POV: Valeria Cruz

The drive is quiet. Not awkward. Just... calm. The kind of quiet that doesn't demand anything from you. I sit in the passenger seat, watching the streetlights pass one by one, my fingers loosely wrapped around the strap of my bag.

I can still feel it. The day, the mall, most of all him. The way everything felt…normal, too normal. And I don't know what to do with that yet.

"You always this quiet after hanging out with me?" Rafe asks. I glance at him.

"Maybe I'm processing.""

"That bad?"

"That new."

That gets his attention, I see it in the way his grip lightens slightly on the wheel. But he doesn't push. He just nods. 

"Fair" We pull up in front of my house. And for a second I hesitate, this is the part where things usually change. Where people see too much. Or not enough. 

"You don't have to…" I start too late. The front door swings open. 

"VALERA" And just like that everything shifts. Sofia comes running out first. Barefoot. Hair messy. Pure excitement. Mateo right behind her. 

"YOU'RE BACK!” They don't even slow down. They run straight past me and stop right in front of Rafe. Both of them staring up at him like he just walked out of a movie

“....who is that?" Mateo asks slowly. Sofia gasps. 

“IS THAT YOUR BOYFRIEND!!” 

"SOFIA" I snap. Too fast. Too loud. She doesn't even flinch. 

"Because if it is he's way better than the other one" I freeze. Rafe, he doesn't say anything. But I feel it. That shift. That he heard it. Of course he did.

"Hi," he says instead, calm like always, "I'm Rafe." 

Mateo straightens immediately, like this is serious now. "I'm Mateo" He crosses his arms slightly. "Do you play football?" 

"Yeah." Rafe smirks just a little.

"I knew it." Mateo lights up.

“You're really pretty,” she says, staring. 

"SOFIA."

"What?" she shrugs, "He is."

Rafe actually laughs, not loud, but real. And that does something to me I don't want to think about.

"Mom's not here,” Mateo adds suddenly, causing me to stiffen. That's not something we just say.

“Mateo-”

“She left," he continues, ignoring me, “She's with her boyfriend. They went to Vegas."

“She said she'll be back next week." Sofia nods like that's completely normal. Then there's a pause, small one, but it's there. I don't look at Rafe, I don't need to, I know he heard that too. Of course he did. 

"That sounds fun," he says instead. Like he's choosing his words carefully, like he's not judging, not making it into something it's not. That might be the first time someone has done that. 

"We're going to your game." Mateo says, stepping closer. I blink. 

"...we are?" Rafe looks at me now, then at them, finally back at me.

"Tomorrow," he says, "Saturday. You should come.”

"PLEASE," Mateo says with his eyes light up again.

"Please, please, please-" Sofia follows, grabbing my arm. I look at them, then him. And I already know the answer. A yes.

"Fine." I sigh. They both cheer like I just gave them the best news of their lives.

"'YES."

"I'm bringing snacks.” 

"You're not bringing snacks,'' I mutter.

Rafe just watches, quiet, but I can see it. That look, like he's taking all of this in but not judging or pulling back.

"I’Il see you tomorrow,” is all he says. For a second I don't answer, because I don't want him to leave. But that's a problem.

"Yeah," I say finally. "Tomorrow."

At night I don't sleep. Not because of Jason or Camila. Because of him. 

My phone starts to light up again and again.

I don't answer right away, just read.

Message after message, not rushed or careless, just real.

He tells me he had a good time, that it felt easy, he doesn't really understand it but being around me makes everything quieter. Better. He keeps thinking about the way I laugh, don't pretend, mainly I just...am. I stare at the screen longer than I should. Because no one has ever said things like that to me before, not without wanting something or feeling like it would disappear the second I believed it. But this doesn't feel like that, which scares me more than anything else.

--------------------------------------------------------

-Across town- 

Rage's phone buzzes again, but a different notification. Group chat, Elena.

He opens it. And everything changes.

Elena: You need to see this.

A picture loads. It's him, Valeria, the mall. But it's not just the picture, it's what they did to it.

Arrows. Circles. Text.

*Pig.*

*Whore.*

Comments underneath.

*How is someone like HIM with someone like THAT?*

*He must feel bad for her.*

*Someone go save him.*

Rafe goes still, completely. The air shifts around him. Nico leans over his shoulder. 

"...what the hell?" Is all Nico musters. Another message comes in. 

Elena: It's already spreading.

Rafe doesn't answer, doesn't react.

But the look in his eyes, once calm, now it's gone.

And what replaces it, is something far worse.

--------------------------------------------------------


-Back in my room-

I'm still staring at my phone. Reading the last message he sent; not knowing, not even a little, what's already starting.