The hallway felt colder than usual. The whispers, the rumors, the glances—I could handle them. But Damien's silence? That was worse than anything.
He hadn't spoken to me since yesterday. Not really. Not after everything with Serena, the rumors, and whatever secret everyone seemed to be hiding.
I met up with Chloe at her locker, trying to act normal.
But before I could say anything, Ezra showed up, looking awkwardly between us. "Hey. Um, Ava?"
"Yeah?"
He scratched the back of his neck. "Look… I didn't mean to stir anything up yesterday. I just thought you already knew about what Damien's been doing for you."
I blinked. "What do you mean?"
Ezra froze. "Wait… you didn't know?"
My heart thudded. "Ezra… what is Damien doing?"
He looked like he wanted to vanish. "Forget I said anything. I—I wasn't supposed to say anything anyway."
He turned and walked off before I could press further.
What has Damien been doing for me?
My mind was spinning. What else was being hidden? What wasn't I seeing?
When the final bell rang, I found him by the art room, alone.
"Damien," I said, walking up to him. "Can we talk?"
He didn't answer right away. Just stared at me with that same look—tired, guarded, hurt.
"I think we should," he said finally.
Inside the art room, silence hung heavy between us.
"I saw the messages," I started. "The fake ones Serena—"
"I don't want to talk about Serena," he cut me off sharply. "I want to talk about you."
My breath caught. "Me?"
He stepped closer, blue eyes filled with restrained frustration. "You say you're different, Ava. But when things got messy, you didn't trust me. You listened to everyone else. You believed the worst."
"No, I didn't," I whispered. "I was confused—Ezra said something—"
"Of course Ezra did," Damien muttered. "But that's not the point. You should've asked me. You should've trusted me."
"I do," I said, voice trembling. "I do trust you."
"Then why does it feel like I'm standing here alone?" he shot back. "I thought you were different. That you saw me. But instead, you're just like everyone else… doubting, second-guessing…"
"Don't say that," I begged, tears stinging my eyes. "You're not being fair!"
"I let you into the one part of my world no one else sees. And you—"
His voice broke off. He looked away.
I stepped back, my vision blurry. "Why are you saying these things?"
"Because it hurts," he said, softer now. "Because I didn't expect you to be the one to break me."
The silence that followed was unbearable.
My knees buckled, and I sat on the bench, sobbing into my hands.
He didn't stay. He left. Just like that.
---
That night, Mom knocked softly on my door.
"I need to talk to you," she said.
My heart already felt shattered, but I nodded.
"I've been reassigned," she said gently. "Back to Arizona."
My world tilted. "What?"
"In two weeks."
I couldn't even speak. Just stared at the ceiling, wondering how everything that mattered… was slipping through my fingers.
---
POV: Damien
I stood on the rooftop, the wind tugging at my hoodie, the city lights blurry below.
Ezra's voice echoed in my head.
You should tell her, man. She has no idea what you've done for her.
But I couldn't. Not anymore.
Maybe she didn't deserve the broken pieces I kept hiding. Maybe I was never meant to be loved the way I wanted.
And yet… I still sketched her.
Every time.