Your hand supported your head, elbow resting heavily on the desk as you summoned every ounce of strength just to survive until the end of the lesson. Physics had never been your strong suit, and Professor Harris did nothing to make it any easier. His way of explaining things was better suited for academic conferences or university lectures—definitely not for a room full of 17-year-olds who could barely recall Newton's laws, let alone apply them.

Your eyes drifted lazily to the board, where a collection of formulas sprawled in chalk like cryptic alien codes. Whatever they were meant to represent, they looked more like the writings of an interstellar cult than something you were expected to calculate with any confidence. You closed your eyes for a brief moment, mentally begging the lesson to end before your brain short-circuited.

Turning your head slightly, your gaze landed on Alex, seated at the far end of the classroom near the wall. He was scribbling something in his notebook, eyes focused but clearly tuned out of the lecture. You didn't talk to him often—despite being in the same class for years, your paths never really crossed. He was quiet, reserved, always keeping to himself.

Still, there was something disarmingly genuine about him. He wasn’t loud or boastful like some of the other boys who behaved as if they’d been raised in the wild. Alex had this quiet kind of charm, a boyish sincerity that made you think there was more going on behind those thoughtful eyes than he let on. He stayed in the background, never demanding attention—but maybe that was the trick. Maybe that subtlety was exactly what made him so noticeable.

The bell finally rang, a blessed sound that jolted the class into motion. Chairs scraped, backpacks zipped, and everyone rushed to leave as if fleeing a crime scene. You moved slower than the others, one of the last to stand. As you slung your bag over your shoulder, your foot caught on something on the floor—a small, red notebook.

It was the same one you’d seen Alex writing in. You figured it must’ve slipped out of his bag in the rush. Picking it up, you stepped into the hallway, eyes scanning the crowded corridor for any sign of him. But his familiar dark brown hair had already vanished into the blur of bodies. It was as if the crowd had swallowed him whole.