WHAT WE LOST

Chapter One—The Boy Who Noticed

CHAPTER ONE

THE BOY WHO NOTICED

Amara hated days like this.

Days when everyone seemed to have someone except her.

The school compound was louder than usual that Friday afternoon. Students were everywhere, rushing out of their classrooms, laughing, shouting, and making plans for the weekend.

But Amara sat alone on a bench behind the junior classroom block, staring at the ground.

Her schoolbag was beside her, and her phone was tightly held in her hands.

She wasn't using it.

She was just holding it because she didn't know what else to do.

A few minutes earlier, she had been surrounded by her friends.

Now, she didn't even want to look at them.

The argument had started over something stupid.

At least, that's what Amara kept telling herself.

It had started with a disagreement, then someone said something, another person responded, and before she knew it, everyone was talking over each other.

She had tried to defend herself.

They had tried to defend themselves.

And eventually, Amara had walked away.

She didn't want them to see her cry.

She hated crying in front of people.

Especially people she considered her friends.

She wiped her cheek quickly when another tear slipped down.

"Seriously, Amara," she whispered to herself. "Get yourself together."

She took a deep breath and looked toward the football field.

The senior boys were playing.

The sound of their shoes hitting the grass mixed with the loud cheers coming from the students watching them.

Normally, Amara would have been interested.

Today, she wasn't.

She just wanted the day to end.

On the football field, Ethan was having a completely different kind of afternoon.

He was running across the field with the ball at his feet while his friends shouted from behind him.

"Ethan! Pass!"

"Over here!"

"Bro, pass the ball!"

Ethan laughed and kicked the ball toward his teammate.

They had been playing for almost an hour, and everyone was already tired.

After another few minutes, Ethan stopped and looked at his water bottle.

Empty.

He sighed.

"I'm going to get water."

One of his friends shouted, "Hurry up!"

Ethan waved him off and jogged toward the classroom block.

He wasn't thinking about anything except getting water and getting back to the game.

Until he noticed someone sitting alone.

He slowed down.

It was a girl.

He had seen her around school before.

Amara.

She was a junior.

Usually, she was with her friends, laughing and talking as they walked around the school.

But today, she was completely alone.

Ethan almost walked past her.

Then he noticed her wipe her face.

He stopped.

For a second, he wasn't sure if he should say anything.

They barely knew each other.

What if she wanted to be alone?

Still, something made him turn around.

He walked toward the bench.

"Hey."

Amara looked up.

Their eyes met.

She quickly looked away.

"Hi."

Ethan stood there awkwardly for a moment.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine."

She answered so quickly that Ethan almost smiled.

"You're sure?"

"Yeah."

He looked at her.

Then at the ground.

Then back at her.

"You don't look fine."

Amara frowned slightly.

"I said I'm fine."

There was something in her voice that told him not to ask again.

So he didn't.

Instead, Ethan sat down on the opposite side of the bench.

Amara looked at him.

"Aren't you playing football?"

"Yeah."

"Then why are you sitting here?"

"I came to get water."

He held up his empty bottle.

"Obviously, this is not helping me right now."

Amara looked at the bottle and almost smiled.

Almost.

Ethan noticed.

"Was that a smile?"

"No."

"It was."

"It wasn't."

"Okay."

He nodded seriously.

"I'll pretend I didn't see it."

This time, Amara actually smiled.

It was small, but it was there.

Ethan smiled too.

He didn't ask what had happened.

He didn't tell her to stop crying.

He didn't tell her that she was being dramatic.

He simply sat there.

And somehow, that made Amara feel better.

After a few moments, Ethan asked, "Have you eaten?"

Amara shook her head.

"No."

"Why?"

"I'm not hungry."

Ethan gave her a look.

"You're lying."

She looked at him.

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm a senior."

Amara stared at him.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I don't know."

She laughed.

Ethan laughed too.

"Come on."

"Where?"

"The cafeteria."

"I don't want to go."

"You don't have to buy anything."

"I said I don't want to go."

"Okay."

Ethan stood up.

"Then I'll go alone."

Amara watched him take two steps.

Then she sighed.

"Fine."

He turned around with a grin.

"I knew you'd come."

"Don't make me change my mind."

"I'm quiet."

"You're not."

"I can be."

He smiled.

They walked toward the cafeteria together.

For the first few minutes, Amara didn't say much.

