Chapter:3
1662 Words
Keira POV
The stairwell door closed behind Lila with a soft click that felt louder than it should.
Silence again.
But this time it was different.
Before, it was just me and Kaden and the weight of what he’d said.
Now it was me and Kaden and the weight of what Lila saw.
I couldn’t breathe right.
“Not your business, Lila,” Kaden had said.
But it was.
It was everyone’s business the second we were caught alone.
I pushed past him and shoved the stairwell door open.
“Let me go,” I said.
My voice came out too sharp, too shaky.
Kaden didn’t follow right away.
“Keira, wait—”
“No,” I said over my shoulder. “You said it yourself. People talk. So stop making it worse.”
I didn’t wait for his answer.
I walked fast, head down, cutting through the hallway like if I moved quick enough I could outrun the whispers that were already starting.
They didn’t start.
They were waiting.
“Is that her?”
“That’s the new girl?”
“I heard she lives with Kaden now.”
“No way.”
“Way.”
Each word was a pin in my chest.
I made it to second period on autopilot.
English.
Room 204.
I sat in the back, behind a girl with braids who kept turning around to stare.
I pretended not to notice.
The teacher talked about metaphors.
I didn’t hear a word.
All I could think about was Lila’s smile.
That slow, knowing smile that said I’ve got you now.
Lila didn’t need to do anything.
She just needed to exist, and people would believe the worst about me.
Because that’s what happened at my old school.
And now it was happening again.
Halfway through class, a folded note landed on my desk.
I didn’t open it.
I knew the handwriting.
Slanted, rushed, messy.
Kaden.
I shoved it into my bag without reading.
I didn’t need another reason to be distracted.
I didn’t need another reason for Lila to win.
The bell rang and I was out of my seat before the teacher finished saying “dismissed.”
“Keira!”
Kaden again.
Of course it was Kaden.
I didn’t stop.
I couldn’t stop.
He caught up to me by the lockers, grabbing my arm—not hard, but enough to stop me.
“Talk to me,” he said.
“Let go,” I said.
“Not until you listen.”
I yanked my arm back.
“About what? About how you can’t keep your mouth shut? About how you’re making this worse?”
His jaw tightened.
“I’m trying to help.”
“Help?” I laughed, and it sounded bitter even to me.
“By cornering me in the library? By sitting next to me in class like we’re friends? By making sure everyone knows we’re connected?”
“That’s not what I’m doing.”
“Then what are you doing, Kaden?”
I stepped closer, dropping my voice so only he could hear.
“Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you want this. You want people to know. You want them to see us together.”
His eyes flashed.
“That’s not true.”
“Then stop acting like it is.”
I turned to leave, but his hand caught my wrist again.
“Meet me at lunch,” he said quietly.
“Library. Same spot.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because we need to talk,” he said.
“Before Lila does it for us.”
I wanted to say no.
I wanted to walk away and pretend this wasn’t happening.
But I saw the look in his eyes.
It wasn’t playful.
It wasn’t arrogant.
It was worried.
And that scared me more than anything else.
“Fine,” I said.
“One conversation. Then we’re done.”
He nodded.
Let go.
I walked away before I could change my mind.
---
Lunch at St. Claire was chaos.
Hundreds of kids in the courtyard, music from someone’s speaker, groups laughing, food everywhere.
Nobody sat alone unless they wanted to be noticed.
I took my tray and sat at the edge of the lawn, away from everyone.
Alone, but not invisible.
That was the safest I could manage.
I didn’t eat much.
My stomach was too tight.
The library note was still in my bag, unopened.
I told myself I wouldn’t read it.
I read it.
Library. Now. Books.
That was all it said.
No “please.”
No “we need to talk.”
Just an order.
And the worst part was, I was going.
I told myself it was to shut him up.
To get it over with.
To make sure Lila didn’t get to control the story before I did.
The library was quiet when I got there.
Empty, except for the soft hum of the AC and the smell of old paper.
