47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYTRalXcB9F
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsp1MbqYaSf
Naomi hadn’t meant to check the student feed.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cyc5cxYDk
She told herself she didn’t care. But curiosity betrayed her by morning.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ16cYhjeG3E
> *“Did you see Naomi and Levi’s duet? I got chills.”*
> *“I swear she was looking at him like a love song.”*
> *“Rivals my foot. They’re clearly obsessed with each other.”*
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjNYnfNVXHO
She scrolled in silence, the glow from her phone making the words feel louder than they were. Some comments were flattering. Most weren’t cruel. But none of them felt *right.*
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiwMbjNIrpc
It was one thing to perform with Levi in secret, where the music belonged to them alone. But now it belonged to everyone else—and everyone had an opinion.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAVuFuyiZZT
> *“Naomi looked at him like she forgot anyone else was watching.”*
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMU4hfATcDc
She turned off her phone and shoved it under her pillow.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCerop7iR4w
Because the worst part?
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbd9Fg4NWaU
That comment was true.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtuAiS7uBaW
---
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVrAP3hTQ4h
The halls buzzed with post-show chatter. Naomi kept her head down, earbuds in, hoping her focused pace would signal that she wasn’t interested in rehashing it.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidfAJDXW3s
Still, whispers trailed after her like background noise she couldn’t mute.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH9xIrpbqdY
“Leomi” someone whispered.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRG5c33yehU
Someone else giggled. “Did you see the way she *breathed* during the bridge?”
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡosepuXT4Eq
Naomi clenched her jaw and pressed forward, but the knots in her stomach tightened.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFAE703SgX
Someone had scribbled **#Leomi** in dry-erase marker across the corner of the whiteboard in the practice room.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhT9vDJJ0t1
It shouldn’t have bothered her. But it did.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvfsFLewmig
---
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MDiHWhHC2
Levi was already leaning against her locker when she arrived. Arms crossed, one brow raised, as if none of it fazed him.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJyGb1RbfSk
“You’re trending,” he said.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZLh66o8LS
“I noticed.” She didn’t look at him as she twisted the lock open.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSOxXyLay6c
“You okay?”
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNTVjop0gCw
That surprised her. Not the question itself—but the *way* he asked it.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHGZogfCos4
Quiet. Careful. Real.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo9IvJUIrr3
“I don’t know,” she admitted after a moment. “I didn’t think people would react like this.”
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ECX0RBTbo
Levi nodded slowly. “Yeah. It’s weird—people seeing something you didn’t mean to show.”
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwbcW8mynh
She turned her eyes to his.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMGGb8nvOb
“They think we’re a couple.”
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevwdGIMxEJ
He didn’t flinch. “They think we have chemistry.”
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zGrWyaxD2
A pause.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOG0GcnhVzF
She hesitated. “Do we?”
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfsoAFRF1hT
His eyes locked with hers.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbd1FotPIbJ
“I don’t fake music,” he said quietly.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRqunjd0xDL
And just like that, her breath caught.
It was too much. Too close.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbZqbu5tjkm
She shut her locker.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiY4aw6Ir1I
“I’ll see you at rehearsal,” she mumbled, and brushed past him before he could say anything else.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuZOp9iXigs
He didn’t follow.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmBtuKL9osO
---
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQKqehUVVkc
Rehearsal that afternoon was a shell of what it used to be.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDwlte4x1M
Ms. Arinze sat behind the soundboard, brows pinched. Naomi sat at the piano. Levi with his guitar. Their timing was intact. Their notes in place.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzbOzIa7wPn
But their harmony?
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSj09WJ4T8H
Fractured.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdKwC6dCuaE
Their music fit like puzzle pieces forced into place—technically correct, emotionally hollow. Like something had been locked behind invisible walls.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DU2UbCgbB
“Everything alright with you two?” Ms. Arinze asked, pausing the track.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE5yvKL0nxo
“We’re fine,” Naomi said a little too fast.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKaH30KzXmc
Levi didn’t speak. He strummed one string, low and unresolved. The note died in the silence.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVYkXTBpQqR
---
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5RDMsffurJ
That night, Naomi sat in the dark at her keyboard.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8TALcOMK5l
No light. No sound. Just the weight of her own thoughts.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqAxhXXMup1
There was music inside her. Beautiful, complicated, aching music.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjwNLOtYroJ
But her fingers wouldn’t move.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV6amlnYfVi
And in the stillness, she realized something that scared her more than the rumors, the spotlight, or even Levi’s silence.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30x3ilbEoJ
She didn’t want to be just rivals anymore.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzzdsikPLlB
But she didn’t know who she was if she wasn’t competing.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN8HC4d7GUc
And worst of all—
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ0YO8fDpjH
If she let herself feel this, really feel it…
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa5kwe4bMju
She wouldn’t be able to hide behind rivalry again.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIjyaDSmW4
---
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWqLarz1Ifv
Is there a character you’re starting to relate to — or one you don’t trust yet? Drop your thoughts!
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzXuzCgVO7
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡchufM58NjN
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLkj07wO6sm
