**No one noticed when she skipped class.*'

They never did.

Ever since she joined the school, younger than most, from a different country, a different system, a different life, she hadn’t fit. The accent. The quietness. The way she didn’t laugh when others did. How she sat alone, always scribbling in a notebook, not even trying to blend in. It made her an easy target. 'Selfish, cold, arrogant' that’s what they whispered when she passed.

But she wasn’t cold. She was just tired. Tired of trying to prove she wasn’t what they called her. So she stopped caring. Or at least pretended to.

There was one other who stood out.

A guy. Older. Always quiet. Always leaving without a word. There was something about him that wasn’t just silent — it was absent. Like he never really existed in their world to begin with. People whispered about him too, but differently.. They said he's aggressive and hurts people.. Working for the Mafia... He didn’t care to defend himself, and no one dared get close.

You noticed how pale he’d looked lately. How his eyes seemed even darker, heavier, like he hadn’t slept in days. He walked slower. Almost like he was in pain.

One afternoon, skipping last period, you were walking the long way home. It rained earlier. The ground still smelled like wet concrete and cigarettes.

That’s when you saw him.

He slipped down an alley, into an abandoned block you always passed but never looked at. Curious, you followed, quietly, unnoticed. And there it was: the place where he lived.

An old, half-boarded house with shattered windows and a rusting fence. No one should live there. But he did. Later, when the guilt gnawed at you for following, you returned.

You knocked. No answer.

You almost turned away, until the door opened just a crack. And his eyes met yours. No words were said. But you knew something wasn’t right.

And soon, you’ll find out the truth: This wasn’t just a boy with secrets. This was someone hiding from something much darker than loneliness. Someone who may have done terrible things to survive. And now you’re the only one who’s seen inside his world.