I Should Have Never Sat In That Seat

Chapter 8: THE MESSAGE THAT WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO EXIST

Emma woke up earlier than her alarm again, but this time it didn’t feel like routine—it felt like her body refused to rest properly. The first thing she saw was her phone still lying beside her pillow, the screen faintly glowing in the dim morning light, as if it had been waiting for her to wake up just so it could remind her of what she read last night.

The message was still there.

If you sit there tomorrow, don’t talk to Daniel first.

Emma stared at it for a long moment without moving, her fingers slowly tightening around the edge of the phone. The words didn’t feel like a warning anymore—they felt like something already watching her, something that had expected her to see it. She scrolled up slightly, checking again and again, hoping there would be a name, a profile, anything that made it feel less real. But there was nothing. No contact, no trace, no explanation.

From downstairs, her mother’s voice broke the silence.

“Emma, breakfast is ready!”

Laura Park’s tone was exactly the same as always—calm, structured, almost comforting—but Emma felt distant from it today. She got up slowly, walking to the bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror for a few seconds longer than usual, as if she was trying to confirm she still looked normal before stepping into a day that no longer felt normal.

When she reached the kitchen, her father was already dressed and checking his phone while standing near the table. Michael Park barely looked up when she entered, only giving a brief glance before returning to whatever he was reading.

“You look tired,” he said casually.

“I slept fine,” Emma replied automatically, even though it wasn’t true.

Laura placed a plate in front of her, watching her more carefully than usual. “You’ve been quiet lately,” she said gently, like she was trying not to pressure her.

Emma nodded once but didn’t respond. She didn’t know how to explain that her quietness wasn’t a choice—it was something building inside her that she didn’t understand yet.

Michael grabbed his bag and headed for the door. “Don’t overthink school things,” he said without turning around, like it was a normal warning parents give without expecting it to matter.

But it already mattered too much.

When Emma arrived at school, the atmosphere in Class 2-3 felt slightly different again, like the room had reset overnight but not fully recovered from what happened the day before. Students were talking, laughing, moving around, but underneath all of it was something subtle—awareness. People were noticing things they normally ignored.

Sofia was already seated when Emma arrived. The moment she saw her, her expression shifted immediately, and she straightened in her chair like she had been waiting.

“Emma,” she said quickly, lowering her voice, “did you get my message?”

Emma stopped beside her desk, confused for a second. “What message?”

Sofia blinked, surprised. “I didn’t send you anything.”

Emma slowly took out her phone and turned the screen toward her. Sofia leaned in, reading carefully, and the moment she finished, her expression changed completely. It wasn’t just confusion anymore—it was discomfort, like she was trying to understand something she didn’t recognize.

“That’s not from me,” Sofia said immediately, shaking her head.

Ryan, who had been pretending not to listen from the row behind, leaned forward instantly. “Wait, what message? What’s going on?”

Sofia quickly tried to shut him down. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

But Ryan had already seen enough. He leaned back slowly, his usual playful expression gone. “Yeah… that doesn’t look like nothing.”

Emma sat down slowly, her mind already working through possibilities she didn’t like. If it wasn’t Sofia, then who? And more importantly, how did they know about Daniel? How did they know about the seat?

Before she could think further, Lily entered the classroom.

She didn’t look tired. She didn’t look curious. She looked focused, like she had already decided what kind of day it was going to be. Her eyes immediately scanned the room until they landed on Emma.

And she didn’t look away.

Emma felt it instantly—that pressure again, like being observed too closely.

Lily walked past slowly, stopping just beside Emma’s desk. She didn’t sit down yet. Instead, she looked at the seat for a moment, then at Emma, as if she was measuring something.

“You’re still sitting there,” Lily said quietly.

Emma didn’t react immediately. “It’s just a seat.”

Lily let out a short, almost silent laugh, but there was no humor in it. “That’s what everyone says… right before they regret it.”

She walked away after that, leaving Emma with more questions than answers.

Then Daniel arrived.

The moment he stepped into the classroom, the noise level didn’t drop completely, but something in the atmosphere shifted again. He wasn’t loud, and he didn’t do anything dramatic, but his presence always seemed to change how the room felt.

He stopped beside Emma’s desk.

Not sitting yet.

Just watching her.

Emma felt it immediately, and for a moment, she hesitated before speaking.

“Did you send anything to me?” she asked quietly.

Daniel didn’t answer right away. His eyes moved briefly toward her phone, then back to her face. That small movement alone was enough for Emma to realize he already knew what she was talking about.

“No,” he said simply.

One word.

But it didn’t make her feel better.

It made it worse.

Because if it wasn’t him… then someone else was watching.

Daniel finally sat down, but before he did, he leaned slightly closer—not enough for others to hear, just enough for her.

“Don’t trust random messages,” he said quietly. “Especially ones that mention me.”

Emma turned slightly toward him. “Why?”

For a second, Daniel didn’t answer. His eyes stayed forward, but his voice dropped lower.

“Because someone is trying to pull you into something you don’t understand yet.”

The room around them continued normally, but Emma felt like she was no longer part of it. Like she had already stepped into something separate from everyone else.

And this time…

there was no going back to normal school life.