The smile Lyra had given Lyan still lingered in his mind, unable to figure out the reason behind it.
The rest of the afternoon passed with the same heaviness as always. One class after another, with small breaks in between that served to distract and stretch the students.
Although Lyan always spent break alone, as usual.
Sitting at his desk with a small bowl he had prepared that morning. His everyday meal: rice with whatever he had in the fridge.
It was the only thing he knew how to cook without completely ruining it.
They were the only moments of the day when he could be at peace without anyone bothering him, since there was a sort of agreement between him and his bullies, who would go out to smoke.
So he ate in silence, looking out the window or at the floor, simply waiting for the day to come to an end so he could return to his small apartment.
- - - -
The walk back to the apartment was the same as always. Lyan walked slowly, his backpack hanging over one shoulder and his gaze fixed on the ground.
His clothes were soaked, his hair too, stuck to his forehead.
It was a drink one of the bullies had thrown on him for not doing his homework.
Under the soaked hoodie, he had a few bruises that hurt like hell: one on his ribs and another on his left shoulder and lower back.
The price he paid for not doing other people's homework.
It was something Lyan knew perfectly well would happen from the moment Lucas looked at him that morning with that cold smile.
Even so, after handing over his own homework to him, the latter joined in the beating just because he could.
What had left a particularly bitter taste in his mouth, however, was something else.
One of the teachers had seen him.
Lyan remembered it clearly: the man had noticed the figure behind the glass of one of the hallway windows, looking out toward the back courtyard where everything had happened.
A moment of eye contact between them lasted only a few seconds, until the teacher simply turned around and left.
Without doing anything.
'Of course…'
Lyan thought without much surprise. Even the teachers avoided him. They didn't hate him the same way his classmates did, but they didn't do anything for him either. They simply looked the other way, turning a blind eye.
No one wanted to get involved in his problems.
And it wasn't like he had anyone else to turn to. His family lived far away, in another city, completely disconnected from his daily life.
It wasn't that there had been a fight or anything dramatic between them, it was just how things were.
Each one with their own life.
With a message every now and then, and that was it.
Without thinking much about it, Lyan kept walking under the gray sky, soaked and aching, not expecting anyone to notice him.
That was when he heard some murmurs behind him.
A group of girls walking in the same direction, wearing the same academy uniform.
They were younger, probably two years below him.
Lyan didn't pay them much attention and kept walking at his slow pace.
But he managed to hear them whispering about him.
"Hey… that guy is handsome, isn't he?"
A soft and uncertain voice from one of the girls reached his ears.
He didn't stop anyway and kept walking.
But before that phrase could fully settle, another voice cut it off abruptly.
With a small nudge to her arm, one of her friends whispered something into her ear.
"Hey, don't look at him like that… and don't even think about that with him."
There was a brief silence, followed by another whisper, this one lower, almost inaudible, which Lyan couldn't hear.
But whatever she said, the girl who had praised him just seconds ago was already murmuring along with the others, her tone completely different from before.
It was already the usual murmur of disgust and mockery that the girls at school directed at him, but he didn't quicken his pace in the slightest and simply kept his gaze on the ground with the same expression as always.
He just wanted to get to the apartment, take a shower and get out of his wet clothes, then eat something and sit down to play.
That was enough for today.
- - - -
When he arrived at the building, he silently appreciated not running into the receptionist.
The chair in front of the counter was empty, which meant the old man was probably somewhere else.
Lyan went up the stairs quietly, entered the apartment, closed the door behind him, and stood inside for a moment.
Then he took off his shoes calmly and went straight to the bathroom.
He took a long, hot shower, staying under the water longer than necessary, letting the heat loosen his muscles and numb the pain from his bruises a little.
When he got out, he put on comfortable clothes and went to the kitchen to heat up the first thing he found. He ate at the small table in the room, staring at any point in it without much interest.
Then he left the plate in the sink and went toward the bed.
The headset was where he had left it, on the nightstand. Lyan looked at it for a second and then reached out to grab it.
But before his fingers could reach it, his phone beside it vibrated.
So he picked it up without much interest, unlocking the screen.
Only to see a notification of a bank transfer from his father, the usual amount to cover the month.
Lyan stared at the screen for a few seconds, looking at his father's name there and the amount of money.
Not even a message asking how school went, nothing.
"…"
He didn't feel anything in particular. Or if he did, it was so small it was no longer worth paying attention to.
Without further thought, he placed the phone face down on the nightstand and grabbed the headset.
He got comfortable on the bed and put it on, not before taking off his glasses.
'Alright… let's see what's up today.'