As I slowly got comfortable in my room, I began to notice other things, little details I hadn't understood before. My parents… they didn't seem quite right together. There was a strange tension in the air, a quiet storm that I didn't know how to name. They argued sometimes, small words at first, then louder, more serious. I didn't always understand what they were saying, but I could feel it. That strange energy settled in my chest, a tightness that made me feel invisible, like I was just air in the room — present, but not really seen.
There was one day, I remember vaguely, when it seemed like they might break up. The tension was so sharp I could almost taste it. But the next day, my father had calmed things down, and for a little while, it felt fine again. Still, the feeling didn't completely leave me. I learned early that even when people seem fine on the surface, there can be storms hidden beneath. And sometimes, as a child, there's little you can do except notice them quietly and hope for calm.
Time passed, as it always does. The months stretched slowly, until finally, my eighth birthday arrived. And with it came something new: school. I had been held back a year because I was too small, too little to start on time, but now I was ready — or at least, as ready as I could be.
The first day of school was… fine. Strange, a little confusing, but fine. The classrooms smelled of chalk and books, the floors echoed with footsteps and laughter, and I sat quietly, observing everything. Some children smiled at me, some ignored me, and I learned quickly how to move in this new rhythm of life. I tried to follow the lessons, tried to listen and answer, but mostly, I felt like a shadow in a world of colors I hadn't yet learned to name.
It was only later, years later, that I would recognize how much that first day had shaped me. The small anxieties, the quiet observations, the feeling of being just a little out of place — all of it planted seeds that would grow as I got older. But for now, I was just eight, taking my first steps into a larger world, learning slowly how to walk among it.
And that was my first day at school. A small beginning, yes, but a beginning nonetheless. What came next — the friendships, the lessons, the discoveries — that would be another chapter.