Saturday.
No uniforms. No announcements. No paperwork from Emma.
Just me, a hoodie, and an alarm clock I didn't set.
I stretched out in bed and groaned into my pillow.
For the first time since starting at St. Ivy, the world didn't feel like it was pulling me in ten directions. No roles to play. No clubs to dodge. No one yelling my name across a courtyard.
I rolled over and checked my phone.
Class Chat: 128 new messages.
Sofia's poll of the day: "Who would survive a zombie apocalypse?"
Tyler voted for himself five times. Noah wrote, "Only if it's musical zombies."
I laughed. Put the phone down.
It was nice… having this.
Being normal.
Sort of.
Later That Afternoon – Mid-Town Vibes
I slipped on a jacket and headed out. Just to clear my head. Grab a snack. Walk through the old streets I grew up in.
Midtown had its own rhythm—kids yelling from balconies, bikes zipping by, the scent of fried food in the air.
I passed the little bakery where Amaya's mom worked. It smelled like cinnamon and sugar.
She wasn't at the front, but I saw her through the back window, rolling dough with quiet focus. She didn't see me. But I smiled anyway.
Kept walking.
A Familiar Voice
"Jay?"
I turned.
Of course.
Emma.
Wearing casual clothes. Hair in a messy low ponytail. Glasses instead of contacts. Holding a book in one hand and a takeout bag in the other.
She blinked at me.
"I didn't think you existed outside school."
"Same," I said. "You look… surprisingly normal."
She rolled her eyes. "That's your compliment?"
"No, my compliment is: you look cute when you're off-duty."
Her ears turned red. "You're insufferable."
"Yeah, but you keep showing up."
She hesitated. Then… handed me a bag.
"I bought extra dumplings."
I took it, trying not to grin too hard. "You're dangerously sweet when no one's watching."
"Shut up and eat before I change my mind."
We sat on a bench near the station, sharing food in silence.
The kind of silence that wasn't awkward. Just… there.
And maybe, just maybe, not so empty.
"...You eat like you haven't had a proper meal all week," Emma said, watching me inhale the last dumpling.
"You've seen my schedule," I said, wiping my fingers with a napkin. "I'm either class repping, flirting by accident, or being dragged across the school by club leaders who think I'm their mascot."
She snorted. "You brought it on yourself."
"I was nominated, technically."
Emma leaned back against the bench, letting the breeze brush strands of hair across her cheek. She was quiet for a moment.
"Still," she said, almost too casually, "you've held up better than I expected."
"Oh?" I smirked. "Was that a compliment?"
"A moment of weakness. Don't let it go to your head."
I leaned slightly closer. "Too late."
She didn't move away.
Instead, she pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket, tapped something, then stared at the screen like it said something interesting.
"What are you doing tomorrow?" she asked.
"Tomorrow?" I blinked. "Uh… laundry? Cleaning my apartment? Dramatically staring out the window?"
She smiled faintly. "Ever been to the city aquarium?"
"Nope."
She slid her phone back into her pocket. "Then you're going. With me."
There was a pause.
My brain started doing backflips.
"Is this… like a 'let's go see the fish' casual thing, or a 'two people spending one-on-one time together with suspicious chemistry' kind of thing?"
Emma raised an eyebrow. "Does it matter?"
"I like to be emotionally prepared."
"Good. Then be ready at 10 a.m. Midtown station. Dress like a person."
"No promises."
Emma stood, brushing invisible dust off her jeans. "Oh, and Jay?"
"Yeah?"
She leaned in just enough to be heard.
"If you try to flirt with the otters, I will abandon you at the jellyfish tank."
And just like that, she walked off—book tucked under one arm, wind tugging at her hair, a smirk tugging at mine.