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Chapter 18

The hallway between second and third period was always busy, but today it felt suffocating. Jaden — still trapped in Jenna's body — pushed through the clusters of students, clutching her books tight to her chest the way Jenna explained people usually did when they didn't want attention.

He could feel eyes on him anyway. Jenna was popular enough that people naturally watched where she went, even when she wasn't trying to stand out. He wasn't used to it; in his real body he blended into the background. But now, even walking felt like being under a spotlight.

He was halfway to his locker when he heard the voice.

"Jennaaa..."

Tyler.

Jaden froze for half a second. He didn't want to, but his body reacted like prey hearing a twig snap.

Tyler stepped out from the wall with that same overconfident tilt to his shoulders, like he owned the oxygen in the hallway. He gave Jaden a slow look up and down — the kind of look that made Jaden's stomach drop.

"Hey," Tyler said, planting his palm against the lockers right beside Jaden's head. The metal rang from the sudden smack. "You've been avoiding me."

Jaden swallowed, pretending to be unfazed even though every nerve in his borrowed skin was buzzing.

"I've just been busy," he said evenly.

Tyler leaned in closer, invading the space like he had a right to it. "Too busy for me? Really?"

Students passed behind them, some glancing over, some whispering, none stopping. To them, this probably looked normal—Tyler flirting with Jenna again. To Jaden, it felt like being pinned.

"I need to get to class," Jaden muttered, trying to step away.

Tyler shifted his stance and blocked him without even touching—yet.

Tyler's hand came down on Jaden's shoulder, heavy and overly familiar. His thumb pressed right into the muscle at the top,

It wasn't a massage in the nice sense. It was a claim. A reminder of power.

Jaden stiffened immediately. He knew Tyler did this to women and didn't care but know things are different for him

He hated how Jenna's body reacted — a small involuntary flinch, a tightening of the breath. It frustrated him, made him feel ungrounded. He wasn't used to being approached like this, let alone touched without permission.

"You seem tense," Tyler said lightly, like he was doing him some kind of favor. "Let me help."

Tyler's hand tightened, sliding a little lower along the curve of the shoulder blade. Jaden felt the movement acutely — not because it was pleasurable, but because it was entirely wrong, unwelcome, and humiliating. His throat tightened as heat crawled up the back of his neck and he felt his entire body shaking.

"Tyler, don't," Jaden said, sharper this time.

Tyler either didn't hear or pretended not to. His fingers drifted down Jenna's upper back briefly before coming forward again.

Tyler shifted closer, dropping his hand from the back of the shoulder to the front of Jaden's chest right on top of his breasts as he leaned in. His palm pressed flat against the breast.

Violating every bit of privacy

Jaden froze.

The touch wasn't even firm — just a slow, sliding motion downward until Tyler's hand rested against the center of the chest in a way that made Jaden's entire body tense like a wire stretched too thin.