Monday started weird.
Not bad. Not dramatic. Just... off. Like the air had shifted half a step sideways and no one else noticed.
I met the others at the lockers before first period. Selma was already there, nodding along while Zahra tore into her chem teacher with surgical precision. Hana wasn't even pretending to listen...she was busy picking lint off her sleeve like it had personally insulted her.
Then I saw him.
Luis.
I hadn't seen him since the first day. He looked the same, but not. His hoodie hung lower than it used to, like it had given up, and his face had that quiet kind of tired that doesn't fade with sleep. His eyes didn't search for anyone. They just passed over the group and landed somewhere near the floor.
"Hey," he said, voice soft. Almost lazy.
Selma stepped in first, wrapped her arms around him like there hadn't been space between them at all. Hana gave a half-wave, slow and unsure, like she hadn't decided how to feel yet. Zahra didn't say anything. Didn't blink.
I stayed quiet. He didn't say anything to me either, and I didn't expect him to.
Selma looped her arm through mine and tugged me down the hall.
"He's been staying with his cousins," she said under her breath. "His mom lost her job. They've been moving around. I guess he's back with his dad now."
"Is he okay?"
She hesitated. "I think he just needed to feel normal."
I nodded, even if I wasn't sure what that meant anymore.
First period dragged. No one said anything about Luis being back. Not the teacher, not anyone. But something in the room felt different. Like we were all holding still to see if he'd break. Hana kept tossing little jokes his way, some landed, some didn't. Zahra kept her eyes locked to her notes. Selma watched everyone like she was tracking pressure points.
I just sat behind them. Close enough to hear, not close enough to be part of anything. Just orbiting.
I should say something. But what? Welcome back like I ever really belonged here to begin with?
I scratched at the edge of the desk until the bell rang.
By lunch, whatever had been bubbling started to leak through.
Luis got to the table first. Hana followed fast and launched into some gym story, her words tumbling out too quick, like she was trying to keep the room from cracking in half.
Zahra came last.
She sat down slow. Quieter than usual. Her tray hit the table like it weighed more than it should have, and she didn't even lift her head when she said it.
"You told him."
Hana blinked. "Told who what?"
"Luis," Zahra said, voice low and sharp. "You told him what I said."
"I didn't say your name," Hana replied, too fast. "I just… it came up."
Zahra stabbed her salad with the kind of precision that said she wasn't hungry anymore.
"You swore you wouldn't."
"I was trying to help."
Luis looked up, confused. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," Zahra said.
"It's fine," Hana added right after.
Selma slid into the seat between them like she'd done it a hundred times.
I took my spot on the end and tried not to look too hard.
Zahra looked past all of us like we weren't even there. "You always do this."
"I didn't think he'd even..." Hana stopped. "It wasn't that deep."
"It was to me."
Selma glanced between them. "Can we not do this here?"
Zahra didn't answer. Hana crossed her arms. Luis blinked, looking like someone had dropped him into the middle of a scene with no lines.
"If this is about me..."
"It's not," Zahra cut in.
I glanced at Selma. She was already mouthing not now behind her soda.
The silence that followed didn't settle. It lingered, holding its breath.
Selma leaned toward me, voice low. "Wanna come with me after? I need to talk to them. Separately."
"Okay," I said. "Not like I'm really... in this anyway."
She winced, just a little. Like she didn't have the energy to argue that.
Zahra and Hana did that thing people do when they're pretending not to be fighting, smiling too wide, talking too careful. Every word after that had a twist in it.
I picked at my sandwich. Took a bite I didn't want. Swallowed like it might smooth out the edges of the room.
They're fighting over something personal guess. Something that wasn't supposed to leave the circle.
And now it has.
And I'm just... here.
When we finally split off, Zahra had a "book to return," Hana had "an assignment due," and Luis vanished like he'd never been there to begin with.
Selma checked her phone and let out a breath.
"I'm gonna try to catch them. Give me ten minutes?"
"Sure."
"You good?"
"Yeah."
"You sure?"
Not really. But you've got your hands full already.
I nodded. She gave my arm a quick squeeze and walked off, already typing something out as she disappeared into the crowd.
I wandered.
Past the usual lockers. Down one of the quieter halls where the light came in at an angle through the windows and the noise felt far enough away to breathe.
They're mad at each other. Not me.
But they didn't pick me either.
Selma's out here trying to keep the whole thing stitched together and I'm still just on the edge. Still watching. Like I was never really sewn in.
I found a bench and sat down. Let the quiet sink in.
Maybe this is just how it is. You stay quiet. You try not to get in the way. And somehow you still end up outside the circle when it breaks.
I didn't even do anything. That's the worst part. I didn't lie or spill secrets or screw up a plan. I was just… here. And they still didn't pull me in.
Maybe it's easier to just be background. No one expects the background to speak.
I picked at a thread on my sleeve, tugging at it until it started to fray.
"Ely, right?"
I looked up.
Kyra stood near the lockers.
Backpack slung over one shoulder. Hand still wrapped around the strap like she hadn't decided whether to let go. Her voice wasn't loud. Just calm. Measured. Like she'd practiced what she was about to say and didn't want to scare me off with it.
"Can we talk? Just for a sec?"