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He awarded me a few minutes of peace.

My lungs drew in breath again, my shoulders relaxed, and my grip on the pen loosened, though the tingle on the back of my neck lingered. The scribbles resumed, neat and methodical, as I worked through the material, until—

Flick.

A folded note landed on my open notebook.

I blinked slow and prayed for patience, and though my blood rushed and roared in my ears, I wouldn’t let him see it affected me.

Even if it killed me.

With deliberate calm, I opened it.

Pretty sure strangling writing instruments is forbidden in the library. Smarty pants.

Smarty pants? What, you being cute now? Asshole.

I blinked at it. Read it again. The playfulness almost jumped off the page at me, but I knew better than to fall for it or—heaven forbid—laugh. The corner of my mouth twitched anyway, before my lips pressed together in a tighter line.

A frustrated groan tore from my chest as I folded it back up with unnecessary delicacy and set it aside. It took everything not to chuck a heavy notebook at his face.

I couldn’t quite remember why I wasn’t supposed to.

My pen stabbed the paper with more force than was wise, writing growing messier, though I’d never admit it was because of him. I glared at my notes instead, like they’d personally insulted me.

I caught his entirely too theatrical “oops” before his pen rolled towards me with a screeching rattle that drew every eye in a ten-metre radius.

People turned their attention to him, but since he was who he was, their reprimanding glares snapped to me.

My cheeks warmed until they threatened to set the place on fire.

My hands curled into fists under the table, the pressure of biting back a reaction almost a physical ache in my stomach.

“Hey, pass me that, will you? I kinda need it.”

My body moved on instinct as if to reach for it, then froze half-way.

I snatched up my things, pens clattering as I shoved them into the pencil case and pushed my chair back. It groaned on the marble, cutting through the silence like a whip.

I winced, then squared my shoulders and strode off, shooting him a murderous glare as I passed.

People’s eyes bore into my nape as I hurried out, notebooks and coursebooks clutched to my chest like a shield.

I wanted to hide in a bush and catch fire.

No sooner had I taken a few steps away from the building than I heard footsteps behind me. Smug, infuriating ones.

“What’s wrong, model student? Never been shushed in the library before?”

My nerves, already frayed at the edges, snapped in half as I whirled on him.

“You did it on purpose!” My eyes blazed into his.

“Aww, come on, what’s the big deal?” he drawled, shrugging as a half-smile slid into place.

A white-hot ball roiled in my stomach, igniting me from the inside.

“The big deal?” I hissed through gritted teeth. “We were in a library, for fuck’s sake. Have you no respect for the rules?”