The next day at school, everything felt different.
The halls buzzed with the usual chaos—students laughing, lockers slamming, sneakers squeaking on tile floors—but to Pearl, it all sounded muted, like she was underwater.
Vansh was already there when she walked into class. Head down. Hoodie up. Not in his usual seat.
He didn't look at her.
Didn't say a word.
The classroom felt suffocating.
Pearl sat at her desk, fingers tapping restlessly against her notebook. She kept glancing at him—Vansh—sitting at the desk across the room, head bent over his work, as if the rest of the world didn't exist. As if she didn't exist.
It had been like this all morning.
She had tried to catch his eye when she entered the room. Nothing. Tried to say "hi" between classes. He barely even acknowledged her, offering only a curt nod that stung more than she cared to admit.
And now, in class, he sat there, like he was a million miles away, lost in his own world.
It made her feel… invisible. Like she didn't matter.
But she wasn't going to let it slide.
She slammed her pencil onto the desk, her frustration boiling over.
Vansh's eyes flickered to her for a split second—just enough to notice—but he quickly looked away, as if he hadn't even seen her.
Pearl's breath hitched in her throat. What the hell was this?
She leaned forward, putting her elbows on the desk and staring at him, refusing to look away. His jaw was clenched, his posture stiff. He was doing everything he could to act like she wasn't there.
That was it.
"Vansh."wandering soul
Her voice sliced through the low hum of the classroom. It wasn't loud, but it was enough to stop him mid-pencil scratch. His eyes flicked to her again, and for a moment, there was a flicker of something—anger? Hurt? Fear?—but it disappeared just as fast, like he was fighting it back.
"Are you really going to pretend I don't exist?" she asked, her voice dangerously quiet.
He didn't respond immediately. Instead, he picked up his pencil, scribbling something on the paper in front of him like she hadn't just thrown down a gauntlet. His focus was fixed on his work, like she was the last person on Earth he wanted to deal with.
Pearl felt the weight of the silence crushing her chest. She was done being ignored.
"You think I'm just going to sit here and act like you're not ripping me apart?" she said, her voice cracking a little as the words tumbled out. "You don't get to just shut me out, Vansh."
His eyes snapped up to meet hers. This time, they were colder than she had ever seen them. "You're the one making this complicated, Pearl," he said, voice low and biting. "You don't understand. It's better if you just stay away."
Pearl's heart pounded in her ears. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she snapped, leaning forward across the desk. "You don't get to pull this shit on me and then act like it's for my own good!"
He shoved his chair back, standing up abruptly, as if the space between them was too small. "You wouldn't get it," he growled, his jaw tense. "You don't know me, Pearl. You don't know what I've done. And I'm not going to let you get hurt because of my mistakes."
Pearl stood up too, not backing down. Her heart raced, her voice rising with every word. "I don't care what you've done, Vansh! I care about you. I thought you cared about me, too. But you're pushing me away for no reason—for nothing!"
The bell rang, signaling the end of class, but neither of them moved. The air between them was thick with tension. His chest was rising and falling in short, controlled breaths. She could see the conflict warring inside him.
"You should go," he said, voice tight with frustration.
"No," she shot back, stepping closer, her anger spilling over. "Not until you stop pretending like I'm the problem here. You are the one making this hard. And if you think I'm going to just walk away—you're wrong."
Vansh's eyes flicked to hers, and for one terrifying second, Pearl saw the vulnerability in them—something raw, something painful. Then, just as quickly, it was gone, replaced with that wall of ice.
"Go. Now," he bit out, his voice barely more than a whisper. "Before you regret it."
Pearl stood there for a moment, chest heaving, heart a mess of emotions. She didn't say another word. Instead, she turned and walked out of the classroom, her mind a storm of confusion and hurt.
But as she stepped out into the hallway, she couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't over. That despite the way he acted, despite how cold he'd been, Vansh still cared