Amy's POV

"Don't tell me you're still thinking about what that crazy cousin of mine said," Lia frowned slightly as she tapped my arm. It was hard not to. The things Leo had said to me in just one day kept circling in my head, and we still had hours left before school closed. It was only break.

Only God knew how much more ridicule I was going to have to sit through before the day was over. This school was worse than my last one. I had been such a hopeful fool to think Fieldman High was going to be any different.

"Of course she would be, didn't you hear everything Leo said to her?" Mia sighed in irritation, glancing over at Leo's table. Leo caught her looking and waved. So did Marcus.

"That's not helping, Mia. You're supposed to comfort Amy, not state the obvious," Lia said, shooting her a look.

"Sorry, I say things as they are," Mia replied, her voice thick with sarcasm. Lia shot her another glare.

"They're so handsome. It's a shame they're jerks," Lia sighed.

"I know, but don't let Marcus and Leo's looks fool you. Their gorgeous faces don't change the fact that they're awful. I can't help but wonder why Rio chooses to hang out with them I just pray their disgusting personalities don't rub off on him." Lia's eyes darkened as she stared across at Leo and Marcus. They said something to each other and laughed. Lia stood up like she was about to march over there, but sat back down the moment Rio smiled and mouthed a sorry at her.

"She has a crush on him," Mia whispered to me and I smiled. No wonder her anger disappeared the second he smiled at her.

"Are you two auctioning me off over there?"

Lia's eyes narrowed as she peered at us, like she was searching for something.

"No, we wouldn't dare," I laughed, shaking my head at the expression on her face.

"I was just telling her how hard you're crushing on Rio," Mia teased. Lia's cheeks flushed red. She tried to hold a straight face but it wasn't working the blush gave her away completely.

"No, I'm not," she countered.

"Right," Mia said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.

Mia shot her a glare. Lia chuckled. That only made Mia more annoyed.

"You're so irritating," Mia whined, smacking Lia playfully on the arm.

Lia and Mia filled me in on the boys. Marcus the one with hair like Leo's was Mia's brother. Rio, the brown-haired one, was an only child. The three of them had been best friends since childhood. Rio was the calm one, not nearly as reckless as Marcus and Leo. Mia and Lia described him as friendly and levelheaded. Maybe that was why he had looked at me with such concern when his friends mocked me earlier.

"What will you be having, Amy?" Lia asked, getting to her feet. Mia stood as well.

"Anything," I said without much interest. Food was the last thing on my mind. I was more worried about how chaotic the rest of my time at this school was going to be.

Lia let out a small sigh and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Come on, Amy. Don't let them get to you that's exactly what they want. You don't have to worry anymore. We've got your back," she smiled.

"Nobody messes with our friend," Mia added, placing her hand on my other shoulder.

My eyes welled up. It just felt so good having someone smile at me like they actually meant it, especially someone my age. All I had ever gotten from people my age were looks of contempt, like I was beneath them. Maybe with Lia and Mia, things weren't going to be so awful. At least I had gotten one good thing out of Fieldman High. Friends. Something my old school had never given me.

"Thank you," I managed, blinking hard to keep the tears back. They didn't say a word. They just pulled me into a warm hug.

"Well, well. If it isn't a pity party," a voice I was already beginning to recognise cut through the moment, making Lia and Mia pull away. "The hoodie girl getting sympathy from the classy girls, who'd rather hang out with a nobody than be friends with people actually worth their time."

It was Michelle. Leo's girlfriend. And she hadn't come alone, the two girls who had sat with her in class flanked her on either side. Lia had told me their names were Arabelle and Mirabelle. Together they called themselves the Elles, and Michelle was the one in charge.

I had no idea what they were doing at our table. Hadn't Michelle had her fill of mocking me in class? Her eyes snapped to mine and I looked away.

A smug little laugh escaped her lips.

"Why did you decide to transfer here, sweetie?" Michelle asked, her voice syrupy sweet, eyes holding mine like she genuinely cared. She didn't. I knew that much.

"Nobody wants you here, hoodie girl. Lia and Mia are only sitting with you because they feel sorry for you. Trust me, the moment that pity runs out, they'll leave, and you'll be right back where you started. Alone," she snorted.

"True, Mich," Arabelle and Mirabelle nodded in unison.

"You insecure bitch. Get the hell away from our table, you and your little minions before I forget you're my cousin's girlfriend and give you a beating that not even plastic surgery could fix, wannabe queen," Lia snarled, stepping up to Michelle, who immediately took a step back. Fear flashed across her face before she buried it under a cackle.

