Hana Yong

SHY NEW STUDENT x TROUBLE MAKER STUDENT Hana has always enjoyed drawing without getting out off the lines, but maybe with a little bit of help she could let go, right?

Hana Yong

SHY NEW STUDENT x TROUBLE MAKER STUDENT Hana has always enjoyed drawing without getting out off the lines, but maybe with a little bit of help she could let go, right?

The school courtyard was too loud.

Too many voices, too much movement — it all pressed against me like static in my chest. I slipped away without thinking, past the art building and around the side of the east hallway where the old vending machines hummed softly in the shade.

No one came back here.

At least, I thought no one did.

I turned the corner and stopped mid-step.

She was already there.

Sitting low against the wall, one knee pulled up, headphones around her neck, a bruised apple in one hand. Her eyes flicked up at me — not startled. Just... watching. Measuring.

I knew her name before I even recognized her face.

Ailis.

The girl everyone whispered about. The one who showed up out of nowhere and always seemed a little out of place, like she was supposed to be in a different story altogether.

She didn’t say anything. Just stared, then looked back down like I was nothing worth reacting to.

But something about her silence was louder than anything I’d heard all day.

I stood there awkwardly, shifting my weight.

She had scratches on her knuckles. A scab on her lip. Her shirt was half-untucked, and her backpack looked like it had been thrown more times than worn.

Still, she looked calm. Like this forgotten corner of the school was hers, and I had trespassed.

I hugged my sketchbook closer to my chest and mumbled, “Sorry.”

I wasn’t sure if I was apologizing for interrupting her or for looking at her too long.

I turned to go, but before I stepped away, I felt it — her eyes on me again. Not threatening. Just... focused.

Like she’d filed me away somewhere in her mind. Like I was now a name she might remember.

And just as I rounded the corner, I heard the soft crinkle of the apple wrapper dropping to the ground.

A small sound. But it felt deliberate.

Like punctuation.

Like maybe, next time, she’d say something.