---
Monday mornings weren't supposed to feel like beginnings.
They were meant to be sluggish, predictable, a haze of yawns and overdue assignments. But this one felt different—quietly electric, like the air before a storm, or the moment before music begins.
Lena noticed it the moment she stepped onto campus. Something had shifted.
Not the weather—though it was warm for March. Not the schedule. Not the crowd in the hallway. No, the difference was in her. Or maybe in the way she carried herself. Like something unspoken had settled, just enough to let her breathe easier.
She didn't need to see Jace right away. That wasn't the point.
She just needed to know that she *could*.
---
"Did you finally get some sleep?" Maddie asked between bites of her granola bar as they walked toward homeroom.
Lena blinked. "Why?"
"Because your face looks less like a raccoon that got hit by life." Maddie grinned, then added, "In a good way."
Lena snorted. "Thanks, I think."
They reached the door, and Maddie leaned closer. "So… are we going to pretend nothing happened at the bonfire? Or do I get the full story?"
Lena hesitated, fingers on the doorknob. "I don't know if there *is* a full story yet."
Maddie tilted her head, curious. "But something's happening, right? You and Jace?"
"Maybe," Lena said, then added, "It's slow."
Maddie smiled like that was the best thing Lena could've said. "Good. Fast gets messy."
---
They passed each other between second and third period.
It wasn't planned.
Jace rounded the corner near the science wing just as Lena was heading toward French. They made eye contact, and something like a shared breath passed between them.
He gave a nod. She returned it.
No words.
But his lips twitched at the corner, like he was holding back a smile. And just like that, Lena felt lighter.
---
Lunch was the test.
Lena spotted him from across the quad, half-sitting on the grass with a few of his usual crew. Rye Jenkins, Natalie with the purple braids, Aaron with the camera slung around his neck. They were laughing about something, loud and half-wild the way groups like that always were.
Lena took a deep breath.
She was halfway to Maddie's table when she heard her name.
"Carter!"
Jace, leaning back on one arm, nodding toward her.
The group went quiet.
Lena's pulse thudded in her ears.
She walked over. Slowly.
"You gonna just ghost us, or what?" Jace asked, tone casual.
She looked at the others. Natalie raised her brows like this was the last thing she'd expected. Rye gave a little wave, clearly amused. Aaron looked from Jace to Lena and back again like he wanted to start filming.
"I didn't think I was invited," Lena said.
Jace patted the grass beside him. "Consider it official."
It was awkward for about three minutes.
Then Natalie shoved a bag of chips toward her and said, "You eat those like a squirrel or nah?" and just like that, the weird tension snapped.
Jace didn't hover. He didn't act like they were anything more than two people sharing space.
But every once in a while, his arm would brush hers. Or she'd catch him watching her out of the corner of his eye. And it felt… good. Slow. Right.
---
That night, Lena lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
She didn't text him.
He didn't text her.
And still, it felt like the quiet between them was saying something. Something that didn't need a timestamp or an emoji to prove it existed.
---
The week rolled by in fragments.
A shared joke during Lit.
A glance across the cafeteria.
A "hey" after school that lingered longer than necessary.
It wasn't a romance, not yet.
But it was something that had never existed before. A kind of familiarity that made Lena question everything she'd assumed about people, about labels, about enemies and walls and the things we build to keep ourselves from getting hurt.
---
On Thursday, Lena stood in front of the mural again.
The wall was half-covered in sketches now. She hadn't painted over the mistakes. She let them show. The layers, the failed shadows, the too-bold strokes—all of it remained. Because it was part of the process.
Behind her, footsteps.
"Didn't peg you as a perfectionist," Jace said.
Lena didn't turn. "I'm not. That's the point."
He stepped up beside her, hands in his hoodie pocket.
"It's good," he said after a long pause. "Real."
She finally looked at him. "I want to submit it for the Spring Exhibition."
His brows rose slightly. "Thought you didn't do crowds."
"I don't. But this… isn't about crowds." She hesitated. "It's about me. And I'm tired of hiding."
He nodded slowly. "You're braver than me."
She blinked. "What do you mean?"
Jace looked away. "I make jokes. I draw in private. I pretend things don't bother me. But actually saying something? Showing up for someone? That's new."
Lena's chest tightened.
"You *are* showing up," she said.
He smiled faintly. "Trying."
They stood in silence, shoulder to shoulder, facing a wall that held more than just color.
---
That weekend, something small happened.
They were both at Maddie's house for a project. Her dad was in the garage fixing shelves, and Maddie had disappeared to find glue sticks. It was just Lena and Jace in the dining room.
The silence was comfortable—until it wasn't.
Jace tapped his pencil against the table. "Can I ask something?"
Lena nodded.
"Back in freshman year… you hated me. Like, *really* hated me."
She laughed under her breath. "You were a jerk."
"Fair. But… was it just the prank? Or something else?"
Lena hesitated.
"It was the way you acted like nothing mattered," she said finally. "Like hurting people was funny. Like school was just a game."
Jace nodded. "Yeah. I was angry. And when you're angry and don't know where to put it, you throw it at whoever looks strong enough to take the hit."
Lena met his eyes. "I wasn't strong."
"You were," he said. "You just didn't know it yet."
For a second, everything in the room went still.
He wasn't smiling. He wasn't teasing. He was just *there*, raw and real.
And Lena felt something in her chest give.
---
They didn't kiss.
Not yet.
But Lena thought about it, lying in bed later that night, staring at the ceiling again. She thought about how moments could feel like more than what they were. How closeness could be the most fragile thing in the world.
She was scared.
But she was also hopeful.
Because people changed.
Because maybe enemies were just people you hadn't listened to yet.
Because Jace Rivera wasn't just the boy who teased her in freshman year.
He was the boy who stayed behind after class to help a kid with a broken arm. The boy who sketched her when she wasn't looking. The boy who told her she was strong even when she felt like breaking.
And maybe, just maybe… he was the boy she was starting to fall for.
---