There was something I'd learned during all my months of careful people-watching: You notice everything.

When you constantly study a person, you pick up some things. How they look when they're down, how they smile when amused, how their eyes light up when they're mad.

This wasn't different when it came to Axel, and as he stopped just a few inches away from me, glaring down at me like I was the worst person in the world, I couldn't help but cower. It was a sign of weakness, I knew, but I let myself show it.

"I believe that doesn't belong to you." His voice was low with repressed anger, and the way his eyes burned made me not want to be on the receiving end of his emotions.

"I'm s-sorry," I whispered. "It flew over to me." When I gave the piece of paper to him, he didn't take it. Instead, he continued to look at me, and I saw the reflective look in his eyes. He was trying to remember who I was.

I held his gaze, feeling a fluttering in my chest at the several conflicting emotions running around his face. Anger, sadness, regret, disappointment. Then he took the paper from me, glancing down at my hand.

"Thanks," he mumbled, meeting my eyes with his head a little lowered in submission this time, before walking away, not giving me the chance to say anything.

Staring at his retreating figure while breathing in slowly through my nose and letting the air out through my mouth, I was sure about one thing: I was no longer interested in talking to West.

Despite the silent confession I made to myself, I still remained glued to the spot. I watched Axel get the rest of his things, then, just as he was about to stand up from his crouched position, I saw him glance over his shoulder at me.

And I promise something—something lovely, something beautiful—passed between us.

Possible suspension, the paper said. Dismissed from Ridgerock's basketball team, the paper said. Further action will be taken, the paper said. Those three sentences, the same ones finely printed in sans serif on that paper that flew over to me like it was sent, were what ran through my head during English on Thursday morning, and, to my dismay, they were bothering me more than I wanted.

When I had gotten home the previous day, Kairi had been mad I ignored her WhatsApp texts, but I was too occupied to argue with her over it. She must've noticed that I wasn't in the mood, because she eventually stopped talking to me, then angrily walked to the kitchen. All night, Axel was the only one I could think about, and he didn't leave my mind once, staying even till the next morning.

Everything Mrs. Perkins was saying was going in through one ear and going out through the other. It was all muffled talk, filling the remaining space of silence in my mind; disturbing, but still soothing.

I couldn't forget Axel's face, the look in his eyes, the way that boy acted towards him, and the thoughts made me want to whimper in pain. From what I knew, he had gotten a basketball scholarship, and with the recent news, he was going to lose it.

After minutes of swimming in regret, I told myself it was time to stop this; it was time for me to stop feeling bad about my actions once my aim had been achieved (even though the results were far greater than what I was expecting). This was what I wanted, and I couldn't afford this internal conflict. After all, what they did to my sister was worse.

My attention was fully restored when the door opened and a familiar face came into view. My back straightened in my chair when her eyes briefly met with mine, and all the leading lady frowns and disapproving, bordering on intimidating looks I'd taught myself over the past few months fled.

"Sorry, Mrs. Perkins," Macy said, turning her gaze to my English teacher. "The principal asked me to get Kimie Sato."

I could swear my blood froze at the sound of my name, mostly because she was the one saying it. Macy hadn't looked in my direction for half a year, and hearing her say my name was weird.

Mrs. Perkins stared at Macy for a few seconds before saying, "Well, that's unlike him."

"He said its urgent."

At that, all eyes automatically turned to me, and I slid down my seat, hoping to have the attention shifted from me, but it didn't work.

"All right," Mrs. Perkins said with a sigh. "Kimie, you're permitted to leave."

I stayed in my seat for a while longer, preventing the class from continuing, and my teacher lifted an eyebrow at me. I quietly released a breath, then started packing my things. As I made my way to the front of the class, I made eye contact with West, who was looking at me as if trying to tell me something, and I was momentarily carried back to the previous day.

What he had proposed was currently the least of my problems, so I looked away from him, spotting the disappointment on his face out of the corner of my eye.