"As always, you need someone to speak for you," Michelle said, fixing me with a look of cold disdain.

"Didn't you hear what Lia said? Leave! With your minions," Mia hissed.

Arabelle and Mirabelle flinched and edged backwards. Michelle tried to hold her ground but the confidence was fading fast.

"You'll regret this," she threatened, jabbing a finger at us before turning and beckoning her two followers. They walked away together.

Lia and Mia looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"I would give up my phone just to see that look on their faces on repeat," Lia laughed, pulling an exaggerated terrified expression.

"We both know you love your phone too much for that," Mia teased, earning a scowl from Lia, who tried and failed to look offended.

"That's not the point. You always say the wrong thing at the wrong time," Lia groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"Look who's smiling," Mia said, turning to me with a grin. "If it takes us scaring off the Elles to get a smile out of you, Amy, we'll do it every day. Right, Lia?"

"Gladly," Lia agreed, beaming at me.

"Please don't," I laughed, shaking my head.

I wasn't a fan of violence, and I didn't want them getting into trouble because of me.

"As you wish," Mia smiled, raising both hands in surrender.

"As long as they keep their mouths shut, we'll be civil," Lia added, her tone carrying just enough of a threat to be believable.

We went to get our lunch after that, burgers and juice, Lia's suggestion, no objections from either of us.

"Here's the money for mine," I said, holding out some cash to Lia. She didn't take it. Instead she gently closed my fingers around it and placed my hand back in my lap. She had already paid for my lunch earlier, before I realised I'd forgotten to bring money to the cafeteria.

"I didn't pay for your lunch so you could pay me back," she smiled.

"But it doesn't feel right," I sighed, extending the money again.

"No buts. What's wrong with me buying lunch for my friend?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Thank you," I said, letting my hand drop.

It wasn't that I wasn't grateful. It was just new to me, someone wanting to do something kind, without expecting anything in return.

"Get used to having this power squad around you," Mia giggled proudly, bumping her fist against Lia's.

They stretched their fists toward me. I bumped mine against theirs and we all laughed. For the first time in years it wasn't forced. I was actually happy genuinely, unexpectedly happy, and with friends, no less.

Damn you, Amy.

I cursed myself the moment I glanced in Leo's direction and found his eyes already on me. Michelle was planting kisses all over his face but his gaze didn't move from mine not even for a second. And then he smiled. A slow, deliberate smile that sent a shiver straight down my spine.

"Amy? Hello?" Lia snapped her fingers in front of my face.

"Are you okay?" Mia and Lia asked at the same time.

I tore my eyes away and turned back to them.

"I have to use the restroom," I said quickly, getting to my feet.

"Do you know where it is?" Lia asked, brows knitted, eyes scanning my face.

"We can show.."

"No worries, I'll find it." The words were barely out of my mouth before I was already walking away.

.......

I washed my hands, splashed cold water on my face, and stared at my reflection. I looked like a mess. But that was the least of my problems.

Damn you, Leo Callahan. His smile kept replaying in my head like it had taken up permanent residence there. This guy was managing to torment me even from across a cafeteria. I closed my eyes, took a long breath, then forced them open.

I pulled the door open and stepped out into the corridor. I had just passed the restroom entrance and was about to turn back toward the cafeteria when I heard my name.

"Amy Grayson."

I froze.

Leo. He was leaning against the wall ahead of me, arms crossed, watching me like he had been waiting. That was new, he had actually used my name instead of Clumsy.

Was he following me now? I weighed my options. Run, or stay and let him say whatever awful thing he had lined up. I chose to stay there was no dignified way to bolt when he was standing right in front of the only route back to the cafeteria. Besides, running would only give him more satisfaction.

I stared at him without speaking. Partly because I had nothing to say. Mostly because even if I did, the words wouldn't have come out.

"Running away from me, Clumsy? I got detention because of you," he said, a crease forming between his brows.

He deserved that detention and he knew it. He had even smiled when Mrs Rodriguez gave it to him, why was he making it my problem now? I thought all of this but said none of it.

"Gone mute?" His hazel eyes bore into mine.

"Leave me alone," the words slipped out before I could pull them back.

Something flashed across his face anger, maybe but it disappeared almost immediately, replaced by that familiar indifference.

"Did you say something?" His lips curled.

"No," I shook my head. I moved to step past him and was yanked back by the wrist.

