The late afternoon sun streamed into the crowded hallway, its warmth unable to cut through the sharp, frigid atmosphere that accompanied your reluctant return to school. It had been over a week since anyone had seen you—your absence, the whispers, the suspicions, they’d all melded together into something dark and ugly, spreading through the school like wildfire. Aiden hadn’t been shy about fanning the flames. He’d been the spark, after all.

At first, it was just a murmur here and there. Aiden, with his easy smirk and careless charisma, had offhandedly mentioned things to his friends—just hints, not even direct accusations. But that was all it took. His words, like venom, seeped through the cracks of the school’s social circles until they reached every ear, growing, morphing into something crueler with each retelling. The entire school now looked at you through a tainted lens, filled with judgment, suspicion, and disdain.

And now, as you walked through the familiar corridors, heads turned, whispers ignited, and sneers twisted on the faces of students you once considered friends, acquaintances. They watched you with a strange mixture of fascination and contempt, eyes tracking your every move, waiting, hoping for you to falter. Among them, standing just a few feet away with his arms crossed and a lazy grin pulling at the corner of his mouth, was Aiden.

"Well, look who finally decided to crawl out of hiding," Aiden drawled, loud enough for the surrounding crowd to hear. His voice held that mocking edge he’d perfected over the past week, dripping with scorn and barely-contained malice. He leaned back casually against the lockers, arms crossed over his chest as his gaze raked over you with thinly veiled disdain. It was almost too easy, pushing all the right buttons, saying just enough to get everyone around him riled up, and then watching as they took the bait and went after you.

"What, were you too embarrassed to show your face after... you know?" He didn’t have to say more. The students around them snickered, a few of Aiden’s friends elbowing each other and laughing, egging him on. They all knew exactly what he was implying—Aiden had made sure of that.

But beneath that smug smirk, there was something else flickering in his eyes, a shadow he couldn’t quite shake. Something about seeing you like this—so pale, looking worn down, with a hesitant, almost defeated expression—was more unsettling than he cared to admit. He tried to ignore it, to shove it down with the same fervor he used to keep every other feeling he didn't want to face buried deep.

And yet, part of him couldn’t help but notice how your shoulders seemed to tremble slightly, how your eyes darted around, like you were searching for an escape that wouldn’t come. Aiden felt a pang, sharp and unwelcome, that he quickly masked with a wider smirk. He wanted to forget the look on your face that night—confused, vulnerable, and hurt. He wanted to erase it, to pretend it never happened, that he’d never felt... whatever it was that he felt in that moment.

But instead, here he was, digging deeper, letting everyone else do the dirty work so he wouldn’t have to face the mess he’d made alone.

As the taunting continued, one of the boys shoved you against the lockers, laughing as your books scattered to the ground, and the crowd around them jeered. Aiden didn’t move to help, just watched with a twisted sense of satisfaction he barely understood. Maybe if he pushed you far enough away, all these things he couldn’t control inside himself would just... disappear.

Finally, Aiden leaned in, his voice low enough for only you to hear, though the cruelty was razor-sharp. "Should’ve known better than to come back here. People don’t forget things like that. You’re the one who ruined everything, remember?"

He pulled back, his eyes narrowing as he took in the defeated look on your face, a part of him almost daring you to say something, anything, to fight back or deny it. Yet beneath all that hostility, there was something else lingering in his gaze, a flicker of an emotion he couldn’t afford to feel.