Chapter 3:
died living.
The next morning, the girl was there again.
The seat beside him wasn’t empty anymore.
She didn’t say a word.
She simply sat down, pulled out a notebook, and began to write.
He glanced at her once.
She was focused. Calm. Not paying attention to the stares.
The classroom buzzed quietly around them, but between those two desks, a strange silence hung.
During homeroom, the teacher announced a group project.
Groups of three.
Everyone scrambled to form pairs and trios.
No one asked him to join.
He expected as much.
The girl beside him raised her hand.
“I’ll be in a group with him.”
The room fell silent.
A few students laughed nervously.
The teacher blinked.
The girl smiled faintly, then turned to him.
He nodded slightly.
They were a group now.
In the hall after class, a classmate approached him.
“Hey… you okay?”
The words were soft. Uncertain.
He looked up.
The classmate didn’t meet his eyes.
“I’ve… never seen anyone stick by you like that.”
He didn’t answer.
The girl was watching from a distance.
Her expression unreadable.
That evening, he sat at his desk.
The folded paper from the girl lay on top of his textbook.
He opened it carefully.
Written inside was a single sentence:
“I believe you.”
For the first time in a long while, his heart didn’t feel so heavy.
He stared at the words until his eyes grew tired.
Then, he closed the notebook.
The night outside was quiet.
But inside, something was beginning to change.
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