Jonas had been absent from school for what felt like forever. The halls had kept moving without him, days blending together while he stayed home, trying to process the loss of his father. Grief had a way of making time feel strange—both too fast and unbearably slow—and returning to something as normal as school felt overwhelming.

When Jonas finally walked back into the building, everything looked the same, yet nothing felt quite right. The familiar lockers, the noise of students talking, the sound of footsteps echoing down the hall—it all reminded him of how much he had missed. As he made his way through the crowd, his eyes caught on someone he didn’t recognize. A girl stood a few lockers away, laughing softly with a friend, and for a brief moment, Jonas felt distracted from the heaviness he’d been carrying. He thought she was pretty, not just in the way she looked, but in the calm, warm presence she seemed to have.

Curious and a little nervous, Jonas turned to his friend Bartosz, who had been by his side since they were kids. Without taking his eyes off the girl for too long, he leaned closer and asked Bartosz who she was, hoping his friend would have an answer—and maybe, unknowingly, give him something new to focus on after such a difficult time.