SMACK!
Kian staggered as everyone else went still.
Sound evaporated from the gym.
He turned to face her.
“R-Riya...?” He blinked at her, dazed. “You... headshot me.”
“You’re not even supposed to be here!” she snapped.
Kian blinked again. “I was just trying to help you,” he said. Soft. Small.
Over his shoulder, phones were still up, recording Riya, merciless before a wounded Kian, while everyone else looked stunned. The full weight hit at once.
“I just—I asked you tostop,” she managed.
Kian’s arms went slack. “I’m sorry.”
Riya didn’t know what to say to that. Because he—or at least, some part of him—truly meant it. Hewasonly trying to help. Everything else was the curse.
You monster.
Before she could speak, Coach’s voice cracked through the gym, sharp and tired: “You three! Meet me after class.”
But Kian was still staring at her. And for the first time since this all started—since she’d cast the curse thirteen days ago—he didn’t look elated or confused. He didn’t even look frustrated.
He lookedsad.
Riya shouldn’t have let it bother her. That was the whole point of keeping her distance, of staying in control. But now, with the whole class watching, and Kian’s wounded eyes still locked on hers, the worst part was—
Itdid.
And that was the problem.
Chapter 15
The next day, Riya couldn’t cross a hallway without being stared at.
She wasn’t the shrinking type. Usually, it was the other way around: underclassmen shrinking under her imposing height. Panicked club leaders shrinking when they needed to turn in a late form. Students shrinking from her when they were caught breaking a rule.
But this kind of staring—the lingering, nosy kind—made her want to disappear into a void.
Mel, at least, found it delightful.
“Everyone’s looking at youuu,” she sang.
The whispers, the snickering—it felt like thewhole schoolhad turned into a living, breathing thing with eyes trained on Riya. The embarrassment from the dodgeball game was determined to cling to her like a flaring rash.
“What iswrongwith them?” she muttered.
“They’re curious, obviously! Kian’s been following you everywhere. And then there’s all those videos people took of him diving in front of a ball for you!You. MissVP!” Mel waggled her eyebrows. “So, what do you do? You smoke him. Stone-cold. Everyone’s wondering if there’s a relationship on the horizon.”
“How could I possibly be in a relationship with the guywho knocked over your mousetrap car?”
“It’s enemies to lovers, obviously! Read a book.”
“Sometimes I think schools don’t give enough work.”
