Chapter One:
The air was thick with January gloom, the kind that hung low over rooftops and made everything feel like it was running just a second too slow. It wasn't cold, exactly, but the gray sky weighed heavy, dulling the edges of the morning.
Elian stood in front of his new school like it was a place that might swallow him whole. He could feel the weight of his backpack tugging on one shoulder and the familiar pressure of eyes he imagined would soon be on him. New schools always meant eyes.
He stepped through the main entrance quietly, blending into the noisy stream of students that flooded the hallway. Locker doors slammed, sneakers squeaked across the linoleum floors, and laughter echoed like sharp little bells. Elian kept his head low, letting his long fringe curtain half his face. He didn't want to be noticed.
He never did.
The receptionist had a sugary voice that didn't quite match her sharp eyes. She handed him his schedule and pointed toward the stairs.
"Room 2B. Third floor. You've got English first."
Elian nodded, murmured a thank-you, and walked off, tracing the numbers on classroom doors like he could delay the moment he'd have to open one and step into the spotlight.
Room 2B buzzed with the kind of energy only teenagers could manage at 8 a.m. on a Monday. Elian stood at the threshold for a breath too long.
"You the transfer?" the teacher asked without looking up from the attendance sheet.
"Yes, sir. Elian Hart."
A few heads turned. A couple of whispers slipped between rows of desks. Elian caught none of the words, just the feeling behind them,the heat of being examined.
"Take that seat," the teacher gestured vaguely toward the back corner. "Next to Noa."
Elian walked past rows of students and sat, barely glancing at the boy beside him. Noa. The name rang like a note he wasn't expecting to hear.
Noa leaned back lazily in his seat, his arm slung across the back of his chair, eyes half-lidded like he'd seen it all and cared for none of it. He was handsome in a way that made people nervous. Careless. Confident. He didn't look at Elian immediately,he looked through him, then at him. Really at him.
Elian didn't meet his gaze. He couldn't.
"Great," the teacher said. "New seating arrangements just in time for the group project. You'll work in pairs for this one. You and your seatmate."
There were groans and smirks around the room.
Noa finally turned his full attention to Elian. He raised a single eyebrow, the corner of his mouth twitching up like he knew something Elian didn't.
"Looks like you're stuck with me."
Elian's heart thudded a little too loud in his chest. He nodded, silent. Too quiet. Too still.
The rest of the period blurred. The assignment was something about symbolism in literature. Elian tried to focus on the words on the whiteboard, but Noa's presence was... distracting. Not because he was loud. He wasn't. Not in the usual sense. But there was something magnetic about him. Dangerous, even. Like he could choose to burn you or keep you warm, and you wouldn't know which until it was too late.
When the bell rang, Noa stood with the same fluid, unbothered grace he'd had all class. He stretched, slung his bag over one shoulder, and gave Elian a glance that was equal parts curious and unreadable.
"Guess I'll see you later, Elian."
The way he said Elian's name made it sound like a secret.
Elian didn't respond. He didn't trust his voice not to shake.
That afternoon, he walked home under a sky that still hadn't made up its mind about rain. A drizzle started halfway there, light enough to ignore but heavy enough to notice.
He let it hit his face.
He didn't know what he was feeling. But for the first time in a long time, he felt something.
Noa's eyes haunted him more than he liked. There was a sharpness in them. And something soft, too.
Something that made him wonder if he could ever let himself be seen.