𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐌𝐄 ⋆. 𐙚 ˚

──── chapter twelve; growing closer

₊⊹⁀➴ a week later ⋅˚₊‧ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅

𝐍𝐀𝐎𝐌𝐈 𝐃𝐈𝐃𝐍𝐓 know when it started, but somewhere between talking to him every day in science class, hanging out with everyone after cheer and football practices, walker had started to become her friend. he was just always there now. she saw him at lunch, in the hallways, after school. she basically knew the boys whole school routine.

it didnt really cause much drama anymore, i mean, she hadn't heard from trey in a week almost. and besides, nathan and walker were practically best friends at this point. so it wasn't like she could escape being close to the boy.

and they were close right now, sitting right beside each other in mr hayes's science class. 

"i swear if we have to do another lab report on some irrelevant shit, i'm gonna lose it," naomi muttered, dropping her head onto the table.

walker laughed. "you do know we're in science class, right? lab reports are kind of the whole deal."

"whatever," she mumbled. "it's just annoying."

"do you even do them?" he teased, smiling down at the girl. 

she lifted her head, narrowing her eyes. "of course i do."

walker raised a brow. "be honest."

"...i chat gpt some of them, but whatever," she admitted, making him laugh. she rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile too. it was honestly stupid how easy it was to talk to him.

they worked on their assignment, bickering here and there about who was going to write down the answers, and naomi realized something—she actually enjoyed being around him. it wasn't forced. it wasn't like with trey, where she always felt like she had to be perfect, had to say the right things. with walker, she just... was.

when class ended, walker grabbed his phone. "so, we should probably exchange numbers if we're gonna be lab partners," he said casually, holding it out to her.

naomi hesitated, but only for a second. then she typed in her number.

     ↪📱𓏲 ๋࣭ ࣪ ˖

###-###-#### was saved as omiii. 

when the bell rang, naomi shoved her books into her bag, walker waited at the door, leaning against the frame with the same smile he always had painted across his face.

"bye omi, see you at practice," he said, and before she could respond, he was already walking off, disappearing into the crowded hallway.

her heart stuttered—again—but she shook it off, heading to the locker room, changing, and throwing her curls into a messy ponytail before heading to practice. 

📣⋆˚𝜗𝜚˚⋆

cheer practice was... normal. at least, as normal as it could be with trey and walker both on the field at the same time.

naomi went through the motions—stretches, routines, stunts, shakes—but her eyes kept wandering. first to trey, who was talking to a few of his teammates, his jaw tight, like he was still brooding over their last conversation. then to walker, who was laughing at something nathan said, his hair flopping into his eyes every time he shook his head.

"focus, naomi," ivy hissed, nudging her.

"i am ivy," she muttered, snapping her attention back to the routine they were running.

but it happened again. and again.

she'd glance at trey, remembering the way his words used to make her stomach twist—not in a good way. then her gaze would drift to walker, and suddenly it didn't feel like there was a knot in her chest anymore. it didnt mean anything though could it? troy was almost naomis whole highschool experince. hell, he was her boyfriend. they were only going through a rough patch.. right? 

she decided to push all her thoughts aside and focus on practice. and by the time practice ended, naomi was exhausted—physically and mentally.

still, she didn't head straight to nathan's car.

instead, she lingered by the bleachers, pretending to adjust her ponytail as the football team wrapped up their own practice. her eyes flicked across the field — catching flashes jerseys, the sound of helmets clashing and coaches barking instructions louder than anything on the field. 

her gaze landed on walker.

and then, a few yards away, she saw trey.

he was talking to one of the senior players, his jaw tight, eyes hard. he made eye contact with omi, looking at her for a second before moving his focus back to the boy infront of him. 

"you're staring."

naomi nearly jumped out of her skin. "jesus, ivy."

ivy grinned. "what? it's obvious."

"i wasn't staring at anyone," naomi muttered, grabbing her bag. "let's just go."

"mhm."

she grabbed her bag, headed to the parking lot.

the sun was dipping lower in the sky, casting a warm, hazy glow over ridgewood high's parking lot. cheer and football practice had finally wrapped up, and the air buzzed with leftover adrenaline and the steady hum of conversations as teammates trickled out, heading home or lingering in small groups.

as they made their way across the field, nathan finally appeared, talking animatedly with a few teammates before tossing his bag into the trunk of his car. naomi leaned against the passenger side, scrolling through her phone — pretending she wasn't watching walker again.

"you okay over there?" ivy asked, swinging her bag over her shoulder. her voice was light, teasing, like she knew exactly where naomi's head was at.

naomi straightened up a little too quickly. "yeah. fine. why?"

ivy just smirked. "no reason."

before naomi could respond, walker wandered over, his hair was still damp from practice, the sleeves of his ridgewood hoodie pushed up to his elbows, and every now and then, his laugh would carry over the noise—soft, but enough to make her stomach twist in a way she didn't fully understand. "nates still talking to coach," he said. 

omi rolled her eyes, making an annoyed face over to her older brother. "fawkkk, he takes forever."

walker grinned. "he likes hearing himself talk."

that made her laugh — because it was true — and for a second, the easy way walker looked at her made her forget about everything else. trey. the tension at the sleepover. none of that seemed to matter when walker was just... there.

then, her phone buzzed in her hand.

˖°💬 ༘: 1 message from walker

she blinked, glancing at him. he didn't say a word — just stared at his phone like he wasn't the one who just texted her while standing right there. and then, she opened that message rather quickly. 

WALKER

hey omi, did yall have a good pratice?

you looked like you would want to be anywhere else

OMII

because i would have 😭😭 

WALKER

shockinggg

see this is why youre not a d1 athlete like me

pratice makes perfect !!

OMII

you talk a lot for someone who almost tripped over a tackling dummy today

she looked up from her phone to see a slight flush creep up his neck, and it made her grin. 

WALKER

OK NO

that literally came out of no where

OMII

sureeeee

a dummy & a dummy

WALKER

sighhhh

give your partner your number, they say

she wont bully you, they said

oh boy they were wrong 💔💔💔

naomi's heart kind of stuttered — not because it was a the text big deal, but because it felt easy. trey used to act like her having his number was some power move, like it meant she owed him something. but this? it was casual. simple. like walker didn't expect anything from her.

OMIII

cheer up queen, tmmr ill be nicer 

IF you do all the work

WALKER

good hustle bro 

i cant even be disappointed

they texted more and more, and then after a few moments, ivy's voice was heard. 

"are you two texting each other while standing next to each other?" ivy asked.

"no," naomi said too quickly.

ivy arched a brow. "uh-huh."

walker just shoved his hands deeper into his pockets, his lips twitching like he was trying not to laugh.