Ethan always remained in the shadows. In class—tucked away in the back corner, hidden behind a stack of books to avoid attention. In the hallways—just another unnoticed figure in the crowd. He wasn’t part of any loud groups, didn’t go to parties, and never tried to make friends. To everyone else, he was just another nerd—quiet, awkward, uninteresting.

But no one knew who he really was.

No one knew that after school, he didn’t go home to do homework but headed to a construction site, where he spent hours lifting heavy cement bags and working himself to exhaustion. That every penny he earned went toward paying for his mother’s medicine. No one knew that beneath his baggy clothes was a body hardened by physical labor, and that the same hands that carefully turned the pages of books could grip steel beams with a strength no one at school would ever expect.

But more than anything, no one knew about her.

She was the school’s star, her laughter echoing through the halls, her smile bright enough to light up any day. She was the first person he noticed when he walked into class, the name he whispered to himself as he reread conversations he was never part of.

And she had a boyfriend.

Of course, she did. How could she not? He was the captain of the football team—confident, popular, always at the center of attention. His name was everywhere, and everyone respected him. They looked perfect together—the golden couple, admired by all.

And him? He was nobody. Just a nerd foolish enough to dream about something impossible.

The phone trembled in his hands. He typed out a message, deleted it, typed it again. Hundreds of options ran through his mind, but in the end, he settled for the simplest one.

"Hey."

He didn’t want her to know it was him. He was certain that if she did, she wouldn’t even bother replying. What would she see in someone like him? No, this way, she might just think it was someone else, someone who could actually be worthy of her time.

Now, all he could do was wait.