The high-pitched squeak of sneakers against polished floors echoed in the gym as Ere'ana and Avarina trudged toward the girls' locker room. The faint scent of disinfectant mixed with the unmistakable aroma of sweat, a telltale sign that another day of gym class was about to begin.
"I swear," Ere'ana muttered, holding her gym bag tighter, "if they make us run laps again, I'm faking a twisted ankle."
Avarina laughed. "You're not subtle enough to pull that off. Remember last year when you tried to fake a fever? Mrs. Yates caught on in, like, five seconds."
Ere'ana groaned. "Don't remind me."
They stepped into the locker room, immediately greeted by the sounds of lockers slamming, girls chatting, and the occasional outburst of laughter. Ere'ana did her best to avoid looking directly at anyone as they weaved through the rows of lockers. The last thing she needed was to accidentally lock eyes with someone mid-change.
"Do they always keep it this cold in here?" Avarina complained, shivering.
"It's their way of punishing us," Ere'ana replied dryly. "Cold locker rooms and gym uniforms that make us look like we're from a bad 80s movie. What more could we ask for?"
After some searching, they found their lockers—right next to each other, as if fate had decided to throw them a bone. Avarina popped her locker open with ease, while Ere'ana struggled with her combination for a moment before the door finally gave way.
"Ugh, I hate changing in here," Ere'ana muttered, pulling out her gym uniform.
"Relax," Avarina said, tugging off her hoodie. "Just focus on getting dressed and ignore everything else."
"Easy for you to say," Ere'ana replied, peeling off her shirt. She felt a twinge of awkwardness, but the two of them had been friends for so long that it quickly faded.
They changed quickly, talking in hushed voices to drown out the rest of the locker room chaos.
"Okay, spill," Avarina said, yanking on her gym shorts. "What's the latest with Jack?"
Ere'ana paused, pulling her shirt over her head. "There's nothing to spill. We're just… friends."
"Friends who text all night and sit together every day at lunch?" Avarina raised an eyebrow.
Ere'ana rolled her eyes. "You're making it sound like something it's not."
"Come on, Ere," Avarina said, smirking. "You can't tell me there's no spark there. He's cute, funny, and—dare I say—actually tolerable. That's, like, the holy trinity of boyfriend material."
Ere'ana sighed, leaning against the locker. "I don't know. He's great and all, but something about him feels… I don't know, familiar? It's weird."
Avarina frowned, pulling her hair into a ponytail. "Familiar how?"
"Like I've known him before, even though I haven't."
Avarina looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe it's a sign. Like, fate's trying to tell you something."
Ere'ana snorted. "Or maybe I've just been watching too many rom-coms."
"Either way," Avarina said, grinning, "I think you should go for it."
Ere'ana didn't respond, but a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips.
Meanwhile, on the other side of campus, Jack was slumped in his chair in Mrs. Ava's math class. The students had long since abandoned calling her by her real name, dubbing her "Mrs. Yap" due to her tendency to talk endlessly about topics only tangentially related to math.
"…and that's why the quadratic formula is a critical life skill," Mrs. Yap droned on, pacing the front of the classroom.
Jack suppressed a sigh, tapping his pencil against his notebook. He'd checked the clock at least five times in the past ten minutes, and the hands seemed to be moving slower with each glance.
Ira, sitting in the desk next to him, leaned over and whispered, "Think she'll notice if I just… disappear?"
Jack smirked. "Only if you leave your chair spinning."
Ira chuckled softly, leaning back in his seat. "Seriously, though. Who decided math needed to be this long?"
"Probably the same person who decided we needed gym class," Jack muttered.
Mrs. Yap paused mid-lecture, turning to look at the class. "Jack, care to share with everyone what's so amusing?"
Jack froze, glancing at Ira, who shrugged unhelpfully. "Uh, no, ma'am. Just… thinking about the quadratic formula."
Mrs. Yap raised an eyebrow but didn't press further, returning to her tangent about algebraic applications.
Ira smirked, leaning over again. "Smooth."
Jack rolled his eyes, trying to refocus. But his mind kept drifting back to Ere'ana. He wasn't sure why, but he found himself looking forward to their conversations more and more. There was something about her—something that felt oddly familiar, like they'd shared a history he couldn't quite remember.
The bell finally rang, snapping Jack out of his thoughts. He grabbed his bag and followed Ira out of the classroom.
"So," Ira said, slinging an arm over Jack's shoulder, "what's the plan? You seeing Ere'ana after school?"
"Maybe," Jack said, shrugging. "Why do you care?"
"Because it's painfully obvious you're into her, and I'm just trying to be a supportive friend," Ira said with a grin.
Jack shoved him off playfully. "Shut up."
"Hey, I'm just saying," Ira called after him, "you better not screw this up!"
Jack shook his head, a small smile tugging at his lips. He wasn't sure where things were going with Ere'ana, but he couldn't deny that he wanted to find out.
Back in the gym, Ere'ana and Avarina joined their classmates on the court, ready to endure another grueling session of laps and poorly refereed dodgeball games.
"You're awfully quiet," Avarina said as they stretched.
"Just thinking," Ere'ana replied, glancing across the gym.
"About Jack?"
Ere'ana shot her a look. "Can you not?"
Avarina grinned. "Fine, fine. But don't think I'm letting this go. You've got something good here, Ere. Don't overthink it."
Ere'ana sighed, nodding. Maybe Avarina was right. Maybe it was time to stop overthinking and just see where things went.
As they lined up for their first round of laps, Ere'ana couldn't help but smile to herself. Whatever was happening between her and Jack, it felt… right.