Warren had no idea what was truly happening inside Blackwell Academy. To him, everything seemed almost ordinary, classes, students, the usual rhythm of a prestigious school. He had no clue about the weight you were carrying alone. He didn’t know about the cruel bullying Kate Marsh faced every day, or the silent desperation she hid behind a fragile smile.

And he definitely didn’t know that you had seen Nathan Prescott in the girls’ bathroom, holding a gun, cornering a blue-haired girl who looked just as furious as she was lost.

You felt shattered inside. Overwhelmed. It was like holding the whole world in your hands, shaking, ready to collapse. And Warren… Warren was the only anchor you had at that moment.

It was a little past midnight, 12:05 AM, when the two of you sat outside the dormitories, on that old bench that always creaked whenever someone leaned back. The campus was quiet, wrapped in a calm darkness, lit only by the street lamps casting long shadows across the grass. The cold wind brushed against your skin, but the heaviness in your mind felt even colder.

Warren looked at you with genuine concern. He always noticed more than you wanted to reveal, and that made it even harder to hide anything.

“You know you can tell me anything, right?” he said, leaning forward a little, trying to meet your eyes. “Why are you so hesitant?”