Aarvin had spent weeks trapped in the same suffocating routine—quiet hallways, silent lunches, and a weight he carried like a second skin. Oakridge felt like a maze with no exit, and every corner reminded him of who he wasn't… strong, confident, fearless.
That morning, the sky was pale and soft. Aarvin walked through the old courtyard, clutching his books, whispering his usual daily rule to himself:
"Don't cause trouble. Don't be seen. Just reach class."
Then he heard it.
A short laugh. Soft, bright, and completely out of place in Oakridge.
Aarvin turned.
That's when he saw her.
A girl stood near the notice board, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she spoke to her friend. The sunlight fell across her face perfectly—warm, gentle, almost cinematic.
Aarvin froze.
Not just because she was beautiful…
But because for the first time since he arrived at Oakridge, someone made the world pause. Her smile looked real—not forced, not practiced, not like everyone else's.
He didn't know her name.
He didn't know her class.
He didn't even know if she would ever notice him.
But something inside him shifted.
Hope.
His chest tightened, but this time it wasn't fear. It was something warmer.
She looked up.
For a single second, their eyes met.
And that one second hit Aarvin like electricity.
He looked away instantly, overwhelmed by emotions he didn't understand. His heartbeat refused to slow down.
"What… was that?" he whispered.
He didn't know the answer.
But he didn't want the moment to stop replaying in his mind.
The bell rang, snapping the courtyard back into chaos. Students rushed around him, but the world inside Aarvin stayed stuck on that moment.
It wasn't love.
Not yet.
But it was the beginning of something he never expected to feel in Oakridge.
A beginning that would later become the most important—
and the most painful—
part of his entire story.
Aarvin walked to class with something new inside him.
Something fragile.
Something dangerous.
Something beautiful.
His first crush.
His first spark of light.
The first moment that would eventually lead to everything including the end.