16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2oKUP8gPMN
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9upp34rAu
Naomi hadn’t meant to check the student feed.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmR0JG9xkSR
She told herself she didn’t care. But curiosity betrayed her by morning.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4MTI091vdQ
> *“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.”*
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrKa8F5Ogib
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.*
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0u2litflmg
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.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdtON1bbwWV
> *“Naomi looked at him like she forgot anyone else was watching.”*
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMvLiY5cmfO
She turned off her phone and shoved it under her pillow.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ125aRIZ04c
Because the worst part?
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjhJoJ7TS7k
That comment was true.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1cUixuogP1
---
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiIs4EECTb0
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.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXBTGtcMI7
Still, whispers trailed after her like background noise she couldn’t mute.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsvXuyzzlgI
“Leomi” someone whispered.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaCMxkpoob1
Someone else giggled. “Did you see the way she *breathed* during the bridge?”
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡShszcwDULt
Naomi clenched her jaw and pressed forward, but the knots in her stomach tightened.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvdZ2fX6Tc
Someone had scribbled **#Leomi** in dry-erase marker across the corner of the whiteboard in the practice room.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnN6V2lJBO
It shouldn’t have bothered her. But it did.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBYB09Rnw0c
---
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGe96gsQ5I
Levi was already leaning against her locker when she arrived. Arms crossed, one brow raised, as if none of it fazed him.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcpBfBRzP0n
“You’re trending,” he said.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDSrQApOWRe
“I noticed.” She didn’t look at him as she twisted the lock open.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRYVk2RxTMH
“You okay?”
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMBOEeOpgCy
That surprised her. Not the question itself—but the *way* he asked it.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBgDep6GieE
Quiet. Careful. Real.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncM5S7RpMK
“I don’t know,” she admitted after a moment. “I didn’t think people would react like this.”
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVN2Z8j98ck
Levi nodded slowly. “Yeah. It’s weird—people seeing something you didn’t mean to show.”
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9785vE5F0u
She turned her eyes to his.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89j0XRHrN5
“They think we’re a couple.”
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvEJE4gJRPl
He didn’t flinch. “They think we have chemistry.”
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaSmzrWaKjz
A pause.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZFlN9zJtp
She hesitated. “Do we?”
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCvosrdFqIC
His eyes locked with hers.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwc3Rkw1SJn
“I don’t fake music,” he said quietly.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjbJmXLUeMC
And just like that, her breath caught.
It was too much. Too close.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBfs4kZtAXb
She shut her locker.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14ib2pSAKK
“I’ll see you at rehearsal,” she mumbled, and brushed past him before he could say anything else.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbv95Basx4B
He didn’t follow.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUn3glV1NkL
---
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCODKsFuPXv
Rehearsal that afternoon was a shell of what it used to be.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡknkEFFunid
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.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlk8FP8W05O
But their harmony?
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3JmwsZwdwA
Fractured.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5nUTSR82l
Their music fit like puzzle pieces forced into place—technically correct, emotionally hollow. Like something had been locked behind invisible walls.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ1LnnBaNQE
“Everything alright with you two?” Ms. Arinze asked, pausing the track.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4JWB2XLcqL
“We’re fine,” Naomi said a little too fast.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbimwdgt7m
Levi didn’t speak. He strummed one string, low and unresolved. The note died in the silence.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡepe37p5AKH
---
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJwBQOA1Dh
That night, Naomi sat in the dark at her keyboard.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMmJ8MIyaLW
No light. No sound. Just the weight of her own thoughts.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5v88qw5Jf
There was music inside her. Beautiful, complicated, aching music.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8G04lFcXEX
But her fingers wouldn’t move.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡddPltDYYU2
And in the stillness, she realized something that scared her more than the rumors, the spotlight, or even Levi’s silence.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9nMJCNRorV
She didn’t want to be just rivals anymore.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ81GMUh2c3s
But she didn’t know who she was if she wasn’t competing.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZujBg1xJAR
And worst of all—
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJBa56R9mS
If she let herself feel this, really feel it…
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdi5vgRqtd8
She wouldn’t be able to hide behind rivalry again.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA1SJqDW9el
---
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt2kqv59RNo
Is there a character you’re starting to relate to — or one you don’t trust yet? Drop your thoughts!
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiKcpQjg1yz
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0VJ4nyfMhg
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF1VdcoRMCh
and then Add to home screen.