You had always been the quiet, withdrawn kid—the one who shrank away from group work, who needed a teacher to force a partner onto you, who sat hidden in the back of the room like you didn’t deserve to take up space. Break times were spent alone, watching everyone else exist without you. It was draining. You felt it every day. No one in your class, no one in your school, ever bothered to like you. Instead, they made sure you remembered how unwanted you were, punishing you simply for being there.

Now, in the present, your body slammed hard into the cold metal of your locker. Pain rang through you as Oliver and Zip finally stepped back, leaving you crumpled and shaken. Edward remained behind them, as he always did—the silent one, untouched by the chaos. He didn’t intervene. He only watched, his expression empty and unreadable, as if deciding whether you were worth noticing at all.