History class.
Ami sits still, eyes fixed on the clock. The hands move painfully slow, like they're mocking her.
The teacher's voice drones on like a lullaby.
*I can't do this. Nope. I'm escaping.*
She slides out of her seat, ducks past the half-closed classroom door, and slips away like a whisper.
The abandoned gym storeroom greets her with silence and dust.
Old mats, unused cones, a broken skipping rope tossed in a corner , it's almost peaceful.
She sinks down beside the wall, exhales, and closes her eyes.
*Just a nap. Just ten minutes of peace.*
She blinks awake to a sound — a shuffle beside her.
Ami stiffens.
A boy sits next to her, fiddling with a box of basketball nets.
Dio.
Of course.
He glances at her in surprise, then laughs awkwardly. "Didn't think anyone else used this place."
She blinks. "Didn't think I'd see you twice in one day."
He grins sheepishly. "Came to grab cones for P.E. My idiot friends thought it'd be hilarious to lock me in."
He taps his fingers on the floor. "Anyway… I'm Dio. 12th-A. You?"
*Ufff... this shouldn't be happening.
Stay away. Stay calm. Stay distant.*
"I'm Ami. 10th-B. Just a quiet little junior."
Dio tilts his head. "Right. The quiet girl who roasted someone with a glitter comment?"
She smirks faintly but says nothing.
Ami steps toward the door, knocks once, then again.
SPLASH!
A bucket of cold water hits her out of nowhere.
"GOT YOU, DIO!"
Footsteps thunder away, laughing.
She gasps, freezing in place. Her white school shirt clings tightly to her body.
Dio's eyes widen. He immediately looks away, face turning bright red.
"I-I— uh— wait— don't move—!"
He fumbles with his jacket, eyes darting anywhere but at her.
He gently places it on her shoulders, looking like he might combust on the spot.
Ami bites back a laugh.
*Ahh…He's really short-circuiting over this? young soul. So flustered by something this small.*
She tugs the jacket tighter around her. It smells faintly of cologne and old guitar strings.
"Thanks," she mutters.
Dio coughs into his hand, still flushed. "Yeah. I… I didn't see anything. I mean— not like that! I mean— never mind."
They step out of the storeroom together, Dio still nervously scratching his neck.
And there she is.
Alia.
Standing by the hallway wall like a shadow. Her eyes laser-focused on them.
She sees Dio first. Then Ami.
Then the jacket.
Her expression twists ever so slightly.
* "Who's that guy?"
"And why is she with him?"
"I don't like this."*
Ami catches the shift in her little sister's expression.
*And that… that's the fear I was having.*