My back pressed against the wall as he caged me in, leaning close. My breath caught. His face was just inches from mine.

"Baby blue eyes," he said softly, almost to himself, his hazel ones searching mine. A smile tugged at his lips and goosebumps broke across my skin.

His grip on my wrist hadn't loosened.

"You're hurting me," I lied.

He let go instantly, like he'd touched something hot, but he didn't step back. For just a moment his eyes softened, and then the coldness returned.

"Leo, what are you doing?" Rio's voice came from down the corridor. He appeared and pulled Leo away from me, then turned to look at me with an expression caught somewhere between apology and concern.

"You owe Rio a thank-you. He saved your.." Leo started.

Just then Michelle appeared. Her eyes blazed when they landed on me, then softened the instant they moved to Leo.

"What are you doing with her?" she asked him, her voice low and sweet.

"Nothing, babe. Let's go," Leo said easily. He kissed her, slipped an arm around her waist, and the two of them walked off without a backwards glance.

I exhaled slowly.

"Amy," Rio said gently. "I'm sorry about that."

The apology only stirred the frustration already sitting heavy in my chest. I was so tired of people saying sorry for Leo's behaviour, like their words were supposed to undo any of it.

"I'm Rio, by the way," he said, moving a strand of hair out of his face and extending his hand.

He was good-looking. I registered that and then immediately caught myself mentally comparing his features to Leo's, which I silently scolded myself for.

His hand was still outstretched.

Without a word, I turned and walked away. It was better this way. Getting close to Leo's friends no matter how decent they seemed. It wasn't something I could afford.

Amy's POV

The final bell was the best sound I had heard all day.

I packed up my things faster than everyone else, keeping my head down as the classroom filled with the scraping of chairs and the noise of students spilling into the corridors. I didn't want to talk to anyone. I didn't want to be looked at. I just wanted to get out.

"Hey, wait up!" Lia's voice caught me just as I stepped into the hallway. She jogged to my side, slightly out of breath, her bag bouncing on her shoulder. "You move fast for someone so small."

"I'm not that small," I muttered.

"You're tiny, and that's okay." She linked her arm through mine before I could protest. "Come on. We're taking the bus together."

I opened my mouth to say I was fine on my own, but she was already pulling me along and honestly I didn't have the energy to argue.

Mia caught up with us at the front gate, slightly out of breath and carrying what looked like three textbooks she hadn't bothered to put in her bag.

"You two were really going to leave without me," she said flatly.

"We literally waited two minutes," Lia replied.

"Two minutes is a long time, Lia."

I found myself smiling without meaning to.

We said goodbye to Mia at the bus stop closest to her street, and then it was just Lia and me for the rest of the ride. She talked the whole way, about Mrs Rodriguez, about how Marcus had somehow charmed his way out of a second detention, about a series she had been watching that she was convinced I needed to see. I mostly listened, giving short answers when she asked me things directly, and she didn't seem to mind. She just kept going, filling the silence like it was second nature to her.

It was strange being around someone who didn't need me to perform or explain myself. Who just talked, and let me exist beside her without making it a big deal.

Strange, but not unwelcome.

We got off at our stop and walked the short distance to our street. The evening air was cooler than I expected and I pulled my hoodie tighter around myself.

"Same time tomorrow?" Lia asked when we reached the point where our paths split.

"Sure," I said, and I almost meant it.

She grinned like I had said something far more exciting than sure, waved, and disappeared through her front door.

I stood on the pavement for a moment longer than necessary, staring at nothing in particular. Then I turned and walked into the house.

.......

Mark wasn't home yet.

The house was quiet in that heavy way it got when he was absent not peaceful, just waiting. I dropped my bag by the stairs, went to the kitchen and started on dinner without being asked. It was better to have it ready. Less to answer for.

I was halfway through chopping onions when the doorbell rang.

I froze.

Mark had told me more than once not to open the door to anyone. I wiped my hands on a dish towel and went to the window first, pulling the curtain back just enough to see the front step.

Lia. And beside her, a woman I didn't recognise warm-faced, with Lia's same blonde hair and a foil-covered dish balanced in both hands. And behind them, hands in his pockets, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else on earth, Leo.

I let the curtain fall.

The doorbell rang again.

I stood there for a second, weighing my options. Mark wasn't back yet. They were just neighbours. Lia had been nothing but kind to me. And that woman was carrying food.

I opened the door.

