Chapter Three: Distractions in Disguise
506 Words
Monday morning came too fast.
Max stood in front of his locker, gripping a new notebook — one he’d actually plan to write in. Around him, students rushed to beat the bell, but Max stayed still, rehearsing in his head:
> No distractions. No flirting. No losing.
He meant every word… until Hazel showed up.
She leaned against the locker beside his, arms folded, sunglasses perched on her head even though they were indoors.
“Well, look who’s serious all of a sudden,” she said, tilting her head. “New notebook. Clean shoes. You studying now, Max?”
He didn’t look up. “Trying something different.”
“Let me guess,” she teased. “You lost a bet.”
He froze.
Hazel laughed. “I’m joking. Relax. But… if you did lose one, I hope it wasn’t about staying away from me.”
Max glanced at her, then looked away quickly. “Funny.”
“You know what else is funny?” Hazel stepped closer. “You act like you’re too cool to care, but the way you looked at me during chemistry on Friday? Yeah. That wasn’t nothing.”
Max closed his locker and walked off, trying to stay cool. “Enjoy your theory.”
But Hazel wasn’t done. “If you ever want a study partner… or a challenge,” she called after him, “you know where to find me.”
His steps faltered — just for a second — before he continued down the hallway, heart pounding like it had something to prove.
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That afternoon, he found himself in the library — the last place anyone expected to see him. He picked a corner, pulled out his chemistry book, and began reading. It felt strange, foreign, like trying to hold water in his hands. But he pushed through.
“Need help?”
He looked up. Isabella.
She held two textbooks and a pencil in one hand. Her uniform was perfectly neat, her hair pulled back in a braid. Unlike Hazel, she didn’t need to tease — her quiet intelligence spoke for her.
“I’m good,” Max said quickly, though his book was upside down.
She raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Instead, she sat across from him and opened her own book.
Minutes passed. Max couldn’t concentrate. Between Hazel’s voice in his head and Isabella’s calm presence right in front of him, the silence was deafening.
Finally, he closed his book and looked at her. “Do people really change?”
Isabella didn’t look up. “Not unless they want to.”
“I want to,” he said quietly.
This time, she met his eyes. “Then start by turning your book the right way.”
He laughed — for real this time — and flipped it.
It was a small moment. But it was something.
---
Max had made a promise to change.
But no one warned him that the hardest part wouldn’t be the books…
It would be the feelings he wasn’t supposed to have.
- Writer
