“Juliet would never say that to Romeo,” he says, quiet enough that I doubt anyone else can hear. “I’m appalled, Ahmed.”

“Don’t you start,” I say, nearly hissing. “Focus on the lesson.”

“Whatever makes you happy.”

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

I take out a piece of paper and try implementing my latest anxiety coping strategy. Clear, coherent thoughts written out onto a page.

Everyone in class is looking at me. Everyone in class is looking at me. Everyone in class is looking at...

Ace.

People are looking at me, because Ace is sitting next to me. Is looking at me a bad thing? Are they judging me? It’s not like I did anything, right...?

No. I definitely didn’t. Ace is the one who sat next to me and smiled. They’re probably curious about how I tie into this (and frankly, so am I), but they’re not judging *me*.

Ace is the focal point of this situation. I might be a part of the frame, but I’m just a blur. And yet everyone is. still. staring. at. me.

I sigh and stop writing. That didn’t help as much as I hoped it would.

English class has never gone by so excruciatingly slowly.

When the bell rings, I’m ready to drag Ace into a corner and chew him out. However, before I can say a word, he stands up and walks over to Miss Cannon.

I can’t hear what he’s saying, but she looks so overjoyed that all my anger deflates. Fine. Whatever. Instead of bothering with Ace, I walk over to Nandini and Cora, who are sitting on the opposite side of the room, still packing their things.

“Boys are clowns,” I say under my breath, eyes darting to the front of the classroom where Ace is taking his leave.

People are still staring at me, and I really wish they would stop. Ace isn’t even in the vicinity anymore. But I know there’s nothing I can do to dissuade my classmates, short of yelling, which would only draw more attention to me.

As soon as Cora finishes shoving her things in her bag, she grabs my hand. “Forget lunch. Let’s find an empty hallway.” She pulls me toward the door without a second thought. “I baked cookies last night for the student council meeting today. They’re in my locker, and no one will notice if we eat some.”

“And when we’re done, we can try to figure out whether mercury is in retrograde, because Karina’s life is devolving into chaos,” Nandini suggests, following us. “Maybe some witches on TikTok hexed the moon again.”

I groan and let Cora drag me toward her locker. As we enter the staircase, I see Ace in the corner of my eye, leaning against the wall. He’s looking at me and, when he catches my eye, he winks.

Winks.