15 parts Ongoing Mature**Prologue**
Ella's eyes narrowed as Harry crossed the street, his smug smile as infuriating as ever. It was the same smile that had haunted her since childhood, the one he wore whenever he knew he'd won. And today, like every day before, he had won-though she would never admit it aloud.
"You still here, Ella?" His voice was as sharp as it had always been, carrying a tone that made her skin crawl. He always seemed to take pleasure in her frustration, like a predator savoring the chase. "Thought you'd have given up by now."
She clutched her bag tighter, fighting the urge to throw it in his face. Not today. Not this time.
They'd been rivals since their first race down the hill in primary school, each one determined to outdo the other in every petty way imaginable. Even now, years later, their paths never crossed without a verbal sparring match. He was everything she hated: arrogant, reckless, and with a smile that never failed to make her want to punch him.
But then, something changed.
It wasn't the usual flaring tension, the old animosity that had been written in the very air they breathed. No-it was something deeper, something neither of them understood yet, something that simmered beneath the surface every time their eyes met.
Ella just couldn't figure out why it suddenly hurt so much when he left her standing there, with his back turned, and that stupid smile still lingering on his face.
Maybe it was the way he looked at her now, as if she wasn't just the girl he'd spent years trying to outshine.
Or maybe, it was the way she found herself hoping... hoping he'd turn back around.
But for now, she simply shook her head, letting the silence between them stretch longer than either of them would dare admit.
This time, it would be different. She didn't know how yet-but she was going to find out.