Love Found Me When I Wasn’t Looking (Episode 8)

 Daniel’s POV

The moment I stepped into the school compound and saw Victoria across the courtyard, something in me slipped out of control. She was standing with two other teachers, holding a folder to her chest, laughing softly at something someone said.

But all I saw were her lips.

Those lips that had rested against mine on Saturday.
Those lips that still lived on my couch cushion, in my thoughts, in my body.

She wore a wine-colored blouse that morning, fitted just enough to draw attention without trying. Her skirt brushed her knees as she walked, and every step felt deliberate like she was unaware of the effect she had, or painfully aware and pretending not to be.

I told myself to look away.

I didn’t.

My eyes followed her shamelessly. When she turned slightly, her gaze brushed mine. Just for a second. But that second burned.

I looked away too late.

“Daniel.”

I blinked. Mr. Ade was standing beside me. “You’re unusually distracted this morning.”

“I’m fine,” I said quickly.

But I wasn’t.

In the staff room, I sat two chairs away from her. Too far to touch. Too close to ignore. She bent slightly over the table to arrange her books, and the memory of her leaning toward me on my couch hit me like a wave.

My throat went dry.

I stared.

Not because I wanted to be careless—but because my body hadn’t learned how to pretend yet.

I felt eyes on me.

Two female teachers exchanged a look. One leaned toward the other and whispered. I caught my name.

That should have scared me.

Instead, a quiet, dangerous thought settled in my chest.

*I don’t think I want to hide anymore.*

---

 Victoria’s POV

I felt his eyes before I saw them.

Daniel’s stare wasn’t casual. It wasn’t the polite glance of colleagues or the absent look of someone lost in thought. It was intense. Focused. Heavy with memory.

When I finally lifted my eyes to him, my breath caught.

He was watching me like the rest of the world had faded. His gaze moved slowly my face, my lips, back to my eyes lingering like he was remembering how I tasted. There was no apology in his expression. No attempt to look away.

Just heat.

My fingers tightened around my pen.

Daniel…

I shifted in my seat, hoping movement would break whatever spell had settled between us. It didn’t. If anything, his eyes darkened, like the movement only confirmed what he was thinking.

It made my skin warm.

And it scared me.

Around us, the staff room buzzed with low conversations, but I noticed the pauses—the sudden silences when his gaze stayed too long, the way one teacher’s eyes flicked from him to me and back again.

They were noticing.

I swallowed and focused on my work, but I could still feel him. That burning look followed me when I stood up, when I walked to the board in my class later that morning, when I passed him in the corridor.

When I walked past him, close enough to smell his cologne, he leaned slightly toward me and whispered, so low only I could hear:

“You’re doing this on purpose.”

I didn’t stop walking. “You’re imagining things,” I murmured.

But my heart was racing.

 Daniel’s POV

She knew.

The way she moved that day calm on the surface, but slow, controlled, like she was aware of every step felt intentional. When she passed me, her shoulder brushed mine, just barely.

Electric.

I clenched my jaw.

During break, I stood outside my classroom, pretending to check my phone. She walked by with a group of students. Her eyes flicked to me again. This time, she didn’t look away quickly.

She held my gaze.

Long enough.

One of the students looked between us curiously.

That was when reality hit.

This wasn’t invisible.

This wasn’t hidden.

Later, in the staff room, one of the senior teachers smiled at me knowingly. “You seem very interested in Miss Victoria lately.”

My chest tightened. “She’s a good teacher.”

“Hmm,” she replied. “Yes. Very good.”

The tone said everything.

I walked out before I said something reckless.

Because the truth was pressing hard against my ribs.

I was tired of pretending she didn’t matter.

---

Victoria’s POV

By afternoon, the tension sat heavy on my shoulders.

When Daniel entered the staff room, conversation dipped slightly, then resumed. I felt it the shift, the curiosity, the unspoken questions.

I avoided his eyes this time.

But that didn’t stop the feeling.

When I finally looked up, he was already watching me again. His stare was different now less hungry, more resolved. Like someone standing at the edge of a decision.

It made my chest ache.

After school, I packed my bag quickly. As I stepped into the corridor, he was there, leaning against the wall like he’d been waiting.

“We can’t keep doing this,” I said quietly, not meeting his eyes.

“Doing what?” he asked.

“Looking at each other like we’re about to forget where we are.”

He stepped closer. “I don’t think I want to forget anymore.”

That made me look at him.

His eyes were steady. Honest. Unapologetic.

“Daniel,” I whispered, “people are watching.”

“I know,” he said. “And I don’t care the way I used to.”

My heart pounded. “I’m not ready.”

He softened. “I’m not asking you to be. I’m just saying… I don’t think I can hide how I feel anymore.”

I nodded slowly, fear and warmth mixing inside me.

Because I felt it too.

Daniel’s POV

As I watched her walk away, one truth became clear:

Suspicion had already entered the room.

And love real love was never quiet for long.

Sooner or later, our eyes would stop whispering.

And when they did, the whole school would hear.Continue reading Episode 9