Reya had a problem. Two problems, actually.
One wore the chaos of Kade like a second skin — loud, dramatic, messy in ways that somehow felt intentional. The other was Aiden — calm, infuriatingly magnetic, and entirely silent about everything that mattered.
She lay sprawled across her bed, phone hovering inches from her face, thumb scrolling endlessly through memes she barely found funny. Memes had always been her thing. They were her coping mechanism, her personality trait, her way of laughing through things she didn't know how to explain out loud. If something hurt too much, she'd turn it into a joke. If she felt overwhelmed, she'd drown it in humour and pretend she was fine.
Today, though, even the funniest posts weren't landing.
She paused mid-scroll, staring at Aiden's latest post. It had been up for three hours. Three whole hours — and she hadn't liked it. Not because she didn't want to, but because she wanted it too much. Because liking it felt like admitting something she wasn't ready to face.
Pretending was easier.
Pretending she didn't care that Aiden looked unfairly good without trying. Pretending Kade's texts — the late-night apologies, the dramatic voice notes, the half-confessions disguised as jokes — didn't make her stomach tighten in that familiar, confusing way. Pretending she wasn't exhausted from feeling everything at once.
Reya wasn't dramatic by nature. She was the quiet type — observant, soft-spoken, expressive in subtle ways. Petite, with warm skin and eyes that gave her away even when her mouth didn't. She felt deeply but rarely announced it. She loved laughter, sarcasm, and small comforts: memes, late-night chats, screenshots of funny conversations she never deleted. She remembered things people forgot they'd told her. She cared in ways that weren't loud but were constant.
She wasn't supposed to want him.
She wasn't supposed to think about Aiden while Kade existed so loudly in her life.
And yet, she did.
And that, Reya realized with a sigh that felt like it might split her in two, was only the beginning.
She tossed her phone onto the bed and leaned back against the headboard, staring at the ceiling like it might offer answers. If she were honest, her day had been fine. Normal, even. Classes. Friends. Laughter that sounded real enough. Except for the constant Kade problem.
He'd texted again that morning — something dramatic about leaving her "because he loved her too much." She'd replied with a perfectly sarcastic cool, noted, which he probably hadn't understood. Classic Kade. Always intense. Always emotional. Always saying the right things at the wrong times.
Impossible to ignore.
Her thoughts drifted — uninvited — back to Aiden.
Why did he always look so calm?
Even in photos, he carried an effortless ease, like nothing rattled him. Like he existed in a world slower than hers. And his laugh… God. That laugh. Reya felt it in her chest just thinking about it. Deep, full, like it came from somewhere solid. The kind of laugh that made you feel safe and undone at the same time.
A notification buzzed.
Kade.
She didn't open it.
She didn't have the energy for chaos right now. Not when Aiden existed in her mind like a quiet shadow — present without trying, tempting without asking permission.
Her phone buzzed again, this time a message from a friend. She opened it. A meme. Something stupid. Something absurd.
Her lips twitched despite herself.
Maybe she could survive today.
Maybe.
But the truth sat heavy in her chest, unspoken and undeniable.
Her heart was already somewhere else.
Somewhere quiet.
Somewhere dangerous.
Somewhere that had a name she wasn't supposed to whisper aloud.
Aiden.