I got paired up for a project—with the weird guy, the quiet one. He was cute to look at, but that was all.
Messy hair , glasses , Tall , a bit of a nerd. The typical turn on for most of us. An easy target for bullies but something about him just kept everyone away.
We worked on the project for a while and Vee was right. He is creepy.
Too organised. Too perfect like even a small mistake would make the world crumble.
I didn't say much at first, just kept glancing at him, remembering the way he had stood at James' funeral.
Unbothered.
Then, I brought it up.
"You… knew James, right?"
He didn't look up from his book.
"Knew?" A slight pause. "Past tense?"
I hesitated. "Well… yeah. He's dead."
Silence stretched between us.
Then, he turned a page, completely calm.
"If you step off a ledge, gravity pulls you down. It's not personal."
I felt something in my chest go cold. Did he really not care? Was he messing with me?
"You're talking like it was his fault."
He finally met my gaze.
"It was."
Chills ran down my spine. I waited—for a smirk, a tell, something that said he was messing with me.
But there was nothing. Just silence.
"Step off a ledge, and gravity pulls you down. It's not personal."
The words looped in my head, and I couldn't decipher why they bothered me so much.
He was new. Maybe they weren't as close as I thought. It shouldn't matter.
But it did. Because even if they weren't close , even if he barely knew James there wasn't even a flicker of hesitation or awkwardness. It was like he truly believed it was James' fault.
Because something about the way he said it made me feel like…
It was personal.