By the following week, Conrad had become a regular part of my daily routine.
Which was ridiculous.
He’d show up before school.
Text me during class.
Wait for me after school.
Send me random pictures of things he thought I’d find funny.
And somehow…
I always replied.
Sometimes immediately.
Sometimes after pretending I hadn’t been waiting for his message.
Parker noticed.
Kennedy noticed.
Even my mother noticed.
Apparently, I was the only person who hadn’t figured out what was happening.
Or maybe I had.
I just didn’t want to say it out loud.
Because saying it would make it real.
“You’re staring again.”
I looked up.
Conrad was sitting across from me at the café.
“I wasn’t staring.”
“You were.”
“I was thinking.”
“About me?”
“No.”
He smiled.
“You’re lying.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You’re incredibly confident for someone who looks like that.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Like what?”
I froze.
I’d walked straight into that one.
“Annoying.”
He laughed.
“That’s not what you were going to say.”
“Yes, it was.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
I took a sip of my drink.
He kept staring.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Then stop looking at me.”
“I can’t.”
My stomach fluttered.
He seemed to realize what he’d said.
For once, Conrad looked slightly embarrassed.
He looked away.
I smiled.
“You’re blushing.”
He looked back at me.
“Shut up.”
I laughed.
“Who’s embarrassed now?”
He shook his head.
“You’ve gotten brave.”
“Maybe I’ve always been brave.”
“Maybe.”
There was that look again.
The one that made me forget what I was about to say.
I looked down at my drink.
“You’re doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“Looking at me like that.”
He was quiet.
Then he said,
“Maybe I’m trying to figure something out.”
“What?”
He leaned back.
“You.”
I frowned.
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
“What about me?”
He shrugged.
“I don’t know.”
That somehow made my heart beat faster.
That evening, Parker and Kennedy were sitting on my bedroom floor.
They were arguing over a hoodie.
“Give it back.”
“No.”
“It’s mine.”
“You left it at my house.”
“Because you stole it.”
“I borrowed it.”
“You’ve had it for three weeks.”
Kennedy looked at me.
“Tell her.”
I stared at them.
“Tell her what?”
“That this is mine.”
Parker scoffed.
“She won’t.”
I looked between them.
“You two are weird.”
They both went silent.
“What?”
“Nothing,” Parker said.
Kennedy looked away.
I narrowed my eyes.
“Wait.”
They both looked at me.
“Do you guys like each other?”
Silence.
Parker’s face turned red.
Kennedy suddenly became fascinated with the sleeve of the hoodie.
“No.”
“Absolutely not.”
They answered at exactly the same time.
I stared.
“Okay.”
Neither looked convincing.
Later that night, Conrad picked me up.
We drove around town with the windows down, music playing softly through the speakers.
Bailey Falls looked beautiful at night.
Streetlights reflected against the pavement.
Restaurants were still open.
People walked along the sidewalks.
For once, the town didn’t feel haunted.
It felt alive.
Conrad pulled into a quiet overlook outside town.
We sat on the hood of his car.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
Then he said,
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“What are we?”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
He turned toward me.
“We’re always together.”
“We’re friends.”
“Are we?”
I frowned.
“Yes.”
He smiled slightly.
“Do friends text each other until two in the morning?”
“Some do.”
“Do friends get jealous when the other talks to someone else?”
“I don’t get jealous.”
“You do.”
“I don’t.”
He laughed.
“Okay.”
He looked away.
Then his voice became quieter.
“I’m not asking you to date me.”
I blinked.
“You’re not?”
“No.”
“Then what are you asking?”
He looked back at me.
“I just want to know if you feel whatever this is.”
I swallowed.
I looked down at my hands.
Did I?
I didn’t know.
But I knew I liked being around him.
I knew I looked forward to his messages.
I knew my stomach did something ridiculous whenever he smiled at me.
And I knew that when he wasn’t around…
I sometimes wondered when he’d be back.
“I think…”
I paused.
“I think I do.”
His expression softened.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah.”
He smiled.
“That’s enough for me.”
We sat there quietly.
Our shoulders were almost touching.
Neither of us moved away.
I looked at him.
He looked at me.
For a second, I thought he might lean closer.
My heart began pounding.
Then my phone rang.
I practically jumped.
Conrad laughed.
“Saved by the bell.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Shut up.”
I answered the call.
It was Cam.
“Where are you?”
“Out.”
“With who?”
I looked at Conrad.
“Conrad.”
There was silence.
Then Cam said,
“Be home soon.”
“Okay.”
I hung up.
Conrad was smiling.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“What?”
“You said my name like you liked saying it.”
I shoved his shoulder.
“You’re ridiculous.”
He laughed.
On the drive home, I looked out the window.
Conrad’s hand rested casually on the gearshift.
My hand was beside it.
Neither of us touched.
But the space between our hands suddenly felt strangely important.
I looked at him.
He glanced at me.
Our eyes met.
He smiled.
I smiled back.
And that was it.
Nothing happened.
No promises.
No labels.
No declarations.
Just two people sitting beside each other, pretending that whatever was happening between us didn’t matter.
But it did.
At least…
I thought it did.
Because for the first time since waking up, I wasn’t thinking about the forest.
I wasn’t thinking about the creature.
I wasn’t thinking about the strange memories that sometimes slipped through my mind.
I was thinking about Conrad.
And somewhere deep inside this perfect version of my life…
Something had begun to take root.
Something real enough to hurt.
And when the truth finally came…
I would have to decide whether it had ever truly belonged to me.