Chapter 109 Too Loud, Too Real
School felt different after everything that happened.
Not calmer.
Just sharper.
Like everyone was pretending to be normal while watching each other too closely.
Lenora barely made it through first period before she felt it again.
Eyes.
Following her.
Not just gossip now.
Something heavier.
Something closer to expectation.
She reached her locker and stopped.
A note.
Folded.
No name.
Just taped neatly to the metal.
Lilibeth appeared beside her immediately.
“Nope. Don’t open that.”
Kylen was already there too, leaning against the wall.
“You’re opening it,” he said.
Lenora exhaled.
“Obviously.”
She pulled it off and unfolded it.
Just one line.
Stop standing so close to him. It’s getting obvious.
Silence.
Lilibeth blinked.
“…Okay that’s creepy.”
Kylen frowned.
“So now it’s personal.”
Lenora crushed the note in her hand.
“Good.”
That made both of them look at her.
“What do you mean good?” Lilibeth asked.
Lenora dropped the paper into her bag.
“It means they’re not just guessing anymore,” she said. “They’re watching properly now.”
Kylen straightened slightly.
“That’s not good.”
“It’s useful,” she replied.
Lilibeth shook her head.
“I hate how calm you sound about this.”
Lenora closed her locker.
“I’m not calm.”
A pause.
“I’m focused.”
By lunch, things got worse.
Of course they did.
The cafeteria was louder than usual.
But not normal loud.
Calculated loud.
Like people were performing normal conversations while sneaking glances at her table.
And at him.
The hockey boy sat down opposite her like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Which immediately made everything less normal.
Kylen dropped his tray.
“Why are you here?”
“Eating,” he replied.
Lilibeth pointed around.
“Here. As in THIS table.”
He shrugged.
“It’s a table.”
Lenora didn’t look up from her food.
“You’re not helping.”
“I didn’t say I was.”
That was exactly the problem.
Kylen sat down slowly.
“I feel like I’m in a bad dream.”
The hockey boy leaned back slightly.
“You’ll get used to it.”
“I don’t want to get used to it,” Kylen snapped.
Lenora finally looked up.
“Can everyone stop talking like I’m not here?”
Silence.
Then Lilibeth sighed.
“No one knows how to act anymore.”
That was true.
Because every time Lenora and the hockey boy were in the same space now—
It changed the room.
A chair scraped nearby.
Someone stood up suddenly.
A girl from another table walked past.
Stopped beside them.
“You two are dating, right?”
Silence.
Lenora blinked.
“…What?”
The girl didn’t even hesitate.
“Because everyone is saying you are.”
Kylen immediately choked on his drink.
Lilibeth muttered,
“Oh my God it’s spreading faster than I thought.”
Lenora shook her head.
“No.”
The girl frowned.
“But you kissed him.”
The hockey boy looked up calmly.
“That’s not dating.”
The girl crossed her arms.
“So what is it then?”
Silence.
That question landed differently.
Lenora felt it.
Because there was no clean answer.
Not one she could say out loud.
The hockey boy looked at her briefly.
Just once.
Then back at the girl.
“Complicated,” he said simply.
That made the girl scoff and walk away.
But the damage stayed.
Kylen leaned forward.
“We need to shut this down.”
“How?” Lilibeth asked.
Kylen gestured around.
“People are literally building a relationship out of nothing.”
Lenora finally spoke.
“It’s not nothing.”
Everyone went quiet.
She didn’t look at them.
“But it’s not what they think either,” she added.
The hockey boy watched her carefully.
That made the silence heavier.
After lunch, Lenora tried to leave early.
But of course—
She didn’t make it far.
Because he was there.
Outside the hallway.
Waiting.
Leaning against the wall like he had been there the entire time on purpose.
She stopped immediately.
“You’re doing that on purpose now.”
He didn’t deny it.
“You avoid me,” he said.
“I’m not avoiding you.”
“You are.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I have classes.”
“So do I.”
That shut her up for half a second.
He pushed off the wall slowly.
Stepping closer.
Not too fast.
Not rushed.
Just steady.
Lenora should’ve walked away.
She knew that.
But she didn’t.
“You like attention too much,” she said.
He tilted his head slightly.
“From you?”
That hit wrong.
In the worst way.
Lenora looked away.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“That thing where you say things like that.”
He stepped closer again.
“I’m just talking.”
“You’re not just talking.”
Silence.
Too close again.
The hallway was empty now.
Everyone had moved on.
Except them.
He lowered his voice slightly.
“You’re thinking about it again.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
Lenora exhaled slowly.
“Why do you care?”
That made him pause.
Just slightly.
Then—
“Because you’re the only one not pretending.”
That landed differently.
She looked up at him again.
“And what am I not pretending about?” she asked quietly.
His gaze held hers.
Longer this time.
“That this doesn’t affect you.”
Silence.
Because it did.
Too much.
A phone buzzed somewhere down the hall.
Neither of them moved.
He stepped slightly closer.
Not touching.
Just there again.
“You’re still scared of what people say,” he said.
Lenora shook her head slightly.
“I’m not scared.”
“Then what are you?”
That question again.
She hesitated.
Just once.
Then said quietly,
“Tired.”
That changed something in his expression.
Less teasing now.
More real.
“Then stop carrying it alone,” he said.
Lenora looked at him.
Really looked.
And for a second—
Everything else disappeared.
The school.
The rumors.
The noise.
Just him.
Just her.
Just too much tension sitting between them with nowhere to go.
Then footsteps echoed again.
Reality came back instantly.
They stepped apart at the same time.
Lilibeth appeared at the corner.
Paused.
Looked between them.
“…I don’t even want to know anymore.”
Kylen followed behind her.
“Yeah, I’m done questioning things at this point.”
Lenora crossed her arms.
“Nothing happened.”
The hockey boy grabbed his bag.
“Not yet.”
Silence.
Lilibeth slowly turned.
“…NOT YET?”
Lenora glared at him immediately.
“Stop talking.”
But he was already walking away.
And somehow—
That made everything feel worse.
Not better.
Worse.
Because now it wasn’t just rumors anymore.
It was expectation.
And everyone was starting to wait for the next thing to happen.