Sam's POV
The next morning felt quieter than usual, though the world outside was anything but silent. The chatter of students filled the corridors, laughter echoing off the lockers, shoes squeaking against the polished tiles — everything was loud, alive, and moving. Yet somehow, to Sam, it all felt muted.
Her mind was still stuck on yesterday — the sharp words, the clash of pride and misunderstanding, the look in Liam's eyes before he'd turned away. It wasn't guilt exactly that burned in her chest, but something close to it — a strange mix of confusion and… disappointment.
She hugged her notebook closer as she entered the classroom, pretending to scroll through her phone, just to avoid the curious glances around. The desk next to hers — Liam's — was empty. For a fleeting second, she felt relieved. Then, she hated herself for that.
When the first bell rang, Zoe walked in with her usual lightness — calm, confident, her smile almost out of place in the restless atmosphere of the room.
"Morning," Zoe said softly, taking her seat beside Sam.
"Morning," Sam replied, eyes still glued to her notebook.
The silence that followed wasn't uncomfortable, but it was heavy enough to make her fingers tighten around her pen.
By lunch, the sun had slipped high into the sky, filtering through the glass ceiling of the cafeteria. Sam sat alone by the window, picking at her sandwich, her thoughts spinning like dry leaves.
She didn't notice Zoe approach until she placed a small juice box in front of her.
"Peace offering," Zoe said, her voice carrying that easy warmth that made people feel seen.
Sam blinked, surprised. "For what?"
"For sitting alone," Zoe said, then added with a smirk, "And maybe for what Liam said yesterday. He's an idiot sometimes."
Sam froze. "You don't have to—"
"I want to," Zoe interrupted gently, sitting across from her. "He wasn't fair to you. He's… well, complicated."
The word complicated hung in the air like a thread that neither of them knew how to pull without unraveling something.
"Complicated?" Sam repeated. "That's one way to describe someone who thinks everyone's beneath him."
Zoe laughed quietly — not mocking, but thoughtful. "He doesn't actually think that. He just acts like it so people won't see how much he's hurting."
Sam frowned, lowering her gaze. "Hurting? What's that supposed to mean?"
Zoe hesitated, twirling her straw. "He… wasn't always like this. I've known him since we were little. He used to smile more, talk more. Then… after his mom…" Her words faded. "He changed."
Sam's head snapped up. "You've known him since you were kids?"
Zoe nodded, her expression softening. "Yeah. We were neighbors. Best friends, actually. But after his mother passed, his father got busier, and he just started building walls around himself. I moved away for a few years, but now that I'm back, he's… different."
Sam's heartbeat quickened. A strange ache built in her chest, one she didn't know how to name. It wasn't jealousy, not exactly. It was more like a sudden awareness — that she'd stepped into a story that had already begun long before her.
The mysterious voice whispered faintly in her mind again — soft, almost protective:"Sometimes, hearts forget how to speak."
She blinked, looking around, but the cafeteria noise drowned everything else. Maybe she'd imagined it.
Zoe reached over, tapping Sam's notebook. "You write a lot, don't you?"
Sam flinched slightly. "Not really. Just… random stuff."
Zoe smiled knowingly. "Well, whatever it is, keep doing it. You look calmer when you're writing."
Sam chuckled under her breath. "That's because words don't judge."
Zoe grinned. "Then they're better company than most people."
For the first time that day, Sam smiled — really smiled. And for a brief, flickering moment, the noise around her faded, leaving only the faint sound of her heartbeat and Zoe's laughter.
Liam's POV
He didn't mean to overhear them.
Liam had just walked into the cafeteria, hands buried in his pockets, his mood dark from the morning's argument with his stepmother. Victoria had a talent for finding the one thing that made him lose his calm — mentioning his mother like she was just another chapter to be closed.
He was halfway to the lunch line when he heard Zoe's voice — and then Sam's. He froze.
"...you've known him since you were kids?" Sam's tone carried both surprise and something else — something that made Liam's throat tighten.
Zoe's laugh followed. "Yeah. Best friends, once."
He stood there for a moment, his pulse thrumming. Best friends. The words were harmless, but somehow, they clawed at him.
He didn't want to listen, but he couldn't move either.
Zoe's voice softened, almost fading into the background noise. "He used to smile more… until his mom."
Liam's jaw clenched. The sound of that sentence broke something small and quiet inside him. He turned away, walking out before he could hear anything else.
The hallway felt colder than usual.
He hated that she still had that power — to talk about him like she understood. But she did understand. Zoe always did.
And Sam… she didn't know anything about his life, but something about her — the way she stood up to him, the way her eyes flashed with defiance — it made him feel seen again. Seen in a way that hurt.
He leaned against the locker, rubbing his forehead. His mother's face flashed in his mind — her soft smile, her hand brushing through his hair.
"Protect others, Liam," she had once said. "Even when you think they don't deserve it. Sometimes the ones who fight the hardest are the ones who are hurting the most."
He'd forgotten what that felt like — to care without breaking apart.
From down the hall, he saw Sam leave the cafeteria with Zoe. The two were laughing about something, and that tiny sound — her laughter — lingered long after they disappeared.
He didn't know why it mattered.He didn't want it to matter.
And yet, it did.
Author's POV
The school day ended with sunlight spilling like gold across the courtyard — students rushing out, laughter fading into the hum of the city beyond.
But beneath the chatter and ordinary rhythm, something delicate had begun to shift.
Zoe had unknowingly become a bridge — between guilt and forgiveness, silence and understanding.Sam's world, once guarded and uncertain, had found its first real friend.And Liam — haunted by the past — stood on the edge of something he didn't yet understand.
The echoes of their pasts were beginning to awaken.
And fate, patient and quiet, was watching — waiting for the next move.