"Hey," Steph said in a small voice, barely above a whisper, as she stood in front of my locker.
I blinked, surprised to see her there, awkwardly shifting on her feet like she was trying to shrink into the floor. She was clearly nervous.
"Hey," I replied, voice neutral but clipped. I didn't want to sound cold, but I wasn't about to pretend everything was fine either. I focused on spinning the lock, pretending I couldn't feel the weird tension clinging to the air like a fog.
The silence that followed was heavy. She didn't say anything at first, and neither did I. It was weird—too weird.
We hadn't talked since that day in the common room. That whole mess still hung between us like some invisible wall. I had waited all weekend for a text or a call—something. A meme. A one-word reply. Anything. But… nothing. Radio silence. So, yeah, when I finally gave in and texted her, hoping she'd at least acknowledge me? She left me on read. Or maybe not even that—no reply at all.
