By the time midweek arrived, Campus 2 had started to feel crowded in a way XH couldn't explain.
It wasn't that there were more people. It was the way eyes lingered longer now. Conversations paused when someone passed. Laughter dipped and resumed a second too late. The campus had always had its own rhythm, but lately it felt like that rhythm was watching itself.
XH noticed it first during the walk to class.
Groups formed naturally at the gates. Seniors passed through with quiet authority. First-years moved aside without being told. There was an unspoken understanding about who mattered more, who was louder, who was worth noticing.
And lately, XH felt like he was being noticed for reasons he hadn't chosen.
Kitty walked ahead of him, a few steps apart, her posture straight, expression calm. She didn't slow down to match his pace the way she used to. She didn't fall back either.
She simply walked.
TR jogged up beside XH, lowering his voice. "You feel that?"
XH frowned. "Feel what?"
TR gestured vaguely around them. "The air. It's like everyone suddenly cares about everyone else's business."
PL, walking on XH's other side, nodded seriously. "Campus 2 is small. Drama travels faster than Wi-Fi."
JP glanced back briefly. "Social pressure always intensifies after the novelty phase. People start ranking."
"Ranking what?" TR asked.
"People," JP replied flatly.
XH didn't like that answer.
In class, seating had subtly shifted. Certain students sat closer to the front now. Others clustered together like alliances forming without paperwork. The room buzzed with low conversations before the lecture began.
Kitty chose a seat near the aisle again.
XH sat behind her.
Not beside her.
The distance wasn't dramatic. It was intentional.
He noticed how she interacted with others now. Still kind. Still warm. But contained. Her laughter didn't linger. Her smiles didn't invite.
When the lecturer started, XH tried to focus, but his attention drifted.
To Kitty taking notes without looking around.
To NS sitting on the far side of the room, posture closed, eyes forward.
To the quiet understanding that everyone seemed to know something he hadn't named.
During the break, the room loosened slightly. Chairs scraped. Bags opened. Voices rose.
TR leaned back in his chair and whispered, "I feel like I'm in a reality show and nobody told me the rules."
PL snorted. "You'd be voted off first."
"That hurts," TR said. "But fair."
Kitty stood and walked toward the hallway, phone in hand.
XH stood too, heart racing slightly. He followed, stopping a respectful distance away.
"Kitty," he said.
She turned. "Yeah?"
Her tone was neutral. Polite.
"I just wanted to check in," XH said. "You've been… quieter."
Kitty considered him for a moment. "I'm okay."
The words were calm.
They were also final.
"I didn't mean to make things weird," XH said quietly.
She smiled faintly. "You didn't."
Then she added, "But sometimes things change even when no one does anything wrong."
That sentence settled heavily between them.
XH searched for something to say, something that could bridge the growing space.
Kitty nodded gently, as if to signal the conversation was done, and walked away.
XH stood there longer than necessary, feeling the weight of her withdrawal settle into his chest.
When they regrouped outside, TR immediately sensed the mood.
"Alright," he announced loudly, clapping his hands. "Who wants to eat their feelings?"
PL raised his hand instantly. "Me."
HS smiled softly. "Food helps."
JP sighed. "It helps you ignore things."
"Exactly," TR said. "That's the point."
They ended up at the same place they always did, cheap food, loud fans, chairs that wobbled. It was familiar enough to feel safe.
Kitty sat beside HS this time, engaged in quiet conversation. She laughed lightly at something HS said, her shoulders relaxing just enough to remind XH how easily she could still be herself.
Just not with him.
XH sat across the table, listening more than speaking. NS sat beside JP, their conversation short and functional.
TR broke the silence. "Okay, real question. Has anyone else noticed the campus politics getting intense?"
PL nodded. "People are choosing sides. I don't know what sides, but they're choosing them."
TZ Royal leaned back, amused. "That's how it goes. Once people settle in, they start caring about status."
"Status of what?" HS asked.
"Who's close to who," TZ replied. "Who's popular. Who's dating. Who's not."
Kitty's hand paused mid-motion.
XH noticed.
TR grinned awkwardly. "Well, that's uncomfortable."
PL laughed nervously. "Let's talk about something else."
JP didn't look up from his phone. "Ignoring it won't make it go away."
The table fell quiet.
Then TR suddenly stood up. "Arcade."
"What?" PL asked.
"Arcade," TR repeated. "Right now. Before this turns into a group therapy session."
TZ snapped his fingers. "I'm in."
HS smiled. "That could be fun."
Kitty hesitated, then nodded. "Sure."
The arcade was loud enough to drown out thoughts.
Lights flashed. Machines beeped. People shouted at screens. It was chaos in the best way.
TR immediately challenged PL to a basketball game. TZ Royal dragged NS toward a fighting game. HS and Kitty hovered near a claw machine, laughing quietly when it refused to cooperate.
XH stood back for a moment, watching.
Kitty looked lighter here. Freer. Not because she was happier, but because she didn't have to think.
He joined NS at the fighting game after TZ stepped away.
"You good?" XH asked quietly.
NS shrugged. "I'm here."
"That's not an answer."
NS didn't look at him. "It's the only one I have."
They played in silence. Buttons clicked. Characters clashed. NS won by a narrow margin.
"You're distracted," NS said.
XH smiled faintly. "Yeah."
NS exhaled. "I'm not trying to push you."
XH glanced at him. "Then what are you trying to do?"
NS finally met his eyes. "Make you stop pretending this isn't affecting everyone."
XH swallowed. "I know."
Across the arcade, Kitty laughed again, this time louder, as HS finally won a small prize.
She looked happy.
XH felt the distance more sharply because of it.
Later, as they walked back toward campus, the energy softened. Laughter faded into comfortable quiet. The night air cooled things down.
At the gate, Kitty stopped with HS.
"I'm heading in," she said.
XH stepped forward instinctively. "Hey—"
She turned, waiting.
"I just wanted to say… I respect what you said," XH said. "About space."
Kitty nodded. "Thank you."
She paused, then added, "I'm not closing the door. I'm just not standing in it anymore."
The words were gentle.
They still hurt.
She walked inside.
NS watched from a distance, saying nothing.
TR clapped his hands suddenly. "Well. That was emotionally productive."
PL laughed weakly. "Was it?"
"No," TR admitted. "But at least we tried."
As XH walked back to his dorm alone, he realized something that unsettled him.
Kitty wasn't pulling away to punish him.
She was pulling away to survive.
And the campus, with all its eyes and whispers and invisible rankings, was quietly encouraging it.
The pressure wasn't forcing him to choose yet.
But it was making waiting harder.
And somewhere deep down, XH knew the longer he waited, the more he would lose without ever deciding to.