Jiko, oher hand, felt like a ered cat. His gaze darted nervously between Julie and the others, his face flushing deeper by the sed. “Uh, guys?” he ventured weakly, his voice barely above a whisper. “I think we’re getting a little off track here…”

  But his attempt to defuse the tensio unnoticed. Sumaiya crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes. “And what makes you think I’d want him, Julie?” she asked, her voice cool but with a hint of challenge. “I was just joking, you know.”

  Julie’s lips curved into a small, knowing smile, though her gaze didn’t waver. “Maybe you were. But if not, sider this a reminder.”

  This time, Sumaiya decided to stir the pot even further. “Huh,” she said, drawing out the word with a knowing look, “I know girls like you. Girls like you want to keep the guy around, but they’ll never actually date him themselves. And they definitely won’t let any irl get close either. I really don’t like girls like that.” She crossed her arms, her expression pointed.

  Julie’s pyful demeanor vanished, repced by a serious, almost defensive look. “Why do you think I’m like that?” she asked, her voice cool and even. The pyful atmosphere had pletely evaporated, repced by a tense silence.

  Sumaiya shrugged, maintaining her pointed gaze. “That’s just the impression yiving ht now,” she replied, her tone implying that it was obvious to everyone.

  The standoff alpable, and Jiko felt the weight of every gre in the room. Rafsan, sitting quietly in the er, adjusted his gsses and muttered under his breath, “This is getting ridiculous.”

  Fahim finally broke the silence, his voice tinged with nervous ughter. “Okay, wow. This just escated. Jiko, man, what did you do to deserve all this attention?”

  Jiko looked at him helplessly, as if begging for a way out. “Nothing! I didn’t do anything!” he protested, holding his hands up as though to ward off the figurative fire aimed at him.

  Anika cleared her throat, her calm voice slig through the tension. “ we just… get back to studying? This isn’t helping anyone.”

  Ni walked in from the kit, carrying a tray of extra snacks and drinks. Her eyes darted from one amused face to the before nding on Jiko, whose flushed cheeks betrayed his disfort. “What’s going on here?” she asked with a raised eyebrow, setting the tray down oable.

  “Nothing,” Jiko mumbled quickly, burying his fa his notebook. “Just… studying.”

  “Studying his emotions, maybe,” Riya quipped, earning another round of ughter. Ni looked at her friends with a mix of amusement and exasperation.

  “Okay, okay, leave them alone,” she said, waving a hand. “We’ve got finals to crush, remember? Save the matchmaking for after we’re done passing.”

  Jiko smirked at Ni’s attempt to reel everyone in. “Thanks for the rescue, Ni,” he said lightly. Ni replied, “Although I’m starting to think we’ve bee the eai instead of the tutors.”

  “Pretty good eai,” Riya chimed in, tossing Julie a sly grin. “You should charge admission.”

  “Oh, I’d pay for front-row seats,” Fahim added, leaning back with a theatrical stretch. “This is better than half the rom-s I’ve seen. Jiko, man, you’re the leading man!”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jiko shot back, trying to sound casual but failing miserably as he scribbled aimlessly in his notebook. “Maybe if everyone opeheir books instead of their mouths, we’d actually learn something.”

  The room quieted for a beat before Anika, in her soft voice, chimed in. “He’s got a point. We’re already behind schedule.” She flipped opeextbook, her no-nonsense demeanor cutting through the banter like a hot khrough butter. “If you all want to pass, we should probably start now.”

  The group collectively groaned but followed suit, books opening and pens poised. The chatter settled into focused murmurs as they divvied up chapters to cover. Occasionally, someone cracked a joke, but they stayed mostly on track.

  Halfway through the session, Rafsan, who had been unusually quiet, finally spoke up. “Julie,” he asked, pointing at a particurly tough equation, “how do you simplify this part?”

  Julie leaned over to g his notebook, expining the steps with calm precision. As she did, Fahim whispered, just loud enough for Jiko to hear, “Man, even Rafsan’s shooting his shot now.”

  Jiko shot him a withering gre, whily made Fahim grin wider.

  By the time they ed up, the group had made det progress, though the air was still tinged with the lighthearted energy from earlier. As they packed up their things, Riya gave Jiko and Julie o cheeky grin. “Same time week, right? Don’t be te—you know how much we depend on you two for… inspiration.”

  Jiko groaned, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “Yeah, yeah. See you guys ime.”

  Julie, her tone effortlessly posed, said, “Don’t worry, Riya. We’ll bring ame.”

  As the group dispersed, Ni caught up with Jiko and Julie at the door. “Don’t mind them,” she said with a chuckle. “They’re just jealous of how well you two get along.”

  Jiko g Julie, whose amused smile hadn’t left her face all evening. “Yeah, maybe,” he muttered, feeling a strange mix of embarrassment and something else he couldn’t quite name.

  Julie looked at him as they stepped out into the evening air. “You hahat pretty well,” she said, her voice light. “Though you do get red way too easily.”

  Jiko ughed, his earlier tension dissipating. “Maybe ime, I’ll let them think what they want.”

  Julie raised an eyebrow, her smile widening. “ime?”

  “Yeah,” Jiko replied, shoving his hands into his pockets as they walked down the driveway. “’t let them scare me off. I am not that easy guy.

  However, the study group wasn’t the only thing making Julie feel uneasy. She’d also noticed the sudden surge of attention Jiko was getting, and it was stirring up fusing feelings inside her—feelings she couldn’t quite put her finger on. At first, it was just a small twinge of annoyance whenever she saw anirl giving him a flirty smile in the cafeteria, or when she overheard someoioning his name in the hallways. But little by little, that annoyance grew into something more intense—something almost possessive. She found herself stantly watg anyone who dared to talk to him, finding ways to interrupt versations or subtly move closer to him whehey were together, as if markierritory..