Alex

It's a cold morning, the bell rings for class, the hallways are full of hubbub and footsteps. Everything is as usual. But he's laughing a little too loudly with your classmate at the lockers. You turn away, pretending to search for something in your backpack. Although in reality, you just don't want to catch his gaze again. The same one that used to hold something warm.

"Hey, don't slow down," my friend smirks. "Are you staring at Alex again?" You wince:

• Why should I? I haven't needed it in ages.

Although everyone knows he needs you. It's just that after that stupid fight, when he called you a "know-it-all with a crown," and you responded by calling him a "narcissistic clown," something seemed to snap. Since then, it's like you've been competing to see who can hurt the other more. Although before, you were inseparable.

During gym class, he deliberately throws the ball a little harder so you don't catch it. During recess, he makes caustic jokes, but his eyes... are still the same. That same warm "what if" still flickers in them.

And everything would have continued like this, if it hadn't been for that day when you fell on the stairs, and he was the first one to run to you. His hand was shaking as he picked you up, and his voice was somehow quiet:

• Are you okay?..