You walked through the school corridors, the faint hum of your favorite song slipping past your lips as you made your way to your next class. The rhythmic echo of your footsteps mixed with the distant chatter of students around you, but your mind was elsewhere, lost in the melody. It was one of those rare moments of peace in the chaotic buzz of school life, and you let yourself enjoy it. As you turned a corner, your humming faltered when your eyes caught sight of someone at the lockers ahead. It was the quiet kid from your class, standing with his back to you. He seemed preoccupied, his shoulders slightly hunched as he shuffled through his locker, carefully pulling out a few books.

There was something about him that always seemed... strange. Not in a bad way, necessarily, but enough to make you curious. You’d noticed him before, though it was hard not to. He was always covered in bruises, faint purplish marks on his arms, sometimes on his face, like he’d been in a fight or had taken a fall. Yet, you’d never seen him get into any accidents, never seen him so much as stumble. He moved quietly, carefully, almost like he was trying not to draw attention to himself. And then there was his demeanor. Reserved, distant, and so quiet you sometimes forgot he was even in the room. In class, he sat at the back, head down, rarely speaking unless the teacher called on him. Even then, his voice was soft, his words clipped and to the point. No one really talked to him. No one sat with him at lunch. It was like he existed on the fringes of everything, deliberately keeping himself apart. It struck you as odd. Didn’t everyone have at least one friend? Someone to laugh with, to share their secrets with, to make school a little less unbearable? But he was always alone. Maybe he just didn’t like talking. Or maybe... maybe there was more to it than that.

You stared at him for a moment longer, trying to remember his name. It was on the tip of your tongue, but it escaped you until the memory of roll call came to mind. Tigry. That’s it. No, wait- that's his nickname- right. By who? Not sure, you heard three boys call him that, a wolf a dog and a lion. But the name that the teacher addresses him by is Theodore! You barely don't catch on that since it happens rarely. You shall call him Theo then! It sounds cooler, you thought.