blurred lines in a forbidden fairytale

{16} seduction

Taylor's POV:

The next two weeks feel like I'm moving through someone else's life. Travis and I are officially together, and everyone knows it. He's sweet—thoughtful, even. Always holding my hand in the hallways, bringing me coffee before class, and leaving little notes in my office when I'm not around. He beams when he introduces me to our colleagues as his girlfriend, and they all seem genuinely happy for us. It's... nice. I should be happy.

But I'm not.

I feel off. Out of place. Every time we're together, there's this undercurrent of discomfort. Like I'm playing along with a scene in someone else's story, pretending this is what I want. Pretending I'm all in, when really, I'm not sure what I'm doing.

"Hey, babe," Travis says one afternoon after school, meeting me by my classroom door. "You wanna grab dinner tonight? Maybe that new Italian place?"

I force a smile, feeling lucky I haven't eaten anything yet. "Sure, sounds great."

His hand slips into mine as we walk down the hallway, but the moment his fingers touch my skin, a tight knot forms in my chest. I glance over my shoulder, almost involuntarily, scanning the hall for Aurora. It's become a habit now—looking for her. Wondering where she is, what she's thinking. And when I see her, like I do now, standing with a group of people by the lockers, my heart stutters.

She catches my eye for the briefest second, and her expression hardens. I can't read her, but I feel it—a tension between us that's been building since the shooting. Or maybe it's been building even longer than that.

I tear my gaze away and focus on Travis. He's talking about his weekend plans—some hiking trip he's planning with a couple of his friends—and asking if I want to come along. "We could drive up Saturday morning, get some fresh air, maybe do a little wine tasting afterward?" He grins, clearly excited about the idea.

I nod, barely hearing him. "Yeah, sounds fun."

But it doesn't. It sounds like another weekend where I'll have to pretend everything's fine, where I'll have to smile and laugh at all the right moments. Where I'll have to eat in front of him and act like the food doesn't make me want to throw up. However, he hasn't seemed to notice that I'm dropping pound after pound.

As we pass the front entrance of the school, I glance back again, just in time to see Aurora looking in our direction. She's standing with Maya, apparently they have resolved their problems because I recognized how the two of them hadn't been talking for a while. But her attention is fixed on us—or rather, on Travis's hand in mine. For a moment, her expression falters, like she's torn between anger and something else. Something I don't want to think about too much.

"Taylor? You good?" Travis asks, squeezing my hand lightly.

I blink, bringing myself back to the present. "Yeah, sorry. Just thinking about something."

"You've been distracted lately," he notes, but it's gentle, like he's not trying to pry. "Everything okay? If something's bothering you, you can talk to me."

I open my mouth to answer, but I don't know what to say. I'm distracted, yes. But how do I tell him why? That his touch feels like pressure, that my thoughts keep drifting back to a student, of all people? That there's a storm of guilt and confusion swirling inside me every time I see her?

"I'm fine, just... school stuff." It's a lame excuse, but he buys it.

"You're overworked. You need a break," he says, wrapping an arm around my waist as we head out into the parking lot. "Maybe this weekend will help."

I smile again, because it's easier than explaining the truth. "Yeah. Maybe."

The weekend comes and goes, and I spend most of it with Travis. We hike, we go out to dinner, we visit a winery like he planned, and he's sweet the whole time. But no matter how kind he is, I can't shake the feeling that something's wrong. The meals are the hardest part—sitting across from him at dinner, watching the way he looks at me, expecting me to eat like everything's fine.