After the meeting at the old spot, things didn't explode.
They just… shifted.
For a few days, everyone acted unusually careful.
Julian spoke to Grace normally in 6A, but softer. Thoughtful.
Theo texted once in the group chat: "We should hang out sometime."
No date followed.
Nate and Adrian stopped making comments.
But Lucy?
Lucy changed.
At first, it was small.
She stopped coming to the art room stairs.
If Grace passed by 6C during recess, Lucy would already be laughing with Claire, Denise, Peyton, and Audrey.
Every time Grace walked up, the laughter dipped slightly before rising again.
Not obvious.
But noticeable.
One afternoon, Grace decided to sit beside Lucy during a combined recess.
"Hey," Grace said gently.
"Hey," Lucy replied, not looking up from her phone.
Claire was telling a story about something that happened in class.
Lucy laughed.
Grace waited for her to include her.
She didn't.
It wasn't that Lucy was mean.
It was that she was distant.
And distance can feel colder than anger.
In 6A, Julian noticed first.
"You okay?" he asked one day when Grace was unusually quiet.
"She's just busy," Grace said quickly.
Julian didn't push.
But he saw the way Grace looked toward the 6C corridor during lunch.
The real shift happened during group selection for a class activity.
All three sections were mixed randomly.
Grace spotted Lucy across the classroom and gave her a small hopeful look.
Lucy hesitated.
For half a second, it looked like she might walk toward her.
Then Claire tugged her arm. "Lucy, over here!"
Lucy followed.
She didn't look back.
That hurt more than the confrontation.
Because this wasn't misunderstanding.
It was choice.
Later that evening, Grace stared at their old chat again.
She almost typed something.
Are we okay?
But she deleted it.
She had already said her truth.
She wasn't going to beg for reassurance.
Meanwhile, in 6C, Lucy was trying to convince herself she wasn't being unfair.
"She has her people," Claire said casually one day. "Zoey. Ella. David."
Lucy forced a smile. "Yeah. She does."
But every time she saw Grace laughing freely — not forcing it, not chasing anyone — something twisted inside her.
It wasn't hatred.
It wasn't even anger.
It was fear.
Fear of being replaced.
Fear that Grace didn't need her the same way anymore.
And instead of talking about it…
Lucy chose distance.
—
One afternoon during assembly, Grace spotted an empty seat beside Lucy.
She walked over and sat down.
Lucy stiffened slightly but didn't move away.
For a while, neither spoke.
Then Grace whispered, "Did I lose you?"
Lucy kept her eyes on the stage.
"You didn't lose me," she said quietly.
"But you're not trying either."
Grace swallowed.
"I'm tired of being the only one trying."
Lucy's jaw tightened.
"So am I."
That was the problem.
They both felt alone in the same friendship.
And neither knew how to fix it without feeling vulnerable.
The assembly ended.
They stood up.
This time, Lucy walked away first.
Grace didn't stop her.
Because chasing had never worked.
And maybe…
Maybe this was the beginning of something worse than jealousy.
Not a fight.
Not betrayal.
Just two people slowly choosing different directions.