"Amy!" Lia's face broke into a wide smile. "I told you she'd answer," she said to no one in particular.

"Hi, sweetheart." The woman beside her smiled, warm and unhurried, like she had all the time in the world. "I'm Sandra, Lia's mom. I wanted to come say welcome to the neighbourhood properly." She held out the dish. "I made cookies. They're still warm."

I looked at the dish, then at her face. There was something about her a kind of steadiness that made it hard to stay guarded.

"Thank you," I said, taking it carefully. "Please, come in."

Sandra stepped inside first, then Lia. Leo followed last, ducking slightly as he came through the doorway even though he didn't need to, his eyes doing a slow sweep of the room like he was cataloguing it.

"Lovely place," Sandra said, settling onto the sofa like she'd been invited a hundred times before.

Leo dropped into an armchair and said nothing. He was looking at the wall.

"Sorry about him," Lia whispered, appearing at my elbow.

I nodded and set the cookies on the table, my eyes drifting to the front window every few minutes without meaning to. Mark. If he came back and found people in the house.

"Are you okay?" Lia asked quietly.

"Fine," I said. "Just... my brother should be home soon. I wasn't expecting."

"We won't stay long," Sandra said from the sofa, as if she had heard. "I just wanted to put a face to the neighbours."

Ten minutes passed. Then fifteen. The conversation moved easily between Sandra and Lia about the neighbourhood, about school, about a neighbour down the road who apparently had the best garden on the street. I answered when spoken to and kept half an eye on the front door.

Leo, for his part, said almost nothing. He had picked up a small decorative stone from the side table and was turning it over in his hand absentmindedly, looking thoroughly bored.

Mark. If he came home...

Then the front door opened.

My stomach dropped.

Mark stepped in, loosening his tie, and stopped when he saw the room full of people he had never met.

For a terrible second, nobody spoke.

Then Mark smiled.

It didn't reach his eyes.

"I didn't know we had company," he said, his voice smooth and pleasant. He looked at me just for a moment, just a flicker and in that look was everything he wasn't saying. Every single word of it.

My throat tightened.

"I'm Sandra, your neighbour," Sandra said, standing to shake his hand. "I hope you don't mind I wanted to welcome you both to the street. I brought cookies."

"Of course," Mark said, shaking her hand with a warmth that would have fooled anyone who didn't know him. "That's very kind. I'm Mark, Amy's brother." He turned the same easy smile on Lia, then on Leo. "Friends from school?"

"My daughter and nephew," Sandra said. "Lia and Leo."

Mark nodded pleasantly. He sat down, crossed one leg over the other, and joined the conversation like he had been there all along. Asked Sandra how long she had lived on the street. Laughed at the right moments. Said all the right things.

I sat across from him and could barely breathe.

Every time his eyes passed over me casually, briefly, the way you glance at a piece of furniture, I felt the weight of what was coming settle a little heavier on my chest.

Leo was watching me.

I noticed it without meaning to the way his gaze had shifted from bored indifference to something quieter, more focused. Like he had caught something in my face that didn't add up. I looked away before he could decide what to do with it.

When Sandra finally announced they were leaving, Mark stood and walked them to the door himself, charming and gracious to the very end. Lia squeezed my arm on the way past and mouthed see you tomorrow. Leo said nothing, but at the threshold he glanced back at me, it was quick, and unreadable before following his aunt outside.

Mark closed the door.

The smile dropped off his face like it had never been there.

I stood very still.

He looked at me for a long moment. Then he said, "I'm ordering food. You don't need to cook tonight," and walked upstairs.

Just like that.

No raised voice, no belt pulled from its loops. Nothing.

I stayed rooted to the spot long after his footsteps had faded down the hallway above me. I didn't trust it. I didn't trust the quiet, or his even tone, or the fact that nothing had happened. With Mark, nothing happening was sometimes worse than something happening. At least when I knew what was coming, I could prepare myself.

This.... this I didn't know what to do with.

I went back to the kitchen, turned off the stove, and sat at the table. I peeled back the foil on Sandra's cookies.

They were still warm. Soft in the middle, slightly crisp at the edges the kind that took actual effort to make.

I ate one slowly, alone in the quiet kitchen, and tried not to think about how long it had been since anyone had brought me something just to be kind.

I had almost fallen asleep when the knock came.

Three raps. Slow and deliberate.

I was already sitting up before the second one landed, my heart slamming against my ribs. The room was dark. The takeout boxes were still on the counter downstairs. Everything was quiet in the way that meant nothing good.

