me as I started walking down the hallway. “Stop following me,” I hissed. He was quiet for a moment. Then, “Why?” I stopped and turned to face him, glaring. “You know why. We’ve talked about this.” “I still don’t like it.” His voice dropped the teasing tone. For once, he looked serious. His jaw tightened, and he ran a hand through his hair, frustration flickering in his expression. I resumed walking. “Don’t wait for me outside the gate today.” “I always do.” “Not anymore.” He didn’t respond. I didn’t look back. Pretending not to know each other in school felt like tearing out a part of myself—but it was necessary. Back in my old school, being friends with Lucas had made me a target. I’d been called names, pushed, kicked, humiliated. I still remembered the cold oil and flour dumped over me behind the school building. Lucas had never known—never saw the bruises. Every time he asked, I’d give him a lie and a fake smile. I didn’t want him to carry the guilt of what happened because of our friendship. So when my mom told me we were moving and that Lucas might not be at the new school, I’d seen it as a lifeline—a clean slate. Don’t get me wrong. I never regretted being friends with Lucas. He was annoying, loud, and overly dramatic, but he had a gentle side that was impossible to hate. I reached my classroom and slipped into my seat. Lara wasn’t in this class, so things were usually quiet—maybe too quiet. The teacher walked in a moment later and started the lesson with a single question: “What is society?”