Invisible Threads

First Conversations (Yuri’s POV)

I wasn’t expecting her to sit beside me.

Most transfer students took the safest seat—the one closest to the teacher, the one that made them look eager but not too eager. But Aicy, with her confidence and quiet ease, slid into the empty desk next to mine as if she belonged there.

I didn’t look at her at first. I wasn’t good at first impressions. But then she shifted slightly, turning her head toward me.

"Hope you don't mind," she said. Her voice was light, casual, as if we were already familiar. "I don’t really know anyone yet."

I hesitated, tapping my pen against my notebook. I wasn’t used to easy conversations, at least not with people I had just met.

"It's fine," I said. My voice was quieter than I intended.

Class started, but Aicy didn’t seem entirely focused. She tapped her pen absentmindedly against her desk, and I could feel her gaze shift toward my notebook every now and then.

"You write?" she asked, barely above a whisper.

I stiffened. People usually glanced, sometimes made an offhand comment, but no one ever asked.

"A little," I admitted.

Aicy’s lips curled into a small grin as she rested her chin on her hand. "I wanna read one."

I blinked. No one asked.

For some reason, I didn’t mind.

I sighed, flipping through the pages until I found something short, unfinished—something about connection, though I hadn’t fully decided what kind.

She read it silently. Her expression didn’t change much, but there was something soft in the way she absorbed each word. Then, after a moment, she looked up at me.

"I like it," she said, her voice quieter than before. "It feels... familiar."

I swallowed. I wasn’t sure why that word made something tighten in my chest.

I didn’t answer. I just nodded, pressing my fingers lightly against the paper, wondering if she really meant it.

For the first time, sitting next to someone new didn’t feel uncomfortable.

It felt—almost right.