Too Late To love her💔💘

CHAPTER NINE

It took three days.

Three days for Ethan to notice something was missing.

Not because he was looking.

But because it was… quiet.

Too quiet.

“Did the teacher say anything about the assignment?” one of his friends asked.

Ethan shrugged. “No idea.”

“You can ask that girl,” another said casually. “The quiet one… she always knows.”

There was a pause.

Ethan frowned slightly.

“…Which one?”

“The weird one,” his friend replied. “Blue.”

The name felt unfamiliar on his tongue.

“Has she been around?” someone else asked.

They looked at each other.

Then shrugged.

“I haven’t seen her.”

“Yeah… now that you mention it.”

Ethan leaned back in his chair, his brows furrowing just a little.

It wasn’t concern.

Not yet.

Just… curiosity.

Later that day, he walked into class and sat down like usual.

Lily slid into the seat beside him, smiling.

“Hey,” she said softly.

“Hey.”

The teacher started talking, but Ethan wasn’t really listening.

His eyes moved around the room.

Row by row.

Seat by seat.

And then he noticed it.

An empty chair.

In the corner.

A seat that was always taken.

By a girl who never spoke.

Never laughed.

Never stood out.

Blue.

He stared at it for a second longer than necessary.

Then looked away.

It didn’t matter.

Right?

“She probably just skipped,” he muttered under his breath.

Lily glanced at him. “Who?”

“No one,” he replied quickly.

Days passed.

Still no Blue.

No quiet presence in the corner.

No soft voice answering questions.

No girl standing awkwardly by her locker.

It was like she had vanished.

And slowly…

Something started to feel off.

Not obvious.

Not loud.

Just… there.

Like a missing piece in a picture he never paid attention to before.

One afternoon, he overheard two teachers talking.

“Is she okay?”

“I heard she collapsed in class.”

Collapsed.

Ethan’s steps slowed.

“They took her to the hospital, I think,” the other said.

His chest tightened slightly.

Hospital?

For a moment, he just stood there.

Processing.

Or trying to.

But instead of asking—

Instead of checking—

He walked away.

Because it wasn’t his problem.

It had never been his problem.

Right?

That’s what he told himself.

That’s what he believed.

But that night…

For some reason…

He couldn’t sleep.

Every time he closed his eyes, something felt off.

Unfinished.

Like a question he didn’t want to ask.

And for the first time—

Ethan thought about her.

Not as “the weird girl.”

Not as “the quiet one.”

But as…

Blue.

The girl who was always there.

The girl he never noticed.

Until she wasn’t.