CHAPTER SIX_The Heartthrob
900 Words
CHAPTER SIX
The Heartthrob
LILY POV
By the end of my first week at Blackthorn Academy, I had learned three things very quickly.
One: the school was divided into invisible layers that everyone understood except me.
Two: people here smiled more when they were trying to judge you than when they actually liked you.
Three: Asher Vale was not just “popular.”
He was something else entirely.
I realized it properly on Monday morning when I walked into the hallway and the entire atmosphere shifted without anyone saying anything out loud.
It wasn’t obvious at first.
Just small things.
People stepping aside a little more than necessary.
Whispers stopping mid-sentence.
Girls suddenly adjusting their hair or posture when he walked past.
Then I saw him.
At the end of the corridor.
Walking slowly with two boys beside him.
He wasn’t doing anything special.
No loud greeting.
No dramatic entrance.
But somehow… everyone noticed anyway.
I slowed down slightly without meaning to.
Not because I wanted to.
Because it felt like the hallway itself had become narrower.
Asher’s eyes lifted.
And for a second, I forgot I was even supposed to keep walking.
He looked at me the same way he always did.
Like he had noticed something he hadn’t decided how to categorize yet.
Not soft.
Not harsh.
Just… observant.
Then he looked away again.
Like I was nothing special.
And I told myself I should feel relieved.
But I didn’t.
---
At lunch, I learned what the rest of the school already knew.
I didn’t hear it from Asher.
I heard it from everyone else.
“He’s basically the king here,” one girl whispered behind me.
I pretended I didn’t hear.
“He doesn’t really talk to people unless he wants to.”
“That’s his girlfriend over there.”
That made me look up slightly without meaning to.
Chloe Winters.
I recognized her immediately from how people reacted around her before I even knew her name.
She sat confidently at a table near the center of the cafeteria like she belonged there more than anyone else.
Perfect posture.
Perfect hair.
Perfect smile when she laughed at something someone said.
And then I saw Asher.
Sitting across from her.
Not close enough to look affectionate.
Not far enough to look detached.
Just… there.
Present.
But not fully there.
Chloe leaned in slightly when she spoke to him, smiling like she already knew the answer to everything she asked.
Asher didn’t smile back.
Not really.
That was the first thing I noticed.
And I didn’t know why I noticed it.
I told myself I shouldn’t be looking at them.
But my eyes kept going back anyway.
---
After lunch, I ended up in the library.
It was quieter there.
Safer.
Or at least it felt safer.
I sat near the window with a textbook I hadn’t fully opened yet, pretending I was focused.
But I kept thinking about school.
About people.
About how quickly everyone seemed to understand where they belonged.
Except me.
A chair scraped softly somewhere behind me.
I turned slightly.
And stopped.
Damien Cross was standing there.
He looked friendly in a way that felt natural, not forced.
Like he smiled easily and meant it.
“Hey,” he said casually, like we had already spoken before.
I blinked once. “Hi.”
He glanced at the book in front of me. “New student?”
“…Is it that obvious?”
He smiled slightly. “Only a little.”
That made me relax a bit without meaning to.
He pulled the chair opposite me and sat down like it was normal.
“I’m Damien,” he added.
“Lily.”
He nodded like he was filing it away carefully.
There was something easy about him.
Not overwhelming.
Not intense.
Just… normal.
And after a week of feeling like everything here was too sharp and too polished, that felt strangely comforting.
“So,” he said lightly, “how are you finding Blackthorn so far?”
I hesitated.
Then answered honestly.
“Big.”
He laughed softly at that.
“Yeah,” he said. “That’s a good description.”
For a while, it was easy.
He talked.
I listened.
I asked small questions.
And I didn’t feel like I was being judged.
At some point, I smiled without thinking.
It was small.
But it was real.
---
I didn’t notice the silence change in the library until it was too late.
Not completely silent.
Just… different.
I looked up slightly.
And saw him.
Asher.
Standing near the entrance.
Not moving.
Not speaking.
Just looking at us.
At me.
And Damien.
The air between us didn’t feel normal anymore after that.
Damien noticed first.
He turned slightly. “Oh—hey, Asher.”
Asher didn’t respond immediately.
His eyes stayed on me for a second longer than they should have.
Then he finally said,
“Leaving.”
Just that.
Damien blinked. “Huh?”
But Asher had already turned.
And walked away.
No explanation.
No greeting.
Nothing.
I sat there quietly after that, my hands still resting on the book in front of me.
And I didn’t understand why my chest suddenly felt tighter than before.
I also didn’t understand why I couldn’t go back to feeling normal after that.
Because somehow…
It felt like something had just changed.
Even though nothing had actually happened.
- Writer
