chapter 2

The cold air from the classroom made my skin prickle. I stepped inside, my eyes scanning the room, and for a moment, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. It wasn’t just the chill, but a creeping sensation, like invisible eyes were on me, watching my every move. The walls seemed to close in, dark shadows stretching across the floor, the corners of the room cloaked in dim light. I blinked, trying to shake the sensation, convincing myself it was just my nerves.

Bryan nudged me gently. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” I whispered, forcing a smile, though my insides churned with unease. “Just... the cold air.”

Bryan looked around the room and shrugged. “Yeah, this place has a weird vibe sometimes. It’s always freezing in here. You’ll get used to it.” He smiled warmly and gestured for me to follow him to a pair of empty seats toward the back.

I slipped into the chair next to him, placing my bag on the floor, still hyperaware of my surroundings. The classroom wasn’t particularly large—rows of dark wooden desks and chairs arranged in neat lines, all facing a blackboard that had seen better days. The windows were high up, and the grey sky outside didn’t offer much light. The fluorescent bulbs overhead flickered slightly, casting everything in a pale, sickly glow.

Our biology teacher, Mrs. Harper, entered the room, and I tried to focus on her, but the air felt thick with tension. She was a tall woman with pale skin, dark hair pulled tightly into a bun, and eyes that seemed to pierce through the students, scanning the room with an intensity that made me uncomfortable.

“Good morning, class,” she said in a voice that was too soft for her severe appearance.

The class murmured a response, but I couldn’t help noticing how quiet everyone was. No idle chatter, no giggles from the back row. Just silence, as though the entire room was holding its breath. I glanced at Bryan, who was busy scribbling something in his notebook. He seemed unfazed, like this was just another ordinary day.

For me, it was anything but ordinary.

As Mrs. Harper started lecturing about the structure of cells, I tried to pay attention, but my mind wandered. Something was nagging at the back of my brain. The cold, the darkness of the room, the strange way the shadows moved when I wasn’t looking directly at them. It all felt wrong. I shivered, rubbing my arms as the sensation crept over me again—the feeling that I was being watched.

I glanced around the room, trying to find the source of my discomfort, but everyone seemed focused on the lesson. Yet, the unease wouldn’t leave. My fingers twitched, and I tapped my foot nervously under the desk.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw it.

A shadow, darker than the rest, moving. Slowly, deliberately, as if it had a mind of its own. It slipped across the floor, snaking toward the corner of the room where no light reached. My breath hitched, and I blinked hard, convinced it was my imagination.

When I looked again, it was gone.

I shook my head, trying to steady my breathing. You’re just being paranoid. It’s just a dark room, and you’re new. Everything feels weird when you’re new.

But even as I tried to calm myself, the sensation wouldn’t leave me.

Class dragged on, every second feeling longer than the last. When the bell finally rang, I nearly jumped out of my seat, my heart pounding in my chest. The other students began filing out, moving like shadows themselves, barely making a sound. I stuffed my books into my bag quickly, eager to escape the suffocating atmosphere of the classroom.

“Prisca, you good?” Bryan’s voice broke through my thoughts.

I glanced up at him, feeling my face flush. “Yeah... I’m fine. Just... need some air.”

He smiled sympathetically. “It’s a lot, huh? First day, weird school, everything feels off. Don’t worry, it’ll get better. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

---

The bell echoed through the hallway as students flooded out of classrooms. I felt Bryan’s reassuring presence beside me, his casual conversation providing a welcome distraction from the unsettling classroom experience. But as we approached the lockers, something caught my eye.

There, at the far end of the hallway, was a figure who seemed to cut through the crowd effortlessly—a tall, dark-haired guy with an air of quiet intensity. His gaze was unwavering, his expression almost cold, yet there was something magnetic about them that pulled me in, making everything else fade.

I couldn’t look away. My heart raced as he got closer,

I didn’t understand why or how, but something deep within me stirred—a sensation that felt both strange and oddly familiar. His gaze flickered in my direction, and our eyes met. My breath caught. A knowing smirk curved on his lips, and for a moment, it felt like he was looking straight through me, seeing something that no one else ever had. I opened my mouth , I probably looked like a weird dork as I stood frozen on the spot.

Then, without a word, he turned and walked away, his figure disappearing down the hall. The spell was broken, but I felt a pang of loss, as if something important had just slipped out of reach.

“Hey, watch it!” A loud bang snapped me back to reality. My locker door rattled as a group of girls shoved against it, blocking my view of him as they glared at me. One of them, a tall girl with messy, dark blonde hair, crossed her arms and leaned in close, her tone laced with venom.

“You better stay away from Jake,” she sneered, her eyes narrowing. “If I catch you even looking at him again, you’ll regret it.” Her friends nodded, sizing me up with disdain before walking off with a mocking scoff.

I rolled my eyes, my irritation barely masking the confusion swirling inside me. I didn’t even know the guy’s name was Jake until she mentioned it. And yet, that brief moment had felt like a thread tugging at something buried deep inside me, something that felt… ancient, almost. I shook my head, feeling ridiculous.

You’re just new, Prisca. You don’t know anyone here yet. It’s just curiosity or I have a crush already shit… right?

I turned back to the lockers, forcing myself to focus on my combination lock. But even as I tried to brush it off, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to that moment. There was something about Jake, something that made my pulse quicken and my mind race. It felt like we shared some kind of connection, even though logic told me that was impossible. I sighed I was already starting to be the new weird kid at this school.