CHAPTER 10- SHADOWS AND SECRETS.
495 Words
Lila’s POV
Monday night was always quiet in the Martin household.
Too quiet.
Lila sat at her desk, the dim glow of her table lamp casting long shadows on her notes. Chemistry was open, but her mind was on Jake. Again.
Ever since that day in the cafeteria, people had started looking at her differently. Some with curiosity, others with judgment. Like she was wearing something she hadn’t earned.
The nerd and the rebel? Please.
But Jake wasn’t just a rebel. Not anymore.
He had layers. Confusing, sometimes infuriating layers. He could be cold one minute, then say something that made her heart skip. The way he noticed the smallest things. The way he looked at her like she wasn’t invisible.
And yet... she didn’t know anything real about him.
No one did.
***
Downstairs, her parents were arguing again. She caught snippets through the walls.
“...that school is ruining her.”
“She needs focus, not distractions.”
“She’s sixteen! Let her breathe.”
She closed the book. Her eyes burned. She hated when they fought about her like she was some puzzle they couldn't solve.
Quietly, she grabbed her notebook—the one she never let Jake see—and flipped to a blank page.
"He sees me.
But what if I don’t want to be seen?"
She slammed it shut.
***
The next day, Jake wasn’t in class.
Weird.
She checked twice. Even passed by his locker. Empty.
At lunch, he didn’t show.
No message. No explanation.
Worry settled deep in her stomach.
She finally sent a text:
Lila:You ghosting me already?
Delivered. Not read.
Her heart dropped a little.
***
Later that evening, a knock sounded on her window.
She froze.
Turned slowly.
Jake.
She rushed over and opened it. “Are you insane?”
He was in a hoodie, eyes tired, hair messy. “Probably.”
“What happened?”
“I needed space.”
“From me?”
“No,” he said, stepping inside. “From everything else.”
She let him sit on the edge of her bed. He didn’t talk at first.
Then: “My dad left again.”
“Oh.”
“He does that. Says he’s going to ‘fix things’. Then disappears.”
Lila sat beside him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I don’t tell anyone.”
“Well, I’m not anyone.”
He looked at her then, really looked. Like she was the only anchor he had.
“I know.”
***
They sat in silence for a while. The kind that doesn’t beg to be broken.
Before he left, he turned to her.
“Don’t let them change you, Lila.”
She blinked. “What do you mean?”
“The school. The stares. Your parents. You’re the only person here who’s real.”
Then he was gone.
And she stood there for minutes, hand still on the window frame, heart too full to breathe.
- Writer