Macy gave me a smile as I walked past her and out of the classroom, but I didn't return the gesture, opting to head to the principal's office in silence. I walked in front of her, my eyes focused ahead like I'd seen her do several times, and I could hear her footsteps following behind mine, unbearably loud.

"Kim," she called, her voice laced with trepidation, but I didn't respond, my focus on the principal's office. "Kimie," she tried again, but got the same result.

Then, in one swift movement, she grabbed my arm and pulled me into an empty classroom, locking the door behind her, and I pulled my arm out of her grip, my eyes widening with incredulity.

"What is wrong with you?" I asked, and she paused, before taking a step closer to me. Instinctively, I took a step away, and unlike West, she remained where she was.

"The principal doesn't want to see you." A pause. A sweep of her eyes over my face. "I do."

A whoosh of air left my mouth at the incredulity of the situation. I didn't want to talk to Macy. Not now, not ever.

"Kimie—"

"What do you want?"

"I—I was getting to that."

"So you called me out of class for this?" I shook my head. "I didn't know you could commit any more crimes."

Her body went stiff, freezing with shock, and I nearly gave myself a high five at the accomplishment. She stared at her shoes for a while, and I folded my arms over my chest when she looked up at me, in an effort to look intimidating.

"I'm sorry, Kimie."

"For what, exactly?" For some reason, her apology didn't surprise me.

"For everything," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Don't you think it's too late for apologies, Macy?" Strange anger was being pumped through my body at the audacity she had. She was sorry? And she expected me to say it was okay? That she was a good person despite everything? I didn't think that was going to happen.

"Is it ever too late to admit you're wrong?" she answered, her eyes getting glassy, but I wasn't falling for her act.

"You can tell it's over, can't you? That's why you're here right now, in this position."

"No," Macy argued, "that's not it. I really acknowledge that what I did was wrong, and I'm sorry."

"Saying it won't change anything, Macy. And it won't make me forgive you, either. You ruined my sister's life, and what you did wasn't just wrong—it was evil."

She squeezed her eyes shut just as I saw tears about to fall out of them. "I know, Kim."

"It's Kimie to you." My voice was weak that time, and my eyes started to sting at the memories hitting me like I was stuck with nowhere to go during a hailstorm.

She's not going to see you cry, Kimie. She's not going to see you cry.

I was about to walk around her so I could leave, when she spoke, her voice shaky with emotion.

"How's Kairi?"

There it was. The reason she was suddenly interested in apologizing to me. Kairi.

My hands tightened into fists by my side as I said, "She's just the way you left her."

Without a glance back, I left the classroom, making up my mind as I walked out that I wasn't going back to class. I couldn't if I wanted to keep my thoughts straight. Besides, I wasn't in love with English or Mrs. Perkins at the moment.

So I went to the girls' room and unfortunately sat on the toilet in the same stall Macy was crying in last week. As I waited to hear the bell, I wondered if this was exactly how she sat that day, crying, while Axel waited outside for her. That thought led me to wonder where Axel was at the moment, because I hadn't seen him at all that day, and it was almost lunchtime.

Just before the bell rang, I heard footsteps and high-pitched voices, then the clicking of shoes. It was two girls walking in, deep in conversation about a guy in AP math. I waited for their conversation to die down a bit before getting up and flushing the empty toilet so it looked like I was actually busy in there.

When I walked out, one of them gave me a bashful smile, then a small wave, and I returned the wave with a smile of my own. The other girl either didn't notice me as she applied some strawberry shaped lip balm, or was just ignoring me, so I washed my hands and got out of there.

I was only halfway out of the bathroom when I saw what was written on the wall in what looked like cherry red lipstick.

Piper.

The lunch line was long by the time I got to the cafeteria, and a glance at my phone confirmed the time. I had wasted seven minutes out of my lunch time. The line was moving slowly, the lunch lady seemed frustrated about something, and there was just so much noise.

Have they always been this loud?

After two solid minutes of waiting, an annoyed sound escaped my throat, and I didn't think too much about it until I heard a low chuckle from behind me.

