CHAPTER 9- COLLISIONS.
504 Words
Jake’s POV
It started like any other Monday. Same uniform. Same hallways. Same forced nods to teachers he barely acknowledged.
Jake Carter didn’t do change. He didn’t do "new starts."
But this—this week felt different. And he knew exactly why.
Lila.
Since that tutoring session, she hadn’t left his mind. Not in a cheesy, "can't eat, can't sleep" way. Just... she was there. In the back of his head. Her nervous laugh. The way she tapped her pencil when she was thinking. Her quiet defiance.
And the worst part?
He was starting to care.
Not just about her grade. About her.
***
Jake walked into school with his usual swagger. Headphones in. Hoodie up. Not really listening to the music.
People moved out of his way like usual. He didn’t need to say anything to be known. Jake Carter had a reputation — cool, cocky, untouchable. Girls whispered. Teachers watched. He played the role perfectly.
But inside? He was already looking for her.
He spotted her at her locker. Alone, like always.
She was rereading something — probably notes — while chewing on the end of her pen. She looked up and caught him staring.
She raised a brow. “What?”
Jake smirked. “You forgot the equation I taught you already?”
She rolled her eyes but smiled. That smile. It hit him like a punch to the gut.
***
They walked to class together. People noticed. Jake saw the glances. Heard the whispered "Is she seriously talking to him?"
He didn’t care.
She didn’t seem to either. That made him like her more.
In Chemistry, they got paired again. The teacher raised a brow but didn’t question it.
Halfway through the class, she leaned over and whispered, “You missed step two.”
He looked down. She was right.
“Show off,” he muttered.
Lila shrugged. “You're rubbing off on me.”
That... did something to him.
***
At lunch, he saw her sitting with Ava, that artsy girl from drama club, and some guy from year 11. Normally, Jake avoided the cafeteria — too loud, too fake.
But this time, he walked straight in.
Slid into the seat beside her.
Her eyes widened. “You’re sitting?”
“I sit sometimes.”
Ava looked like she was watching a movie. The younger guy was straight-up starstruck.
Jake barely noticed. He was too focused on the way Lila’s hand froze halfway to her drink.
“You okay?” he asked, quieter.
She nodded. “Just didn’t expect you.”
“Get used to it.”
***
Later that day, in the library, he caught her scribbling in a notebook. Not school stuff. Something personal. Poems? A journal?
He leaned over. “You always write like your life depends on it?”
She snapped it shut. “Maybe it does.”
Jake didn't push.
Instead, he pulled out his phone and typed a note:
"Find out what she writes about."
He wasn't just curious anymore.
He was invested.
- Writer
