Chapter 2: THE NEW KID
388 Words
It started with a name.
I wasn’t paying attention — why would I? Mondays are for staying awake and pretending to care. But when Ms. Duro said, "We have a new student joining us today," something in me froze.
No. It couldn’t be.
But it was.
The boy from this morning. The maybe-hallucination. The blink-and-he’s-gone figure.
Except now he was standing at the front of my classroom.
Real. Solid. Breathing.
"This is Lucian Vale," Ms. Duro announced. "He just transferred here. Please make him feel welcome."
Welcome? I could barely feel my fingers.
He nodded once. Calm. Still. Like he wasn’t the walking question mark that had haunted my brain for hours.
lucian Vale
Even his name sounded like fiction.
He moved to an empty desk two rows ahead, sat like he’d done it a thousand times before — like he belonged here.
I didn't move. Didn’t blink.
“Kira,” Mai whispered beside me, nudging my arm. “You look like you saw a ghost.”
I forced a shrug. “Bad sleep.”
Not a lie. Just not the truth either.
Because how do you tell your best friend you saw a stranger this morning, then saw him again in your classroom like fate was stalking you?
You don’t.
You just pretend. Like always.
---
The room was normal.
Until it wasn’t.
It started as a flicker — the ceiling lights dimming just a little, like a cloud passed over the sun, except we weren’t near any windows. Then came the draft.
Cold.
Not regular school AC cold. Not “someone left a window open” cold.
It was bone-deep. Old.
I rubbed my arms, shivered under my blazer.
Mai didn’t seem to notice. Neither did anyone else. Ms. Duro kept talking about polynomials like the air hadn’t just shifted into something heavier.
Like something was watching.
No — not watching.
Listening.
And still, Lucian didn’t flinch. He just sat there, writing in a brand new notebook, like nothing was off. Like the world didn’t just breathe weird around him.
I stared at the back of his head, trying to convince myself I was imagining it.
But then he turned — just slightly — and I swear he paused.
Just long enough to let me know he knew I was watching.
And then he looked away.
- Writer
