Mated with a human

chapter 8

B A C K A T S C H O O L

The bell rang. Lessons ended.

Everyone grabbed their bags and rushed out. Luke walked out with June. Sofia stood up last, ready to leave, but something caught her eye.

The envelope.

Still sealed.

Untouched.

She scoffed. “Oh… you didn’t open it?”

She stormed out.

She spotted Luke at his locker, about to leave. She shouted, “HEY, YOU!”

The hallway froze. Everyone stopped moving. Heads turned. Silence fell instantly.

Luke kept walking. Didn’t even look her way.

He was the only one moving — the students made a path for him like he was royalty.

Sofia’s anger boiled. She marched forward and blocked his path, forcing him to stop. She glared up at him; he was taller, so she had to tilt her chin.

“Didn’t you hear me calling you?” she snapped.

She lifted the white envelope high so he could see. “You didn’t open this.”

Luke didn’t even look at it. He just adjusted his glasses slowly and stared down at her, face unreadable.

“Is there something I can help you with, missy?” he said in a low, calm voice.

Sofia’s brows furrowed.

“Do you know how dumb you are? What kind of nerd— Fine, since you won’t open it, I will.”

She tore it open and shoved the note toward him. He glanced at it.

I’m coming for you, nerdy.

He looked back at her. Then around him — noticing how every single student was holding their breath watching this like a movie.

He faced her again.

“Do you enjoy this kind of attention?” he asked quietly.

Before she could speak, he continued,

“Well, I don’t. So don’t get in my way like this. I don’t like being bothered. I’m not interested. I hope we’re clear.”

He stepped around her and walked off.

Sofia stood frozen.

Someone had just spoken to her — the school’s beauty queen — like she was nothing. Her jaw clenched.

She stormed away. Students quickly moved aside, giving her space.

---

L U K E

Luke went straight to the library, borrowed a book, then left to go home. It wasn’t far.

---

S O F I A

Sofia headed toward the parking lot. Her boyfriend, Jayson, approached with a smile.

“Hey babe, how about we go out—”

“Not today,” she cut him off sharply. “I have things to do.”

She brushed past him and left him confused.

She drove home, still seething. The house was quiet. Empty.

She went straight to her room, threw herself on the bed, and fell asleep—still angry.

---

Luke’s POV

By the time I reached home, the sun was already sinking, painting the sky in dull orange streaks. The house was quiet like always. I pushed the door open gently and slipped in. No one called out to me—no surprise there. Grandma was probably at the back garden or lying down.

I placed my bag on the small table in the living room and headed straight to the kitchen. I poured myself a glass of water, trying to wash away the headache forming behind my eyes. The whole scene with that girl… Sofia… it kept replaying in my mind, not because I was bothered by her, but because I didn’t understand why people enjoyed unnecessary drama. Being stared at by half the school was the last thing I ever wanted.

I sighed, drank the water in one go, and headed to my room. The moment I closed the door behind me, a wave of relief washed over me. Silence. Peace. My kind of world.

I removed my spectacles, cleaned them with the corner of my shirt, and placed them on the desk. Then I changed out of my uniform and sat on the bed for a moment, rubbing the back of my neck.

“Welcome home, Luke!” Grandma’s voice suddenly came from outside my door, warm and cheerful like always.

I opened the door. “I’m home, Grandma.”

She smiled softly and looked at me as if trying to read my whole day from my face. “Long day?”

I shrugged lightly. “Just school.”

She nodded, knowing that meant don’t ask further. “Food is on the stove. Eat when you’re ready.”

“Thank you.”

She left, humming as usual. I went to the bathroom to wash my face, staring at my reflection as droplets fell. My mind kept trying to shift back to the envelope, to that girl blocking my path, to the note with I’m coming for you nerdy written so childishly.

If that was meant to intimidate me, it failed. Completely.

I dried my face and walked to the kitchen to dish up my food—rice and stew, simple but warm. As I ate, I found myself looking out the window, wondering how the rest of the year would unfold. A new school, new people, the strange mix of peace and chaos.

But I had one goal: keep my head down, study, get that scholarship.

Everything else? Noise.

After eating, I washed my dishes, went back to my room, grabbed my book, and started studying on my desk. Homework first, then research, then revision.

While I wrote, the house settled into silence again. My safe space.

Far away from Sofia’s dramatic eyes and her lipstick-stamped envelope.

Far away from whatever games people wanted to play.

I didn’t care. I wasn’t there for them.

I was there for my future.

And nothing—absolutely nothing—would distract me.

______

Sofia’s POV

The room was dim when my eyes slowly blinked open. For a moment, I didn’t even remember falling asleep. My head felt heavy, my body stiff from lying in the same position too long. I pushed myself up, brushing my hair back with an irritated sigh.

The first thing that flashed in my mind wasn’t homework.

Not Jayson.

Not school.

It was him.

That nerd.

The way he just… walked past me like I was invisible.

The way he didn’t flinch when I called him.

The way he spoke to me—calm, uninterested, almost bored—as if I didn’t matter.

My jaw tightened at the memory.

No one talked to me like that.

No. One.

I swung my legs off the bed and stood up, pacing across the room. My chest was still burning with humiliation, anger, and something else I couldn’t name. I grabbed the envelope from my desk—yes, the extra one I kept for emergencies—and crushed it slightly in my hand.

Why didn’t he open it?

Why did he act like it meant nothing?

Everyone opened my letters. Everyone.

But him… he looked at me like I was wasting his time.

I threw the envelope on the floor and exhaled sharply.

“He really thinks he’s something, huh…” I muttered under my breath.

I walked to the mirror. My hair was a little messy from the nap, so I fixed it, pushing it behind my shoulders. I stared at my reflection. Usually, it calmed me—knowing exactly how pretty I was, how flawless my makeup always looked, how perfect everything about me seemed.

But right now… it didn’t.

I didn’t like how that guy made me feel. It wasn’t fear. It wasn’t embarrassment. It was… irritation mixed with confusion.

Who ignores me?

I turned away from the mirror and grabbed my phone. Notifications from group chats were blowing up—gossip about school, about some argument in class, about prom outfits.

Normally, I’d join in immediately.

Today, I ignored all of them.

My thumb hovered over Jayson’s name for a moment. He had texted three times asking if I was okay.

I didn’t reply.

Instead, I tossed my phone on the bed and walked to the balcony, opening the sliding door. The breeze hit my face gently. I leaned against the railing, looking at the view of the quiet street below.

Tomorrow…

Tomorrow I’d see Luke again.

And I wasn’t letting him get away with that attitude.

If he thought he could talk to me like that, he was wrong.

Completely wrong.

A slow smirk formed on my lips.

“Oh, little boy… you have no idea who you’re messing with.”

I turned around, heading back inside.

Tonight, I would rest.

Tomorrow, I’d make sure he never ignored me again.