SOMEHOW, IT'S HIM.

LINES YOU SHOULDN'T CROSS.

(RENÉ'S HOME — MORNING)

Saturday arrived quietly.

No alarms.

No uniforms.

No chaos.

Just silence.

René lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

For once, she had time to rest.

But her thoughts didn't rest with her.

Raymond.

Darwin.

Jacinta.

Fragments of all of them kept appearing without permission.

She turned slightly and exhaled.

"…why am I thinking about this?"

Her phone buzzed.

Once.

Then again.

Then nonstop.

She frowned and picked it up.

Anna: WAKE UP.

Anna: I have something important.

Anna: Like life-changing important.

René stared.

"…it's Saturday," she typed back.

Anna: Exactly.

*

(VIDEO CALL — ANNA'S SIDE)

Anna appeared instantly, far too energetic for the morning.

"Okay listen," she said seriously.

René narrowed her eyes.

"…what did you do?"

Anna smiled.

"I didn't do anything bad. I did something useful."

René didn't trust that sentence.

"Define useful."

Anna flipped the camera slightly.

A social media profile appeared.

A boy.

Clean photo.

Soft smile.

Trying too hard to look mysterious.

René stared.

"…Anna."

"Yes?"

"…why is there a stranger on my phone?"

Anna grinned proudly.

"His name is Ethan. He liked your post last week."

René sat up.

"I don't know him."

"That's the point," Anna said. "You need new energy."

René rubbed her forehead.

"You don't assign me people like I'm a school project."

Anna gasped.

"It's not a project. It's opportunity."

A pause.

René stared at her.

"…I'm ending this call."

"WAIT—"

Call ended.

*

(RENÉ'S ROOM — MOMENTS LATER)

Her phone buzzed again.

Anna: Just text him.

Anna: Don't be rude.

Anna: He's waiting.

René stared at the screen.

Then at the profile.

"…this girl is going to ruin my life," she muttered.

Still—

She didn't delete it.

She locked her phone instead and threw it onto the bed.

*

(REESMON MANSION — AFTERNOON)

Silence filled the mansion.

Too much silence.

Raymond stood by the window.

Hands in pockets.

Eyes unfocused.

But his thoughts weren't empty.

René kept appearing.

Not loudly.

Not clearly.

Just… there.

Her reactions.

Her silence.

The way she avoided him too quickly.

"…why am I thinking about that?" he muttered.

A knock came.

"…come in."

Jacinta entered.

Composed.

Controlled.

She didn't sit.

She observed him first.

Then spoke.

"You skipped school again."

Raymond didn't turn.

"…that again."

Jacinta stepped closer.

"It's becoming a pattern."

Silence.

"You don't skip without reason."

A pause.

"So what is it?"

Raymond finally glanced at her.

"…drop it."

Jacinta didn't.

"Was it her?"

That hit differently.

A pause.

"…René?"

Silence.

Not confirmation.

Not denial.

Just silence.

Jacinta studied him.

Calm.

Careful.

"You're distracted," she said.

Raymond's jaw tightened slightly.

"…you're reaching."

"No," she replied softly.

"I'm observing."

She turned slightly toward the door.

"One person shouldn't change your entire pattern."

Then she left.

*

(REESMON MANSION — LATER)

Raymond stayed by the window.

Still.

But not unchanged.

Jacinta's words stayed behind.

Was it her?

He exhaled slowly.

"…ridiculous," he muttered.

But René returned again in his thoughts.

Not as noise.

As presence.

Persistent.

Uninvited.

"…annoying," he added quietly.

But it wasn't rejection.

It was awareness.

He picked up his phone.

Still off.

Stared at it.

Then dropped it again.

"…I don't care."

But the silence after the words betrayed him.

For the first time—

René wasn't just a passing thought.

She was becoming a problem he couldn't ignore.

(PRIVATE LOUNGE — EVENING)

The room was quiet.

Reserved.

Controlled.

Two men sat across from each other.

Mr. Reesmon.

And Mr. Carter.

A pause lingered before speaking.

Mr. Carter smiled slightly.

"Your son is doing well."

Mr. Reesmon nodded.

"He has no choice."

A faint chuckle.

"That's how it should be."

Silence again.

Then Mr. Reesmon spoke.

"Jacinta is also progressing."

Mr. Carter nodded.

"She understands discipline."

A pause.

Then softer—

"They function well together… when aligned."

Mr. Reesmon's gaze sharpened slightly.

"…you're thinking long-term."

Mr. Carter didn't deny it.

"I always do."

Another pause.

Then it came.

Direct.

Unavoidable.

"A union between them would benefit both sides."

Silence dropped instantly.

Mr. Reesmon didn't react immediately.

He only observed.

"…you're referring to engagement."

Mr. Carter took a slow sip.

"I'm referring to stability."

A pause.

Then he added:

"In time… it could be considered."

The words settled in the room.

Heavier than tone.

Heavier than intention.

Neither man confirmed it.

Neither rejected it.

But the idea had been spoken aloud.

And once spoken.

it no longer belonged to theory.

*

(STARS HIGH SCHOOL — HALLWAY)

Anna slowed first.

