Riley's POV
Riley pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the classroom window, tuning out the steady murmur of her teacher's voice. Science. Something about ecosystems. She wasn't listening. Not really. Her eyes followed the motion of a bird fluttering across the parking lot below, wings catching light as it disappeared into the trees. She envied that kind of freedom. A quiet cough brought her back. She blinked, straightened a little in her seat, and tried to look like she was paying attention. She wasn't. Instead, she let her focus shift just slightly toward the things no one else noticed. The way the girl in the front row had her leg bouncing nonstop. The boy near the door who smelled faintly like anger, hot, sharp, and metallic. The hum of fluorescent lights overhead. Too bright. Too loud. Always.
It wasn't that she was trying to be distracted. Her senses just didn't let her rest more like she is disturbed and feel out of place. She tapped her pen against her notebook, a slow rhythm in time with her thoughts. She'd drawn another weird diagram, lines and curves her fingers seemed to understand before her brain did. She flipped the page. Something she seems not to understand. She just loves drawing but this one symbol is something she has been doing ecer since she can remember. Her teacher walked past her row, and Riley sat up straighter. Just another face in the crowd. she needs to blend in and not to be outstanding in the crowd. It had worked for years.
But something felt different. And she couldn't lay her finger in what is making her feel uneasy.but there was this low buzz under her skin. Like she was on the edge of something. Like they are cracks which she needs to seal up before being noticed.
The bell rang.
Riley exhaled slowly, already grabbing her things before most of the class moved. She slipped her bag over one shoulder and kept her head down as she rushed through the halls. But as she passed one of the older classrooms, she felt it, that twitch behind her ribs. A flicker of something.
She didn't stop.
She didn't look.
She just kept walking.
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Sienna's POV
The second day was quieter than the first. Not in the literal sense, students still filled the halls with laughter, rushed footsteps, and the occasional slam of a locker door. But inside her, the tension remained the same. Sienna walked through the school entrance alone, a faint morning breeze tugging at her sweater. Her satchel bounced lightly at her hip as she headed toward her classroom. She knew the way now. No more asking the front desk. No more wandering the halls pretending to check her schedule.
She hated pretending. Not that anyone noticed. Most people barely looked at her. That part, she didn't mind. She liked to observe rather than be observed. It gave her space to breathe, to read people. It also gave her space to listen. She'd started picking up on things. Which groups kept to themselves. Who was always late. Which teachers repeated their lectures word for word. Which students seemed to have secrets tucked in the way they avoided eye contact.
Not that she was judging. She just… noticed things. It was a habit she hadn't been able to shake since she was a child. Her parents called it "awareness." Her dad used to joke it was "a touch of the old blood."
Sienna never liked that.
She didn't believe in magic. Or fate. Or realms full of creatures her people once spoke of in whispers. That was all buried under folklore and dusty books. Something which she is part of but yet can't do anything about it but to accept.
Her life now was here, in this school, in this world.
She found her classroom and slipped into her seat near the back. She liked the spot. It gave her a view of everyone without putting herself in the center of things. Just the way she liked it. The teacher hadn't arrived yet, and most students were still rolling in. She pulled out a notebook and tapped her pen against the edge of the desk. A few students cast glances her way. Nothing unkind. Just the usual and casual curiosity that came with being the new girl. No one approached her yet. No one asked where she was from or why she'd transferred in the middle of the term. That was fine, too though. And She wasn't ready to be asked questions she didn't know how to answer. Because even if her life looked ordinary, she is far from it.
________________________________________________Damien's POV
Damien strolled through the front gate, earbuds in, hands tucked into his jacket pockets. The late morning sun cast lazy streaks of gold across the pavement, and the breeze carried the scent of something vaguely floral maybe the gardens near the back lot. His eyes scanned the campus like someone who'd been here a hundred times before, even though this was only his first day. There was no tension in his shoulders, no anxious tug at his thoughts.He was here for school. And He just didn't mind standing out. As long as no one got in his way.
The office lady had handed him a map, but he didn't bother looking at it. It was already crumpled in his pocket. He figured if he wandered long enough, the right door would find him. That was how most things in life seemed to go for him anyway. And he was okay with it by now.
A few students stared as he passed by, their curiosity not subtle in the slightest. He could feel the weight of their gazes trailing behind him, he expected nothing less of sort.
Damien didn't rush. He eventually stopped outside a building that looked promising and glanced at the classroom numbers.
"204… 205… there you are," he muttered.
The classroom door creaked open as he stepped inside mid-lecture. Heads turned, and the teacher paused, blinking as Damien offered a relaxed smile and a casual nod.
"New student," he said simply, holding up the paper the office had given him. "Sorry I'm late"
The teacher sighed.
"Come in and Find an empty seat."
Damien slid into a desk near the windows. First row, not by choice just the closest seat that didn't already smell like anxiety. He dropped his bag with a thud and leaned back like he'd been here forever.
Out the corner of his eye, he caught a few students still sneaking glances..
He pulled a pen from his pocket and twirled it idly in his fingers.As he listen to the teacher.