The morning unfolded in slow waves of sunlight, spilling through the tall windows of the school hallways, gilding the polished floors and making the campaign posters glimmer like trophies in a glass case. Lottie moved through the halls with a calm, steady pace, her fingers grazing the strap of her bag, the faintest smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Where Evelyn's face smiled down from glossy flyers and looping videos, Lottie offered no banners, no sound bites. Instead, she moved as she always had—quiet, observing, calculating—but now, eyes followed her. She could feel the shift in the air, the hush in conversations as she passed, the subtle pause in laughter when her figure crossed their periphery. It was like walking through a charged field, every breath alive with possibility.
"Did you hear she's running?" whispered one voice near the lockers, sharp with disbelief.
"Yeah, against Evelyn. Wild, right?" another chimed in, their gaze flicking nervously toward where Lottie passed, a ripple of fascination trailing in her wake.
She caught fragments of their chatter like drifting leaves on a current, the sound curling around her like an echo underwater. Her fingers brushed over the edge of the registration paper tucked deep in her pocket, the subtle weight of it a steady pulse against her skin: a reminder, an anchor, a quiet dare.
Leo sidled up beside her, falling into step with a familiar ease. His leather jacket creaked softly as he moved, the faint scent of cologne and winter air clinging to him. "You're a menace, you know that?" he murmured, his grin slow and sharp as a blade. His voice dropped lower, threading through the murmur of the hallway like a secret shared between co-conspirators.
Lottie tilted her head just slightly, a flicker of mischief glinting in her gaze. "Am I?" Her voice was soft, but beneath it ran a current of iron, a quiet tension that hummed beneath her skin, steady and fierce.
Leo let out a quiet huff of laughter, his fingers brushing against the back of his neck as he shook his head. "You didn't even need a poster to light this place on fire." His shoulder bumped hers lightly, a conspiratorial nudge. "Evelyn's probably sharpening her teeth right now."
Across the hall, Evelyn swept past in a blur of soft perfume and high heels, her laugh light and sweet as spun sugar. Amy clung close, phone raised, recording every perfect angle, her fingers trembling faintly as she tried to keep up. Evelyn's gaze flicked toward Lottie, the edges of her smile tightening just a fraction, eyes sharpening like the glint of glass under sunlight.
"Charlotte," Evelyn purred, the name drawn out like silk slipping over a blade, her voice edged with a practiced warmth that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Don't you look… determined today."
Lottie's lips curved faintly, a smile more suggestion than expression. "It's a good day for a quiet storm." The words slipped free with the softness of a whisper, but they carried the weight of an undertow, pulling sharp beneath the surface.
For the briefest heartbeat, Evelyn's eyes flashed—sharp, assessing, the mask slipping just enough for Lottie to glimpse the simmering calculation beneath. But then the smile snapped back into place, polished to perfection. Evelyn reached out, brushing an invisible speck from Amy's sleeve, her fingers lingering just long enough to make Amy's breath catch.
"Best of luck," Evelyn said smoothly, pivoting with a graceful flick of her hair, the shimmer of her earrings catching the light like tiny blades. "You'll need it."
As she glided away, Amy threw a small, anxious glance over her shoulder, her steps quickening to keep pace. Lottie watched them disappear into the throng, a quiet flicker of satisfaction pulsing beneath her ribs.
Leo let out a low whistle, arms folded across his chest. "That's a crack in the armor if I've ever seen one."
Lottie exhaled slowly, feeling the tension unfurl from her shoulders, her pulse still tight but steadier now, a beat she could carry forward. The nerves fluttered just beneath her skin, a raw hum, but threaded through it was a sharper, clearer current: resolve.
Her campaign was no campaign at all, at least not by Evelyn's standards. No choreographed videos, no glittering slogans. Just small, deliberate moments: holding open a door, laughing softly with a shy student lingering at the edge of a group, lending a quiet ear to a classmate's frustration. Tiny ripples in the surface, but she could feel the tide beginning to shift.
Rumors bloomed like wildflowers in the cracks of the school day.
"Did you know Lottie helped Sam with his project?"
"Yeah, and she didn't even post about it."
"She's… kind of cool, actually."
In the staff room, the murmurs were more measured.
"She's not flashy, but there's something there," a teacher mused, tapping her pen thoughtfully against her notebook.