Kaden was already there, by the fiction shelves, arms crossed.
He looked up when I walked in.
“Close the door,” he said.
I did.
The click echoed.
“Don’t scream,” he said again, like yesterday.
“Not unless you want everyone to know.”
“I’m not screaming,” I said.
I kept my distance.
“I’m here because you said it was important.”
“It is,” he said.
He stepped closer, but not too close.
“Lila’s moving fast. If we don’t get ahead of this, she’ll ruin you before the week is over.”
“Ruin me how?” I asked.
“By telling people we live together? People already know.”
“By telling people we’re more than that,” he said quietly.
My chest went cold.
“What do you mean?”
He ran a hand through his hair.
Frustrated.
“I mean she’ll say we’re dating. She’ll say I’m using you. She’ll say you’re using me for my name. And half the school will believe it.”
“So what do you want me to do?” I asked.
“Lie? Tell them we hate each other?”
“No,” he said.
His eyes met mine.
“I want you to stop acting like I’m the enemy.”
I blinked.
“That’s rich, coming from you.”
“I’m not the enemy, Keira,” he said.
“I’m the only one here who actually knows what’s at stake.”
“And what’s at stake?” I asked.
“My reputation? Your reputation? Our parents’ marriage?”
“All of it,” he said.
“If this blows up, Dad pulls me from school. Mom takes you out too. We’re both gone. And for what? Because you’re too stubborn to listen?”
I felt my face heat.
“Don’t talk to me like I’m a kid.”
“Then stop acting like one,” he shot back.
We stared at each other.
The air between us felt thin, tight, like it might snap.
“I don’t trust you,” I said finally.
“Why should I?”
“Because I don’t want this either,” he said.
“I didn’t ask for you to move in. I didn’t ask for you to be here. But you are. And if I don’t protect you, nobody will.”
“Protect me?” I laughed, but there was no humor in it.
“From what? From you?”
“From them,” he said.
He nodded toward the door.
“From Lila. From everyone who wants to see you fail so they feel better about themselves.”
I wanted to believe him.
God, I wanted to.
Because the truth was, I was tired.
Tired of running.
Tired of being the new girl who nobody liked.
But trusting Kaden felt like trusting a fire not to burn me.
“Why do you care?” I asked.
It came out quieter than I meant it to.
He hesitated.
Just for a second.
“Because you’re not like them,” he said.
“You’re not trying to use me. You’re not trying to get close to my name. You actually hate it.”
A small, humorless smile tugged at his mouth.
“That’s rare.”
I didn’t know what to say to that.
So I said nothing.
Footsteps echoed outside the library.
Voices.
Familiar voices.
Kaden heard it too.
His eyes flicked to the door, then back to me.
“Get behind the shelf,” he said, low and urgent.
“Now.”
“What? Why?”
“Because if they see us like this again, we’re done,” he said.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me behind the tall shelf of fiction novels.
The shelf was narrow.
We were close.
Too close.
I could feel his breathing.
Feel the heat from his body.
“Don’t move,” he whispered.
The library door opened.
“Anyone seen Kaden?” It was Lila’s voice.
Sweet.
Fake.
“No,” said another girl.
“But I saw Keira heading this way.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Kaden’s hand came up, resting lightly on my arm to keep me still.
His eyes were locked on the gap between the shelves.
Lila stepped into view.
She looked around, frowning.
“Where are you, Kaden?” she called, voice dripping with concern that wasn’t real.
“We need to talk about the new girl.”
Kaden didn’t answer.
He didn’t move.
Lila took another step forward.
Her eyes scanned the shelves.
She was close.
Too close.
If she turned her head just a little, she’d see us.
I held my breath.
Kaden’s hand tightened on my arm, just for a second.
A silent don’t move.
Lila stopped.
Stared right at the space where we were hiding.
And smiled.
“Found you,” she said softly.
The shelf between us shifted.
A book fell.
And the library went quiet.
- Writer
