Levi turned toward the door and started walking towards the library to get the comedy books,
The library sat at the far end of the corridor, tall doors, carved wood, glass too clean to have fingerprints on it, the kind of place that looked expensive but untouched. Hardly anyone came here because knowledge wasn't necessary when money could smooth everything over, grades could be arranged, teachers could be persuaded, and attendance could quietly disappear with the right surname. The rich didn't need books, they needed influence.
Levi pushed the door open and stepped inside, the hinges giving a soft tired sound that echoed too loudly in a room that barely remembered voices. The air carried dust and old paper, shelves standing in neat rows like soldiers who had never been called to battle, chairs tucked in perfectly because no one had ever rushed out of them, no one had ever leaned back too far while studying for something that actually mattered.
This was the only place in the school that didn't demand anything from him.
He walked straight to the comedy section because that was what Lucas wanted, bright covers lining the shelf with exaggerated smiles and bold titles promising laughter, the kind written for people who had never gone to bed counting coins. Levi pulled a few out and stacked them against his chest, the glossy edges pressing into his thin shirt as if even paper could remind him of his place.
As he turned, his shoe nudged something wooden and the small sound broke the stillness. He looked down and noticed a drawer slightly open beneath one of the lower shelves, like it had been closed carelessly years ago and forgotten. He crouched and pulled it wider, old papers shifting inside, brittle at the edges, useless forms and abandoned documents, and in the far corner sat a small rusted key.
It wasn't polished or impressive and it probably didn't open anything important, but it didn't look claimed either, it looked like something that had slipped through the cracks and stayed there unnoticed.
Levi slipped the key into his pocket, he didn't really need it but it kind of looked like the only thing in the school that may not be paid for with humiliation, no performance required, no audience waiting.
He stood, adjusted the books in his arms, and walked back out.
By the time he returned to the classroom his forearms were aching from the weight, laughter spilling into the hallway before he even reached the door. Lucas wasn't at his seat anymore, he stood by the window surrounded by a new circle of admirers, sunlight catching on his watch, his voice loud and careless as he spoke about something expensive and unnecessary while the others laughed at every word like it was gold.
Levi hesitated for half a second, then stepped forward and held out the stack.
"Lucas, the books."
Lucas turned slowly, eyes scanning Levi like he was something misplaced.
"Oh. You're still here."
He grabbed the top book and flicked the stack back at him without warning, the covers hitting Levi's chest before sliding from his arms and scattering across the floor. A few students leaned forward to watch, others laughed immediately, the sound quick and sharp like they had been waiting for it.
"Keep them," Lucas said with a lazy shrug, already half turned away, "you clearly need them more than we do."
The laughter spread wider now, louder, filling the room with that familiar heat that always found Levi first.
Levi clenched his fists beside him, he didn't like the fact his classmates always made him feel less of himself.
Levi looked to his left and saw Emily.
A few rows away she sat quietly without laughing, She sat in an authoritating posture, her uniform fitting perfectly, a thin bracelet resting against her wrist like something delicate and expensive.
Levi felt his stomach twist.
It wasn't the insult that hurt the most. It was being small in front of her. Being reduced to this version of himself. Being the boy books were thrown at while she saw everything.
Lucas had already turned away, the moment over for him, something else catching his attention.
But Levi was still standing there, laughter ringing around him, the books at his feet, wishing for just one second that the polished floor would crack open and swallow him whole.