Chapter 3:Just Another Day
932 Words
Tuesday morning arrived without asking Kiara if she was ready.
Her alarm rang at 6:30 a.m.
Kiara reached out from underneath her blanket and slapped her phone.
Silence.
For exactly three minutes.
Then it rang again.
She opened one eye.
“I'm awake.”
The alarm continued ringing.
Kiara sighed and finally sat up.
Her room was quiet.
Sunlight slipped through the curtains, spreading across the floor. Her school uniform was already hanging neatly beside her wardrobe.
She stared at it.
Another day.
Another school day.
Another day of pretending she didn't care about being invisible.
By 7:20, Kiara was downstairs.
“Good morning,” she said.
Mr. James looked up from his newspaper.
“Good morning, Miss Kiara.”
“Is Mom and Dad awake?”
“They left earlier this morning.”
Kiara paused.
“Oh.”
“They asked me to tell you goodbye.”
She nodded.
“Okay.”
That was all.
She grabbed an apple from the kitchen counter and headed for the door.
Nobody stopped her.
Nobody asked if she had slept well.
Nobody noticed that she had been unusually quiet since yesterday.
Kiara told herself it didn't matter.
She was used to it.
Westbridge Academy was already crowded when she arrived.
Students filled the entrance.
Cars pulled up one after another.
Friends hugged.
People shouted across the courtyard.
Someone was already taking pictures for social media.
Kiara walked through the middle of everything.
Invisible.
A girl accidentally bumped into her shoulder.
“Sorry.”
She didn't even look up.
“It's okay.”
The girl continued walking.
Kiara adjusted her bag and kept moving.
Same school.
Same hallway.
Same people.
Same feeling.
She reached her locker and opened it.
A small photograph was tucked between her books.
It was from years ago.
Kiara and her parents.
She smiled faintly.
Then she put it back.
“Hey, Kiara.”
She turned.
It was Lena.
One of the girls from her English class.
“Hey.”
“Did you finish the English assignment?”
“Yeah.”
“Can I see it?”
Kiara handed over her notebook.
“Thanks!”
Lena copied two answers, handed the notebook back, and disappeared into the crowd.
Kiara stared after her.
She wasn't offended.
That was just how things worked.
People came to her when they needed something.
Then they left.
She closed her locker.
The first bell rang.
The morning passed slowly.
English.
Mathematics.
History.
Lunch.
Nothing unusual happened.
Kiara took her usual seat at the far end of the cafeteria.
She ate quietly while scrolling through her phone.
Around her, conversations filled the room.
College applications.
Graduation dresses.
Summer vacations.
Parties.
Relationships.
Plans.
Everyone seemed to have a life that was moving somewhere.
Kiara looked down at her food.
She wondered where hers was going.
Her phone buzzed.
She expected it to be her mother.
It wasn't.
ADRIAN:
You disappeared.
Kiara stared at the message.
She looked around.
Then typed:
KIARA:
What do you mean?
His reply came almost immediately.
ADRIAN:
You were supposed to meet me about the project.
Kiara's eyes widened.
She had completely forgotten.
She checked the time.
12:47 p.m.
They had agreed to meet after their English class.
Oops.
KIARA:
I'm sorry. I forgot.
She expected him to complain.
Instead:
ADRIAN:
I noticed.
Kiara frowned.
Two words.
That's all.
But they stayed in her mind.
I noticed.
She locked her phone.
Why did those words feel so strange?
After lunch, Kiara went to the library.
It was her favorite place in school.
Quiet.
Peaceful.
Nobody expected anything from her there.
She found a table beside the window and opened her textbook.
Ten minutes passed.
Twenty.
Then she heard a chair scrape across the floor.
Kiara looked up.
Adrian sat opposite her.
She blinked.
“You found me.”
He smiled.
“You're not very difficult to find.”
“I was in the library.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“You always come here during lunch.”
Kiara stared at him.
“You noticed that?”
Adrian shrugged.
“Apparently.”
She looked down at her book.
For some reason, she didn't know what to say.
Adrian opened his notebook.
“So…”
“So?”
“The project.”
“Oh.”
They began working.
It was surprisingly easy.
Adrian wasn't as loud as Kiara had expected.
He wasn't constantly trying to impress anyone.
He actually listened when she spoke.
When she suggested an idea, he didn't interrupt.
When she disagreed with him, he didn't laugh.
And when she made a joke about their teacher's impossible assignment, he actually laughed.
Kiara found herself smiling.
She quickly looked back at her notebook.
Adrian noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You smiled.”
“So?”
“Nothing.”
He returned to his notes.
Kiara shook her head.
She didn't understand him.
But for the first time in a long time, she didn't mind not understanding someone.
The final bell rang.
Students began leaving the library.
Kiara packed her things.
“See you tomorrow,” Adrian said.
She nodded.
“Tomorrow.”
She walked away.
Halfway down the hallway, she stopped.
She looked back.
Adrian was still standing by the library door.
Watching her.
Kiara turned around quickly.
Her heart gave one strange little beat.
She ignored it.
It was probably nothing.
After all…
Tomorrow would be just another day.
At least, that's what Kiara thought.
She didn't know that someone else had been watching them from the other end of the hallway.
And unlike Adrian…
that person wasn't smiling.
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