Maya shouldn't have followed him, she knew that.
Even as she stepped past the school gates, even as the noise of Crestview High faded behind her, something in her chest kept warning her to stop but she didn't.
The boy walked ahead like he expected her to keep up, didn't look back, didn't ask just moved and somehow, that pulled her in more.
"Where are we going?" she asked finally.
He didn't answer immediately.
Then
"Somewhere you shouldn't be."
That should've been enough to make her turn back, it wasn't.
They crossed the street.
Took a narrow path behind an abandoned building just a few blocks from the school.
The air changed quieter, heavier, and wrong.
Maya slowed slightly.
"This isn't funny."
He stopped.
Turned.
Looked at her like she was the one being strange.
"I'm not joking."
Silence stretched.
Then he stepped closer.
Lowered his voice.
"You wanted the truth, right?"
Maya swallowed.
"Yeah."
"Then don't panic when you see it."
Her chest tightened.
But she nodded anyway.
He pushed open a rusted door.
The smell hit her first.
Smoke.
Something chemical.
Something sharp.
Maya hesitated.
Then stepped inside.
The room wasn't empty.
Far from it.
Three guys sat around a table.
Money, Small packets, a scale.
Maya froze.
Her brain struggled to catch up.
"This is what you dragged me into?" she said quietly.
The boy stepped past her like it was nothing.
"Relax."
Relax?
Her stomach twisted.
One of the guys looked up.
His eyes moved from the boy to her.
"Who's that?"
"No one," the boy replied.
Maya stiffened.
No one?
"She doesn't look like no one," another guy said, smirking slightly.
The boy shot him a look.
"Focus on your work."
The tension in the room shifted.
Not friendly, not welcoming.
Maya's fingers curled slightly.
"You deal drugs."
It wasn't a question.
He didn't deny it.
Didn't even react.
"It's business."
That word again.
Like it made everything normal.
Maya took a step back.
Her heart racing now.
"I shouldn't be here."
"Too late," he said.
Her head snapped up.
"What?"
He stepped closer.
Close enough for his voice to drop.
"You already are."
Her chest tightened.
Something about that felt like a door closing behind her.
"Relax," he added. "I'm not dragging you into anything."
"That's exactly what you're doing."
A loud sound cut through the room.
The door.
Everyone turned.
Two guys walked in.
Not from their group.
Different, harder, dangerous.
The energy changed instantly.
"Didn't know you were running a business here," one of them said slowly.
The boy's body went still.
Then relaxed again.
Too controlled.
"What do you want?" he asked.
The guy's eyes flicked to Maya.
Then back.
"You're getting careless."
Maya's chest tightened.
She shouldn't be here.
She really shouldn't.
"This doesn't concern you," the boy replied.
The guy smiled.
"It does now."
Everything happened fast after that.
A shove, a curse, a fist and chaos exploded.
Maya stumbled back as the first punch landed.
Then another.
Then everything blurred.
Tables flipped, Money scattered.
Someone shouted.
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
Too fast and too loud.
She turned and tried to move.
A hand grabbed her, very hard.
"Where do you think you're going?" one of the rival guys snapped and panic hit instantly.
"Let go of me!"
He tightened his grip.
Then there was a sharp and brutal hit
It was the boy, her boy.
He slammed into the guy, pulling Maya free.
"Stay behind me," he said.
Her breathing was uneven.
Her hands shaking.
But she didn't move.
She couldn't.
The fight got worse.
Maya's stomach twisted hard.
"Go!" he shouted at her.
She shook her head.
"I can't"
"Go!"
But before she could move a sound, distant. Then louder.
Sirens.
Everyone froze.
Just for a second.
"Police!" someone shouted.
Everything broke.
"Move!"
"Grab the stuff!"
"Go, go!"
Panic spread like fire.
The boy grabbed her wrist hard.
"Run."
They ran through the back exit.
Through narrow alleys.
Past buildings that all looked the same.
Maya's chest burned.
Her legs barely keeping up.
"Faster," he said.
"I'm trying!"
Her breath came out uneven.
Her head spinning.
They didn't stop until they reached a quiet street far from everything.
He finally let go.
Maya bent slightly, trying to catch her breath.
Her hands still shaking.
"What… was that?" she managed.
He ran a hand through his hair.
Like it was nothing.
"Trouble."
She let out a dry laugh.
"That's your definition of trouble?"
He looked at her.
Really looked this time.
"You're still here."
Her chest tightened.
"I almost got dragged into whatever that was!"
"But you didn't," he said calmly.
Maya stared at him.
Anger rising but fear still there.
"You lied to me."
"I didn't," he replied.
"You said it was nothing."
"I said it was business."
That word again.
Her jaw tightened.
"I'm not doing this."
She turned and started walking.
"Then walk away," he said behind her.
She stopped.
"If you can," he added.
Her chest tightened again but slowly
She turned back.
"Why me?"
He didn't answer immediately.
"Because you didn't run."
That wasn't the answer she expected.
Footsteps approached from behind.
Maya turned and it was Kai.
Standing there and watching everything.
His eyes moved from her to the boy then back to maya.
"You shouldn't be here," Kai said.
Maya exhaled sharply. "I'm starting to hear that a lot too."
Kai ignored that.
His eyes stayed on the boy.
"He's trouble."
The boy smirked slightly.
"And you're not?"
Something dangerous flickered between them.
Maya stepped in.
"Stop."
Kai looked at her.
His voice lower now.
"You don't know what you're getting into."
Maya's chest tightened.
"I didn't ask to be part of this."
"But you are," Kai said.
Those words again.
Her breathing slowed.
But her thoughts didn't but everything felt too fast, too heavy, too real.
The school, the teacher, the drugs, the fight, the blood.
She looked at both of them.
Two different worlds, both dangerous.
And somehow she was standing right in the middle.
The boy stepped back slightly.
"Your choice," he said.
Kai didn't move.
For a second she thought about walking away.
Pretending none of this happened.
But then she remembered the girl on the floor.
The blood in the hallway.
There was no normal to go back to.
Her fingers curled slowly into fists.
"I'm not done," she said quietly.
Both of them went still and in that moment,
Maya crossed a line she couldn't even see.
Because this time it wasn't an accident anymore she chose it.