CHAPTER 15: BEFORE THE SCREEN LIT UP
Nothing felt wrong that Thursday.
That was the dangerous part.
The morning sun was soft, the air carried the last traces of spring, and students moved through the school gates with the usual mix of sleepiness and unfinished homework. Someone was running late. Someone was laughing too loudly. Someone had already lost a worksheet.
Everything was ordinary.
And sometimes, ordinary is the last thing people notice before life changes.
Kai arrived first and looked offended by existence.
"I would like to formally complain," he announced, dropping into his seat.
Mira didn't look up from the mirror on her desk.
"You complain recreationally."
"I'm serious today."
"That makes it worse."
Jaden entered behind him with three books in one arm.
"You're tired because you stayed up gaming."
Kai pointed dramatically.
"I was strategizing."
"You were online at 2:13 a.m."
"Why are you like this?"
Liora walked in laughing before Kai could continue.
"What happened now?"
"Oppression," Kai said.
"Truth," Jaden corrected.
Evren came in last, placing a cold drink on Liora's desk without comment.
She blinked.
"…What's this?"
"You said yesterday you were sleepy in the mornings."
She stared at him.
"You remembered that?"
He sat down beside her.
"No. I guessed randomly."
Kai slowly turned in his seat.
"Oh, disgusting."
Mira clutched her chest.
"This is elite behavior."
Liora pushed the drink toward Evren.
"Take it back."
"No."
"I didn't ask for it."
"You're keeping it."
She looked at the bottle.
Then at him.
Then quietly kept it.
Kai covered his eyes.
"I hate witnessing tenderness before first period."
By lunch, the courtyard was bright and noisy.
Their group occupied their usual bench like it belonged to them legally.
Mira was telling a story with unnecessary hand gestures.
"And then she said, 'That color doesn't suit you,' so naturally I ended her."
"You mean you blocked her?" Jaden asked.
"Emotionally."
Kai was halfway through two lunches.
"How do people even have drama before noon?"
"Some of us are interesting," Mira replied.
Liora laughed, camera resting in her lap.
Evren noticed she hadn't taken a single photo yet.
"You're quiet today."
"I'm listening."
"That's new."
She nudged him with her shoulder.
"Maybe I'm growing."
"Concerning."
She looked around the courtyard.
Students eating under trees.
Teachers pretending not to see students sharing homework answers.
Someone chasing papers blown by the wind.
Everything alive in the way schools always are.
Then she said softly—
"Do you think we'll remember this?"
Evren followed her gaze.
"Kai eating too much?"
"Be serious."
"I am."
She smiled despite herself.
"I mean… all of it."
He looked at her for a second.
Then back at the crowd.
"The parts that matter."
Something about the answer made her unexpectedly quiet.
After classes, the five of them stayed back for project cleanup in the old classroom.
The Memory Wall had been taken down days ago, but bits of tape still clung stubbornly to the board.
Kai poked one.
"It's haunting us."
"It's adhesive," Jaden said.
"Same thing."
Mira stood on a chair dramatically.
"Someone hold this."
"No," Kai replied immediately.
Evren was already beside the chair steadying it.
Liora looked at him.
"You always do that."
He glanced up.
"Do what."
"Help before anyone asks."
Kai snorted.
"Yeah, he's weird."
Mira gasped.
"He's dependable."
"Still weird," Kai said.
Liora smiled to herself and began gathering leftover papers.
When she bent to pick up a fallen marker, she noticed a small folded note under a desk.
She opened it.
Kai still complains too much.
She burst out laughing.
"What?" Kai demanded.
She held it up.
"This school speaks truth."
"Defamation," he said.
Even Evren laughed quietly.
Liora turned toward the sound.
She always liked when he laughed.
It was rare enough to feel earned.
By evening, the sky had turned honey-gold.
They walked home together until the usual split in the road.
Mira and Jaden headed left.
Kai went straight, still talking.
That left Liora and Evren walking the quieter lane lined with old trees.
The breeze was warm.
Leaves moved softly overhead.
Liora kicked a pebble down the road.
"Ren."
"What."
"Do you ever think your life is too small?"
He frowned slightly.
"That question came from nowhere."
"Answer it."
He thought for a moment.
"No."
She looked surprised.
"Really?"
"It feels unfinished, not small."
She slowed.
"That sounded smart."
"Don't spread it around."
She laughed.
Then looked ahead.
"Sometimes I feel like there's more somewhere else."
"Somewhere else where?"
"I don't know."
"The internet?" he said dryly.
She grinned.
"Maybe."
"That place is full of idiots."
"You're online too."
"I'm there reluctantly."
She laughed again.
The sound stayed with him longer than it should have.
At her gate, she paused.
"Wait."
He stopped.
She pulled out her camera.
"Stand there."
"No."
"Ren."
"No."
"Please."
He sighed and stepped back under the streetlamp.
The evening light caught his outline perfectly.
Hands in pockets.
Expression unreadable.
Hair moved by the wind.
Click.
The Polaroid slid out.
She watched it develop slowly.
"…This one's good."
"You say that every time."
"This time I mean it."
He rolled his eyes.
"Go inside."
She tucked the photo into her notebook.
"Bossy."
"You're standing outside your own house talking nonsense."
She smiled.
"Bye, Ren."
"Bye, Lio."
She went inside.
He waited until the door closed before turning away.
As always.
Her room was quiet that night.
A desk lamp glowed softly in one corner.
Books lay open but unread.
The new Polaroid of Evren stood drying against a pencil case.
Liora lay on her bed scrolling mindlessly through her phone.
Photos.
Posts.
Stories.
People showing perfect lives to strangers.
She almost put the phone away.
Then—
A notification appeared.
New Friend Request
No mutual friends.
No profile picture.
No posts.
Just a username.
rowan_17
Liora frowned.
"Who…?"
She tapped the profile.
Blank.
No information.
No clues.
From outside her window, the night stayed still.
Inside the room, the screen glowed pale against her face.
Her thumb hovered over the request.
And for the first time—
something unknown had knocked quietly on the door of her life.