Sharon steadied herself after her sip of water, cheeks still warm, but this time she read on determined, almost defiant. Sid's foot brushed hers again beneath the desk, and though her voice wavered each time, she refused to let it falter for long. It was a silent contest: with each sly nudge from Sid, Sharon tried harder to keep her composure, though her pulse thudded wildly. Everyone else in the mixed-grade study class seemed oblivious to the battle raging under the table.
Sid hid his grin behind his textbook, savoring her every startled glance, the slight tremor in her voice that was his secret victory. He loved that he could affect her so easily, that his silent games didn't go unnoticed at least not by her. Teasing was as effortless as breathing, and today, each time he broke her focus, the thrill doubled.
As Sharon reached the end of her reading, Sid withdrew completely the teasing vanished as if it had never happened. He became quiet, focused, as if the tension between them was just a trick of the light. The abrupt shift left Sharon unsettled, frustration prickling beneath her skin. This push and pull his intense focus, then sudden distance was beginning to get under her skin.
By the time the class ended and students began to filter out, Sharon's irritation had crystallized into resolve. She gathered her books faster, determined to finally confront Sid. She expected to see him waiting near the gate like he always did smiling, ready with another silent challenge. But today, Sid was gone. No quick wave, no lingering glance only the hum of the emptying room.
A flicker of disappointment surprised her. She stood by the doorway a moment, scanning the corridor, half hoping he'd step out of the shadows. But Sid had vanished, and the small ache of being left behind twisted inside her on the walk home.
Unseen, Sid was watching. Concealed by a pillar outside, he caught the way Sharon searched for him her restlessness, the way she waited an extra moment before leaving. He felt a strange satisfaction mixed with something softer, almost guilty. He left early on purpose today, needing to finish other assignments, but also unable to help testing whether his presence or absence mattered to her.
Back at his own desk, books spread out under the harsh bulb, Sid pushed himself through page after page of equations and essays. His schedule was relentless: sports, studies, family expectations, days that blurred from dawn to night. And yet, he carved out this hour in his week just for the study class just for her. As he worked, a rare thought stilled his pen: the things he did, the chances he took, the way he bent his crowded life to fit her into it… It was all for Sharon, even if she never truly knew it.
Tonight, on opposite sides of the city, both felt the absence lingering proof that something had changed, even if neither could say exactly how or why.