Unexpected Love [GXG]

Chapter 23: Unsaid Under The Stars

POV: Enid

I didn’t sleep well last night. My pillow still smelled faintly of Olivia’s perfume, and that alone had me flipping over again and again until the moon gave up and traded places with the sun.

By the time I stepped through the school gates, I was running on maybe three hours of slee.

I kept my eyes low, letting the buzz of morning chatter wash over me as I slipped through the halls like a ghost. No one said anything, but I could feel it—the rumors clinging to the walls like cobwebs. Whispers. Stares. The weight of words I didn’t want to hear.

"Is it true about her and Olivia?"

"Maybe it was just a dare again…"

"Didn’t Maxine like her too?"

I didn’t stop to listen. I didn’t have the energy to care.

I took the long way around to my locker, dodging the usual corners and cutting through the science wing until I found myself… back in the library.

Safe. Quiet. Hidden.

I picked up a random book from the shelf without really reading the title—something old, the cover soft and worn, the kind of story that smelled like forgotten memories and overused metaphors. I didn’t care. I just wanted something to distract me from the spiral my brain was in.

I sat cross-legged in the furthest corner of the reading room, the pages open but my eyes unfocused. Every few seconds, I kept thinking of her. Olivia. Her voice. Her hands wrapped around mine in the dark. Her eyes when she looked at me like I meant something.

And then I thought of Maxine.

Of how she looked at me too, but softer. Like she saw someone worth protecting, not someone to be figured out or pushed until I broke.

A shadow fell over my book.

“Hey,” a voice said gently.

I looked up.

Maxine.

Her hair was pulled back into a slick ponytail today, her makeup subtle but flawless. She had that same unreadable expression on her face—cool, confident, but her eyes… her eyes were kind.

"You okay?" she asked, folding her arms, shifting her weight to one hip."There’s like three different stories about you floating around."

I blinked, closing the book.

"Which one did you hear?" I asked flatly.

"The one where you and Olivia kissed again," Maxine said, sitting down across from me without permission. "And the one where she ghosted you after. And the one where you’re secretly dating Leo."

I snorted."That last one’s actually funny."

"You don’t look like you’re laughing."

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t.

Maxine tilted her head "You don’t have to explain anything, you know. Just… I’ve been there. It sucks when people think they know your story."

Her words settled around me like a blanket I didn’t ask for but needed anyway.

"Thanks," I said quietly.

She nodded, not pushing for more.

We just sat there for a while, the silence between us more comforting than any words could be.

Until she says, "come to the beach party this weekend?" Her voice was so soft.

The bell rang.

Maxine stood up, reaching her hand out to help me stand on my feet–which I did, with her help.