"Why is there a crowd this early? Someone better be fighting."

Lily leaned forward, trying to see past shoulders.

"I hear squealing. That's not violence… that's drama."

René frowned slightly.

"…can we just go to class?"

Anna grabbed her wrist instantly.

"No. We investigate chaos first."

They pushed through the crowd.

Then stopped.

Silence hit them differently.

Anna blinked.

"…no way."

Lily gasped.

"Oh my God."

René looked up slowly.

Raymond's locker.

Covered completely.

Love letters everywhere.

Pink envelopes. Glitter. Perfume. Handwritten confessions layered on top of each other.

Some already slipping to the floor.

Anna grabbed René's arm.

"This is what happens when he skips ONE day."

Lily nodded.

"The population panicked."

René stared quietly.

Still processing.

Anna leaned in, reading one envelope.

"'To the coldest boy with the warmest eyes'— people need help."

Lily pointed.

"This one is scented. I can smell it from here."

Anna sniffed dramatically.

"Vanilla desperation."

René exhaled a small laugh.

"…you two are terrible."

Then—

The atmosphere shifted.

Not loud.

Just sudden.

The crowd parted.

Anna froze mid-step.

Lily whispered, "Why does it feel like a scene change?"

René's expression tightened slightly.

"…who's coming?"

Anna grabbed her shoulders.

"If it's Raymond, we were never here."

Footsteps approached.

Closer.

A group of boys walked past.

Stopped.

Looked at the locker.

One muttered:

"Bro is dating the entire school population."

Another shook his head.

"This isn't love. This is mass distribution."

Anna covered her mouth, laughing silently.

Lily whispered:

"Imagine opening your locker and love confessions fall like rain."

Anna added:

"He needs a cleaning service."

René finally let out a quiet laugh.

Then—

Anna froze.

"…wait."

A small yellow sticky note.

Hidden under the mess.

No glitter.

No perfume.

No decoration.

Just plain paper.

Lily frowned.

"That one feels wrong."

Anna bent down and read it.

Her expression changed instantly.

"…oh no."

René looked up.

"What?"

Anna turned it toward her slowly.

"It says…"

Her voice dropped.

"Whoever started this… the principal is coming."

Silence.

Lily stood up immediately.

"We should leave."

Anna grabbed René.

"We should RUN."

They disappeared down the hallway just as—

A teacher's voice echoed:

"WHAT is going on here?!"

*

(CLASSROOM — LATER)

The lesson continued.

Equations. Notes. Board writing.

But attention wasn't in the room.

Not fully.

René tried to focus.

She really did.

Her pen moved slowly.

Then stopped.

She felt it.

A presence.

She didn't look up immediately.

But she knew.

Raymond.

Watching her.

Not openly.

Not obviously.

Just steady.

Unbroken.

Like he didn't realize he was doing it.

René tightened her grip on the pen.

She didn't turn.

But she stopped writing.

A few seats away—

Jacinta sat perfectly still.

Eyes forward.

Composed.

But not focused on the board.

She was watching Raymond.

Quietly.

Carefully.

Not emotional.

Analytical.

Like she was reading something only she understood.

Then—

Darwin.

Leaning back slightly in his chair.

Relaxed.

But not detached.

His eyes were on René.

Not intense like Raymond.

Not calculating like Jacinta.

Just steady.

Present.

René shifted slightly in her seat.

And instantly—

All three gazes adjusted.

Raymond didn't look away.

Jacinta didn't blink.

Darwin didn't move.

The classroom stayed normal.

The teacher kept speaking.

But underneath—

something wasn't.

Anna leaned toward Lily.

"…why does it feel like someone is about to explode?"

Lily didn't look up.

"Because three people are watching one girl."

Anna swallowed.

"…oh."

A pause.

Then quietly:

"This is going to end badly."

*

(STARS HIGH SCHOOL — BACK BUILDING / AFTER SCHOOL)

The sun was low.

Shadows stretched long across empty corridors.

Most students were gone.

Only silence remained.

A boy stood near the back stairs.

Fidgeting.

Looking over his shoulder.

Then—

Footsteps.

Slow.

Heavy.

A taller boy stepped out of the shadows.

Everyone knew him.

Not for popularity.

For fear.

The bully.

He didn't speak immediately.

Just stared.

The boy swallowed hard and pulled out an envelope.

Thick.

He handed it over.

"…this is it. Like we agreed."

The bully looked at it.

Then at him.

"…you're serious?"

The boy nodded quickly.

"I just want her taught a lesson."

A pause.

The bully took the envelope slowly.

Weighing it.

Then smirked faintly.

"You don't have the guts… so you pay for consequences."

The boy said nothing.

That silence confirmed it.

The bully slipped the envelope into his jacket.

"…fine."

Then leaned closer.

"But once I start… I don't stop where you tell me."

The boy stiffened.

"That wasn't—"

"Don't make deals you can't control."

Silence.

Then the bully turned.

"…tell me when you want it done."

He walked into the shadows.

Gone.

The boy stood alone.

Breathing heavier.

Not relief.

Not satisfaction.

Something closer to regret.

But by then—

the decision wasn't his anymore.