Things were different after the sleepover.
Not in a big, obvious way. They still sat next to each other in class. Still walked home together sometimes. Still texted about memes and homework.
But something was missing.
Aki didn't laugh as easily around him anymore. And Josh… Josh couldn't meet her eyes the same way he used to.
He kept thinking about what she said.
"Sometimes, I feel like you're hiding something."
She wasn't wrong.
"Wanna come over after school?" she asked one Tuesday, hopeful.
"Can't. I have to finish a project," Josh replied.
He didn't. He just needed space.
"Oh. Okay."
She didn't ask again for the rest of the week.
In class, she spent more time with Ria and River. Josh noticed. Of course he noticed. He hated how much he noticed.
At home, he laid on his bed, headphones in, trying to drown out his thoughts. But they kept drifting back to Aki. How quiet things had become between them. How fake his smiles felt now.
He stared at his phone, their chat still open. Last message was two days ago.
His fingers hovered over the keyboard.
I miss you.
He deleted it.
At lunch that Friday, Aki didn't sit beside him. She sat across from him. That hadn't happened in years.
He looked at her. She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.
Josh realized something right then—he hadn't just created space.
He'd started losing her.