"Amy."

I pulled my knees to my chest and said nothing.

The handle turned, then the door swung open.

I had locked it this time. I was sure I had locked it. But the lock on my door had never been something Mark couldn't get around when he decided he wanted to.

He stepped inside.

"No," I said. The word came out small and cracked but it came out. "Please. No."

For a moment he just looked at me in the dark. Then something shifted in his face.

He crossed the room in three steps.

I fought. I always fought even though I knew it only ever made things worse because the alternative was lying still, and pretending I was somewhere else and I couldn't do that tonight, not after Sandra's cookies and Lia's arm linked through mine and the strange, dangerous feeling that maybe something in my life could be different.

So I fought.

Trigger Warning***

Amy's POV

He made me pay for it, for fighting.

The belt came off with a sound I had memorised without meaning to that particular snap of leather pulling free from the loops. I curled into myself and took it, counting the seconds the way I always did, the way that made time feel like something I had control over even when everything else had been stripped from me.

When it was over he left without a word.

I lay on my side in the dark and breathed through the pain, slow and deliberate, until my heartbeat came back down to something manageable. The welts across my back and legs burned. I didn't cry. I had stopped crying a long time ago, tears only ever made me feel worse and they changed nothing.

I stared at the ceiling until the darkness outside the window began to soften into grey.

Then I got up.

.......

Getting dressed took longer than usual. I moved carefully, choosing a loose hoodie and the baggiest pair of sweatpants I owned coverage, always coverage, and pulled my hair into a knot without looking in the mirror. I already knew what I would see and I didn't need the reminder.

I went downstairs.

Mark was already gone. No note, which wasn't unusual. What was unusual was the kitchen counter bare. No lunch money. No bus fare. I went upstairs and opened the drawer where I kept the small amount of savings I had been putting aside for months, loose notes folded inside an old envelope.

It was empty.

I stood there for a moment, staring at the empty drawer, and felt something cold move through me. He had gone through my room. He had found it and taken every single note without leaving so much as a coin.

I closed the drawer carefully, the way you close things when you don't trust yourself to do it with feeling.

Fine, I would walk. Not like I had any other choice.

It wasn't that far. I had done it before. I picked up my bag, ate the last of Sandra's cookies standing at the counter, they were stale now but I ate them anyway and stepped out into the early morning.

.......

I had been walking for about ten minutes, arms folded against the morning chill, eyes on the pavement, when I heard the car slow down beside me.

I didn't look up.

"Amy."

Lia's voice. I looked up.

It was a sleek black car idling at the kerb, window rolled down, Lia leaning across the passenger seat with a small frown on her face. In the driver's seat, expression unreadable as always, was Leo.

Of course it was.

"What are you doing walking?" Lia asked.

"Getting exercise," I said.

"It's seven in the morning and it's cold. Get in."

"I'm fine..."

"Amy. Get in the car."

I looked down the road ahead of me, calculated how much further I had to go, and weighed it against the look on Lia's face. She wasn't going to drive away. I knew that much about her already.

I got in.

The car was warm and smelled faintly of cologne Leo's, that was his scent. I buckled my seatbelt and fixed my eyes on the window.

"Good morning to you too, Clumsy," Leo said from the front, pulling back onto the road.

I said nothing.

"Wow. Not even a glare today? You must be really tired."

I watched a line of houses pass outside the window and kept my mouth shut.

"Leo," Lia said, her voice carrying a warning.

"I'm just saying.."

"I know what you're doing, and I'm asking you to stop."

A beat of silence. Then Leo exhaled through his nose and said nothing more.

Lia turned to look at me from the passenger seat. I could feel her studying my face the way she had started to do quietly, like she was trying to work something out without making it obvious.

"Did you eat breakfast?" she asked.

"Yes," I said. The cookies technically counted.

She looked like she didn't entirely believe me but she let it go.

The rest of the ride passed in silence. When Leo pulled into the school car park I had the door open before he had fully stopped, murmuring a thanks that was aimed somewhere between him and Lia and stepping out into the cold air.

.......

I got through the morning on autopilot.

I sat in my seat. I copied notes. I kept my eyes on whichever teacher was speaking and made sure to look like I was paying attention, which was different from actually paying attention. Every time I shifted in my chair the welts on my back pulled tight, and I had to breathe through it without letting it show on my face.

I was good at that.

"You've said about four words since this morning," Mia said, appearing at my shoulder between second and third period. "And two of them were excuse me."

