My Enigma

Chapter Twenty

Auroras POV

How did we get here? One minute, Luke and I were... something. Maybe not official, maybe not defined, but something. We talked for hours and laughed about the dumbest things, and his eyes—those soft, deep eyes—always made me feel like I mattered, like he saw me for me. But then, out of nowhere, he disappeared and just went silent.

After how things went down the last time we saw each other, I felt some type of way. I tried texting a casual 'Hey' the following day, but it went unanswered. Still, it was marked as 'Seen,' after that, I decided I would just stop reaching out altogether. What was the point if I was just going to be ignored?

He has never reached out to me or tried; Nothing but silence, and it fucking sucked.

What the hell had really happened? I needed closure; I deserved that much, at least.

Ugh, I fucking hated feeling like this.

What hurts more is that I thought we had something real. Luke felt different. There were moments between us—fleeting but so intense—that left me thinking he felt it, too. The way his hand lingered when we passed drinks around, the way his laugh would catch whenever I said something that wasn't even funny, the almost kiss we shared; it felt as if we were in on a secret that no one else could see. I could continue, but it would not change what's happening.

That was then, but now? Now it's like I don't exist. And when we're all together with the rest of our friends, its weight suffocates me. It's not just the distance—it's how he shuts me out. I'll try to catch his eye, test the waters, and see if something remains of whatever it was we had. Nothing.

It was so bad that even Connor noticed the shift in energy. To my surprise, he did not ask anything or make any rude comments. He just gave me a look I could not decipher most of the time and kept to himself, which I really appreciated.

Every time I got to where the group was, Luke would go silent. Even if he was talking, he would just stop mid-sentence and look away. That made things so weird and awkward because everyone would turn to me, give me a pitiful look, and then Gabe and Hanna would carry the conversation from there with little chimes from Connor and me.

Luke is cold now. Polite but cold. Sometimes, the group chats like nothing has changed, and the tension isn't palpable between us. Still, I can feel it gnawing at the edges of every conversation. I try. God, do I try. I talk to him, pretending like the silence between us isn't driving me insane. But each time, he's curt. Dismissive. Like I'm just another person in the room, not the girl he used to spend hours texting late at night.

Last week, I made the mistake of asking him if he wanted to grab a drink after the group hangout. He barely looked at me, barely acknowledged my words. "Nah, I've got stuff to do," he mumbled before turning to someone else to change the subject just like that. I felt the pit in my stomach grow. Everyone pretended not to notice, but I knew they did. The awkwardness was undeniable, even if no one talked about it.

Now, every time we're all together, there's this invisible barrier between us. The others can sense it, too. Conversations feel more stilted when I'm around, as if they're treading carefully. I've seen those side glances from our friends, their looks filled with questions they won't ask. The entire group is holding its breath, waiting for something to snap between Luke and me.

But it's more than just awkward. It's painful. Because I care. I didn't mean to; I didn't want to, but it happened. Somewhere along the way, I started falling for him, for the easy way we used to be around each other, for the unspoken connection that always seemed to hang in the air between us. I don't know what I did to make him pull away like this. Maybe I'm overthinking it, but I keep replaying every interaction we had, trying to find where it started going downhill.