Clara's voice sliced through the air, light and warm — the sound Luiz both wanted and dreaded to hear.
He turned slowly. She was jogging toward him, waving, her smile bright enough to make the morning softer. But that smile faded the moment she noticed Mara standing a few feet away.
Mara didn't move. Her jaw clenched slightly as she slid her hands into her hoodie pocket.
"Hey," Clara said carefully, eyes flicking between them. "Am I interrupting something?"
Luiz swallowed. "No. We were just talking."
"Talking," Mara echoed, her tone sharp enough to cut glass. "Right. That's one word for it."
Clara frowned. "Sorry, do I… know you?"
Mara's lips curled faintly. "No. But I know him better than you think."
The air went still. A few students passing by slowed, sensing tension. Luiz's heart pounded — not from fear, but from the realization that this moment could ruin everything.
"Mara, please," he whispered.
She took a step closer, eyes locked on him. "Just remember, Luiz… when people play with fire, they don't always get to choose which one burns them first."
Then she turned and walked off, leaving silence behind her.
Clara looked at him — confusion and hurt mixing in her eyes. "Who was that?"
Luiz hesitated, every excuse dying on his tongue. "Just someone from before. It's complicated."
"Seems like everything with you is," she murmured, then brushed past him toward class.
The campus noise returned slowly, laughter and footsteps echoing through the courtyard as if nothing had happened. But inside Luiz, everything was breaking again — just quieter this time.