It had been two days.
Two days since Niki stopped laughing at his jokes.
Two days since she stopped teasing him about his messy handwriting.
Two days since she started smiling like someone told her not to.
And Luke hated it.
He tapped his pen restlessly against the desk, watching Niki from across the classroom.
She was talking to Sammy, nodding like she was listening—but her eyes weren't focused. Her smile didn't reach her eyes.
He knew her too well to not notice.
During break, he walked up to her by the water cooler.
"Niki."
She looked up, surprised. "Yeah?"
"You good?"
"Yeah."
"…Are you sure?" he asked gently. "Because you don't look it."
She hesitated for a second. Just a second.
Then she forced a tiny smile. "I'm just stressed about midterms. It's nothing serious."
Luke tilted his head. That wasn't the kind of answer Niki gave him.
She used to rant for ten minutes straight about test anxiety.
Now she was brushing him off?
"Okay," he said softly. "But if it's something else… you can tell me, you know."
Niki just nodded and walked away with her bottle.
Something wasn't right.
Later that day, Luke sat beside Sammy during group project time.
He leaned in quietly. "Hey. Has Niki said anything to you? About what's bothering her?"
Sammy looked genuinely confused. "No? I thought everything was fine."
Luke frowned. "She's been… off. Like she's pretending."
Sammy glanced at Niki across the room, then back at Luke. "I thought you'd know. You guys are always glued together."
Luke didn't reply.
Because lately… they weren't.
And he didn't know why.
---
After school, Luke sat on the bleachers outside the basketball court, tossing a pebble between his hands.
He couldn't shake the feeling.
Something was wrong. And it was driving him crazy.
Footsteps approached.
"Hey," said a familiar voice.
James.
Luke looked up. "Hey."
James sat beside him, opening a juice box. "You okay?"
Luke hesitated. "…Yeah."
James didn't buy it.
"You've been off all day," he said casually, sipping. "Everything okay with you and Niki?"
Luke looked away.
"…That's the thing," he muttered. "I don't know."
[Chapter 7 ENDS]