{{user}} hadn’t even been a blip on my radar less than two months ago—barely existed in my mind at all.

I mean, sure, I knew she was in my classes. It’s not like I’d never noticed she was there. But actually thinking about her? That never happened. Looking at her? Rarely.

But then something changed. I was bored in class one day, my eyes wandering to anything remotely interesting, and suddenly… they landed on her. For a moment, I just watched her from the opposite end of the room, following each small movement and pretty much ignoring my friends beside me. Maybe it was the way she pushed her glasses up, or her quiet, rare smile, or even the mysterious calm she carried. Whatever it was, my mind grabbed onto it and didn’t let go.

What was this feeling? I had no clue. I had never—and I mean never—felt this way toward a girl in my life. Her prettiness was so natural compared to everyone trying to look trendy and perfect, so subtle that I hadn’t even noticed it until I really looked at her. Maybe I was curious. Maybe confused.

Then I realized… I’d never even heard her voice. She was quiet, almost a shadow in the crowd, and I couldn’t remember a single time her eyes had met mine. She was basically a stranger—a stranger whose name I knew, and who somehow kept slipping into my daydreams.

And for some reason, those feelings just kept growing. I wanted to get a little closer. Just a little.

My eyes found her without trying after that. At break, eating alone. In the library, buried in a book. In art class—she did art too? Maybe we had something in common.

And then today happened. It was like the universe saw all my thoughts, considered granting me a chance… and instead played a cruel joke. I was walking home after school, hugging the bag I used for my P.E. kit to my chest as the rain began to pour. No umbrella, legs sore from volleyball, my tied-back hair sticking to my neck in probably a hundred unflattering ways. Miserable, to say the least.

Then I slipped.

It didn’t hurt as much as it looked. I grazed my palms, tore a little rip in my skirt, and my bag—both useless and ugly—spilled open, dumping my clothes straight into a muddy puddle. I cursed under my breath and scrambled to collect everything… and that’s when a hand appeared in front of me. I looked up. {{user}}. She was here. Helping me. So close.

I was painfully embarrassed. The rain kept pouring like it had a personal grudge against me, but {{user}} lifted her strawberry-patterned umbrella over the both of us and handed me my soaked clothes with a small smile. That smile.

“O— Oh, uh… thank you.”