Sparks and Shadows

The next few days were nothing like the last.

Aiden could feel it, that nagging pull in his chest, the constant hum of frustration. Every time he saw her—Aria—he felt something shifting inside him, something restless. It was more than just wanting to know her. It was this aching need to be near her, to understand why she wore that heavy silence like armor.

The thing was, he didn’t know how to move forward. Every time he almost did something, said something, the silence between them grew thicker. And Aria? She seemed even more distant, more untouchable than before.

Meanwhile, Sienna was having her own problem—and it wasn’t exactly the good kind.

Her eyes narrowed as she saw Damon leaning against the hallway wall, casually flipping his phone in his hands like he owned the whole damn place. That cocky, smirk-on-his-face look never failed to piss her off.

But what really made her seethe was how he didn’t even acknowledge her. "Can’t a guy just chill for once?"

"You could've chilled somewhere else," she shot back, trying to suppress the way her chest tightened at his nonchalance. "You seriously don’t care about anyone, do you?"

That hit. Damon raised an eyebrow, finally meeting her gaze, and for a moment, there was a flicker of something—something close to amusement, but just a little too intense. "Is that supposed to bother me?"

The coldness in his voice sent a shiver down her spine. Why did it always have to be this way with him?

Sienna shook her head and turned away, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing her frustrated. But she could feel his eyes on her back, could feel the tension building between them, thick and suffocating.

Aiden couldn’t focus in class. Every time his eyes shifted toward Aria, he caught a glimpse of her—always in the corner of his eye, always like she was just out of reach. He wanted to scream in frustration. What was it about her?

She was wearing that same scowl, the same guarded look. Yet, every time their eyes met, it felt like something—something subtle, something barely there—shifted.

But still, she ignored him. Cold, distant Aria.

The universe wasn’t being kind, either. Every time he was about to approach her, someone—usually Leo—would step in and steal her attention. It made him sick, knowing that the guy who was responsible for making her the way she was had all the chances in the world to fix it.

But Aiden didn’t know that. He didn’t know about Leo yet. He didn’t know about the way her heart had been shattered so many times it no longer knew how to love.

He just knew that he couldn’t stand seeing her smile at someone else. And that… that made his chest tighten in a way he wasn’t used to.

Sienna and Damon weren’t the only ones in the hallway now.

Aiden caught the tail end of a conversation—Sienna was walking away from Damon, face flushed with irritation. Aiden heard Damon’s casual voice float after her. "You know, one of these days, you’ll stop pretending like you don’t care, Sienna."

Aiden’s brow furrowed. He didn’t like the sound of that. What was that about? But he didn’t have time to dwell on it. He needed to focus. He needed to focus on Aria.

But then, just as he was about to follow her out of the classroom, he saw her talking to Leo again. That same guy who was always around her, always in her space, like he owned her.

That’s when it clicked.

That was her ex. The guy who had broken her. The guy who didn’t deserve a second of her time.

And Aiden? Aiden wanted to take his place. He wanted to be the one to fix her. To show her that not all men were like Leo.

As the days went by, Aiden’s obsession with Aria grew stronger. Every glance. Every near-touch. Every smile she threw at someone else—he couldn’t stand it.

And yet… she still ignored him. Kept her distance, kept her walls high. She wouldn’t let him in.

But Aiden was determined.

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