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Chapter 24 - ❥⁠˙⁠๑ Chapter 24

37 days left.

I couldn't shake the sense of dread gnawing at me. The countdown to her death was on my mind constantly, and no matter what I did, I felt like I was hitting a wall when it came to figuring out how to stop it. But today, something told me to get up early, go to her house, and see what was happening.

When I arrived, I found chaos. Seira was sitting on the steps outside, a deep scowl on her face. Her father, Mr. Fallon, was struggling to start his car, while her mother was in full lecture mode, voice raised as she berated Seira for being lazy.

"Seira, you're too old to be whining about walking to school!" her mother snapped, arms crossed.

"It's far!" Seira shot back, clearly not in the mood.

Her mother's irritation spiked. "Far? If you weren't so lazy-"

"Let's all calm down," her father said, trying to play the peacemaker as he jiggled the keys in the ignition. The car let out a sputter and died again.

The shouting continued until they noticed me standing there awkwardly by the gate. I offered a polite smile, waving. "Uh, good morning. I'm Seira's... friend."

Seira's head whipped toward me, eyes wide in shock. I could practically hear her brain short-circuiting at the word "friend."

Her father grinned, walking over to me. "Ah! You're the one who walked Seira home yesterday, right? And that blonde boy-what's his name? Ethan, right? She told me about you two."

"Y-Yeah, that's right," I said, scratching the back of my neck.

Seira's mother, visibly calmer now that I was there, looked me over. "And where exactly do you live, young man?"

I gave her my address-somewhere far enough away to make it seem like I was really going out of my way. "It's over by Rosewood Lane."

Her mom raised an eyebrow. "That's quite a distance and close to Seira's aunt's place. You've been walking her from there?"

I smiled again, playing the polite card. "It's not a problem, really."

Mr. Fallon clapped his hands together. "Perfect! Then why don't you walk her to school today too? The car's acting up again, and I don't trust it to get us there."

Seira's jaw dropped. "Wait, what?"

Before she could object, I chimed in, "Sure, I'd be happy to." I leaned down and casually grabbed her school bag, slinging it over my shoulder.

"W-What are you doing?" she stammered, completely caught off guard.

"You're too lazy to walk, right? So I'll carry your stuff." I shot her a grin, knowing she'd have no choice but to come along now.

Her mother, satisfied with the arrangement, called after us. "Seira, do you have your lunch money?"

"Yes, Mom!" Seira yelled back, clearly annoyed as she hurried after me.

Once we were out of earshot, Seira immediately turned on me. "What was that? Are you trying to make me look bad in front of my parents or something?"

I smirked, listening to her rant. "You do a good enough job of that on your own."

She glared at me, talking a mile a minute about how I was suddenly acting nice just to make her look worse by comparison. On and on she went, until I reached out and poked her forehead.

"Hey, look at me," I said.

She froze, and I watched her eyes, holding her gaze for five seconds. That was her weakness-she could never hold eye contact for long.

As expected, her eyes darted away, and she fell silent. I grinned. "See? You can't even look at me. You're such an idiot kitten."

Her face turned red, and I couldn't help but chuckle as we continued walking. After a while, she finally asked, "Why are you suddenly acting so close to me?"

Her question caught me off guard. How was I supposed to answer that? I wasn't trying to be nice for the sake of it-I was just trying to prevent her from being murdered. But of course, I couldn't tell her that.

Before I could come up with an answer, she spoke again, her voice quieter this time. "You're only being nice because you lost a bet, right?"

I frowned, about to retort, but when I looked at her, I stopped. There was something in her eyes-not tears, but a sadness that wasn't usually there. It hit me harder than I expected.

Without thinking, I reached out and patted her head. "We're friends, Seira," I said softly. "That's all."

She blinked, staring at me in confusion.

"We used to be, anyway," I added, more to myself than to her. When we were eleven, we'd been best friends, practically inseparable. But when I realized she had a crush on me, I distanced myself. I thought it was for the best.

Seira looked down, her anger fading as she remembered too. I didn't need to say anything else.

From now on, I would stay close to her. I had to.