311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDfNJXfTOvm
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBeX7axtpjW
Naomi hadn’t meant to check the student feed.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdTsu1BDBpc
She told herself she didn’t care. But curiosity betrayed her by morning.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlfNJbOsQSn
> *“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.”*
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8mdjhYOeOf
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.*
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXFvkxbSEgy
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.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLLZrcUaYTP
> *“Naomi looked at him like she forgot anyone else was watching.”*
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgF9c7r2zZr
She turned off her phone and shoved it under her pillow.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCoc95rfogj
Because the worst part?
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡabwO24ff53
That comment was true.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYkGmHAe9hE
---
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg1gjWB1483
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.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5KcrzHg0EL
Still, whispers trailed after her like background noise she couldn’t mute.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ02P3BQh4w9
“Leomi” someone whispered.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcWn36VYX2I
Someone else giggled. “Did you see the way she *breathed* during the bridge?”
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkK423sx50S
Naomi clenched her jaw and pressed forward, but the knots in her stomach tightened.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbLiGO2vUaN
Someone had scribbled **#Leomi** in dry-erase marker across the corner of the whiteboard in the practice room.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡltE29cN5lk
It shouldn’t have bothered her. But it did.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVSfrXBhTO3
---
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ivUGM0Xn3
Levi was already leaning against her locker when she arrived. Arms crossed, one brow raised, as if none of it fazed him.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyr9vPVBLPs
“You’re trending,” he said.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiUxuHhekxY
“I noticed.” She didn’t look at him as she twisted the lock open.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgDsm8OKwE3
“You okay?”
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4RKFzrDMLe
That surprised her. Not the question itself—but the *way* he asked it.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbh02Xr3Cmr
Quiet. Careful. Real.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kQX2RYsZP
“I don’t know,” she admitted after a moment. “I didn’t think people would react like this.”
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6jU7oiD8v
Levi nodded slowly. “Yeah. It’s weird—people seeing something you didn’t mean to show.”
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiJ2U5miBmy
She turned her eyes to his.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcm20hnC8Oa
“They think we’re a couple.”
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVHEX7Sn6j
He didn’t flinch. “They think we have chemistry.”
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0njCSZDoPa
A pause.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSMDbf7wThW
She hesitated. “Do we?”
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmkIfPP02tT
His eyes locked with hers.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkiRjhA5Ip
“I don’t fake music,” he said quietly.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBeJFLWDbsT
And just like that, her breath caught.
It was too much. Too close.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5hQyVqfCbf
She shut her locker.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPbrwXuZmUO
“I’ll see you at rehearsal,” she mumbled, and brushed past him before he could say anything else.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLUYaQEd3aZ
He didn’t follow.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡScveGF5ABV
---
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkmKv56ZSf
Rehearsal that afternoon was a shell of what it used to be.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEHAI0yEAlQ
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.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4VeV01UNS4
But their harmony?
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhT3rnnD2Ef
Fractured.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡviRnsWmLKH
Their music fit like puzzle pieces forced into place—technically correct, emotionally hollow. Like something had been locked behind invisible walls.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Ql6JWUnrc
“Everything alright with you two?” Ms. Arinze asked, pausing the track.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxMRdlRVo8
“We’re fine,” Naomi said a little too fast.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPYiEYrpuDa
Levi didn’t speak. He strummed one string, low and unresolved. The note died in the silence.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzeHICSZigR
---
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6xPBBLRA4h
That night, Naomi sat in the dark at her keyboard.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUDNAkcUby4
No light. No sound. Just the weight of her own thoughts.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ84DCp05VYq
There was music inside her. Beautiful, complicated, aching music.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaeMlMmIkvG
But her fingers wouldn’t move.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFaM5PzMH47
And in the stillness, she realized something that scared her more than the rumors, the spotlight, or even Levi’s silence.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLi4UnSvh4
She didn’t want to be just rivals anymore.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnydbu1Mhbn
But she didn’t know who she was if she wasn’t competing.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOXVefFi6NS
And worst of all—
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynaZSo2g94
If she let herself feel this, really feel it…
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboToSUDDUO
She wouldn’t be able to hide behind rivalry again.
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPilOQ9Q0Xv
---
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB45qtWlWBN
Is there a character you’re starting to relate to — or one you don’t trust yet? Drop your thoughts!
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm9FMbQky0x
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAcTpZEmnXS
311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡezu9zXwBSE
and then Add to home screen.