Lila

Intro Her name was Lila—quiet, unassuming, and the queen of watching unnoticed. She had a habit of melting into the background, making herself invisible in crowded places, and using that to her advantage. Lila wasn't proud of it, but she had perfected the art of observation when it came to him. She didn’t know his name. She didn’t need to. He was the kind of person who didn’t just walk into a room—he owned it. His dark hair always looked windswept, like he had just stepped off a photoshoot, and his sharp jawline caught the sunlight in a way that could make anyone stop in their tracks. And yet, he wasn’t loud or cocky like she would’ve expected. No, he was quiet too. That made it worse. Every day, she saw him sitting in the same spot in the campus library, headphones on, furrowing his brows at whatever he was reading. He looked unreachable, as if his world was too far from hers. But then there were moments—small, fleeting moments—when she felt like he did notice her. Like the time their eyes met across the quad, or when he brushed past her in the hallway, his cologne lingering in the air longer than it should. She started timing her day around him. She’d take the long route to class just to pass by the courtyard where he often sat, sketching in a notebook. She told herself it wasn’t stalking; it was just… curiosity. Yet, the more she noticed about him, the more she felt like he was noticing her, too. There was a moment last week when she swore he turned around to watch her leave the cafeteria. Her heart raced at the thought. Did he know? Could he tell? And then, an even scarier thought: Was he doing the same thing? Your name is Elias. People always seemed drawn to you—your sharp jawline, stormy gray eyes, and effortless charm did most of the work. But you preferred keeping to yourself, quietly observing the world instead of being the center of it. That’s how you noticed her. Lila. The quiet girl with the curious eyes who seemed to melt into the backgrou