Monday arrived like it hadn't waited for anyone to recover.
Angel walked into school wearing her usual blank expression, but something in her had shifted since the sleepover. She felt less… alone. Still guarded, still careful—but not as isolated.
As she stepped into class, Jordan looked up from where he sat with his friends. His eyes caught hers for a second longer than necessary. It was quick—but it was there.
He didn't say anything right away. Instead, he watched her as she dropped her bag and settled in beside Kelly V and Mimi.
There was something about the way Angel walked now—something stronger but still fragile. It tugged at something inside him.
He didn't understand it, but he felt it.
Across the room, Juliet sat stiffly beside her own group of friends. She had seen Jordan looking at Angel again, and every time it happened, it hit like a quiet punch to the gut.
Juliet hadn't told anyone, but she had a soft, slow-growing crush on Jordan. It wasn't loud or dramatic—just real. But Jordan never noticed her. His eyes always drifted to the girl who barely spoke to anyone.
Angel.
And Juliet hated that even more than she admitted to herself.
At break time, the tension crackled silently across the cafeteria. Jordan stood by the vending machine with one of his friends, but his eyes kept flicking back to Angel.
Victor and Jayden sat together at another table, joking around. Hannah stood nearby, pretending to scroll through her phone, though she was fully tuned in to Victor's voice.
"Are you not eating?" Victor asked her casually, tossing a wrapped sandwich toward her.
Hannah caught it, startled. "Oh… thanks."
She looked down at the sandwich like it was something more, like maybe it meant something. She wasn't sure how he saw her, but she knew how she saw him—loud, confident, careless in the way that made her heart twist and annoy her at the same time.
Victor didn't notice. Or maybe he did, but didn't say anything.
Meanwhile, Jordan finally walked over to Angel's table, using the excuse of handing her a forgotten pen she dropped in class earlier.
"You left this," he said, placing it on the table.
Angel looked at the pen, then at him.
"I didn't even know I dropped it."
Jordan shrugged. "Guess I pay more attention than you think."
Mimi raised her brows at Kelly behind Angel's back. Kelly smirked knowingly.
Angel gave a small, polite nod. "Thanks."
Jordan lingered a moment longer than necessary before heading back.
As he turned to leave, Victor, from across the room, watched him walk away from Angel's table.
He didn't say anything—but his jaw clenched slightly.
Later that day, after classes ended, Angel stayed back to grab something from her locker. Jordan passed by again, this time slower.
"You okay?" he asked her gently.
"I'm fine," she replied, eyes focused on her locker.
"You don't look fine."
Angel turned slightly, skeptical. "Since when do you read my face that well?"
Jordan hesitated. "Since I started caring."
The hallway was quiet. Angel stared at him for a moment, and something unspoken passed between them—something too new, too complicated.
"I'm not asking for anything," he added quickly. "Just… wanted to check."
Before she could answer, Juliet walked by, pretending not to notice them but feeling everything like a thorn in her side.
She turned a corner quickly, blinking hard.
That evening, Juliet sat alone in her room, staring at her phone. She had Jordan's number—everyone in their group had it. But she'd never texted him anything outside schoolwork. She typed, deleted, retyped, deleted again.
How do you compete with a girl like Angel?
In another house across town, Hannah was scrolling through her class WhatsApp group when Victor's name popped up.
He had dropped a joke.
She laughed quietly.
Then sighed.
She didn't even know if he remembered giving her that sandwich.
But she remembered everything.
At Angel's house that night, she stared at the pen jordan returned to her. It was just a pen. But somehow, it didn't feel like just that.
Kelly V's voice popped into her head from earlier: "Girl, Jordan's starting to look at you like you're a movie and he's afraid to miss the ending."
Angel rolled her eyes to herself.
As if.
She tucked the pen into her drawer.
But didn't stop thinking about it.