Just Friends

At Westbrook High, everyone knows Maya Brooks and Noah Calloway.

They're always together-walking into class side by side, sharing headphones in the back row, laughing a little too easily like the rest of the world doesn't quite reach them. Teachers assume they're dating. Friends tease them about it constantly.

But they always give the same answer.

"Just friends."

And it's true... at least, that's what they've always told themselves.

Maya has rules: don't ruin what's already perfect, don't risk the one person who's always been there, and definitely don't fall for your best friend. Noah has his own reasons for staying quiet-because as long as things stay the same, he doesn't have to face what losing her would feel like.

But junior year changes everything.

New people. New attention. New possibilities.

When Maya starts getting closer to someone else, Noah realizes too late that maybe he's not as okay with "just friends" as he thought. And when Noah pulls away, acting colder than she's ever seen him, Maya is left questioning everything she thought she understood about him-and herself.

Suddenly, the space between them feels heavier. The looks last longer. The words they don't say start to matter more than the ones they do.

Because somewhere between late-night calls, shared glances across crowded hallways, and almost moments that never quite happen...

"Just friends" stops being enough.

And the closer they get to the truth, the more they risk losing everything they've always been to each other.