📖 Chapter 9 — The Way He Looked at Her Now
1329 Words
The rain started just after noon.
Not heavy enough to flood the campus, but steady enough to force students indoors. Hallways filled quickly with noise, damp shoes, and complaints about the weather.
Maya stood near the library entrance, hugging her books lightly against her chest while watching the rain pour outside.
“I knew today felt suspicious,” Ada muttered beside her. “Anytime weather looks peaceful in the morning, disaster follows.”
Maya laughed softly. “You say that every time it rains.”
“Because I’m always right.”
Daniel approached a few seconds later, slightly out of breath from jogging through the rain. His hoodie was damp at the shoulders.
“You look miserable,” Maya said.
“I feel miserable,” he replied calmly.
Ada snorted loudly. “At least one of us is suffering.”
Daniel glanced at Maya. “You heading back to your hostel soon?”
Maya looked outside again. “Not in this.”
“I have an umbrella.”
Ada immediately gasped dramatically. “Oh wow. Gentleman behavior.”
Maya rolled her eyes while Daniel laughed quietly.
“It’s just an umbrella,” Maya said.
“Sure,” Ada replied. “And I’m sure the tension between you two is also imaginary.”
Maya gave her a warning look.
Ada raised both hands innocently. “I’ll be quiet.”
But she was smiling.
Because even she could see it now.
Maya was changing in ways that had nothing to do with Ethan anymore.
—
Across the hallway, Ethan leaned against the wall with his friends, half-listening to their conversation.
Then he saw her.
Again.
At this point, it was becoming impossible not to.
Maya stood with Daniel and Ada near the entrance, laughing softly while brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
Simple movement.
But Ethan noticed it anyway.
He noticed everything now.
The way she smiled more freely around Daniel.
The way she looked calmer.
The way she no longer searched rooms for him.
And somehow, every single change bothered him.
“You’re staring again,” one of his friends said.
Ethan looked away instantly. “Mind your business.”
His friend laughed. “You’re finished.”
“I’m not.”
“Then why do you look irritated every time she talks to another guy?”
Ethan didn’t answer.
Because he didn’t have one.
Or maybe he did.
And didn’t want to admit it.
—
Maya eventually sighed softly. “I should go before the rain gets worse.”
Daniel lifted the umbrella slightly. “Ready?”
Ada pointed between them dramatically. “This looks like the beginning of a romance movie.”
“Goodbye, Ada,” Maya said immediately.
Ada laughed as Maya walked away with Daniel toward the entrance.
The rain was colder than expected.
Daniel opened the umbrella above them carefully as they stepped outside.
They walked closely—not intentionally, just because the umbrella forced them to.
For a moment, neither spoke.
The sound of rain filled the silence instead.
Then Daniel glanced at her slightly. “You seem happier lately.”
Maya thought about it.
Then nodded slowly. “I think I am.”
“That’s good.”
She smiled faintly. “You sound surprised.”
“I’m not surprised,” he replied. “Just glad.”
That word settled softly in her chest.
Glad.
Not possessive.
Not intense.
Just sincere.
Maya looked ahead at the wet pathway. “A few weeks ago, I thought my life was ending.”
Daniel’s brows lifted slightly. “That dramatic?”
“You didn’t see me at night,” she admitted quietly.
He became quieter after that.
Then he said carefully, “Heartbreak makes small things feel like endings.”
Maya looked at him.
“You talk like someone who’s experienced it.”
Daniel smiled faintly, but there was something sad beneath it. “Maybe I have.”
Maya didn’t push further.
And he appreciated that immediately.
—
As they reached the hostel area, Maya noticed Ethan standing under a nearby shelter.
Alone.
Her steps slowed for barely a second before continuing normally.
But Ethan had already seen her.
And worse…
He saw Daniel holding the umbrella slightly lower so rain wouldn’t touch her.
That tiny gesture hit harder than it should have.
Maya noticed Ethan’s eyes on her.
Steady.
Unreadable.
Daniel noticed too.
“You want me to leave?” he asked quietly.
Maya blinked. “Why would you?”
“Because he’s looking at you like he has unfinished business.”
That almost made her laugh.
Instead, she exhaled softly. “He’ll survive.”
Daniel’s lips curved slightly.
They stopped near the hostel entrance.
“Thanks for the umbrella,” Maya said.
“You’re welcome.”
A brief pause followed.
Then Daniel looked at her carefully. “Can I ask you something?”
“Depends.”
“Are you really over him?”
The question surprised her.
Not because it was rude.
Because she realized she hadn’t fully asked herself that recently.
Maya looked down briefly before answering honestly.
“I think I’m over the version of him I created in my head.”
Daniel stayed quiet.
So she continued.
“I loved someone I thought saw me the same way I saw him.”
Her voice remained calm.
“But now I realize… maybe I was in love alone.”
Daniel’s expression softened slightly.
“That realization hurts,” he said quietly.
“It did.”
“And now?”
Maya looked up slowly.
“Now I think I’m finally letting myself heal.”
For a moment, neither moved.
Rain continued falling softly around them.
Then Daniel smiled faintly. “Good.”
Simple word.
But warm enough to make her chest feel lighter.
Maya smiled back slightly before turning toward the hostel.
But before she entered, she glanced back once.
And saw Ethan still standing there.
Watching.
—
That night, Ethan couldn’t stop thinking.
About the umbrella.
About Daniel.
About Maya’s smile.
About the way she looked peaceful without him.
It irritated him more than it should have.
Because somehow, he had expected her sadness to last longer.
Expected her feelings to stay waiting for him.
And now?
She looked like someone slowly moving beyond him completely.
His phone buzzed suddenly.
Zara.
“You’ve been distant lately.”
Ethan stared at the message for a moment before locking the screen again.
Because he didn’t know how to explain something he barely understood himself.
—
Meanwhile, Maya sat cross-legged on her bed while Ada scrolled through social media beside her.
Then suddenly—
Ada gasped loudly.
Maya looked up immediately. “What happened?”
Ada turned the phone toward her dramatically.
Someone had posted a picture from earlier.
Her and Daniel under the umbrella.
The caption read:
“Looks like Maya finally found someone better 👀🔥”
Maya’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh my God.”
Ada burst into laughter. “Campus bloggers work faster than news stations.”
Maya grabbed a pillow and covered her face. “This is embarrassing.”
“No,” Ada corrected immediately. “This is iconic.”
Maya groaned into the pillow while Ada kept laughing.
But after a few seconds…
Maya slowly lowered the pillow again.
And looked at the picture one more time.
She looked happy.
Not performative.
Not forced.
Just genuinely okay.
And somehow…
That mattered more than the rumors.
—
Elsewhere on campus, Ethan saw the same post.
And for the first time since all of this started…
Jealousy hit him properly.
Not mild irritation.
Not curiosity.
Jealousy.
Sharp and uncomfortable.
Because another guy was standing where he once stood naturally.
And the worst part?
Maya looked happier there.
—
Ethan locked his phone abruptly and leaned back in frustration.
But deep down…
A truth was becoming impossible to ignore.
He was starting to want the attention he once rejected.
And Maya?
She was slowly learning how not to give it to him anymore.
- Writer
