Damien's POV
Lunch again. Same spot.
Damien leaned against the cool pillar at the courtyard's edge, earbuds in, volume low. He liked the static hum of the school around him it made it easier to sense the things that didn't quite fit. He didn't notice her approach until the air shifted. When he opened his eyes, she was already there. Not close, but near enough that he could feel it that quiet pressure again. The girl with silver hair. Sienna, someone had called her. She wasn't looking at him directly. Just past him. As if she was debating whether to speak at all.
"You watch people," she said finally, her voice soft but sure.
Damien tugged out one earbud. "So do you."
Sienna didn't smile, but something flickered in her expression. "Most people don't see what's really there."
He looked at her thenreally looked. There was something in her eyes, not glowing, not strange… but old. Like she'd seen things no one this age should've seen. But yet she looks so young, strange.
"Yeah," he said. "Most people don't."
They stood in that silence for a moment, the noise of the courtyard muffled around them.
Then Sienna tilted her head. "You're not human."
Damien blinked. That was direct. Too direct. But instead of denial, he found himself saying, quietly, "Neither are you."
Another flicker in her gaze. Not shock. Not fear. Just confirmation.
"What are you" Sienna asked as she looked at him with so much curiosity hoping he would answer when she knows he wouldn't.
Damien didn't answer, but his jaw tensed. His hands stayed in his pockets. His pulse drummed harder than he liked.
"I don't know what you are," she said after a pause. "But it's strong. And it's waking up."
He nodded slightly. "You too."
Sienna looked away then, as if that was enough. Maybe it was. No names. No secrets. Just a thread pulled taut between two strangers standing on opposite ends of something big. She left without another word. And Damien, still leaning against the pillar, realized he hadn't taken a real breath since she showed up. He didn't know what she is but one thing for sure his kind are mostly hated and right now he is vulnerable as he hasn't gone through his First transformation yet.
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Sienna's POV
The moment she stepped away from him, the air relaxed. Not completely. Just enough.
Damien.
She'd never spoken to him before not really but the moment they exchanged words, something deep within her stirred. And it wasn't just her. It was him, too. His blood wasn't human. That much was obvious now. It wasn't about the way he looked at her. It was the way the air changed around him, like it was trying to decide whether to freeze or burn. And he'd sensed it in her, too. Of course he had. Her first transformation had already taken place. Weeks ago. Her mother had sealed the house in veils and runes. The ritual had been private, sacred equal parts terrifying and beautiful. And afterward… everything shifted.
Now she could feel the ley lines beneath her feet. Now she could touch the fabric of the world, just a little, and have it respond. Now the threads of magic shimmered at her fingertips when she focused silver and violet, swirling like strands of moonlight through deep water. Her mother called it her weave, unique to her kind of Fae. She was still learning control, still grounding herself. But it was hers now.
And that boy? Damien?
He didn't feel like anything she'd known. No echo of Fae or Witch or Siren. No nature-connection like a Shifter. Just something shadowed. Hungry. Yet… there was restraint in him. Pain, too. Sienna settled in the grass, just far enough from the noise of school. Her fingers hovered over the earth. She brushed a thread of her weave forward, whispering softly under her breath. A violet shimmer danced across her palm and sank into the roots. The ground warmed slightly, flowers inching upward in response quiet, gentle things that didn't draw attention.
A soft smile tugged at her lips. She wasn't alone in her changes. Not anymore. And even if they couldn't say what they were not yet there was a silent knowing growing between them.
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Alex & Riley's POV
They didn't talk much about how they met mostly because it hadn't felt like a beginning. More like… a continuation. Like picking up a conversation they didn't remember starting. Since that day, they'd naturally gravitated toward each other. No dramatic declarations, no "let's be friends" moment. It was just something.
Now they walked the hallways side by side. Alex with his quiet questions and steady presence. Riley with her sharp edges and knowing silences. They moved differently when they were together less guarded, more grounded. She had noticed how he watched things. people, Movements. Shadows. The way a door closed too hard or how someone's voice shifted when lying. He didn't realize it, but he was constantly reading the world like a puzzle. He had noticed how she always scanned corners first. Her steps were calculated, smooth not nervous, but always aware. Like she'd already memorized all her exits before sitting down. They didn't need to explain those things to each other. They just… understood.
It was after school now, and they sat under a wide, rustling tree in the back lot. The kind of spot no one cared about unless they were trying to disappear. Perfect for them.
Alex sat cross-legged, staring up at the branches. Riley leaned back on her elbows beside him, her hoodie sleeves pushed up, eyes half-closed.
"So," he said after a while, "you noticed her too, right?"
Riley didn't open her eyes. "Silver hair?"
He nodded. "And the eyes. Like they've seen things."
"Her name is Sienna though I think"
He looked at her, eyebrows raised. "You think so?"
"yeah, probably heard someone calling her that"
Silence returned for a moment. Not awkward. Just full of thoughts.
"She said my name," Riley added, almost to herself. "I didn't hear it. But I felt it."
Alex turned his gaze back to the sky. "Is that a thing?"
Riley's lips quirked. "kind of, you know intuition, Sometimes it's a thing."
He didn't ask what she meant by that but it seems to be something huge. And maybe he will know more than he thinks she is.
"We should talk to her," Alex said.
"We will," Riley agreed. "Not yet, though."
"Why not?"
Riley opened her eyes, watching the clouds drift above them. "Because she's not ready to talk. She's listening. Waiting."
Alex didn't argue. He just nodded and leaned back beside her, shoulder to shoulder.
Some friendships didn't need grand beginnings. Some just were.
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Lunch felt different now. Not because the food was better, it still wasn't. And not because school had somehow become more interesting. But because they weren't eating alone anymore. Riley had taken to sitting under a tree near the edge of the courtyard, and Alex, without asking, had sat beside her again. Neither of them commented on it. It just felt right.
"So," Alex said, tearing open a juice box like it offended him. "Do you always sit out here?"
Riley nodded, nibbling on the corner of her sandwich. "It's quieter. Less... cafeteria."
Alex gave a mock shudder. "That place smells like disappointment."
That earned him a tiny laugh, barely there, but he caught it. It was enough to make him grin.
They didn't talk about anything serious. It was little things. Dumb observations about teachers, weird students, that kid with the squeaky shoes who always walked like he was being followed.
"Do you think he knows how loud he is?" Alex whispered as the kid passed again, shoes betraying him with every step.
"I think he might be haunted," Riley replied, deadpan.
They both snorted.
It wasn't deep. It wasn't dramatic. It was just... good. For the first time in a long while, Riley didn't feel like she was bracing for something to go wrong. And Alex wasn't trying so hard to read the room or defend himself from it. They just sat. No need to impress. No need to explain. Just two people under a tree, letting the world move around them.
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