Dear Rival

{Chapter 12}

Tanya's POV.

Something’s wrong with Shan Villafuerte.

And no, I don’t mean the usual “he’s my rival so of course he’s annoying” kind of wrong.

I mean weirdly wrong.

For the past few days, he’s been acting strange.

Cold. Quiet. Avoiding eye contact like I suddenly turned invisible.

Every time I walk into class, he either looks away or pretends to be busy writing something even if I know for a fact that notebook of his is just full of random numbers and doodles. I’ve seen it once. He drew a cat that looked like a potato.

But seriously, something’s off.

“Tanya!” Keisha called, waving her hand in front of my face. “Are you even listening?”

“Huh? What?” I blinked, realizing I’d been staring at Shan across the room again.

Keisha raised an eyebrow. “Wow. You didn’t even deny it this time.”

“I wasn’t staring!” I quickly said, maybe too loud, because half of the class looked at me. I forced a smile and lowered my voice. “I was just… thinking.”

“Thinking about your nemesis, huh?” Cath teased, leaning on her armrest with a mischievous grin.

“Oh, stop it, Cath,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I’m just confused why he’s been acting like that lately.”

“Maybe he’s mad,” Shell said softly, her voice calm as she flipped another page of her w*****d story. “Enemies to lovers plot, chapter 5: ‘He started ignoring her but deep inside, he’s jealous.’”

“Shell!” I groaned, covering my face with my hands. “You read too much w*****d!”

Keisha giggled. “But admit it, that actually fits your situation.”

“It doesn’t!” I said quickly, crossing my arms. “We’re just rivals. He’s probably just stressed or something. That’s all.”

“Riiight,” Cath said, smirking. “Totally not jealous that William’s been hanging out with you lately.”

That made me pause.

“What does William have to do with this?” I asked.

Keisha sighed dramatically. “Girl. Everyone’s been noticing it. Shan’s face looks like it’s about to explode every time he sees you and William together.”

“That’s ridiculous,” I said, even though my heart skipped a beat. “He doesn’t care about me. Why would he?”

Shell looked up from her phone. “Because in every story, hate is just the first chapter.”

“Shell!” all three of us groaned at the same time, but she just giggled.

Still, I couldn’t shake off what Keisha said.

Was Shan really… jealous?

No way. That’s impossible.

This is Shan Villafuerte we’re talking about the same guy who once told me, ‘You’re good, Dela Cruz, but not better than me.’

He wouldn’t care if I hung out with anyone else.

Right?

The bell rang before I could overthink any further. Mrs. Chavez entered the room, smiling as always.

“Good morning, class!”

“Good morning, Mrs. Chavez!” we all greeted.

“Today we’ll be having a short quiz about the geometric sequence we discussed last week,” she said. “Get a sheet of paper.”

I immediately looked at Shan. He was already writing his name neatly on his paper, calm as ever but his jaw was clenched tight.

I frowned. He didn’t even glance my way like he usually did whenever we had a quiz. Normally, he’d flash that annoying smirk that basically says ‘May the better genius win.’

But this time? Nothing. Not even a side eye.

Weird.

The quiz went by quickly, and when Mrs. Chavez collected the papers, I noticed Shan handed his without saying a word. Usually, we’d joke about who would get a higher score, but today, he just stood up and walked back silently.

When the class ended, I gathered my things slowly. I could see Shan packing his bag across the room. Our eyes almost met but he turned away before I could even smile.

Keisha elbowed me. “You see that? That boy’s in denial.”

“Of what?” I asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

“Of his feelings,” she said simply, then walked off before I could even reply.

I sighed, shaking my head. What feelings? He doesn’t like me. He doesn’t even talk to me lately.

But despite my denial, my brain kept replaying the last time we actually did talk that day in Mrs. Chavez’s class, when we both got the correct answers. He smiled a little back then, the kind of rare smile that made my heart beat weirdly.

Ugh. What is wrong with me?

Later that day, during lunch, William waved at me from across the cafeteria.

“Tanya! Over here!”

I smiled and walked over. “Hey! You saved me a seat?”

“Of course. You’re always running late,” he teased.

I sat down, laughing. “It’s because someone keeps texting me spoilers about my favorite show!”

William chuckled. “Okay fine, guilty. But come on, I wanted someone to rant with.”

We continued chatting and laughing, completely unaware that Shan and his group Jc, Brent, Aiden, and Xian were sitting a few tables away.

Or at least, I pretended I was unaware.

Because even though I tried to focus on William’s story, I could feel someone’s gaze from the side. Every time I looked, Shan would look away quickly, pretending to be talking to Jc.

My heart did a weird flip.

Why was I noticing that?

Why did it bother me that he wasn’t smiling or teasing me like he used to?

“Tanya?” William called, snapping me out of my thoughts. “You okay?”

“Oh! Yeah, sorry. I was just… thinking.”

He grinned. “About me?”

I laughed awkwardly. “More like math problems.”

He groaned dramatically. “You and your math obsession!”

I giggled, but as I glanced sideways again, I caught Shan staring.

And for the briefest second I swear our eyes met.

But instead of looking away this time, he held my gaze.

Just for a heartbeat.

Then he stood up and left the cafeteria.

I don’t know why that small moment made my stomach twist,

but as I watched him walk away, I realized something I’d been trying to ignore.

Maybe… just maybe…

this rivalry of ours wasn’t as simple as I thought anymore.