It starts small.
Monday.
Locker.
She closes hers just as he opens his.
"You changed your timing."
He looks up.
"…What?"
"In class. You answer faster now."
He frowns.
"Okay?"
She nods once.
Leaves.
That's it.
-
Tuesday.
Hallway turn.
He almost bumps into her.
She steps aside smoothly.
"You don't slam your locker anymore."
He stares.
"What are you, tracking me?"
"Maybe."
She walks away.
-
Wednesday.
Rooftop.
She spots him alone up there, and before she gets there.
Unusual.
She sits down next to him.
Opens her bento.
"You hesitate before you speak."
He looks at her sideways.
"Do I?"
"Yes."
A pause.
"Didn't before."
That one lands differently.
He takes a sip of his drink.
"…Why are you paying attention?"
She chews.
Swallows.
"Because you're improving."
That catches him off guard.
"Am I?"
"Yes."
No praise in it.
Just data.
-
Thursday.
Cafeteria.
Raxian barely sits before Jake leans across the table.
"So."
Rax doesn't look up. "No."
"You and Quiet."
Raxian freezes for half a second.
Marcus immediately perks up.
"Oh?"
Tess sighs preemptively.
Bruce grins. "Here we go."
Raxian glares at Jake. "Drop it."
Jake laughs too loud.
"No, no, I'm serious. She only talks to you."
"That's not—"
"It is."
Jake gestures vaguely with a fry.
"She doesn't breathe near anyone else."
Logan doesn't look up from his book.
"She breathes."
Jake ignores him.
"I'm just saying. It's interesting."
Raxian's jaw tightens.
"There's nothing."
Jake leans back, smirking.
"Didn't say there was."
Marcus hums. "He's defensive."
"I'm not defensive."
"You slammed that tray a little hard," Tess notes calmly.
Raxian exhales sharply.
"Can we not make this weird?"
Jake's grin lingers a second too long.
"I'm not making it weird."
You are.
But Rax doesn't say that.
Across the room—
Sable sits near the window today.
Not rooftop.
Just… observing the rain through glass.
She doesn't look at them.
Not once.
And somehow that makes it worse.
Jake follows Raxian's glance.
Then laughs again.
Too sharp.
"She got you analyzing yourself, didn't she?"
Raxian pushes his chair back slightly.
"She points things out."
"Ohhh," Jake mocks softly. "She points things out."
"Jake."
That tone makes the table go quiet for half a second.
He rarely uses it.
Jake raises both hands in surrender.
"Relax. I'm joking."
But he isn't entirely.
Bruce shifts the subject quickly.
Marcus smirks into his drink.
Tess watches Jake longer than she watches Rax.
Logan finally looks up.
At Jake.
Not Rax.
That's important.
-
That Evening
Raxian lies on his bed.
Lights off.
Monitor glow faint in the corner.
His avatar mirrors him in the private chamber.
Gold pulse steady.
Curious, not reactive.
He stares at the ceiling.
"She only talks to you."
He exhales slowly.
What does she want?
It's not flirting.
It's… evaluation.
And that bothers him more than if it were romantic.
Because evaluation means expectation.
And expectation means—
He could disappoint.
His avatar turns its head slightly.
As if asking the same question.
He doesn't queue.
He just lies there.
Thinking.
Notification.
test me?: voice?
He stares at it.
"…Voice?"
Another message.
test me?: call
No emoji, no explanation.
Just that.
He blinks.
Why?
His thumb hovers.
He should say no.
He should ask why.
Instead—
He boots up his pc and accepts.
The call connects.
Audio first.
A faint room tone.
Then—
Camera.
His brain stops.
She's there.
Not avatar, not pixel.
Not spear-wielding blur.
Sable.
Sitting in a chair.
Beanie off.
Hair slightly messy from the day.
Room behind her minimal.
Desk lamp casting warm light.
Green eyes steady.
Looking at him.
Directly.
He forgets to speak.
She tilts her head slightly.
"You're frozen."
He blinks hard.
"I—"
His voice cracks slightly.
He clears it.
"I wasn't expecting… camera."
"You didn't disable it."
That's true.
He didn't.
Silence stretches.
He becomes painfully aware of how he looks.
Closet setup glowing behind him.
Neon keyboard light faint on his face.
His golden eyes catching screen glare.
She studies him the way she studies everything.
Assessing.
"You're Xar."
Not a question.
Statement.
His stomach drops.
"…How."
She doesn't answer immediately.
Let's it sit.
Let's him replay it.
His nickname.
Rax.
Xar.
He exhales sharply.
"Oh my god."
She waits.
He almost slaps his forehead.
"That's stupid."
"It was subtle."
"No it wasn't."
A faint shift in her expression.
Almost amusement.
"You move the same."
That again.
He swallows.
"You've been watching me."
"Yes."
There's no shame in it.
"I was curious."
"About what?"
"You."
Silence.
He doesn't know what to do with that.
"You react before you calculate," she continues calmly.
"You correct faster now."
He frowns.
"So this was… research?"
"Yes."
He stares at her.
"That's insane."
"It's efficient."
He almost laughs.
Almost.
Then his face softens slightly.
"…And?"
She leans back slightly in her chair.
Decision made.
"I know now."
"Know what?"
"That you're not average."
His pulse flickers.
He tries to mask it.
"That's your big revelation?"
"You underperform."
That hits harder.
"You limit yourself."
He exhales through his nose.
"You flew through me in two seconds."
"I wasn't testing your mechanics."
That makes him look up sharply.
"Then what were you testing?"
"You."
Silence again.
"You left."
She says it softly, observingly.
"You didn't try to understand what happened."
His jaw tightens.
"I lost."
"You panicked."
That word.
He doesn't argue this time.
She studies his face.
Then says it plainly.
"You have potential."
"And I wanted to confirm it."
He doesn't know whether to feel flattered or dissected.
"Why do you care?" he asks finally.
She pauses.
Longer this time.
"I don't invest in things that don't matter."
That lands differently.
He looks at her properly now.
Not as smurf.
Not as transfer student.
Just—
Her.
"So what now?" he asks quietly.
"We play again."
Of course.
"But slower."
She stands slightly, adjusting something off-camera.
The call light shifts.
She hesitates.
Very slight.
Then—
"Goodnight… Raxian."
Not Xar.
Not "you."
Raxian.
She disconnects.
Call ends.
He stares at the blank screen.
His heart is beating too fast.
He leans back slowly in his chair.
In the private chamber—
His avatar mirrors him.
Gold pulse steady.
But deeper now.
Focused.
"…What just happened," he mutters.
For the first time—
He doesn't feel mocked.
He feels seen.