I didn't sleep properly that night, and by morning it was obvious, even if I tried not to show it. It wasn't fear that kept me awake—it was the way everything kept replaying in my head, over and over again, like my mind was trying to force something into place that I hadn't fully understood yet.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the same thing.
The figure across the street. The stillness. The way they didn't move until I noticed them properly.
And worst of all, the way it didn't feel accidental.
It felt deliberate.
By the time I got to school, I had already decided that I wasn't going to sit around waiting for things to happen anymore. That had worked at the beginning, when all of this felt distant and controlled, but now it wasn't distant anymore. It was getting closer, and pretending otherwise wasn't going to help.
The hallway was quieter than usual, probably because I arrived earlier than most people, but even then, I could tell something had shifted. It wasn't loud or obvious, just small changes in how people looked at each other, how conversations didn't last as long, how phones stayed in hands instead of pockets.
And when I walked in, a few people noticed.
Not in a dramatic way, just the kind of quick glances that linger a little too long before turning away. It wasn't new, but today it felt different, like there was something behind it that hadn't been there before.
I didn't stop walking until I saw Leo.
He was exactly where I expected him to be, leaning against the lockers like he had nowhere else to go, but the moment his eyes landed on me, his expression shifted slightly.
"You look tired," he said, straightening a bit as I got closer.
"I didn't sleep well," I replied, which was the easiest way to say everything without actually explaining it.
"That obvious?"
"A little."
He studied me for a moment longer, then said, more seriously this time, "Something happened."
I didn't bother pretending. There wasn't much point anymore.
"Someone was outside my house last night," I said.
For a second, he didn't react, like it took a moment for the words to actually settle.
"Wait," he said, frowning slightly. "You're serious?"
"Yes."
"What do you mean, outside your house?" he asked, his voice lowering instinctively.
"They were standing across the street," I explained, keeping my tone steady. "Not walking past, not on their phone, not doing anything normal. Just standing there."
Leo ran a hand through his hair, clearly trying to process it. "And you just… watched them?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"They didn't move until I noticed them properly," I said. "And when they did, it wasn't random."
That made him pause.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean they knew I was looking," I said. "It didn't feel like coincidence."
For a moment, he just stared at me, like he was trying to decide how seriously to take it, but then his expression tightened.
"That's not good," he said quietly.
"I know."
He hesitated before asking the next question. "Did they send anything after that?"
I held his gaze for a second, then nodded. "Yes."
"What did it say?"
"Now you see me."
That was the first time I had seen Leo go completely quiet without immediately filling the silence with something else.
"Okay," he said after a moment, exhaling slowly as if he was forcing himself to stay calm. "That definitely changes things."
"How?" I asked, even though I already had an idea.
"They're not trying to stay hidden anymore," he said. "Before, it felt controlled. Distant. Now it's…" He trailed off slightly, searching for the right word.
"Closer," I finished for him.
"Exactly."
I shook my head slightly. "I don't think they were ever trying to stay hidden. They just didn't need to be this obvious before."
Leo frowned. "Or they're getting careless."
"No," I said, without hesitation. "This doesn't feel careless."
He looked at me again. "Then what does it feel like?"
I took a second before answering. "Intentional. Like they wanted this to happen."
He didn't argue with that.
"Aria."
We both turned at the same time.
Clara was walking toward us, and there was something about her expression that immediately told me this wasn't a casual conversation. She looked tense, like she had been thinking about something for too long and had finally decided to say it out loud.
"I need to talk to you," she said.
"To me?" I asked.
"Yes. Alone."
Leo didn't move. "Whatever it is, you can say it here."
Clara glanced at him, then back at me, clearly weighing her options.
"It's not about you," she said to him.
"Then it's definitely about me," I replied.
She hesitated for a second, then sighed softly. "Fine."
She stepped closer, lowering her voice so no one else would hear.
"I got a message too."
I didn't react immediately, but my attention sharpened.
"What kind of message?" I asked.
"Not like yours," she said quickly. "It wasn't… complicated."
"Then what did it say?"
She swallowed before answering. "It said, 'Stay away from her.'"
There was a brief pause.
"From me?" I asked.
She nodded.
"And you didn't listen."
"I thought about it," she admitted, her voice quieter now. "But I didn't."
"Why?"
She looked at me properly this time, like she had already decided her answer before I even asked.
"Because this doesn't feel like something I should ignore."
That caught me off guard more than I expected.
Leo spoke again, his tone sharper now. "What does this have to do with Evan?"
Clara shifted slightly. "It's not just the messages. Before he stopped coming to school, he told me something."
"What?" I asked.
"He said someone had been following him for days," she said.
Leo frowned immediately. "People say things like that—"
"No," Clara cut in, more firmly this time. "He wasn't joking. He was serious."
That made me focus.
"For how long?" I asked.
"A few days," she said. "And he kept repeating the same thing."
"What?" I asked again.
"That he shouldn't have seen it."
The words settled heavily between us.
"What did he see?" Leo asked.
"I don't know," Clara admitted. "He wouldn't explain."
"Or you didn't push enough," Leo muttered.
She shot him a look. "Or he didn't want to say."
"Enough," I said quietly.
They both stopped.
I looked at Clara again. "When did this happen?"
"Two days before he stopped coming."
That was enough to connect things.
Too neatly.
My phone vibrated in my hand, and all three of us looked down at it at the same time.
I didn't rush this time. I already knew what I was going to see.
I unlocked the screen.
You talk too much.
Clara shifted closer to me. "They're watching right now, aren't they?"
"Yes," I said.
Leo exhaled slowly. "This is getting worse."
I ignored that and typed back, taking my time with it.
Then stop listening.
The reply came almost immediately.
Make me.
I stared at the screen for a moment, then slowly lifted my head, letting my gaze move across the hallway without making it obvious what I was looking for.
At first, nothing stood out.
Just students moving around, talking, laughing, going about their normal routines.
But then I noticed it.
Near the far end of the corridor, someone was standing still.
Not completely out of place, not enough for anyone else to question it, but enough for me to notice. They weren't talking to anyone, weren't checking their phone, weren't doing anything people usually do when they stop walking.
They were just… there.
Watching.
"Don't react," Leo said quietly, noticing the shift in my attention.
"I'm not," I replied under my breath.
Clara, of course, turned anyway.
And the moment she did, the person moved.
Not quickly, not in a way that would draw attention, just a normal turn, a normal step, blending into the crowd like they had never been standing there in the first place.
But it was too late.
I had already seen them.
My phone vibrated again.
I didn't need to check it.
I already knew.
Still, I did.
Closer than you think.
I stared at the message, my expression calm even though my thoughts had already shifted ahead.
Because that didn't feel like a message anymore.
It felt like a statement.
And this time, I couldn't tell if it was a warning…
or a promise.