Chapter 6 - behind classroom eyes

The bell rang.

Students spilled out like chaos unbottled, their voices rising in a mix of excitement and exhaustion. Bags swung, laughter echoed, sneakers squeaked against the waxed floor, and shallow conversations about quizzes and weekend plans bounced off the walls.

But I stayed seated.

Still. Silent. Focused.

My hands were folded neatly on top of my notebook, but my mind was miles away. Out there in the night. In shadows. In places where my name didn't echo through the halls like a joke.

I wasn’t that girl there. Not her.

“Hey, nerd.”

The sharp edge of the voice snapped me back. Kaye. One of the usuals. She stood beside me with that irritatingly smug smile, her phone already aimed at my face, waiting for me to flinch.

I didn’t.

“Still pretending to be human, huh?” she added, laughing with her friends who hovered like moths around her flame.

I stared at her, empty-eyed. The kind of look that would’ve sent grown men running in my other world. But here, in this one?

They just laughed harder.

Weak. Shy. Pathetic. That’s what they saw.

I let them.

“Come on, let’s leave the freak with her notebook,” Kaye said, flipping her hair as she turned away. “She probably writes fanfiction about people like Zeke.”

Zeke.

His name echoed in my head longer than it should have.

I blinked.

He was watching me again.

Back row, leaning casually against the wall like he belonged there. One hand in his pocket, the other resting lazily on the edge of a desk. His eyes—sharp, unreadable—never left me.

I tilted my head slightly, just enough for him to catch the glint in my eyes. A warning. A dare.

He smirked.

It was subtle, calculated, and far too calm for someone who’d cornered me in the dark the night before. It was like he was trying to say, You’re not the only one with secrets.

I stood, gathering my things slowly. No rush. Let them leave first. Let the hallway clear. I wasn’t in the mood to fake another smile or absorb another round of shallow cruelty.

As I passed Zeke, I felt the shift. That subtle, invisible string between us tightening.

“Rough day?” he said, just loud enough for only me to hear.

I didn’t stop. Didn’t look at him.

“Try rough life,” I muttered.

And just like that, his smirk twitched. Just a fraction. As if I’d said something familiar. Something true.

I stepped out of the room, letting the classroom door swing shut behind me.

---

Two hours later — rooftop, after class.

The city below was buzzing. Lights flickered, cars honked, and the air smelled like rain and gasoline.

I sat on the rooftop edge, blazer folded beside me, legs swinging freely in the air.

I pulled out my earpiece.

“Status report,” I said into the mic.

A distorted voice crackled back, “Navarro moved again. Met with the unknown contact near the east sector. Confirmed syndicate mark on his jacket.”

My jaw tightened.

“Anyone follow him?”

“No. But... we think he wanted to be seen this time.”

Of course he did. Zeke was no amateur. He knew how to move in silence, so if he was being obvious, it meant one thing.

He wanted to lure someone out.

And I wasn’t biting.

Not yet.

I pocketed the earpiece and leaned back, staring up at the clouds slowly smothering the stars. My two lives were crashing closer with each passing day—and at the center of the collision was him.

Zeke Navarro.

He was hunting the Queen.

Too bad for him—

He had no idea she was already watching.

∘₊✧────✎ End of Chapter 6 ✎────✧₊∘

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