The first raindrops of September always carried a strange silence with them. That morning, GraybridgeHigh looked drenched in gray—the kind of gray that wasn't just in the clouds, but in the walls, the floors, even in the students' tired faces.
EthanCross pushed open the classroom door with his left hand, a sketchbook tucked under his right arm. He never went anywhere without it.
Seat number 17 stood empty, as it always did.
Some juniors whispered about curses—"whosoever sits there won't last long"—but Ethan wasn't the type to buy into ghost stories. For him, it was just an empty desk, collecting dust. And yet… every morning, his eyes would flicker there, as if waiting for something.
He slid into his usual seat by the window, drops of rain tapping against the glass beside him. He opened his sketchbook without thinking. His pencil moved on its own, lines forming faster than his brain could process.
By the time the bell rang, he had drawn a girl.
Her hair was damp, as though she had just walked through the rain. Her gaze looked away, distant, like she belonged to another world.
He blinked.
"Weird. I don't even know her…"
The door creaked open.
A hush fell across the classroom as a girl stepped inside, her uniform slightly rumpled, raindrops clinging to her hair. She paused for a second, her hand tightening around the strap of her bag before the teacher gestured toward the empty desk.
"Everone, this is Aria Hale. She transferred here today. Aria, you may sit ...there"
Her steps were soft but steady as she crossed the room. When she set her bag down, Ethan noticed something odd—her left wrist carried a thin red strap. It wasn't a bracelet. It looked… medical.
She slid into the empty chair, and Ethan's pencil almost slipped from his fingers.
The girl from his sketch—down to the way her wet hair curled at the edges—was sitting in seat seventeen.
Ethan closed his sketchbook quickly, his pulse running faster than the rain outside. He tried to steady his breathing, telling himself it was just coincidence.
But then, as the room quieted, Aria's gaze flickered toward him for the briefest second.
Her lips curved—like she already knew him.
Ethan's eyes lingered on the red strap once more, a shiver crawling up his spine.
Something about her… felt familiar. And he couldn't place why.
The bell rang, but for a moment, time seemed to stretch, leaving only the girl in seat seventeen—and the mystery she carried.