Innocent Seduction

Chapter 13: Unread

Back at school, everything looked the same.

The peeling posters on the bulletin board. The faint smell of floor wax and cheap perfume. The heat. The noise.

But he was different.

Or maybe it was me.

He walked into class like he always did—hood up, headphones on, eyes low. No one noticed the extra stiffness in his shoulders. No one noticed how he sat down two rows away from where he used to sit before the trip.

But I did.

And he didn’t look at me.

Not once.

I smiled to myself.

Because the ones who really want to forget you? They at least look once—to make sure you’re gone.

But not Evren.

Evren was too careful. Too intentional.

That only made it more fun.

By lunch, I knew his schedule again.

He always lined up when the line was shortest. Always skipped the soup. Always kept his tray half full and his gaze even lower.

I followed two people behind him, quiet. Controlled. He didn’t see me.

He didn’t turn around when I brushed past to get water either.

But I watched the way his jaw tightened.

I noticed the way his grip on the tray shifted—knuckles white for half a second too long.

And when I passed him to take my seat across the room, I let my fingertips graze the edge of his elbow. Just lightly.

A whisper of a touch.

He flinched.

So soft. So small. But it was there.

He sat at the farthest table after that. Alone.

I watched him eat. Chew. Swallow. Look straight down like the rice was the only thing anchoring him to this reality.

I checked Discord on my phone under the table.

He was online.

Active now.

But my last message from three nights ago?

Still unread.

Me (sent 2:41 AM): thinking about that night. you felt warm. I liked it.

Still unread.

But I knew he saw it.

Because I saw him—in class, in the hallway, on the way out of the canteen—checking his phone when he thought no one was looking.

Just not me.

In the hallway, our shoulders almost touched when we passed each other between periods.

He didn’t stop. Didn’t blink.

But his breath caught.

I heard it.

And I smiled at his back as he walked away like I wasn’t curling around the edges of his thoughts now.

He could ghost me.

Avoid me.

Pretend.

But you can’t erase a craving once it’s been named.

And I saw the look in his eyes under the bonfire glow. I felt the way he stayed when I asked him to.

That was real.

I’m just the only one brave enough to say it.

He can keep ignoring me.

Keep running.

But obsession? It’s patient.

And I’m not going anywhere.