Chapter 27 Aria
“Are you even listening to me?”
I blinked and looked up. Sienna was staring at me from across the lunch table, one eyebrow raise with her fries untouched.
“Sorry,” I said. “What?”
She sighed. “I asked if you’re coming to biology quiz practice later.”
“Oh, yeah. I think so.” The words came out automatically, even though my mind wasn’t anywhere near cheer routines or school schedules.
Sienna studied me for a second. “You’ve been doing that a lot lately.”
“Doing what?”
“Zoning out,” she said, pointedly.
I opened my mouth to deny it, then stopped. Because the strange part was—I was. A tight and restless feeling had been sitting in my chest all morning like the moment before a storm breaks. To add to that, I kissed the school’s badboy. I kissed Luca and I couldn't tell Sienna that.
“I’m just tired,” I said finally.
Sienna didn’t look convinced but she let it go. I picked at my food, appetite nonexistent. Something made me frowned slightly and glanced toward the cafeteria doors.
Nothing.
I shook it off and forced myself to focus on Sienna talking about a quiz she hadn’t studied for but the sensation didn’t leave. By the time the bell rang for the next class, I was more relieved than annoyed. I stood, slinging my bag over my shoulder. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
Sienna nodded. “Try to actually smile today.”
I smiled weakly and headed into the hall and the feeling followed too like my senses were reaching past what I could see. Halfway to my next class, it hit harder. The hallway noise dulled like someone had turned down the volume. My skin formed goosebumps along my arms, heat blooming under my collarbone for no logical reason.
I stopped walking.
Students flowed around me with annoyed voices muttering as they adjusted their paths but I barely noticed. My attention locked onto a point down the hall. I didn’t see him but I knew. The certainty was ridiculous cause I hadn’t heard his voice or caught sight of dark hair or that familiar tall frame and there was no rational cue just a deep inexplicable awareness that made my stomach flip and my chest close in all at once.
Luca was close. I swallowed and glanced around, scanning faces, lockers, and doorways but he wasn’t there. You’re imagining it, I told myself. You’ve been stressed and you’re also projecting the kiss. I took a breath and kept moving. Two steps later, the sensation increased again like I’d turned the wrong way. I stopped and turned slowly.
Then I saw him.
Luca stepped out of a classroom doorway at the far end of the hall, talking to his cousin Mason. The Mason that always never looked my way and I always wondered if he disliked me cause hate will be a pretty strong word. He looked tired and shoulders tense like he was carrying more weight than usual and he hadn’t seen me yet. The moment my eyes landed on him, something inside me settled and multiplied at the same time.
Relief, heat, and awareness. My breath caught, suddenly and he looked up. Our eyes met across the crowded hallway and the world seemed to narrow around that single point of connection. The noise rushed back in but it felt distant and muffled like I was underwater.
His posture shifted and attention snapping fully to me like he’d been called. For a split second, something unreadable crossed his face.
He remembers the kiss.
The butterflies in my belly increased and he looked away first. The break felt physical like a string snapping. I sucked in a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
What the hell was that?
I stood there a moment longer and headed to class before I could overthink it but I couldn’t concentrate. Every time my pen paused, the sensation returned not as strong as before as he was closer. It only intensified when he was closer. By the end of the day, I was exhausted. I left the school building just as the sun dipped lower painting the sky in soft gold preferring to walk home alone.
The feeling surged again. He’s near, I told myself. I turned and found Luca by his truck talking to some random guy. He hadn’t looked at me yet, but my body reacted anyway.
This is not normal, I thought. I stepped outside myself mentally trying to analyze it like a problem. Trauma response? Hyper-awareness? The kiss? Maybe I associated Luca with safety after the diner and woods incident. That made sense cause the brain clings to protectors after fear but the explanation should have been comforting.
Because when that guy had responded rudely at something Luca said, irritation grew in my chest. Why did I care? Luca glanced up then, eyes finding mine like he’d felt me looking. He frowned slightly and excused himself from the guy and started toward me.
I panicked not because I didn’t want him near but because I didn’t understand what was happening to me when he was. I pretended to check my phone, heart pounding harder with every step he took closer.
“Aria...”
His deep rich voice hit me like warmth down my spine. I looked up too fast. “Hey!”
He stopped a few feet away and leaned close enough that I caught his scent, the faint woody note of his cologne mixing with lemon soap, and something darker underneath making my pulse skip.
“You okay?” he asked, eyes searching my face softly.
“I’m fine,” I replied. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
He raised one brow . “You seemed… off earlier.”
So he felt it too? The realization sent a shiver through me. “I’m good, it’s been a long day.”
He nodded slowly, like he didn’t fully believe me. Silence stretched between us awkward and I thought about the kiss that neither of us acknowledged. I shifted my weight suddenly hyper-aware of how close he was and how every movement felt amplified.
“I should get home,” I said.
“Right,” he scratched the back of his neck, awkwardly. “Yeah.”
Neither of us moved.
“I’ll see you, tomorrow.” I said finally.
“Yeah,” he waved. “See ya.”
I turned and walked away before either of us could say more. The feeling followed me halfway home but gradually faded as distance grew. By the time I reached my front door, it was barely there. Inside, I leaned against the door and pressed a hand to my chest.
“What the hell was that?” I whispered.
I didn’t have an answer only the unsettling knowledge that somehow, without touching me and without speaking, Luca had been able to reach something inside me that I hadn’t known existed. And whatever it was, it was awake now whether I wanted it to be or not.
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
Hey my lovelies♥️,
So Aria's finally feeling the bond and poor girl doesn't know what it is. And both Luca and Aria did not speak about the kiss, OMG!!! What is happening with these people?! Lol😂. Drop your thoughts guys, ya know I loveeeee reading them😊.