In the quiet of us

Avery Lane believed in three things: black coffee, sharp pencils, and personal space. So when she rounded the corner on the second floor of Crestwood High and found Jace Carter leaning on her locker like he paid rent to be there, she saw red.

"Move."

Jace didn't even glance at her. He was too busy balancing a pencil on his upper lip, head tilted back like he was testing gravity. His usual cocky smirk twitched when the pencil fell. "Morning to you, too, Lane."

"Seriously. Move." She clutched her planner like a weapon. "Some of us have AP Chem first period."

"Let me guess," he said, finally stepping aside with exaggerated slowness. "You need to double-check your notes from last week. Or triple-check them. Or color-code your tabs by emotional relevance."

Avery rolled her eyes as she spun her combination lock. "Not everyone wings life on pure ego and privilege, Jace."

He put a hand over his heart, mock-offended. "Ouch. That sounded dangerously like an insult."

"It was an insult."

The locker swung open, and half a dozen meticulously labeled binders stared back at her. Jace peered in like she'd just opened a portal to another dimension.

"You alphabetize your binders," he said.

"And you alphabetize your excuses. Guess we're both gifted."

Their eyes locked, and for a beat, everything stilled. The hallway buzzed around them-shouts, slamming lockers, the screech of sneakers-but in that moment, it was just Avery and Jace, locked in their usual war of words, both pretending it didn't matter more than it should.

"By the way," he added, already walking away, "congrats on being co-chair for prom. I'm sure this'll be... fun."

Avery froze. "Wait-what?"

He turned with a grin. "Didn't check your email, President Lane? Principal Harper picked us both. Guess that means we're working together."

He tossed her a wink and disappeared into the crowd before she could react.

Avery stared after him, horrified.

This was going to be a disaster.

---