She was still wondering why she had agreed to go with him.

She barely knew him.

But there was something about Ethan that made being around him feel easy.

At the cafeteria, Ethan told her to choose whatever she wanted.

"You really don't have to."

"I know."

"Then why are you doing it?"

He shrugged.

"Because you haven't eaten."

Amara looked at him for a moment.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

She picked something small, and they found a table to sit at.

Ethan started talking about football.

Apparently, one of his friends had missed an easy goal earlier and had spent the last twenty minutes blaming everyone else.

Amara laughed.

"That's actually funny."

"He does it every time."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Do you ever miss goals?"

Ethan put a hand over his chest.

"Me?"

Amara nodded.

"Never."

She laughed.

"You're so full of yourself."

"I'm just confident."

"Same thing."

They continued talking.

They talked about school.

Their teachers.

Their favorite subjects.

The things they hated about school.

Ethan discovered that Amara loved listening to music while studying.

Amara discovered that Ethan was terrible at remembering homework.

By the time they finished eating, Amara had completely forgotten about the argument.

For the first time that day, she felt happy.

Ethan glanced toward the football field.

"I should go back before my friends start looking for me."

Amara nodded.

"Okay."

He stood up.

Then he looked at her.

"You feeling better?"

Amara smiled.

"Yeah."

"Good."

They walked back toward the classroom block.

Before they reached the field, Ethan stopped.

"Wait."

Amara turned.

"What?"

"Can I get your number?"

She raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"So I can check if you actually get home safely."

Amara smiled.

"You can just say you want my number."

Ethan laughed.

"Okay. I want your number."

She gave it to him.

He typed it into his phone and called her.

Her phone immediately rang.

She looked at the screen.

"Ethan."

"Now you have mine too."

She saved his number.

"Okay."

"Okay."

They stood there for a moment, neither of them saying anything.

Then Ethan pointed toward the football field.

"I really have to go now."

"Go."

"See you later."

"Bye."

He jogged back toward his friends.

Amara watched him for a few seconds before turning around.

She didn't know why, but she was smiling.

Maybe it was because someone had noticed her.

Maybe it was because he had made her forget about everything that happened that afternoon.

Or maybe she was just happy to have met someone new.

She didn't think too much about it.

Until her phone buzzed.

She looked down.

A message.

From Ethan.

"Did you get home yet?"

Amara smiled.

She typed back.

"Not yet."

His reply came almost immediately.

"Okay. Text me when you do."

She stared at the message.

Why did he care so much?

She didn't know.

But she liked it.

When she finally got home, she dropped her bag beside her bed and changed into comfortable clothes.

She picked up her phone.

Before she could even text Ethan, another message appeared.

"You home?"

She smiled.

"Yes."

"Good."

That should have been the end of the conversation.

It wasn't.

"So..."

"So?"

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"Same."

Amara laughed.

"You text people you barely know this much?"

"No."

"Then why me?"

There was a pause.

Then his message appeared.

"I don't know. I just like talking to you."

Amara stared at the screen.

She didn't know what to reply.

So she typed the first thing that came to her mind.

"You're weird."

He replied almost instantly.

"And you're still talking to me."

She smiled.

"Unfortunately."

Their conversation continued.

One message became ten.

Ten became fifty.

Before they realized it, hours had passed.

They talked about everything and nothing.

They joked.

They teased each other.

They told each other little things they normally wouldn't tell someone they had just met.

And somehow, talking to Ethan felt natural.

The next morning, Amara woke up to a message.

"Good morning, trouble."

She smiled before she even realized she was smiling.

"Good morning."

That was how it started.

One message.

Then another.

Then another.

At school, Ethan started looking for her during break.

Amara started looking forward to seeing him.

Sometimes they talked for hours.

Sometimes they only exchanged a few words.

But every day, somehow, they became a little closer.

Then, one afternoon, Amara was sitting with Ethan and his friends when one of them suddenly looked between the two of them.

He smirked.

"Wait..."

Ethan looked at him.

"What?"

His friend laughed.

"Since when did you two become this close?"

Amara and Ethan looked at each other.

Neither of them had an answer.

And that was the problem.

Because neither of them had realized when it happened.

They just knew that somewhere between that lonely afternoon, the cafeteria, the late-night conversations, and all those little moments...

they had become something neither of them could quite explain.