Wrong Assumptions
528 Words
HIDDEN HEARTS
EPISODE 9: WRONG ASSUMPTIONS
The day started differently.
Not louder.
Not calmer.
Just… off.
Elena Hart noticed it the moment she stepped into class.
Jayden Cole didn’t look at her.
Not once.
He was there, like always—surrounded by friends, relaxed posture, easy expression.
But something was different.
And Elena couldn’t tell what.
She sat down quietly, opening her notebook.
“Morning,” Mia said beside her.
Elena nodded. “Morning.”
Mia studied her for a second. “You look like you didn’t sleep.”
“I slept,” Elena replied. “Just not well.”
Mia frowned. “Is it the rumors again?”
Elena shook her head slightly. “It’s nothing.”
But it didn’t feel like nothing.
---
Across the room, Derek leaned closer to Jayden.
“You’ve been weird since yesterday,” he said.
“I’m fine,” Jayden replied quickly.
“That was also a fast denial,” Derek muttered. “So it’s not fine.”
Jayden didn’t respond.
Because he had noticed something.
Elena hadn’t looked at him either.
Not even once.
And he didn’t understand why that bothered him more than it should.
---
Later, during break, Elena walked toward the library alone.
She needed space.
But halfway down the hallway—
“Elena.”
She stopped.
Jayden stood a few steps behind her.
For a second, neither of them moved.
Then she turned slightly. “Yes?”
He hesitated.
That hesitation was new.
“I heard what they said yesterday,” he said.
Elena blinked. “Okay.”
Another pause.
Then Jayden added, “I just don’t want you thinking I only did that because of them.”
Elena frowned slightly. “Because of what?”
“The apology,” he clarified. “I didn’t want it to look like I was trying to prove something.”
Elena studied him for a moment.
Then said quietly, “I didn’t think that.”
But her tone wasn’t fully convinced.
Jayden noticed.
“That’s not what it felt like,” he said.
Silence.
Elena looked away. “Then maybe you shouldn’t worry about it.”
That hit differently.
Jayden straightened slightly. “So you didn’t care?”
Elena froze for half a second.
“I didn’t say that,” she replied quickly.
But it came out sharper than she intended.
That made both of them pause.
A small gap formed between them.
Then Jayden nodded slowly.
“Alright,” he said. “Got it.”
And he turned away.
---
Elena stood there longer than she meant to.
Because that wasn’t what she wanted to happen.
But she also didn’t know how to fix it.
---
In class later, they barely spoke.
Not even during group discussion.
The silence between them felt heavier than before.
Mia noticed.
Derek noticed.
Even other students noticed.
Something had changed.
And neither of them knew how to undo it.
---
After school, Elena packed her bag slowly.
She glanced once toward Jayden.
He was already leaving.
Without looking back.
Elena tightened her grip on her bag.
And for the first time…
The quiet between them didn’t feel peaceful.
It felt like distance.
- Writer