"I'm just tired," I said.

"You're always tired," Lia said, falling into step on my other side. She and Mia exchanged a look over my head that I pretended not to notice.

"I'm fine," I said, which was the most useless sentence in the English language and I knew it even as I said it.

Neither of them pushed. That was the thing about Lia and Mia, they knew when to pull back, which somehow made it harder to keep them at a distance than if they had just been relentless about it.

.......

By lunchtime I had calculated, for the fourth time, that I had exactly nothing in my bag.

No money. No snacks. Nothing left over from breakfast because there had been nothing at breakfast except two stale cookies.

"Come on," Mia said, grabbing my wrist and steering me toward the cafeteria. "You barely touched anything yesterday either."

"I'm not hungry," I said.

"You're always not hungry," Lia said from behind us. "Funny how that works."

"Lia..."

"We're going to lunch," Mia said simply, in the tone that meant the conversation was already over.

I let them pull me along because fighting it would have taken energy I didn't have.

At the counter I stepped back and let them order, keeping my hands in my hoodie pocket.

"What are you having?" Lia asked, turning to me.

"Nothing. I'm not really..."

"Amy."

The way she said my name not sharp, not frustrated, just very calm and very certain made something in my chest ache.

"I don't have any money on me today," I said quietly, looking somewhere past her shoulder. "Mark forgot to leave me any."

Lia didn't miss a beat. She turned back to the counter. "She'll have the same as me."

"Lia, you don't have to.."

"I know I don't have to," she said easily, picking up her tray. "I want to. There's a difference. Now come on before Mia eats all the good seats."

I followed her to the table, sat down, and stared at the food in front of me.

"Eat," Mia said, without looking up from her own plate.

I ate.

It was the first proper thing I'd had all day and it took everything I had not to let that show on my face.

.......

When the final bell went I was ready.

I had spent the last ten minutes of class quietly working out the logistics. Lia would come to find me. She would want to walk out together, take the bus, do the same thing we had done yesterday. And I couldn't. I couldn't sit in that car with Leo or stand at that bus stop making small talk, and I especially couldn't walk back to our street with Lia and have her see which house I went into and start asking questions I didn't know how to answer.

I slipped out of class before most people had finished packing, took a left instead of a right at the bottom of the stairs, and ducked into the narrow alcove behind the languages block where the old vending machine had been taken out and never replaced. It left a little hollow in the wall deep enough to stand in, hidden enough that you'd have to know it was there.

I pressed my back carefully against the wall away from the bruised side, and waited.

Five minutes. Ten. The noise of the school emptying out gradually thinned.

"Interesting hiding spot."

I startled so hard I knocked my elbow against the wall.

Rio was leaning against the opposite wall, arms crossed, one ankle over the other, watching me with an expression that was more curious than amused. He had a jacket on now dark green, collar turned up, and he looked like someone who had absolutely nowhere to be and no intention of pretending otherwise.

"I'm not hiding," I said.

"You're standing in an alcove behind the languages block," he said. "Alone. After the bell." He tilted his head slightly. "But sure."

I looked away.

"Lia's been looking for you," he said, after a moment.

"I know."

"She's worried."

"She doesn't need to be."

Rio was quiet for a moment. He didn't try to fill the silence the way Lia did, or push through it the way Mia might. He just stood there, easy and unhurried, like he had all the time in the world and wasn't going to use any of it to make me uncomfortable.

"You okay?" he asked eventually. It was simple, no frills.

"I'm fine," I said.

He nodded slowly, like he was filing that away alongside everything else.

"You don't have to tell me anything," he said. "I'm not asking you to. I just..." He paused, chose his words carefully. "You've looked like someone carrying something really heavy all day. And I noticed. That's all."

The back of my throat tightened.

I looked at him, really looked, for a moment and saw nothing in his face except what he had said. No agenda, no angle. Just someone who had noticed and thought it was worth saying.

"I'm fine," I said again, quieter this time.

Rio held my gaze for a second longer, then pushed off from the wall.

"Alright," he said, like he meant it. Like he was actually going to let me have that. "Take care of yourself, Amy."

He walked away without another word, hands in his jacket pockets, disappearing around the corner of the languages block.

I stayed in the alcove for another few minutes, long after his footsteps had faded.

Take care of yourself.

I tried to remember the last time someone had said that to me and meant it.

I couldn't.

I pulled my hoodie tight, stepped out of the alcove, and started the long walk home alone.