||⋆.ೃ࿔*:･|| 𝖫𝖮𝖵𝖤 𝖥𝖱𝖮𝖬 𝖠𝖥𝖠𝖱,, 𝓜𝓪𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓱𝓲 𝓑𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓸𝓷

024

Thanksgiving Miracle this is posted

Sunlight poured across Lila's bed, warm enough to make her squint as she slowly woke up. Her phone buzzed beside her pillow. She groaned, grabbing it without even opening her eyes. The screen lit up bright enough to make her blink fully awake.

A notification from Instagram.

Malachi had liked her story.

Then two of her posts.

And he had viewed her profile.

She sat up instantly, her blanket falling off her shoulders as she stared at the notifications. He had scrolled far down too. That wasn't an accident. That wasn't casual.

Before she could even process what that meant, her bedroom door opened halfway and Travis stuck his head in, hair sticking up in every direction.

"You leaving yet?" he asked, voice scratchy.

"How do you know I'm awake?" she muttered.

"You were yelling into your pillow," he said bluntly. "Sounded like you found out someone died or confessed their love to you."

"Nothing like that," she lied immediately.

"So Malachi again?"

"Travis!" she snapped.

He laughed and shut the door on his way down the hall.

She dragged herself out of bed and headed into the bathroom. A shower helped her wake up, and she blow-dried her hair into soft waves before doing her makeup—just mascara, a little concealer, and lip gloss. She put on black joggers, a white fitted tee, and a light zip-up hoodie. Comfortable. Normal. Like she wasn't internally spiraling over a boy she hadn't spoken to properly in years.

She grabbed her dance bag and headed downstairs. Her mom was already in the kitchen, drinking coffee and reading something on her phone.

"Morning, sweetheart," she said without looking up.

"Morning."

"Rehearsal today?"

"Yeah. I'll be back later—probably around five. Tell Dad for me?"

"Of course," her mom said. Then she finally looked at her phone again, smiled, and turned the screen toward Lila.

It was the viral picture. The one from the premiere. The one where Malachi was staring at her.

"We're going to talk about this later," her mom said, raising her eyebrows.

Lila grabbed an apple and practically ran toward the door. "No we aren't. Bye!"

Her mom laughed behind her as she left.

Outside, she unlocked her car and threw her bag onto the passenger seat. She sat for a moment, letting out a breath to calm herself. Then her phone buzzed again.

A direct message.

From Malachi.

Her heartbeat flipped.

headed to rehearsals?

Her fingers hovered before she typed back:

yeah, leaving now. u?

His reply came almost immediately, like he'd been waiting for her message.

same. see you there.

Lila set her phone down and stared at the windshield for a few seconds, trying to collect herself. Talking to him was so easy and so nerve-wracking at the same time. She put the car into drive, cheeks warm with a smile she couldn't help.

She tried to tell herself she wasn't excited.

But she absolutely was.