The bell rang, sharp and loud, echoing across the crowded classroom.
Aurelia Virel paused at the door.
Not out of fear, not out of hesitation, but because she always noticed the details first: the crooked poster on the wall, the faint smell of chalk dust, the way sunlight caught the edge of a notebook left open on a desk.
She carried her transfer slip in her hand, folded neatly, edges worn from nervous fingers.
She was not expecting stares or whispers. She did not want them.
"Class, we have a new student," Ms. Calderon announced.
Some heads turned.
Most stayed focused on their own conversations.
Aurelia stepped inside, her shoes quiet against the linoleum floor.
She glanced at the crowded rows of desks, the scattered backpacks, the chatter of voices blending like a storm.
And then she saw it—the empty seat by the window.
The one everyone avoided.
The one that felt lonely.
The one she instinctively knew belonged to her.
She slid into it without a word.
Opened her notebook.
Wrote her name carefully at the top of the page: Aurelia Virel.
Kael Arvyn was the first to notice.
Not because she was pretty—though she was—but because she chose a place no one else dared.
He watched her silently, the sunlight catching the curve of her shoulder, the way her eyes drifted to the clouds outside.
He didn't know why, but he was curious.
Whispers started around the classroom, as always happens with new students.
"Who is she?" Talin asked, elbowing Soren.
"Looks like she's going to be quiet," Soren replied, not looking up from his phone.
"Quiet? Or just… stuck-up?" Neriah muttered, adjusting her glasses.
Aurelia didn't respond.
She wasn't there to impress anyone.
She wasn't there to compete.
She just existed.
The first group activity began.
Kael's group needed an extra member.
He looked toward her.
"Uh… you'll join us, right?" he asked, trying to sound casual.
Aurelia hesitated only a moment. "I suppose."
She slid her chair over, but she stayed mostly silent, observing rather than speaking.
Her quiet presence created a strange tension—some felt uncomfortable, others curious.
Kael found himself wanting to know what she was thinking, why she didn't speak more, why her pen moved across the page like it held secrets no one could read.
By the end of the period, she had noticed everything.
The way Mirex commanded attention with his loud voice.
The way Yssa always tried to calm conflicts before they escalated.
The way Luma's laughter carried across the room, filling empty spaces.
She noted the cracks between students. The insecurities behind jokes.
The hidden kindnesses.
Kael watched her, silently amazed.
Most people tried to stand out.
She didn't. Yet somehow, she already felt important.
At the bell, she packed her notebook slowly, deliberately, savoring the quiet moment as the room erupted into chaos around her. Students shoved past each other, shouted, laughed, and argued.
But she remained still, almost untouched by the noise.
Kael lingered, glancing at her as she walked toward the door.
Who even sits there willingly? he thought.
Her glance caught his, brief but steady.
A spark of recognition.
Not a smile.
Not a challenge.
Just acknowledgment.
It was enough to make him want to know her name.
Aurelia:
I don't need them to like me.
I just need space to exist without being questioned.
If they never notice me, that's fine.
If they do… I hope they look carefully.