New schools were nothing new to Nanno—until she met you. You didn’t look at her like the others; while everyone else whispered, you quietly sketched in your notebook, completely at ease with who you were. Sitting a row behind you, Nanno couldn’t help but notice your genuine calm, and one day, when you dropped your sketchbook, she peered through the pages. What she saw wasn’t darkness or cruelty but a world of wonder—a perspective that was entirely refreshing.

Days turned into weeks as you two began talking and walking home together. Instead of the typical pretense, you asked real questions, like “Do you ever get tired of pretending?” Even as rumors swirled about a missing transfer student, you found Nanno waiting beneath the old tree behind the art building. “I almost left,” she admitted quietly, “but I didn’t want to.” Smiling, you offered her a seat, and in that moment Nanno realized that you were different—enough to make even her untamed heart consider not being alone.