Some Things Don't Change

CHAPTER 12

Darius

If someone asked me what anxiety tastes like, I’d say it tastes a lot like cafeteria spaghetti.

Cold. Heavy. And sitting in my stomach for way too long.

Because that’s how I felt the entire next morning—like something unpleasant was settling inside me and refusing to move.

I tried to distract myself with breakfast, but my fork just kept poking the noodles instead of actually eating them.

Across from me, Mina watched with the judgmental stare of a disappointed plant mom.

“You haven’t eaten anything,” she said.

“I’m trying,” I muttered.

“You’re stabbing it, not eating it.”

I sighed. “Fine. I’ll eat later.”

She gave me a long look. “Is this about Elisa?”

Unfortunately, yes.
But I wasn’t about to admit it out loud—not in a cafeteria where someone could overhear and turn it into a campus-wide special.

So instead, I shrugged. “She’s just… intense.”

Mina snorted into her milk tea. “That’s putting it nicely. Last year she threatened to submit a formal complaint against a professor for ending class three minutes early.”

I grimaced.
Right. That tracks.

“And she’s the one who submitted Lenon’s name for the debate?” she asked.

“Cass said so,” I said. “But Elisa didn’t deny it.”

Mina frowned. “She really has it out for you, doesn’t she?”

“It’s not me,” I said quietly. “It’s… my existence near Lenon.”

Mina blinked. “That’s so high school.”

Tell me about it.

But before she could say more, someone suddenly dropped into the seat beside me.

Literally dropped.
Like the chair screeched and bounced.

I almost jumped out of my skin.

“Morning,” Soren said through a mouthful of chocolate bar. “You look like a raccoon who lost a fight.”

Cass slid into the seat next to him, gently placing a steaming cup of hot chocolate in front of me. “You didn’t look okay earlier. Drink.”

I stared. “You bought this?”

Cass shook his head. “Stole it.”

Soren nodded proudly. “He has quick hands.”

“Please stop talking,” Mina said.

I took a sip of the hot chocolate anyway. Sweet. Warm. Calming—like a rescue in a cup.

“Where’s Lenon?” Cass asked.

“Class,” I murmured.

Soren raised a brow at me. “And you’re alone because…?”

I felt heat creep up my neck. “We’re not glued together.”

“Well,” Soren said, leaning back, “you kind of were yesterday.”

Mina choked. “Oh my god.”

Cass nodded. “The hallway rumor mill is already starting again.”

My heart shrank a little.

Great. Just what I needed.