"High school eventually gets to you, doesn't it?"

The voice made the hairs on my arms stand in alertness, and I could feel the goosebumps coming to life. He was standing so close to me, but I failed to notice him until now.

When I looked over my shoulder, I saw that a corner of Axel's lips were pulled up in a smile I was sure only I could see, his hands in his pockets. Seeing him on the lunch line was odd, because he usually paid freshmen or sophomores to help him get his lunch, but I guess things were different now.

"Hi," I said when I realized I couldn't produce the right words, and he took a step closer to me, gesturing for me to move forward. I did as told, then looked back at him. "What are you doing on this line?"

He focused his eyes on mine for a second too long. "The juniors are still scared of me," he said after a few beats, the tone of his voice making it sound like the perfect explanation. "By the way, that's all formal crap. No one cares which line you're on."

I gave him a small nod, then thought about what to say. No useful words were available, and my body felt stiff all of a sudden.

Thankfully, Axel saved me from continuing the conversation. "I was hoping to bump into you." This time, his voice was low, truly meant for my ears alone, and it made me feel weirdly excited, reminding me of that short moment of bonding (if it could be called that) from the previous day.

"You were?" Unfortunately, I couldn't mask that excitement.

I felt his hand on the small of my back as he gently urged me forward, his hand radiating warmth and making my heart beat two times faster, and I made a mental note to keep my eyes on the line.

"Yeah. I wanted to get your name."

I turned to see if the line had moved again within the last few seconds, but didn't turn back to him, swallowing the ball of nervousness in my throat, instead. I didn't want him to know who I was, but even if I didn't tell him and he was desperate enough, he could still find out.

"Have we maybe met somewhere?" His question sounded confident, like he engaged in small talk with close-to-strangers all the time.

"I—I don't think so. Why?"

"You look familiar."

"Are you sure you're not just mistaking me for someone else?" I asked, hoping he'd remember my sister.

"I don't think so. What's your name?"

I moved forward, taking an unnecessary dramatic pause. "Kimie."

He made a thoughtful sound before saying, "That's a cute name. Not something I'd forget."

I had to fight the blush creeping up my cheeks, and remind myself that he was one of the bad guys, too. "Perhaps I look like someone you used to know," I stated.

"Maybe," he agreed, then, "Thanks for yesterday, and sorry I acted the way I did. I wasn't expecting kindness from anyone."

I almost felt guilty. Almost, this time. "It's okay. It could have happened to anyone."

He didn't say anything after that, and I let myself breathe for a while, before glancing back at him. My breath hitched in my throat when our eyes met, my stomach twisting at the way he studied me, and I found myself wondering if he looked at every girl like that. He could tell me to start saying the Pledge of Allegiance and I would gladly do it.

I got a burger when I (finally) got to the front, some fries, an apple, and a small carton of yogurt, and was about paying when Axel placed a hand—that warm hand of his—over mine.

"Don't worry about it. I'll pay." He gave me a small smile, and I heard the lunch lady grunt in front of me. The food wasn't at all expensive, but I didn't want to hold the line up, so I returned his smile and stepped out of the line.

"Thanks," I said, but he waved it off and leaned against the counter, his new aim to win the frustrated lunch lady's heart.

Since he was no longer paying attention to me, I walked away, a little disappointed, hoping to find a good table in the crowded cafeteria. I spotted one in a far corner soon enough, and headed towards it.

My phone buzzed twice in my pocket as I sat, and I was about pulling it out to see who remembered me this fine afternoon when my eyes caught with West's across the room. He maintained the stare for a moment, urging me to wonder how long he had been standing there. When he seemed to get what he wanted—my full attention, no doubt—he nodded in the door's direction.

I barely even got the chance to protest before he turned around and walked out, and I looked down at my delicious-looking lunch in defeat, letting a disappointed sigh go free.

Special thanks to basiicxmoona for giving this book a shoutout on her profile! I can't thank you enough sweetie 💕

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Lots of love.