Mike reached home , no parents nothing all alone .
He started thinking about Jane with a little smile on his face , that today was something special .
That Jane is not like other girls , somthing is different in her
the way her hair moves from wind , the way she settled them back to her hair.
On the other side Jane is preparing for test at night yet thinking a little about today that what happened with a little blush .
Jane slept but Mike was staring at his celling , sleep denies to come at all , he's still thinking about Jane .
Next day .
The morning bell rang with the same tired sound it always did, but today it felt louder to Mike.
Sunlight spilled through the classroom windows as students dragged themselves to their seats, backpacks thudding onto the floor, chairs scraping lazily. Mike walked in last, eyes still heavy from a night where sleep had refused to come easily.
He knew why.
Jane was already there.
She sat by the window, the place she always chose, chin resting on her hand as she stared outside. The light caught in her hair, making it look softer than usual, almost unreal. She didn't notice him at first.
Mike paused at the door longer than necessary. Making sure that she saw him but suddenly he thinked .
That don't be stupid mike , he told himself. It's just Jane.
Just Jane—the girl who had walked beside him every day since middle school. The girl who laughed at his worst jokes. The girl who somehow made silence feel comfortable.
He finally moved, slipping into the seat one row behind her.
Close enough to see her.
Far enough to pretend he wasn't trying.
The teacher began speaking, something about attendance and deadlines, but Mike barely listened. His attention kept drifting to the way Jane tapped her pen against her notebook, the way she tucked her hair behind her ear when she was thinking.
She turned slightly, as if she could feel his gaze.
Their eyes met.
It was brief—barely a second—but it sent something sharp and warm through his chest. Jane looked surprised, then smiled. Not the polite kind. The familiar one. The one meant just for him.
Mike looked away too quickly. Little nervous and tired, he's always .
At lunch, the courtyard buzzed with noise. Friends shouted, phones were passed around, laughter bounced off the concrete walls.
Mike sat at their usual table, poking at his food. Jane joined him a moment later, dropping her bag beside the bench.
"You're quiet today," she said.
He shrugged. "Just tired."
Jane studied him, the way she always did when she felt like something was being left unsaid. "You were spacing out in class."
"Was not." I said
She smiled. "You were."
For a moment, neither of them spoke. The noise around them filled the gap, but it didn't feel awkward. It never did with her.
"Hey," Jane said suddenly, softer now. "About yesterday… after the bell."
Mike's heart skipped.
"Yeah?"
She hesitated, fingers tightening around her juice bottle. "You left so fast."
"I—I had to get home," he said, a little too quickly. Didn't know what to say.
Jane nodded, but her eyes dropped to the table , she wants him to stay for a while after the school but it didn't happened. with lower voice she said "Oh. Okay."
The way she said it made him regret not staying. Regret not saying something. Anything.
Before he could fix it, a group of friends pulled her into another conversation. Jane was laughing again, but Mike couldn't shake the feeling that he had missed a moment he wouldn't get back.
After school, the hallway was quieter than usual. Mike walked slower than he needed to, hoping—without admitting it—that Jane would catch up.
She did.
"Mike."
He turned. "Yeah?"
They stood there, backpacks on, the space between them small but heavy.
"You free tomorrow?" she asked.
"Yeah. Why?"
"There's… um, a school event thing. After classes." She smiled, a little nervous. "I thought maybe we could go together. Like old times." And enjoy together?
Mike felt that familiar warmth again, spreading through his chest.
"Yeah," he said. "I'd like that."
Jane's smile widened, brighter this time. "Good." We'll go together I'll wait for you .
The final bell rang, echoing down the empty hallway.
Neither of them moved right away.
"Mike?" Jane said softly.
"Yeah?" I said
She looked at him for a moment, like she was deciding something. "You don't have to rush off all the time."
He swallowed. "I know."
"I mean," she added, almost shyly, "sometimes it's okay to stay." Stopping herself — She can't.
Mike nodded, heart racing. "Yeah. It is."
They walked out together, side by side, the space between them filled with unspoken thoughts.
Mike reached the home , as always his mom and dad are not there , he took out some food and changed his clothes and back to dining .
he's not hungry at all but all he was thinking is about Jane , thinking that they were classmates from middle school and benchmates throughout this academic year.
Yet they never talked.
On the other side Jane is also thinking the same .
So close , yet so far .
That night, Mike lay awake staring at the ceiling.
He thought about the way Jane smiled at him in class. The way her voice softened when she said his name. The way standing beside her felt like home—and danger at the same time.
Across town, Jane sat by her window, notebook open on her lap.
She hadn't written a single word.
She kept thinking about Mike. About how close he felt lately. About how far away he sometimes seemed.
She wondered if he felt it too.
Sometimes, the hardest part wasn't falling in love.
It was standing right next to it—and pretending you didn't feel a thing.