Davis's POV:
At first, there was this boundary between Anna and me—a boundary of being just best friends. It had never bothered me before. But that was before I met her again, before we spent time together like old times, and everything started to feel... different.
But now Anna had this strange resolve, a compulsion almost, that she wouldn't date anyone. At first, I thought it was one of her jokes, the kind she used to crack when she wanted to deflect from something. But the more she talked about it, the more I realized she wasn't joking. She was serious—completely done with the idea of relationships.
It didn't help that my fleeting stint with Sasha, meant to spark jealousy in Anna, backfired entirely. Instead of drawing her closer, it pushed her further away. She became more withdrawn, more set in this "single forever" mindset that shattered the small hope I'd been holding onto.
One of the days, we talked about it—or rather, I tried to. "C'mon, you're not really serious about this."
Her reply was instant. "I am. I'm going to be single forever. It's so much better. Relationships just aren't my thing."
Her words hit harder than I wanted to admit. She sounded so disinterested, so convinced. And I began to wonder if I was destined to stay on the other side of that boundary forever— or perhaps, break through the wall she had built around herself?
...
Third person POV:
"I don't remember you being in the decoration team." Davis shot a look at Ryan who was there in the art room.
"Well, clearly, I'm here because of someone. Just like you." Ryan teased back.
"Me? I'm not here because of anyone." Davis acted, nonchalantly.
"Then why do you keep staring at her." Ryan raised his eyebrows and subtly gestured toward Anna.
"I.. just" Ryan laughed at Davis's stuttering. "Don't just sit back like a lovesick and stare." He added, "Go on, make a move."
"Seriously? You're telling me? Like you have the balls to make a move on Ashley? And Anna and I are just friends." Davis mocked him.
"Nonsense. At least I admit that I like her. I drop many hints and flirt with her every chance I get."
"Talk about it when it works."
Their bickering stopped as Ryan went near Ashley, making a show of helping her with something. Seeing the drama in front of him, Davis got up and wandered over to where Anna sat.
She was cross-legged on the wooden floor, her head bent as she carefully cut colorful paper into intricate shapes for decoration. Besides her rested some crafted items like flowers in different patterns.
Davis teasingly says, "Look at you, all focused. I didn’t know cutting paper could be this intense."
Anna glances up, brushing a strand of hair from her face, a faint smudge of red glitter on her cheek.
Anna smirked , "It’s a delicate art."
"Sure, and to make it more interesting, I brought glitter and more coloured papers." He replied.
"Omg, that's great. Perfect timing. I was running out of these."
She leans forward to reach for the items, but Davis crouches down at the same moment to hand it to her. Their hands brush lightly as her fingers close around the edge of the box. The contact is brief but electric, and Anna freezes for a split second, her gaze flickering to his face.
They break away their eye contact and Anna takes the stuff as Davis coughs lightly shaking away the heat of the moment.
"BTW, Marshall. Are you supposed to sparkle up your face, too?" He sits down near her crossing his legs too and gazes at her cheek. "What?" She looked at him with her big doe eyes in confusion. He gestured towards her face and pointed to his own cheek to tell her where the glitter was.
“Oh.” She touched her face with her fingers but only managed to smear the glitter further.
Davis chuckled, shaking his head. “You just made it worse.”
Anna glared at him, but the corners of her lips twitched as though she was trying not to smile.
...
Davis watched Ryan and Ashley getting close to each other through such small interactions and it did seem like something was going on between the two and Ryan did tell the guys that Ashley flirts back to him, completely taking and giving back the hint and he would ask her out soon.
Though, his own interactions with Anna were sweet but they were far from romantic and neither did she catch a hint. Instead, she acted like she felt nothing, just a friendly gesture. At this point, he just gave up on any kind of hope he had about getting close to her. He planned on being just outside the boundary and acting as a best friend he was and convinced himself that there was no chance of anything more.
...
Later, as Davis left the art room, bored and restless, a girl sprinting down the corridor crashed into him, scattering papers everywhere.
“Shit, I’m sorry!” Davis said, crouching to help her gather the documents.
“It’s fine,” the girl said hurriedly. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
Davis noticed her wince as she tried to stand, one hand clutching her ankle. “You okay?” he asked, offering her a hand.
She nodded, taking it as she steadied herself. “Yeah, just twisted it a little.”
They exchanged a brief smile before she hurried off.
In the cafeteria later, Davis noticed the same girl approaching their table. She smiled warmly at him. “Thanks for earlier. I was in such a rush. I’m Kate, by the way.”
“Davis,” he said, shaking her hand.
...
Anna's POV;
"You know what? Kate sent me a request on instagram." A text from Davis popped up. "Kate?" I asked.
"The girl who ran into me in the corridor, I know you saw it." He wrote.
"Yeah, of course."
"Should I accept it?" He asked.
"Why are you asking me?" I typed back, annoyed.
"Because you're my bestie."
Was this some new trick to remind me every time?
I didn't know at this point why he told me all of this. I was definitely his best friend, and I was supposed to hear about all his antics and interests. But why did it bother me? It bothered me. Initially, I had felt a tinge of something, a spark, between us. When I met after such a long time and started to hang out together, I had gotten close to him. But then he started dating Sasha, though it ended briefly.
And he told me about all the girls he talked to and now, Kate. He was so casual with dating and he talked to more girls in college than all the people I've known here.
He's just not my type. It's time I shoved any bad ideas I had to the back of my mind. I was not ready to prepare myself for another heartbreak. That was the truth behind all the "forever gonna be a single" facade. I very well knew what it was like; you trust someone, you love them with all your heart and they break it. If they don't, things don't work out and you both break up. And I didn't want any of that.
I drowned so hard in love once, now I was afraid to ever try swimming again.
YOU ARE READING
Invisible String.
Romance"She built a fortress around her shattered heart, each stone laid with ache of love lost. But someone knew her before the walls were raised, he knew her far beyond than anyone else. Even though, she always kept him at arm's length, he danced with h...
