Chapter 47 CHAPTER 47
YAEL
By lunchtime, I had finally stopped replaying Knox’s fight in my head long enough to breathe properly, and somehow Maya, Jordan, and Liam practically dragged me to the cafeteria, all three of them buzzing with excitement and teasing energy and doing absolutely nothing to calm my heart that had already spent the entire morning sprinting from stress to joy to more stress, and the moment we sat down with our trays, Maya leaned across the table like she was about to spill ancient forbidden secrets and whispered loudly, “So… how does it feel to have a boyfriend who would kill a man for you?” and Jordan immediately snorted into her juice while Liam groaned into his hands like he was living with very unserious people, and I covered my face because they were ALL embarrassing.
“I never said—” I began.
“Yes, you absolutely said,” Jordan cut in, raising an eyebrow, “unless you forgot the part where he beat some dude so hard they needed two guards to drag him off.”
“Maya literally saw the video like ten seconds after it went online,” Liam added, pushing his glasses up. “Do you know the group chat renamed him ‘Killer Hale’?”
I groaned loudly. “Don’t call him that.”
“Fine,” Maya chirped, leaning closer, “then tell us how your boyfriend is doing.”
I nearly choked on my water. “Stop saying boyfriend so loud— people can hear—”
Jordan grinned. “People are already staring because of the fight. You’re the only one pretending you’re invisible.”
I wanted to melt into the floor. Truly. Fully. Permanently.
We talked, or rather they talked, about Knox and how he looked at me and how he was “obsessed in a cute way” (Maya’s words) and “obsessed in a dangerous way” (Jordan’s words) and “obsessed in a predictable way” (Liam’s contribution), and I kept telling them to shut up but smiling into my drink like an idiot because I couldn’t deny any of it, because he was obsessed, because he made it impossible not to smile like an idiot, because even after everything, the way he asked me to be his girlfriend replayed in my head like a song.
And then, twenty minutes into lunch, right as Liam was telling Maya that her fries shouldn’t be touching his pasta, the entire cafeteria fell silent.
Absolutely silent.
Because Knox Hale had just walked in.
And he wasn’t alone.
A crowd parted around him like the Red Sea because even though he was suspended from practice today, he still walked like the captain of every room he entered, hoodie half-zipped, jaw still bruised from the morning fight, eyes scanning the tables until they locked onto mine, and my heart just— stopped.
“Holy shit,” Maya whispered.
“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Jordan murmured.
Liam muttered, “I need strong medication.”
I nearly fainted.
Because he didn’t walk toward the athletes.
He didn’t sit with the popular kids.
He didn’t head to the back.
He walked straight toward us.
Everyone turned to look.
Phones came out.
Whispers rose like wildfire.
“Is he really sitting with her?”
“No way.”
“Damn, this is real?”
“What is going on—”
Knox reached our table, looked at the empty seat beside me, and sat down like it was the most natural thing in the world, unfazed by the entire cafeteria watching him breathe.
I stared at him. “Knox—”
He casually placed his arm behind my chair, fingers brushing my shoulder, sending a shiver so sharp down my spine I almost combusted.
“Relax, princess,” he murmured, “just having lunch.”
Maya kicked Liam under the table.
Jordan mouthed OH MY GOD.
I considered faking my death.
“People are staring—” I whispered.
“Let them.” His thumb brushed my back. “I don’t care.”
I opened my mouth to argue.
But then—
the air shifted.
Because Aaron walked in.
And the moment he saw us, his entire face changed.
Eyes narrowing.
Jaw clenching.
Shoulders tightening.
He was across the room in three long strides, his anger so heavy the air seemed to bend with it.
And Knox—
Smirked.
“Aaron,” Knox said, voice lazy, dangerous.
“Get up,” Aaron growled.
“Aaron, stop—” I whispered, standing halfway.
“Get. Up.”
Knox leaned back further in his chair. “Make me.”
“Aaron, please—”
But it was too late.
Because Aaron swung first, his fist connecting with Knox’s jaw in a sharp, brutal crack that made half the cafeteria gasp.
Knox stumbled back—
Then lunged.
He punched Aaron so hard the table shook.
Chairs toppled.
People jumped back.
Maya screamed.
Jordan stood like she was ready to fight someone.
Liam hid behind his tray.
And my world spun because the two people I loved most were trying to kill each other in the middle of the cafeteria.
“STOP!” I shouted, voice cracking as I shoved through the crowd. “KNOX STOP— PLEASE— STOP!”
And what shocked me most wasn’t the chaos—
It was that Knox actually froze.
Mid-swing.
Mid-fight.
Like my voice pulled the ground out from under him.
He dropped his fist immediately, chest rising and falling, eyes locked on me instead of Aaron.
Aaron wiped the blood from his lip, glaring at both of us.
He didn’t say another word.
He only turned around and stormed out of the cafeteria, slamming the door so hard the walls rattled.
Knox took a step toward me. “Yael—”
But I pushed his hand away, tears already spilling, because I was so tired of the fighting, the chaos, the fear, the fact that loving one meant fighting the other.
“I can’t—” I whispered, shaking. “
I can’t do this right now.”
And before he could speak, before he could touch me again, before I broke open completely—
I ran.