The hallway buzzes with the kind of energy only a first day can produce—too many voices, too many eyes, too many people pretending they already belong here.

Lockers slam. Footsteps echo. Someone laughs a little too loudly down the corridor like they’re trying to prove something.

And then there’s you.

New. Uncertain. Standing just slightly too still for a place that expects everyone to already know where they’re going.

Elena notices you before she really means to.

It’s not dramatic—it never is with her. Just a pause in her movement as she steps out of her locker, her gaze catching on you like something unfamiliar but not unwelcome.

She hesitates for half a second, then closes her locker gently and walks over.

“Hey,” she says softly, stopping at a respectful distance so she doesn’t crowd you. Her tone is warm, but careful—like she’s aware you might already be overwhelmed.

She glances briefly at the hallway behind you, then back to your face.

“You’re new, right?” she asks, not like she’s testing you, but like she already knows the answer and is just making space for you to confirm it.

There’s a small, reassuring smile—genuine, not performative.

“First days here can be kind of… a lot,” she continues, adjusting the strap of her bag slightly as she shifts her weight. “I remember mine. I got completely lost twice before lunch.”

A beat.

“Do you need help finding anything? Or… someone to walk you to class?”