The next morning, the Casablanca light seemed harsher, unforgiving. Élisa got up, every muscle aching as if she'd run a marathon. The memory of Adrien's kiss, the force of his possession, still burned on her lips. She walked towards the bathroom but stopped dead in front of the mirror. She couldn't face her reflection. Something in her eyes had changed, a new, dangerous glint. Adrien had looked at her in a way no boy ever had, with an intensity that pierced her soul, a primal hunger. And the worst part... was that she had liked it. A part of her, buried deep, had awakened to his touch, a part she didn't know and that terrified her.
The hours of class were torture. Every time the door opened, Élisa looked up, expecting to see him. But Adrien was absent. The waiting was agony, the disappointment a heavy weight. The silence of his absence was louder than his presence had ever been. Had he regretted the pact? The kiss? She felt empty, both relieved and strangely abandoned.
At the end of the last class, an irrepressible need to flee overcame her. Élisa slipped out of the classroom, pushing through the student crowd, hoping to blend into the anonymity of the hustle. But as she entered a deserted hallway, shadow closed in around her.
He was there. Adrien. Appeared out of nowhere, as always. He caught up to her, his body blocking the exit, pinning her between him and the cold wall. Silence fell again, heavy, electric. His gaze plunged into hers, searching for something she couldn't identify. He didn't speak, didn't touch her. But his gaze slowly, deliberately, descended to her lips. Élisa felt her cheeks flush, her body tense with unbearable anticipation. The memory of the kiss overwhelmed her, pushing her to the edge of the precipice. It was a burning silence, a mute question, a sensory torture. His eyes were dark, tormented. Then, as abruptly as he had stopped her, he moved away. His body tensed, as if he was fighting himself, an invisible inner struggle Élisa could feel deep in her bones. He left her there, trembling, and walked away without a word, leaving her alone with the weight of what had just happened and the suspended promise of unfulfilled desire.