Keisha didn't like the ends of the day.
It was always then that emotions tried to surface.
When the role fell away.
When there were no more eyes to hold.
She left the school unhurriedly, earphones in, gaze fixed. Behind her, laughter, gossip, whispered names — all of it slid off her like a fine rain.
But inside, something stirred.
Why does this… affect me, just a little?
The thought irritated her more than Léandro himself.
---
The car stopped in front of a discreet house, set apart from the center. Nothing ostentatious. Nothing poor either. Just… controlled.
"Keisha," a familiar voice called from inside.
Maëlys.
The nanny was no longer really a nanny. She had been there too long to be just a role. Too attentive. Too perceptive.
"You came home early," she noted, handing her a glass of water.
"Useless day," Keisha replied.
Maëlys watched her for a few seconds too long.
"Useless… or disturbing?"
Keisha didn't answer immediately. She set her things down, removed her jacket. The silence spoke for her.
"Your father is still away," Maëlys said softly.
"I know."
She went up to her room. A sparse space. Everything in its place. Except her.
Keisha sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the wall. The image of Léandro, of Maya, that closeness on display… it wasn't jealousy.
It was something else.
A sense of lost control.
And that… was unacceptable for an Aïnis.
---
Later that evening, she went to the Glasshouse, a place few students knew. An old building repurposed, halfway between a music room and a hideaway.
There she met Noah.
"You're late," he said without looking at her.
"I came," she replied.
Noah was one of the few who had known her before. Before the school. Before the unofficial title of queen.
"You're tense."
"Wrong."
"You clench your jaw when you lie."
She sat across from him.
"Someone's provoking me."
Noah finally looked up.
"And?"
"He thinks I'll react like everyone else."
A silence.
"And you won't?" he asked.
Keisha closed her eyes for a moment.
"I can't afford to."
---
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, Léandro was laughing a little too loudly with Maya and some other students. He played the role he had set for himself. That of the indifferent boy. The one who had moved on.
But every vibration of his phone… he was hoping for something else.
Why isn't she reacting?
---
Back at home, Keisha looked at herself in the mirror again.
This time, she didn't see the queen. She saw the girl. The one who had felt something, despite herself.
"Feelings are weaknesses…," she murmured. Then, softer:
"But maybe they're also weapons."
She straightened up.
Tomorrow, she would return to school. Same calm. Same control.
But this time… she would observe differently.
And those who thought they could play with an Aïnis would soon learn one essential thing:
Silence is never weakness.
---
Monday morning, Keisha understood immediately.
Léandro laughed near the stairs. Maya was there. Too close.
He wasn't looking at Keisha. But every movement seemed calculated to be noticed.
"Interesting…," she thought.
She continued forward, impassive. Students moved aside as always. The queen passed.
"Hello, Aïnis," said a girl with a nervous smile.
Keisha nodded without slowing.
But her eyes recorded everything.
Léandro's hand on Maya's chair back.
The laugh, a little too forced.
The gaze he didn't place on her.
He wants to provoke a reaction.
She felt an emotion stir inside her. Not jealousy. No.
Something more dangerous.
Pride touched.
In class, she sat without a glance toward him. Léandro, two rows behind, said nothing. He felt her. Constant. Present. Untouchable.
She's playing, he thought.
Fine. Me too.
When the bell rang, he stood before her. He stopped deliberately by her desk.
"Keisha."
She slowly lifted her eyes.
"Léandro."
A simple exchange. But around them, the air seemed to tighten.
"Maya's throwing something tonight. You should come," he said, falsely relaxed.
"I'm not invited to meaningless distractions."
"Too bad. You might miss something."
A corner of his eye fell on Maya, farther away.
Keisha rose.
"If I miss something, it wasn't worth my time."
She passed beside him without brushing against him.
But this time, she paused.
"Tell me, Léandro…"
"Yes?"
She leaned slightly toward him. Just enough for him to sense her perfume.
"Be careful.
Games always end by revealing who truly controls the rules."
Then she walked away.
Her calm unsettled him more than a scream ever could.
---
At break, Vanessa joined her.
"Tell me I'm dreaming… is it just me, or is Léandro playing a weird game with that girl?"
"It's not your imagination," Keisha replied.
"And it doesn't bother you?"
Keisha waited a few seconds before answering.
"What bothers me… I decide."
When Vanessa left, Keisha remained alone. Immobile.
He thinks I'll give in.
He thinks I'll expose myself.
She gave a slow, almost dangerous smile.
"Bad strategy…," she murmured.
---
That evening, at home, Keisha removed the ribbon from her neck and placed it on the dresser. A rare gesture. Intimate.
Her phone vibrated.
Unknown message:
Will you come tonight after all?
She didn't reply immediately.
Then she typed:
Keisha:
Maybe. But if I come, it will be on my terms.
She put the phone down.
In this game, Léandro had made the first provocation. But he had forgotten one essential thing:
An Aïnis never reacts on the spot.
She prepares.