By the time he got to class, something felt off.
Not wrong.
Just… different.
The room filled the way it always did—students talking, chairs scraping, the low hum of everything settling into place.
Adrian sat down.
Took out his notebook.
Looked at the board.
And realized—He could actually focus.
The numbers made sense again. Not perfectly, not like before—but enough that he could follow along without everything blurring together.
It should have felt like a good thing.
It didn't.
It felt unfamiliar.
Halfway through the lesson, something tapped against his desk.
Once.
Then again.
Adrian looked down.
A pen rolled slightly toward him, nudged from the side.
He didn't pick it up.
Didn't look over.
Another tap—this time against his arm.
"Hey," someone whispered. "You deaf or something?"
Adrian turned his head slowly.
The same two from yesterday sat behind him. One of them grinning, the other watching more carefully.
Waiting.
For a reaction.
For anything.
Adrian held the look for a second longer than usual.
Then reached out.
Picked up the pen.
And set it back on their desk.
Nothing else.
No words.
No expression.
Just the action.
The grin faltered slightly.
"…okay," the guy said, like he wasn't sure what to do with that.
Adrian turned back to the front.
The teacher kept talking.
Class continued.
But something had shifted.
At lunch, he didn't sit in the same spot.
He didn't think about it.
Just… didn't.
He moved farther along the edge of the room, closer to the windows. Still alone. Still out of the way.
But different.
The noise felt less overwhelming today.
Or maybe he just wasn't letting it in the same way.
Across the room, the same group laughed again.
Loud. Sharp.
Adrian glanced up.
Watched them for a second.
Not the way he usually did.
Not trying to avoid it.
Just… watching.
One of them noticed.
Their eyes met for a split second.
Adrian didn't look away.
The moment stretched.
Then broke.
The guy looked confused more than anything else.
Adrian looked back down at his tray.
The thought came back again.
Quieter this time.
More controlled.
What would it sound like if that stopped?
Not faded.
Not ignored.
Stopped.
Adrian exhaled slowly.
The thought didn't disappear.
It settled.