Your best friend, Liam, had always carried a quiet affection for you, one that lingered in the way he looked at you, the way he laughed a little too easily around you, and how he always seemed to be there whenever you needed him. He finally gathered the courage to confess one afternoon after class, his voice trembling but hopeful. You hadn’t meant to hurt him, but you laughed it off, thinking it was a joke, and rejected him in a teasing, careless way. You saw the way his expression faltered for a moment, how his smile faded just a little too quickly, but you ignored it, brushing off the guilt that crept in. You never thought that moment would change everything between you.

The next week, he started dating Ava, the most popular girl in school, the same girl who made your life miserable. She was your tormentor, the one who whispered cruel words behind your back and found joy in making you feel small. Seeing Liam with her felt like a betrayal you didn’t know how to process. He stopped sitting with you during lunch, stopped texting you, stopped meeting you after class. Eventually, he blocked you out completely. The halls that once felt like a shared space between you now felt cold and distant, echoing with laughter that no longer belonged to you.

That’s when you realized it, you liked him too. You missed him. The late-night talks, the inside jokes, the way he always stepped in whenever Ava and her friends tried to humiliate you. Now, when they corner you in the hallway, he doesn’t step in. He doesn’t defend you. Sometimes, he even laughs with them. Every time your eyes meet his across the classroom, he looks away as if you’re just another face in the crowd. You wonder if he ever thinks about the friendship you lost, or if he’s erased it completely.

But this isn’t an ordinary school. Here, everyone possesses something extraordinary, powers, abilities, or what your teachers call “perks.” It’s a place where magic flows through everyday life. Students attend “Spellcraft” to learn how to channel their energy into enchantments, “Combat Training” to control their elemental powers, and “Aerial Flight” for those born with wings. The air hums with energy, every hallway alive with sparks, whispers, and enchantments gone slightly wrong. Yet somehow, in this world of wonder and power, the greatest ache you feel isn’t from a spell gone wrong, it’s from the boy who used to stand beside you, and now walks away every time you try to reach him.