Watching
1008 Words
The message stayed in my head all night.
Stay away from him.
Three words, three stupid words.
Yet somehow they followed me into the next morning.
I stared at my phone as I walked across campus, debating whether to finally block the number.
The problem? There was always a new number, a new account, or a new way to reach me.
Blocking one only led to another.
Whoever was doing this wasn’t interested in stopping.
“You’re doing the face again.”
I looked up.
Kiara walked beside me carrying an iced coffee.
“What face?”
“The murder face.”
“I always have that face.”
“True.”
She sipped her drink thoughtfully.
“Anonymous messages again?”
My silence answered for me.
Kiara’s expression softened slightly.
“Naomi.”
“I’m fine.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
I hated when she did that because she was usually right unfortunately.
Before I could respond, movement across the courtyard caught my attention.
Jace.
He stood near the administration building talking to Elena.
The sight hit me unexpectedly not because they were together, that part was normal.
But Elena looked upset even from a distance.
Her arms were folded, her posture tense.
Jace looked frustrated the conversation clearly wasn’t going well.
“Uh-oh.”
I looked at Kiara.
“What?”
She followed my gaze then immediately groaned.
“Oh.”
“What?”
“You’re staring.”
I turned away instantly.
“I wasn’t.”
“You absolutely were.”
“Mind your business.”
“My business is unfortunately your business.”
I considered pushing her into a bush.
The first bell saved her.
The rest of the morning passed slowly. Classes. Assignments. More gossip. The usual.
By lunch, the fight video still dominated conversations.
Nobody seemed capable of discussing anything else.
Especially because Jace had apparently never punched anyone before. A shocking revelation.
Who knew?
I escaped toward the outdoor courtyard hoping for ten minutes of peace.
Instead, I found Elena alone.
She sat beneath one of the large oak trees near the athletic center.
Reading or maybe pretending to.
The second I approached, her attention shifted toward me.
For one awkward moment, neither of us moved.
Then Elena smiled politely. The kind of smile that felt rehearsed.
“Naomi.”
“Elena.”
Silence.
I immediately regretted choosing this route.
Unfortunately, turning around now would make me look insane.
So I kept walking, almost past her.
“Can I ask you something?”
I stopped.
And that was a huge mistake.
Slowly, I turned back. Elena closed her book, her expression remained calm.
“Sure.”
She studied me for a second.
Like she was carefully deciding something.
Then—
“Do you like Jace?”
The question hit like a truck. It was so direct and unexpectedly terrifying.
For one horrible second, my brain completely stopped functioning.
Elena watched me carefully waiting.
I laughed a little too quickly.
“What?”
“Do you?”
The calmness in her voice made everything worse.
Because she wasn’t angry, she wasn’t yelling.
She genuinely wanted an answer and somehow that felt far more dangerous.
“No.”
The answer came instantly.
Elena nodded slowly as if she expected it.
“Okay.”
That was it? No argument or accusation.
And it honestly felt suspicious.
“Why are you asking?” I said.
Her gaze drifted briefly toward the athletic fields then back to me.
“Because people talk.”
Fair.
“They always do.”
“Yes.”
“And because Jace doesn’t usually fight people.”
There it was, the real reason. The truth is hiding beneath the question.
My stomach tightened.
“I didn’t ask him to.”
“I know.”
Something about her answer bothered me not because it sounded accusing but it sounded sad.
For the first time, I realized something uncomfortable.
Elena wasn’t stupid.
She saw things more than people gave her credit for.
Before either of us could continue, voices echoed across the courtyard.
Students and athletes. The moment disappeared instantly.
Elena stood straightening her uniform.
“See you at practice.”
Then she walked away.
Leaving me standing there with entirely too many thoughts.
By the time practice started later that afternoon, I already felt exhausted.
Coach Daniels apparently didn’t care.
“Relay drills.”
Collective groans.
“Run faster.”
Collective suffering. The usual.
I joined the team near lane six while trying not to think about Elena’s question.
Unfortunately, that became impossible because Jace arrived seconds later.
And immediately looked toward me about three times.
Not that I counted. At all.
“Focus.”
His voice pulled me from my thoughts.
I frowned.
“What?”
“You’re distracted.”
I hated that he noticed things.
“Mind your business.”
A tiny smile appeared.
The whistle blew and we started running.
The familiar rhythm returned quickly. Stride. Breath. Movement.
Everything is syncing effortlessly.
Halfway through practice, Coach paired everyone into relay teams.
Then announced a scrimmage race, and the team immediately became competitive as expected.
Athletes were weird.
Twenty minutes later, everyone lined up near the starting lanes.
The atmosphere crackled with anticipation.
Coach raised his whistle.
“Ready!”
Silence.
My pulse accelerated not from nerves but from excitement. Running always did that.
The whistle shrieked we exploded forward, everything blurred the race moved fast.
Baton exchanges, sharp turns, perfect timing.
By the final leg, Jace had the baton and a lead a small one but enough.
The entire team shouted from the sidelines.
Jace crossed the finish line first.
The victory wasn’t surprising.
The way he immediately looked for me afterward was.
For one strange second, our eyes met across the track.
And suddenly Elena’s question returned.
Do you like Jace?
I looked away first.
Because the answer was becoming far more complicated than I wanted to admit.
And judging by the look on Elena’s face from the sidelines—
She was starting to realize that too.
- Writer
