Strings of Fate: The First Loop

CHAPTER 6

There was something about the way she said my name that made my stomach tighten. Familiar. Safe. And yet, wrong in a way I couldn’t name.

“Don’t call me Drew anymore,” I said suddenly.

She blinked again. “Why not?”

“Because he used to call me that. When he actually liked me.” I looked down at our hands. “And because I don’t feel like that kid anymore.”

A silence, sharp and understanding.

She nodded. “Okay. James.”

Then she leaned forward and rested her head on my shoulder. My breath hitched.

Her fingers tightened around mine, like she was saying I’ve got you without needing to say anything.

And I let her.

Even though a part of me knew, deep down, that maybe I shouldn’t.

Because comfort can be addicting. And maybe what we were doing wasn’t friendship anymore. Maybe it was something softer. Something slipperier.

Maybe this is how it begins.

Olive pulled into the school parking lot and eased to a stop. The sun hit the side of her face just right, her skin glowing faintly under the warm morning light. She turned to me and smiled.

“Go knock 'em dead,” she said.

I reached for the door handle.

“And James?” she added.

I paused.

“Good luck in there… Drew.”

I groaned. “Seriously?”

She laughed. “Come on, it’s cute.”

I rolled my eyes but didn’t fight her this time. Maybe because her voice reminded me of a past that didn’t hurt yet. Or maybe because it was easier than asking her not to care so much.

I stepped out of the car and shut the door behind me.

The air felt different now, less heavy, but not exactly light. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and turned to walk toward the main building when I heard a voice behind me.

“James!”

I turned around just in time to see Betty jogging up, hair in a loose ponytail, her usual pink colored outfit, books clutched in her arms.

“Hey,” she said, slightly breathless. “Should we start?”

“Start what?” I asked, smirking. “Our relationship?”

She gave me a dry look, then shoved my shoulder. “Shut up.”

“Hey, you started it.”

“Library,” she commanded.

Before I could answer, she grabbed my wrist and dragged me down the hallway. I caught a glimpse of Olive through the windshield as she drove off. She didn’t look back.

The library was mostly empty, just the way I liked it. Betty claimed her usual corner by the window, where the light poured in soft and golden over old textbooks and half-dead plants.

She dropped a thick book on the table in front of me and opened it with the urgency of someone ready to fix a dying patient.

“Alright,” she said, flipping pages. “Quadratic equations. Not that hard once you get the pattern.”

I slouched in my chair, pulled out my phone, and tapped into Mobile Legends like muscle memory.

Betty glanced at me.