CTRL

the enemy you know

🌒 CTRL 🌒

Chapter Nine....

The sky was grey.

Not the kind of grey that warned of rain - the kind that hung over like a curtain. Like a secret. Like the moment before everything broke.

Tami leaned against the chain-link fence behind the basketball court, arms crossed, staring out at the empty GM yard.

Zayn was the last off the court.

He stopped when he saw her. Wiped sweat from his brow and didn't say anything.

She also didn't at first.

Then-

'You let him win."

Zayn blinked. "What?"

She turned, chin lifted. "That day...Zahid. You he'd back."

A small smile tugged at the corners of Zayn's mouth. "You noticed."

"I know you, Zayn. You don't just let people win. Not unless you mean to."

He shrugged. "Didn't see the point in proving anything."

"Everyone else saw a crown fall."

"And you?"

"I saw someone who knows when not to fight."

Zayn stepped closer, his voice lowered.

"You always see too much, Tami."

"You never say enough, Zayn."

Their eyes met.

Too many things unsaid.

Too many things almost said.

And then the bell rang....a shrill sound, slicing through the moment.

Zayn looked away.

"Be careful, Tami. Zahid's not the only one wearing a mask."

Tami nodded once.

"Neither am I."

In the art room hallway, Alia stood with Zahid, her fingers linked with his. He had away of making people forget their fears.

But not today.

She pulled her hand back.

"Why did you leave Rockwell?"

He blinked, caught off guard. "Told you. I needed a fresh start,"

"No, Zahid. Be honest with me."

"He hesitated. "You think I came here because of CTRL?"

"Did you?"

"Does it matter?"

Alia took a step backwards. Her voice was soft. Fragile.

"Tami warned me about you."

Zahid laughed - short, sharp.

"Of course she did."

"She said CTRL loves distractions."

"And you think I'm a distraction?"

"Aren't you?"

He stepped closer, voice cooler now.

"You think you're different, Alia? You think you're special?"

"I thought I was."

"You were easy."

Silence.

Her breath caught in her throat. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I'm sorry?" she whispered.

"You were easy to like. Easy to get close to. Easy to use."

Alia's face shattered.

No tears.

No words.

Just stillness.

And then, she walked away. Fast.

She didn't look back.

CTRL Encrypted Group Chat - Extract #7

@GhosType: She broke.

@Echo: The distraction served its purpose.

@RedQueen: Time to reel her in.

@MOTHER: Zayn is watching.

@Echo: So is Cassie.

@RedQueen: Friday is coming.

@GhosType: Tick. Tock.

Cassie sat at the corner of the class during Algebra dressed in a black hoodie. Ripped jeans. Combat boots. Fingerless gloves. Giving tomboy and threat. She watched Clara too closely now.

Watched how she smiled too easily. How she laughed at the wrong moments. How she checked her phone after every CTRL update.

Cassie wasn't. stupid.

And she'd seen it - the flash of the CTRL login page when Clara thought she was alone.

"You picked the wrong person to fool, Madison," Cassie muttered to herself. "And the wrong girl to betray."

That night, Alia sat curled in bed, room dim. Her phone in her lap. Zahid's name still sat pinned at the top of her messages.

She unpinned his chat, but she didn't delete the thread.

She just opened a new one.

She typed a message to Tami.

"You were right.

I didn't want to believe it, but you were.

I'm sorry....."

Her thumb hovered over the 'Send" icon.

She didn't hit it.

But she would.

Soon.

CTRL posted, 9:00p.m. Again.

"Sometimes the real enemy isn't the one you bought...it's the one you left behind."

Attached was a blurred image of two girls hugging - a throwback.

Captioned:

Tami x Alia: Best friends once.

Not anymore. But should they be?

The comments exploded.

"This page is messy asf."

"Why are they posting old photos now?"

"CTRL's playing psychological games now."

"Is it over between Zahid and Alia???"