"Refreshing," another murmured, gaze flicking toward the window where Evelyn posed mid-laugh, the sunlight catching on her like a spotlight.
At lunch, Lottie slipped into her usual seat by the window, the light spilling across her like a soft halo. She wrapped her fingers around a cup of tea, the ceramic warm against her skin, the scent of chamomile curling up into the air. Her gaze drifted across the cafeteria, where Evelyn's laughter rang out in delicate chimes, the center of a carefully arranged constellation of admirers.
Leo slid into the seat across from her with a lazy sprawl, one foot hooking around the leg of his chair, a half-eaten apple rolling across his tray. "The vote's not for a week, and she's already spinning at full speed," he drawled, his grin slow and edged. "Think she knows she's slipping?"
Lottie stirred her tea, watching the ripples fan outward, her lashes lowering in quiet contemplation. "She's always known," she murmured, her voice soft but sure. "She just never expected anyone to call her on it."
Leo's grin deepened, the corners of his mouth twitching upward. "You're terrifying, you know that?"
A breath of laughter slipped from Lottie, brief and bright, before it folded back into the hush between them. "I'm learning."
As the afternoon stretched on, the tension in the air sharpened, subtle as a shifting wind. Where once Evelyn's name had been a given, now Lottie's moved quietly between mouths, slipping in like a thread pulled through fabric. Not shouted, not paraded, but folded into the hum of conversation, the sideways glances, the small smiles that bloomed at the edges of groups.
In the art room, a soft voice reached her. "Hey… thanks for earlier."
Lottie turned, the gentleness in her eyes softening the line of her mouth as she met the shy gaze of a younger student she'd helped that morning. The girl's hands twisted nervously in the hem of her sweater, her cheeks pink with uncertainty.
"Anytime," Lottie murmured, the warmth in her voice a quiet balm.
The girl's eyes brightened, a small, surprised smile tugging at her lips, and Lottie felt something uncoil in her chest, light and easy as breath.
By the final bell, the school pulsed with energy, the hallways alive with motion and whispers. Leo leaned against the locker beside hers, his weight balanced easily, his smirk a soft curl of mischief.
"You know," he murmured, voice pitched just for her, "I think you're breaking their brains a little."
Lottie slid a book into her bag, her fingers grazing the worn spine with a kind of absent affection. Her smile was a ghost at the corner of her mouth. "Good."
Across the hall, Evelyn stood surrounded by her circle, her laugh a brittle melody threaded through the noise. But her fingers twisted the edge of a flyer too tightly, the paper crinkling faintly under the pressure. Amy murmured something at her side, her brows drawn in anxious question, but Evelyn's gaze was fixed—sharp, unyielding—on Lottie.
As Lottie swung her bag onto her shoulder, her eyes met Evelyn's and held, the weight of it sparking in the narrow space between them. For a moment, the world dropped into hush, the air sharp with unsaid things.
Evelyn's mouth curved, a slow pull of lips over teeth, the edge of it gleaming like a blade. As Lottie passed, the whisper drifted after her, soft and silken, curling like smoke.
"Enjoy it while it lasts."
Lottie paused, the smallest hitch in her step, before turning slightly, the curve of her cheek catching the last of the light. "Oh, I intend to." The words landed soft as ash, but the ember beneath them glowed.
For one breath, the air was taut as wire, Evelyn's eyes flickering sharp, her fingers curling faintly at her side, nails grazing the delicate skin of her palm.
Then Leo's voice slipped through, a lazy murmur warm at Lottie's ear. "Careful, Hayes. You're almost starting to look like you're having fun."
A laugh, light and unguarded, broke from her lips as they walked down the corridor, the murmur of voices a low tide around them.
Outside, the evening air bit at her skin, cool and bright, the last stretch of sun slipping gold across the frost-dusted ground. Lottie drew in a long breath, the cold threading into her lungs, clean and sharp. Her fingers tightened briefly on the strap of her bag, the pulse in her wrist a steady beat.
Behind her, through the tall glass doors, Evelyn watched, her figure sharp against the spill of light, her shadow stretching long across the polished floor. And as Lottie stepped into the gathering dark, the sound of the school spilling into the night behind her, she felt the hum of something vast and rising curl beneath her skin.