Kai had always been good at noticing things.
It wasn't a skill, really. More of a habit. Some people counted steps when they walked. Others doodled absentmindedly in the margins of their notes. Kai observed.
He noticed when people laughed a little too hard to cover up silence. When someone wore the same shirt three days in a row. When a person's voice changed just slightly when they were lying.
And for the past week, he had been noticing Reese.
Or rather, the person who looked like Reese.
Because something was off.
Not in an obvious way. If you weren't paying attention, you'd just think Reese had mellowed out. That he had found some hidden depth beneath the arrogance. But Kai knew better. He had spent years cataloging the ways Reese moved, spoke, acted—because people like Reese were dangerous.
And people like Kai didn't have the luxury of ignoring danger.
So when Reese started reading in class instead of zoning out—Kai noticed.
When he skipped school for the first time in two years—Kai noticed.
When he played piano like someone reaching for a memory instead of an instrument—Kai noticed.
It wasn't just that Reese was acting different.
It was that he was acting like someone trying to be him.
Kai let the thought settle, quiet and cold.
Who are you?
He didn't say it. Didn't confront him. Because that wasn't how you handled people like Reese. No, you watched them first. You let them think they were the ones pulling the strings. And when the moment was right—then you pulled.
So Kai waited.
And Reese—if that was even his real name—kept acting.
***
By Monday, the act was starting to show cracks.
It was little things.
Like how Reese no longer sat on his desk during class like he owned the space. Instead, he sat properly, one leg crossed over the other. Casual, but not Reese casual.
Or how he didn't roll his eyes when called on. He just… answered.
The real Reese never answered questions unless it was to make a point. This one answered because he could.
Then there was the way he carried himself. Reese had always walked like he was in a movie—sharp, confident, a little reckless. But now?
Now he walked like someone who knew people were watching.
And maybe that was the scariest part.
Because the real Reese never cared if people watched.
But this one did.
Kai decided to test something.
It was lunchtime.
Reese sat at his usual spot, half-listening to Branley and the others talk about last weekend's party. He nodded at the right times, smirked when expected—but there was a hollowness to it.
Kai sat across from him, setting down his tray.
Reese glanced up. "Kai," he greeted smoothly. Like they were acquaintances instead of people who had spent years in a cold war.
Kai just watched him.
Then, casually, he said, "Do you remember when we first met?"
It was a simple question. Innocent on the surface.
But it was a test.
Reese didn't hesitate. "Yeah. Freshman year. I shoved you into a locker."
The answer was right. Technically.
But there was a flicker. A fraction of a second too long before he spoke. A pause that most people wouldn't catch.
But Kai did.
Because that wasn't how they met.
Yes, Reese had shoved him into a locker—later. But their first meeting?
It was during a fire drill. They had been standing next to each other in the crowd, and Reese had made some comment about how stupid it was that they had to stand outside when it wasn't even a real fire.
Kai had ignored him.
And Reese, taking that as a challenge, had made him acknowledge him after that.
But this Reese?
He didn't remember that.
Because he wasn't there.
Kai picked up his soda and took a slow sip, masking the realization behind an unreadable expression.
"Right," he said. "The locker thing."
Reese smirked, completely unaware that he had just failed the test.
Kai didn't smile back.
By the end of the day, Kai had accepted something:
Whoever this Reese was, he wasn't the real one.
Maybe that meant Reese had changed. Maybe it meant he was going through something.
Or maybe…
Maybe this wasn't Reese at all.
The thought was ridiculous. Impossible.
But then again, so was the way Reese had started quoting Frankenstein and playing piano like he had something to prove.
Kai exhaled through his nose.
He wasn't crazy.
Something was wrong.
And whatever it was, he was going to figure it out.
Because if Reese wasn't the villain in this story anymore—
Then someone else had taken his place.
And Kai wasn't about to ignore that.