Mixed Reactions
279 Words
The weeks after the fair felt… different.
Ava and Ethan still argued — that much hadn’t changed. But the arguments were softer now, tinged with laughter instead of anger. Somewhere between late-night study sessions and shared eye rolls in class, their rivalry had turned into something else — something fragile and confusing.
Everyone noticed.
“Are you two dating or just constantly flirting?” Lila teased one morning as they walked to class.
Ava’s face turned red. “Neither. We just… work well together.”
“Right,” Lila said, smirking. “And I just eat salad for fun.”
At lunch, Ava caught Ethan sitting with his friends, Clara among them — the same Clara who’d once bragged about going out with him. Clara leaned close, laughing at something he said, her hand brushing his arm.
Ava looked away quickly, pretending it didn’t bother her. But her stomach twisted anyway.
She focused on her notebook, trying to drown out the noise of her thoughts.
A few minutes later, Ethan appeared at her table, holding two sodas. He placed one in front of her.
“Peace offering,” he said. “You looked like you were about to explode.”
“I wasn’t,” she replied flatly, but she took the drink anyway.
He grinned. “You’re terrible at lying.”
Their eyes met for a second — too long, too real — until she looked down.
That evening, while typing up a report, Ava caught herself smiling at her screen for no reason.
She hated that he could make her feel this way — uncertain, distracted, hopeful.
Maybe she didn’t hate him anymore.
Maybe that was the problem.
- Writer
