The bell rang, signaling the end of the last period on Monday, and the high school hallway instantly turned into a chaos of slamming lockers and loud chatter.
Mavie adjusted the skirt of her cheerleader uniform and pulled her hair into a high, perfect ponytail. As the class president and the top student of her year, her schedule was always packed. She held a folder full of reports for the upcoming student council meeting, walking with the flawless posture of someone who had her life completely under control.
"Mavie! Are you heading straight to the gym today?" Chloe, her best friend and cheer co-captain, caught up with her in the hallway, accompanied by Sophia.
"I need to drop off these reports with the counselor in the library first," Mavie replied, keeping her voice calm and professional. "You guys can head to practice, I'll meet you there in ten minutes."
"Alright, just don't be late. We need to go over the new routine before the football team takes over the field," Sophia said, adjusting her glasses.
As they walked, the group of football players appeared from the opposite direction. Right in the center of them was Lucas. With his varsity jacket casually draped over his shoulders and his hair slightly messy, he was laughing at a joke Leo and Noah had just made. He was the team captain, the 16-year-old guy everyone wanted to be around.
As the two groups crossed paths, the hallway seemed to go quiet for a second. The entire school knew that Mavie and Lucas had broken up two months ago.
Mavie looked straight ahead, her expression cold and indifferent. Lucas merely gave a distant nod, a purely polite gesture of someone who barely knew her. Chloe looked from one to the other, narrowing her eyes, but said nothing.
As soon as their friends dispersed and the hallway emptied out, Mavie changed her route. Instead of going to the counselor's office, she walked quickly to the very back of the library, in the old archives section—a place where nobody went at this hour.
She barely had time to set her folder down on the dark wooden table. A hand gently pulled her wrist, and she was pressed with her back against the bookshelf.
It was Lucas. The distant, cold look from seconds ago was gone, replaced by a teasing smirk.
"Nice speech at the morning meeting, President," he whispered, stepping closer.
"Were you actually paying attention to me or to your playbook, Captain?" Mavie countered, raising an eyebrow, even though her heart was already racing.
"I'm always paying attention to you," Lucas murmured, closing the distance and pressing his lips against hers in an urgent, familiar kiss.
They were exes to the rest of the world, but right there, in the silence of the library, it was a completely different story.
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