CHAPTER SEVENTEENThings Start to Show
375 Words
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Things Start to Show
ASHER POV
I noticed it before I understood it.
That was becoming a pattern.
With her.
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It wasn’t anything dramatic at first.
Just small changes.
The way she walked slightly differently.
The way she held her arm closer to her body.
The way she avoided certain spaces in the hallway.
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But I noticed.
I always noticed.
Even when I didn’t want to.
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I saw her near the lockers.
Damien was beside her again.
Talking.
Staying too close.
Always too close.
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But that wasn’t what made me stop.
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It was the way she flinched slightly when someone brushed past her.
Subtle.
Almost unnoticeable.
But not to me.
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My eyes narrowed before I even realized it.
Something was wrong.
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“Are you seriously watching her again?”
Chloe’s voice came from beside me.
I didn’t turn immediately.
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“What are you talking about?” I asked flatly.
She gave a soft laugh.
Like she already knew the answer.
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“She’s not your responsibility,” Chloe said.
A pause.
Then she added,
“You’re acting strange lately.”
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I finally looked at her.
“She’s in this school,” I said.
“That’s all.”
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Chloe tilted her head slightly.
“Is it?”
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I didn’t answer.
Because I didn’t like how easily she could read the shift in me.
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My eyes went back to Lily.
She was standing slightly behind Damien now.
Quiet.
Guarded.
Different.
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Then I saw it.
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A small mark on her arm.
Faint.
But there.
Redness forming under her sleeve where it had shifted.
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My jaw tightened instantly.
Something inside me went still.
Not calm.
Controlled.
Dangerously controlled.
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Chloe noticed my expression change.
Her smile faded slightly.
“Oh,” she said softly.
Like she understood something she didn’t want to fully say out loud.
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I took a step forward without thinking.
Then stopped.
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Because if I walked over there now…
it wouldn’t just be a question.
It would be a reaction.
And I wasn’t ready for what that meant yet.
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So I stayed where I was.
Watching.
Not because I wanted to.
But because I couldn’t stop.
- Writer
