Luna had always prided herself on being composed. She could joke around, roll her eyes, and even pretend Peryn's antics didn't faze her. But lately, that calm had been unraveling fast.
Because the truth was simple: she had started going crazy for him.
It wasn't just the way he leaned too close when whispering something ridiculous. Or the way his voice dipped into that deep, half-singing tone near her ear, always making her call him a broken radio. It was in the little things. The way his eyes searched for her the second he entered a classroom. The way he tilted his head just to catch her behind a tree. The way he never let silence sit too long between them, always poking, teasing, pulling.
And Luna? She had started noticing everything.
During class, when he muttered "penshil" instead of "pencil" just to make her laugh, her heart would skip. She used to roll her eyes, but now, she caught herself smiling at the memory hours later.
At lunch, when he reached straight for her banana bread, she pretended to glare, but deep inside she was thrilled — because he wanted her food, her attention.
Even the small touches—his shoulder brushing hers when he wanted her to notice something, or that time he leaned in to correct her spelling in French, smirking when she got flustered—made her stomach flip in ways she couldn't ignore anymore.
Luna wasn't just reacting to Peryn anymore. She was waiting for him. Searching for him. Wanting more.
Sayuri noticed it first. The way Luna's eyes always flickered toward Peryn when he wasn't looking. The way her lips curved upward even before he finished his jokes. Sayuri sighed, torn between amusement and frustration—because Akio still only had eyes for Luna.
Akio noticed too. And it hurt. Whenever Luna laughed at Peryn's broken singing, Akio's chest tightened. Whenever she leaned in just slightly closer to Peryn during conversations, Akio gritted his teeth.
But Peryn? He noticed everything. Of course he did. That cheeky smile of his only widened each time he caught her staring.
One afternoon in the computer lab, when Luna couldn't get her system to start, Peryn crouched beside her chair, fiddling with the wires. Their shoulders brushed, and Luna froze.
"Guess it's just us against technology," he whispered.
Luna, who normally had a smart comeback, found herself speechless. Her pulse was too loud, her brain too scattered. She hated that he made her this way… and yet, she loved it.
Walking back to class, she realized it fully: she wasn't just tolerating Peryn anymore. She was caught. Falling. Going crazy in the exact way she once teased him for.
And somehow… it felt exhilarating.