Invisible String

Chapter 23

Iyaara

It was just another simple, peaceful morning. I got ready, walked to school, and wandered through the hallways like always… until a strong hand wrapped around my tricep and pulled me into a quiet corner where barely anyone passed.

My breath hitched.

It was him.
Ryker.

“Ryker—what are you doing?” I asked, eyes wide, heart suddenly pounding.

He looked at me with eyes softer than I had ever seen before.

“Iyaara,” he said quietly, “why do you keep ignoring how I feel about you?”

My stomach flipped.

“And you…” he stepped closer, “you’re ignoring your own feelings too, aren’t you?”

“H–huh? What feelings?” I stammered, staring at him like I’d just been caught stealing—like I’d been caught in 4k.

Before he could speak again—

“AHHHHHHHHHH!”

I shot up in my bed, clutching my chest, heart racing like I’d run a marathon.

“What kind of dream was THAT!?” I gasped.

My face was burning.
My brain was melting.
And I kept replaying his voice in my head.

“It was just a dream,” I whispered, trying to calm the wave of panic—and something else—that rushed through me.

I kept telling myself it was just a dream until I reached school. I walked through the hallways, the same school smell filling my lungs, and then I saw Ryker walking just a few inches ahead of me. He didn’t see me, but I saw him.

His shirt was perfectly crisp, and somehow his scent already reached me, my pulse quickening. I pressed my hand to my chest. He was laughing at something Kairo said — that genuine smile that reached his eyes, those perfect teeth—

And then he suddenly turned back, like he felt someone staring at him.

I am stupid, I thought — until he actually looked at me again with those eyes.
I panicked and waved at him, a small “Hey,” just to break the awkwardness.
He waved back, and my pulse quickened even faster, almost painfully, until someone called his name and he turned away.

The moment he did, I mentally screamed at myself.
Why was I looking at him like that?
Why!?

I reached the class with my face completely flustered, sat down quickly, and tried to pretend like nothing happened.

The classes started, but my mind drifted to all those me-and-Ryker moments.
Seriously… what is wrong with me?

I kept staring at my notebook, pretending to take notes while my brain replayed everything like some dramatic edit.
The detention.
The blazer.
The pen.
The dream.
And now… him looking back at me in the hallway.

Why am I like this?
Why is he suddenly appearing in every corner of my mind?

I shook my head lightly, trying to focus, but of course my stupid brain was like:
Nope, let’s think about Ryker again.

The classes started, but my mind drifted to all those moments with Ryker. Ugh. Why was my brain like this today? I tapped my pencil against my notebook, pretending to follow along, but my notes were literally just random dots and half-written words.

I forced myself to look at the board and focus, but the more I tried, the more my thoughts wandered. The stupid detention. The blazer. That dream.
Especially the dream.

I shut my eyes for a second, mentally screaming at myself to stop, before opening them again and forcing myself to actually listen to what the teacher was saying.

Ava leaned a little toward me and whispered,
“You look like you’re having a whole mental breakdown in silence.”

I glared at her, mouthing, Shut up, but she just smirked and turned back to her notes.

I sighed quietly and tried again to focus on the lesson.
No Ryker. No dream. No anything.
Just…focus.

At least that’s what I kept telling myself.

The rest of the class dragged on, and when the bell finally rang, everyone practically flew out of their seats. I packed my things slowly, still trying to shake off the weird fog in my head.

Ava left to refill her bottle, so I walked out alone, heading toward my locker.

I turned the corner—
and almost walked straight into Ryker.

He stopped.
I stopped.
Great.

“Oh—sorry,” he said, stepping back a little. His voice was casual, not flustered, not dramatic… just normal. Like we didn’t kneel outside together yesterday. Like I didn’t dream about him dragging me into a hallway.

“It’s fine,” I managed, hugging my books to my chest.

He glanced at the pen I was holding.
“That the one you dropped yesterday?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t even know it fell.”

He gave a tiny laugh—not a big dramatic one, just that soft one he does without thinking.
“You drop things a lot.”

“Huh?? No I don’t,” I said, offended for absolutely no reason.

“Sure you don’t,” he said, a small smile tugging at his mouth.

That stupid little smile.

Before I could reply, Kairo called his name from the end of the hallway.

Ryker gave a slight nod to me—almost like a quick goodbye—
and walked off.

Nothing dramatic.
Nothing intense.
Just… something small.

But my stupid heart still reacted like it was the climax of a movie.