The night before regionals, they stayed at school late to rehearse.
The halls were dark. Empty. Just the two of them sitting on the auditorium stage floor, legs criss-crossed, eating vending machine pretzels.
"Do you ever think about how weird this is?" Eli asked suddenly.
Savannah raised an eyebrow. "Pretzels at 9 p.m. on a school stage? A little."
"No, I mean… us. Being here. Being like this."
She didn't say anything.
He continued, "We hated each other. You still probably do."
She looked at him. "Do you?"
Eli smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Sometimes I think it's easier for people like us to pretend to hate each other. Makes it safer."
"Safer how?"
"Like... if I annoy you, then you can't hurt me."
Her chest tightened.
"That's kind of sad," she said, voice quiet.
He nodded. "Yeah. It is."
A silence stretched between them. Not awkward, not tense—just… raw.
Savannah looked down at her hands, picking at the edge of a pretzel bag. "I don't hate you," she said finally.
He looked up.
"I mean," she added quickly, "you're still insufferable, and you stress me out. But… I don't hate you."
His voice was soft. "That kind of sounded like a compliment."
"Don't let it go to your head."
But when their fingers brushed reaching for the same pen, neither of them pulled away.
To Be Continued...
Next chapters will include:
Chapter 4: Jealousy in the Air
Chapter 5: The First Real Fight
Chapter 6: A Confession That Wasn't Meant to Happen.