Chapter 5

(9 years ago)

Everything felt unfamiliar.Even the air inside the classroom didn’t feel like it belonged to me yet.

I stood in front of thirty strangers, my fingers curled tightly around the strap of my bag, my heart beating louder than the ceiling fan above us. The room smelled faintly of paper, sunlight, and something else I couldn’t name—something that reminded me that this place had existed long before I arrived.

“Good morning,” I said, my voice quieter than I intended.

Some of them looked at me. Some didn’t.

“I’m Cionnee. I just transferred here.”

That was it. That was all I had.

The teacher nodded politely and gestured toward an empty seat near the window. “You may sit there.”

I walked toward it carefully, aware of every step, every sound my shoes made against the floor. The chair beside it was empty too. I wondered if someone sat there. I wondered what they were like.

I placed my bag down and sat. The sunlight spilled through the window beside me, warm and golden. It rested against the desk like it had chosen that exact place on purpose. I let my fingers rest inside its warmth, grounding myself.

No one spoke to me. But I didn’t expect them to. I was new. New meant invisible, at least for a while.

⊙

The next day, the seat beside me was still empty.

I noticed it more than I expected to. I didn’t know why.mMaybe because it was the only space that felt unfinished.

Classes passed slowly. The teacher’s voice blurred into background noise, mixing with the soft scratching of pens and the occasional shifting of chairs. The sunlight came again, brighter this time, pouring through the window without hesitation.

It was warm.

Too warm.

By afternoon, the heat wrapped itself around me, heavy and gentle at the same time. My eyelids grew heavier with every passing second. I told myself I’d just rest my eyes.

Just for a moment.

I leaned forward slightly, resting my head against my folded arms. The sunlight touched my face directly now, and I felt my skin react, my brows wrinkling faintly against the brightness even with my eyes closed.

Everything softened.

The sounds faded.

The classroom became distant.

I don’t know how long I slept but I remember the moment I woke up.

It wasn’t noise that woke me.

It was presence.

A feeling so close, so sudden, that my body recognized it before my mind did.

Someone was there.

Right beside me.

My eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the brightness. The sunlight was still there, still warm against my skin, but now it wasn’t the only thing beside me.

I turned my head slightly and that’s when I saw him.

He was sitting in the chair next to mine, his body angled toward the desk, one arm resting casually on its surface. His shoulders were broad, his posture relaxed like he had always belonged there.

But it wasn’t his posture that held me.

It was his face.

His features were sharp, defined, but there was something soft about him too. Something calm. His black hair fell naturally, slightly messy but effortless, like he didn’t try to control it.

And his eyes—

Blue-gray.

They met mine directly. He didn’t look away.

He smiled.

Not a forced smile. Not polite.

Just real and simple. Like he had been waiting for me to wake up.

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