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Digital painting of a teenage girl with purple hair and a teenage boy with glasses facing each other in a gym hallway.

Digital painting of a teenage girl with purple hair and a teenage boy with glasses facing each other in a gym hallway.

Title: “Roy Keeps Running” Roy had a secret. He liked Lila. She was tall, confident, sharp-eyed, with purple hair always pulled up into a messy bun like she didn’t have time to care how cool she looked—which somehow made her even cooler. Roy, on the other hand, was the kind of guy who wore hoodies even in the summer, barely spoke above a whisper, and acted like eye contact was a personal threat. No one expected Lila to notice him. But she did. The First Time Roy was at his locker when Lila leaned against the one next to his and said, “You always look like you’re planning your escape.” He dropped his books, made a noise that wasn’t quite a word, and sprinted down the hall. Lila just smirked. “Cute.” The Second Time They were paired in science. Roy tried to focus on the experiment, but when Lila leaned in and whispered, “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna bite,” he accidentally flung a pencil across the room and excused himself to the nurse’s office. Diagnosis: nervous energy. The Third Time Lila caught him behind the gym. “You wanna hang out this weekend?” she asked. “I—uh—I have to feed my goldfish,” Roy blurted. “You don’t have a goldfish.” “I do now!” he shouted, running away again. Still, she didn’t give up. The Gym Incident During gym class, Roy was sitting near the bleachers tying his shoe—again—when Lila walked over. “You’re not escaping this time,” she said. “Wasn’t planning to,” Roy lied. She raised an eyebrow, then stepped in close. One hand landed lightly on the wall See more