Strings of Fate: The First Loop

CHAPTER 20

“I volunteer as tribute,” said James, raising his hand with a grin.

“No one’s kissing you but Mr. Oxford,” I teased, and the table burst into dramatic gasps and exaggerated applause.

I caught James watching me again.

I turned to him, a half-smile on my lips. “What?”

He just looked at me. Not through me---into me. Like he saw something he wasn’t supposed to.

“Nothing,” he finally said. “I just like how lively you are… you little ray of sunshine.”

I laughed, maybe too quickly. “Careful,” I said. “You’ll get a tan.”

He chuckled, leaning back, but he never stopped watching.

The afternoon felt like a blur of blinking lights and muffled bells. I had almost forgotten how normal school could feel when you try hard enough to play pretend.

Then someone knocked on the door and called my name.

“Betty? Mrs. Pamela wants to see you again. Dean’s office.”

I blinked. Nodded. Everyone looked at me weirdly, again, but I just smiled and said, “Wish me luck, maybe I’m getting expelled for being too cute.”

There were a few chuckles. The teacher waved me off.

---

When I stepped inside the office, James was already there, sitting with his back straight, twiddling his thumbs like a kid caught sneaking cookies.

He turned the moment I entered, eyes instantly scanning me. Like he was checking if I was okay. Again.

“Sit, Betty,” Mrs. Pamela said with a warm smile. “I have good news.”

I sat.

She held up a folder and opened it like it was a treasure map. “James’s preliminary grades. Significantly improved. A few borderline B's. And most importantly, passing every subject.”

I turned to James, eyes happy.

“I don’t know how you did it,” she continued, looking between us, “but I want you to keep doing exactly what you’re doing. Both of you. Whatever changed, whatever clicked, it’s working.”

James looked down and smiled. I could see the relief in his shoulders, in the way his fingers stopped fidgeting.

“Thank you, ma’am,” he said softly.

Outside the office, the moment the door shut, he turned to me and pulled me into his arms without saying a word.

It wasn’t rushed. It wasn’t for show. Just a long, quiet, warm hug like he was holding onto something he didn’t want to let slip through again.

I let him.

I let him hold me until I was the one who pulled away.

I looked up and smiled. “Dinner, tonight?”

His mouth twitched. “Okay. But I’m choosing where. You’ll give me a stomach ache again if we go where you pick.”

I pretended to be offended. “Excuse me, sir, fishball is a delicacy.”

We laughed, together this time. The kind of laugh that makes other people think everything’s okay.

He sighed afterward, deep and low, like a weight was finally lifted. “I’m lucky to have you, B.”

I stepped closer, our hands brushing until I wrapped mine around his.

“I’ll be here, James. I promise.”