The hallway buzzed with the echo of footsteps and laughter as students poured out of classrooms, weaving through the late afternoon light.
Salomé stepped into the corridor, clutching her notebook to her chest as the strap of her bag slipped off one shoulder.
She didn't get far before a pair of hands gently covered her eyes from behind.
She froze, caught mid-step.
A low, playful voice called out. "Guess who?"
The voice sounded oddly familiar, though she couldn't quite place it.
Salomé blinked, caught off guard, before breaking into a smile. "Mason?"
He grinned and peeled his hands away. "She remembers me. I was worried I'd have to reintroduce myself as 'that guy you ditched without giving your number.'"
Her laughter bubbled up easily. "I didn't. We just never got to the number exchange part."
"Tragic," Mason said, mock serious, his grin never wavering. "But look at fate, putting us in the same corridor."
She shook her head, still smiling, surprised by how happy she was to see him. He looked the same: tousled hair, warm blue eyes and the kind of smile that felt like sunlight.
They started walking together, her shiny blue ponytail swaying as she moved. The strands shimmered under the corridor lights, catching the eyes of a few passing students and one who couldn't look away.
Giovanni turned his head and he knew it was her immediately.
His eyes flicked briefly to the figure beside her, before darting away just as quickly.
No change in expression. Nothing in his jaw, nothing in his shoulders.
But his eyes, just for a second, flickered with something sharp. Something between anger and jealousy. He didn't even realize it.
She was laughing at something Mason had said. Her body tilted slightly toward him, relaxed.
The sight brought a memory to the front of Giovanni's mind. Her skin under his hands, the soft scent of her shampoo, the way she'd whispered, 'Don't look.'
He kept walking. Didn't slow down. Didn't look back.
Then he stopped just around the corner and took a moment, letting the air settle in.
One breath. Two.
His face remained calm. Unreadable.
Without missing a beat, he continued walking.
*
The front door clicked shut. Giovanni sat at the kitchen counter, a half-eaten bowl of pasta in front of him, scrolling through something on his phone.
Then he heard her voice.
Bright. Bubbly. Effortless.
"No way, you actually said that?" Salomé's laugh carried through the space as she stepped in, phone pressed to her ear. "Mason, I'd have passed out on the spot."
Giovanni's hand froze mid-scroll.
Mason?
He didn't know the name...but the tone. The tone stirred something.
She walked past the kitchen, her hair still up in that high, shiny ponytail he'd noticed earlier. Her blue strands caught the light as she turned her head just slightly, gave him a quick glance, maybe to acknowledge him and continued on.
Still laughing. Still glowing from whatever he had said.
"Yeah, I'm home now," she murmured into the phone. "Hold on a sec-"
She stopped at the fridge, opened it, and pulled something out without breaking rhythm. "Okay, okay, I'm back. So what happened next?"
Then she disappeared down the hallway, still mid-conversation, the sound of her voice fading into her room with a soft click of the door.
Giovanni reached for his glass of water, took a slow sip. His face stayed unreadable, but his grip tightened slightly around the glass.
And in the pit of his stomach, something twisted.
He sat there long after her door had shut.
The fridge hummed in the silence, his fork rested beside the bowl. His eyes were still on the hallway, even though she was long gone from view.
'You're afraid.'
He could still hear her say it.
Not of her, she'd clarified, but of this. Of whatever this was between them.
At the time, he'd brushed it off. Let her think what she wanted. But it had stuck. Clung to the back of his mind like a shadow that wouldn't leave.
And now? Now it just made too much sense.
After all, what else could explain the tightness in his chest when she laughed on the phone with someone else?
What else could explain the way her name had taken up residence in his mind, quiet but constant, ever since they met at the cruise ship?
Back then, it hadn't seemed like anything. She was just a familiar face from his childhood. Their meeting was probably a coincidence...or not.
Even now, his pulse reacted just thinking about it. Her smile. Her shimmery blue hair. Just the way his name sounded in her mouth, like it belonged there.
Maybe it was the history. The years in between. Or maybe it was that his heart had somersaulted when she introduced herself that day with a curtsy.
Whatever it was, it had only gotten worse.
And now… jealousy. Or something dangerously close to it. Something that made his blood boil when she laughed like that for someone else.
He hated it.
Not because it wasn't real, but because it was.
He was in love.
And he couldn't even bring himself to say it aloud.
He ran a hand over his face, leaned back in the chair, and stared at the ceiling.
Whatever he felt for her...it was strong. Too strong. Stronger than he was ready to admit. Stronger than anything he'd felt in a long time.
Maybe ever.
He let out a long, slow breath. Then stood, quietly collecting his bowl and placing it in the sink.
He didn't look toward her room again.
But her laughter echoed in his head.