The announcement came on a Wednesday morning.
"Our Annual Inter-Class Exhibition will be held next month," their class teacher announced. "Each student will be paired with someone from another section. You will prepare a project together."
The classroom buzzed with excitement.
Another section.
Grace's stomach tightened slightly.
Another section meant 5B… or 5C.
She told herself not to overthink it.
It didn't matter.
Right?
Two days later, the pair list was put up on the notice board outside the staff room.
Students crowded around it.
Lucy squealed when she found her name. "I'm with someone from 5B!"
Theo scanned the list quickly. "Audrey's with someone from 5C."
Grace stepped closer.
Her finger slowly traced down the list.
Grace — 5A
Partner: Julian — 5C
For a moment, everything around her felt distant.
Julian.
Of all people.
Zoey looked at her. "That's… intense."
Grace let out a small breath. "It's fine."
It wasn't fine.
The first meeting was awkward.
They decided to meet in the library after school to discuss the project.
Julian was already there when Grace arrived.
He looked up when he heard her footsteps.
"Hey," he said.
Not cold.
Not overly cheerful.
Just… careful.
"Hi," she replied, sitting across from him.
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then Julian cleared his throat. "So… solar system model?"
Grace nodded. "Yeah. That's good."
They started discussing materials, charts, who would do what. It was normal. Almost easy.
Almost like before.
At one point, their hands brushed while reaching for the same notebook.
They both pulled back quickly.
Silence settled again — heavier this time.
Julian leaned back slightly, studying her.
"You stopped coming."
Grace froze.
"To 5C," he added.
She looked down at her notebook. "You guys stopped coming first."
Julian didn't deny it.
Instead, he sighed quietly. "I noticed."
That made her look up.
"What?"
"I noticed you tried," he said. "You came almost every week. Even when Nate and Adrian were busy. You still came."
Her throat tightened slightly.
"It wasn't a big deal," she said quickly.
"It was," Julian replied.
The honesty in his voice caught her off guard.
"I just thought…" she began, then stopped.
"What?"
"That maybe if I kept showing up, things wouldn't change."
Julian looked at the table for a long moment.
"Things were already changing," he said softly. "We just didn't say it."
Grace didn't know what hurt more — that he was right, or that he sounded sad about it too.
"I didn't want us to become 'old class friends,'" she admitted quietly.
Julian's head snapped up.
"You heard that?"
She nodded once.
He ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't mean it like that."
"But you said it."
Silence.
Then, more gently, he added, "I guess I didn't realize how much it mattered to you."
Grace gave a small, almost amused smile. "It mattered to all of us."
Julian hesitated.
"No," he said. "It mattered more to you."
And maybe that was true.
For the first time, Grace didn't feel invisible in her effort.
Someone had seen it.
Even if it hadn't been enough to stop the drift.
The bell rang, signaling closing time for the library.
They packed up their things quietly.
As they stood up, Julian said, "For what it's worth… I didn't forget."
Grace looked at him.
"About the promises," he clarified.
Her chest felt strangely lighter.
"Me neither," she said.
They walked out of the library together — not like before, not like inseparable best friends but not like strangers either.
Something in between.
And sometimes, that space in between is the most complicated place to stand.