chapter 3: Something Feels Different
764 Words
Ethan had always known Maya was important to him.
She was his best friend.
The person he texted when something funny happened.
The person he looked for when he entered the classroom.
The person who could make him laugh even when he was having the worst day.
There had never been anything strange about it.
At least, that's what Ethan thought.
Until one Tuesday morning.
Maya walked into the classroom wearing a simple smile, her bag hanging from one shoulder.
“Morning!” she called.
Ethan looked up from his desk.
“Morning.”
He smiled at her, but for some reason, he couldn't look away.
Maya walked toward him.
“Why are you staring at me?”
Ethan immediately looked down.
“I wasn't.”
“You were.”
“I was thinking.”
“About what?”
“Nothing.”
Maya narrowed her eyes.
“You're acting weird.”
“I'm not.”
She shrugged.
“Okay, weirdo.”
She sat beside him, completely unaware of what had just happened inside Ethan's head.
Ethan tried to concentrate on the lesson.
But he couldn't.
Every few minutes, his eyes wandered toward Maya.
He noticed little things he had never paid attention to before.
The way she tapped her pen against her notebook when she was thinking.
The way she smiled whenever she understood something in class.
The way she whispered jokes to him and tried not to laugh when the teacher was talking.
Why was he noticing all of this now?
He shook his head.
She's your best friend, he reminded himself.
That's all.
At lunch, they sat beneath their usual tree.
Maya was telling him a story about something that happened in class.
“And then she looked at me and said—”
She suddenly stopped.
“What?”
Ethan realized he had been staring again.
“Nothing.”
“You're doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“Looking at me like I'm strange.”
He laughed nervously.
“You are strange.”
Maya threw a small piece of paper at him.
“Rude!”
Ethan laughed.
But inside, he was confused.
Something was different.
He couldn't explain it.
That evening, Ethan lay on his bed staring at the ceiling.
He replayed the day in his head.
Maya's smile.
Her laugh.
The way she had looked at him when she caught him staring.
He grabbed his pillow and covered his face.
“What is wrong with me?”
His phone buzzed.
He looked at the screen.
Maya: Are you awake?
Ethan smiled without meaning to.
Ethan: Yeah.
Maya: I can't sleep.
Ethan: Why?
Maya: I don't know. Tell me something funny.
He thought for a moment.
Then he started typing.
Soon, they were joking back and forth.
Ethan laughed quietly at his phone.
This was normal.
Talking to Maya was normal.
Being happy when she messaged him was normal.
So why did his heart feel strange?
He put his phone down.
Maybe he was just tired.
Maybe tomorrow everything would feel normal again.
But the next morning, it didn't.
And neither did the morning after that.
The more time Ethan spent with Maya, the more he realized that something inside him had changed.
He started getting nervous when she was close.
He noticed when other boys talked to her.
He didn't understand why he suddenly felt uncomfortable when someone else made her laugh.
One afternoon, Maya was talking to another boy from their class.
Ethan watched from across the hallway.
She laughed at something the boy said.
Ethan's expression changed.
Why did that bother him?
He quickly looked away.
“This is ridiculous,” he whispered.
Maya eventually walked over to him.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing.”
“You've been quiet.”
“I'm fine.”
She studied his face.
“Are you sure?”
Ethan forced a smile.
“Yeah.”
Maya smiled back.
“Okay.”
She walked beside him.
For a moment, Ethan wanted to tell her everything.
He wanted to ask her what she would think if he told her that his feelings were changing.
But fear stopped him.
What if she didn't feel the same?
What if telling her ruined everything?
What if he lost his best friend?
That thought frightened him more than anything.
So Ethan kept quiet.
He decided the best thing to do was pretend nothing had changed.
But deep down, he already knew the truth.
Maya wasn't just his best friend anymore.
And the more he tried to deny it...
the harder it became to ignore
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD