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She never planned to fall for him. He never thought she'd be the one. When shy Mia meets Jake, the charming new guy with a mysterious past, sparks fly-and so do the feelings she can't ignore. But love isn't always easy. Secrets, misunderstandings, and teenage doubts stand in their way. Can Mia and Jake find their way to each other before it's too late? A heartfelt story of first love, friendship, and fighting for what matters most
Chapter 1 The Boy Behind the Window
I've always had a thing for the window seat.
It's my quiet spot, the only place in class where I can watch the trees sway and let my thoughts drift while pretending to pay attention. No one bothers you when you sit by the window. It's like being half-invisible.
At least, it used to be.
Until he took it.
The bell had just rung, and I was halfway across the room when I saw him-already sitting in my seat. Backpack on the floor, hoodie pulled halfway over his head like he didn't want to be noticed.
He definitely got the opposite.
Girls were whispering. Some were giggling. Harper nudged me with her elbow, whispering, "That's him. The new guy. Jake something."
Jake.
The name settled in my chest like a flutter.
He looked up just then. His eyes were the kind you could get lost in-deep, gray, stormy. We stared for a second too long, and I looked away first.
I took the seat in front of him. Not because I wanted to. But because it was the only one left. Or that's what I told myself.
"Class," Mr. Dale called out, clapping his hands. "Let's welcome Jake Thompson. He's just transferred here from Chicago."
Chicago. That explained the hoodie in spring.
Jake gave a small nod. No smile. No wave. Just that cool, guarded stare like he'd seen too much to care about small talk.
He didn't say a word for the rest of class. But somehow, I could feel him behind me the whole time. Not in a creepy way. Just... aware. Like he was a presence. Like he carried silence like armor.
At some point, I dropped my pen. Before I could even lean down, his hand reached around, picked it up, and placed it on my desk.
I turned. "Thanks."
He nodded, just once.
And I swear... my fingers tingled where they touched the pen.
At lunch, Harper was buzzing. "So? Tell me everything. What's he like up close?"
"I don't know," I muttered, stabbing my salad. "He didn't say much."
"But he sat in your seat."
"It's not my seat."
"It was. Everyone knows it's yours." She leaned in with a smirk. "Maybe it's fate."
I rolled my eyes, but inside? A tiny part of me wondered the same thing.
After school, I stayed behind to return a library book. As I walked past the empty art room, something made me pause.
Jake was inside. Alone.
He wasn't sketching. Just standing there, staring at a mural half-painted on the wall. It was abstract-blues and golds blending like a sky in motion.
For someone who didn't speak much, his eyes said a lot. There was something in them. Something lost. Or maybe something searching.
He turned, caught me watching.
I froze. "Sorry-didn't mean to stare."
"It's fine." His voice was low, softer than I expected.
"I, um, like that painting too."
He nodded. "It looks like freedom."
The way he said it made my chest tighten.
"You draw?" I asked.
"Sometimes." He looked at the mural again. "Mostly when I can't sleep."
I didn't know what to say to that. So I just stood there, in the doorway, heart racing.
Then he looked at me again, directly this time.
"What's your name?"
"Mia."
He nodded once. "See you tomorrow, Mia."
And just like that, he walked out-leaving me standing there, completely and totally breathless.
That night, I lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling. The silence around me felt different-charged. Like the air after a storm.
I'd known him for less than a day.
He'd barely said ten words.
But already, Jake Thompson was taking up more space in my thoughts than he had any right to.
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