Chapter 18 Silence

Chapter 18 Silence
ELOWEN BENNETT
The next day at school, I woke up with one clear plan: I was going to apologize to Alaric.

It wasn’t a light decision. I had stayed up half the night, staring at my ceiling, replaying everything that had happened in the café.
Every detail felt sharper in the quiet darkness, the way his expression shifted when I asked about his family, how his jaw tightened, how his voice turned harsh and cutting when he told me to stop. It hadn’t just been anger. It had been something deeper, something raw, like I had touched a nerve I didn’t even know existed.

And that was the part that bothered me the most.

Even though he had snapped at me, even though his words had stung, I couldn’t shake the guilt sitting heavy in my chest. I had pushed him. I had ignored the clear boundary he’d tried to set, and I had kept asking questions anyway. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t meant any harm. What mattered was that I had crossed a line.
So I made up my mind.

I would find him. I would apologize. No excuses, no overthinking. Just a simple, honest apology. Maybe then things could go back to whatever strange, uneasy version of normal existed between us.
But high school had a way of ruining even the simplest plans.
First period was AP Chemistry.

The moment I stepped into the classroom, my eyes found him instantly, like they always did no matter how much I tried to avoid it. Alaric was already there, sitting near the front, surrounded by his usual crowd. A couple of hockey players were laughing loudly at something, their voices carrying across the room, while a group of cheerleaders hovered nearby, clearly enjoying the attention.
And of course, Tasha was right there.

She stood close to him, her arm wrapped around his waist like she belonged there, like she had every right to claim that space. Her laughter was bright and practiced, the kind that turned heads. Her blonde hair fell perfectly over her shoulders, not a strand out of place.
Everything about her screamed confidence.

I slipped quietly into my seat at the back of the room, clutching my notebook a little tighter than necessary. From here, I could see him clearly without being noticed or at least, that’s what I told myself. I rarely spoke to Alaric at school, especially when Tasha was around. The few times I had tried in the past had ended badly enough to teach me my lesson.

Still, I told myself to be patient. I didn’t need a perfect moment. Just a small opening. A few seconds alone.
That was all I needed.

The bell rang, cutting through the noise, and Mr. Rivera immediately launched into the day’s lesson on chemical bonding. His voice filled the room, steady and focused, but I barely absorbed any of it. My attention kept drifting, pulled toward the front like a magnet.
Toward him.
Alaric didn’t look at me once.
Not even a quick glance. Not even by accident.
For some reason, he also didn’t say anything to me. No teasing remarks, no sarcastic comments, no quiet insults thrown over his shoulder. No “little mouse.” No acknowledgment at all.
It should have been a relief.
Instead, it felt… wrong.
The silence weighed on me in a way his usual behavior never did. His teasing, as irritating as it was, at least meant I existed in his world somehow. But this? This felt like being erased.
By the time the bell rang, my nerves were stretched thin.
I gathered my books quickly, my movements rushed as I tried to catch up to him before he disappeared into the hallway crowd. But the moment he stood, Tasha was already there, slipping her arm back around him like she had never left.
She leaned in close, whispering something into his ear, her lips curving into a smile as they walked out together.

I slowed my steps, watching them go, the opportunity slipping through my fingers before I could even try.

The rest of the day followed the same frustrating pattern.

Between classes, he was never alone. If it wasn’t his teammates joking loudly around him, it was Tasha clinging to his side like she had a permanent claim on him. Every time I thought I saw a chance—every time I took a step forward—someone else appeared, filling the space I needed.

By lunchtime, my determination had started to crack.

Maybe this was a bad idea.

Maybe he didn’t even want to hear an apology. Maybe he had already decided I wasn’t worth the effort, that I was just someone to ignore now.

The thought sat heavily in my chest as I made my way to my locker, weaving through the crowded hallway. Students rushed past in every direction, their voices blending into a constant hum of conversation and laughter. The smell of cafeteria food drifted faintly through the air.

I spun my locker combination, opened it, and swapped out my books mechanically, barely paying attention to what I was doing. My mind was still elsewhere, stuck on the same loop of doubt and hesitation.

With a quiet sigh, I shut the locker door.

And then I saw him.

Alaric stood further down the hallway, leaning casually against the wall. One shoulder rested against the lockers, his attention fixed on his phone. For once, he was alone. No teammates. No cheerleaders.

No Tasha.

My heart skipped.

This was it. This was the moment I had been waiting for all day.

My pulse quickened as nerves rushed through me, but I forced myself to take a steady breath. This didn’t have to be complicated. I had already practiced what I wanted to say.

Hey, I just wanted to say I’m sorry about yesterday. I shouldn’t have asked about your family.

Simple. Honest. Enough.

I started walking toward him, each step feeling heavier than the last, my mind repeating the words over and over so I wouldn’t mess them up. The distance between us closed quickly—ten steps, then five.

I was so close.

And then—

Tasha appeared out of nowhere.

She moved with that same effortless confidence, stepping right up to him like she had been there all along. Her hand pressed lightly against his chest, her smile bright as she looked up at him.

The moment shattered.

Before I could stop myself, before I could turn around or pretend I had been heading somewhere else, her eyes flicked toward me. It was sharp and assessing.

And then they narrowed.

“You,” she said loudly, pointing at me like I was nothing more than an inconvenience. “Go get me a drink from the vending machine. Diet Coke. Make sure it’s cold this time.”

I froze.

Heat rushed to my face instantly, my cheeks burning as the weight of her words sank in. The hallway suddenly felt too loud, too crowded, like everyone could hear, like everyone was watching.

Alaric was right there.

Only a few feet away.

He looked up from his phone, his gaze landing on me briefly. But he didn’t say anything. Didn’t move. Didn’t intervene.

He just watched.

My carefully planned apology crumbled before I could even speak a single word.

For a moment, I considered refusing. The thought flared up quickly, sharp and defiant. I wasn’t her errand girl. I didn’t have to do anything she said.

But just as quickly, the memory of yesterday came rushing back—the tension in the café, the anger in his voice, the way he had shut me down so completely.

If I refused now… things could get worse.

Much worse.

The courage drained out of me as fast as it had come.

“Okay,” I muttered quietly, lowering my eyes.

Tasha smirked, clearly satisfied. “Good. Hurry up.”