Daniel walked over to Diana, offering his water bottle. "Here," he muttered.
Diana took it without hesitation, chugging the entire thing in one go. Daniel's eyes widened, clearly not expecting her to finish it all.
"See ya," she said, handing the empty bottle back to him.
Daniel blinked, still processing, but nodded. "Yeah... see ya."
Diana, too exhausted to be self-conscious, headed to the changing room. The late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the gym as her tired arms hung heavily by her sides. Normally, she would have felt a little nervous, but fatigue had dulled those edges. She quickly wiped the sweat from her face and arms with a towel, changed into a fresh pair of socks, and left the locker room without a second thought.
Daniel and Diana walked to English class in silence, side by side. They entered the classroom and sat together in the top right corner.
"Alright, class," the teacher said, her voice tired but stern. "Today we will be watching the play Romeo and Juliet."
The lights dimmed slightly as the screen at the front of the room flickered on. Daniel and Diana sat back, watching in silence as the scenes of Verona unfolded on the screen. Their focus remained fixed on the play, as the classroom around them slowly filled with the sounds of whispering and stifled giggles.
In the back, a group of students, clearly uninterested in Shakespeare, began mocking the characters on screen. One of them repeated Juliet's famous line in an exaggerated, sarcastic tone:
"Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?"
The class burst into soft laughter. The teacher turned sharply, eyes narrowing.
"Quiet back there!" she snapped, her voice carrying through the room.
The laughter died down, and the student who'd made the joke muttered an insincere apology. But barely a minute passed before another one of his friends chimed in, louder this time:
"Oh, Romeo, your jingle's making me tingle!"
The classroom erupted in laughter again, but the teacher's patience had worn thin.
"Alright, that's enough! Everyone stand up!" she shouted, her voice cutting through the noise. Groans rippled across the room as the students reluctantly rose from their seats. "I'm making a new seating plan," she continued. "You've brought this on yourselves."
The room filled with exasperated sighs, but no one dared to argue. As the teacher began calling out names, students trudged to their new seats, grumbling under their breath.
"Daniel, you'll be in the far bottom left," the teacher called out.
Daniel shot a glance at Diana before moving to the far end of the room, sitting down at the table that felt too far back for his liking.
The teacher's eyes flicked to another student. "Luna, you'll join him."
Luna, a petite girl with long peach-pink hair that faded into yellowish ends, glanced over at Diana as she moved to her new seat. Her face was calm, her expression nonchalant, as though none of this really mattered. Her eyes were bored, almost half-lidded, as she adjusted the pale blue button-up shirt she wore, tucking it neatly into her dark green jean shorts.
"Bye," she said, her voice monotone as if even saying a single word required too much effort. She then walked over to Daniel's table and sat down silently, and staring off into space.
Diana stood there awkwardly, waiting for her name to be called. The teacher glanced over at Ava, who remained seated in the middle of the room, her posture as relaxed as ever.
"Ava," the teacher said, her voice curt. "You stay where you are."
Her eyes then shifted to Diana. "Diana, you'll sit next to Ava."
Diana hesitated for a second before making her way over, feeling a knot of tension in her chest. She slid into the chair next to Ava, her muscles still sore from the match. Ava, with her tall and athletic build, sat back in her chair, completely unfazed by the change.
At first, Ava didn't even glance in Diana's direction. She twirled her pen idly between her fingers, her eyes fixed on the screen but not really watching. The faint glow of the play reflected off her face, but her mind was elsewhere. She was bored—she didn't care about Shakespeare, and she definitely didn't care about her new seatmate.
But after a few minutes, Ava's gaze wandered over to Diana, who was hunched over her notebook, scribbling furiously. Ava squinted, leaning slightly closer, assuming Diana was the type to be taking endless notes. Ugh, such a nerd, she thought, rolling her eyes in silent judgment.
Then Ava's eyes focused on what Diana was actually doing.
It wasn't notes. It was a sketch.
Ava's eyes widened slightly as she made out the details—a figure in motion, swinging a badminton racket, the lines rough but capturing the intensity of the moment. She blinked, her pen twirling slowing as she realized what she was looking at. The sketch was of her.
Diana was drawing her, mid-smash, from their match earlier.
A short, surprised laugh escaped Ava's lips, breaking the silence between them. It wasn't a mean laugh, just one of genuine surprise. "Is that… me?" she asked, her tone lighter than before.
Diana, caught off guard, quickly slapped her hand over the drawing, her face flushing red. "Uh… yeah," she muttered, clearly embarrassed.
Ava leaned back in her chair, still looking at Diana with mild amusement. "Why?"
Diana hesitated, her eyes flicking nervously between Ava and the notebook. "I thought you looked… cool," she admitted quietly, barely above a whisper.
Ava raised an eyebrow, surprised by the response. "Cool?" she repeated, as though testing the word. She didn't expect that. Most people just saw her as tough or intimidating—someone to keep a distance from. "Huh."
For a moment, neither of them spoke. Diana sat there, still half-covering her sketch, unsure whether to feel proud or mortified. Ava, meanwhile, continued to look at her, her usual boredom giving way to something closer to curiosity.
"Can I see it?" Ava asked after a pause, her voice softening slightly.
Diana hesitated but slowly moved her hand away, revealing the drawing. Ava studied it for a moment, a small smile playing at the corner of her lips. The drawing was rough, but it captured her power and movement in a way she hadn't expected. It was… good.
"Not bad," Ava said, her voice almost approving.
Diana's face flushed deeper. "Thanks," she mumbled, her fingers fidgeting with the edge of the notebook.
Ava chuckled softly, shaking her head slightly. "You're weird," she said, though there was no malice in her tone. In fact, there was something almost affectionate about it, like she had found something… endearing in Diana's quiet awkwardness.
Diana looked down at her notebook, feeling a mix of emotions—relief, embarrassment, and something else she couldn't quite name.
The class dragged on, the dialogue of Romeo and Juliet fading into the background. Ava kept sneaking glances at Diana, her curiosity growing. She hadn't expected to find someone like Diana—quiet, a little odd, but oddly cute, like Daniel.
By the time the bell rang, signaling the end of class, Ava stretched her arms above her head, yawning slightly. She glanced at Diana one last time before standing up.
"See you around," Ava said casually, her tone light, as though the conversation had never been strange at all.
Diana nodded awkwardly, still not quite sure what had just happened, but feeling strangely okay about it.
Earlier that day, on the other side of the room…
Daniel hadn't expected the sudden change in seating plans. Their English teacher was usually tolerant, even in extreme cases of disruptive behavior. But today, something had pushed her over the edge. She had mentioned at the beginning of the year that Romeo and Juliet was her favorite play, so maybe that was why she snapped when the students started mocking it.
Whatever the reason, Daniel now found himself sitting at the far bottom left of the classroom, feeling a knot of anxiety tightening in his chest. He wasn't great at handling sudden changes, and being seated away from Diana only made him feel more unsettled.
He wasn't entirely sure how to feel about Luna being his new deskmate. It wasn't that he disliked people—he just found it hard to know what to say or do around them. People could be hard to read. They would smile, but the smile never really reached their eyes, leaving Daniel wondering what they were really thinking. Were they being polite? Or was there something else behind that smile?
And then there was Ava. Daniel had rarely spoken to her, but her presence was impossible to ignore. He thought she was cool and tough, always moving and talking with a confidence that made it seem like she could handle anything. But she was also a little intimidating, her energy almost too intense, like she could see right through you if she wanted to. Even though he was taller than her, Daniel couldn't help but find her a bit scary. He felt a bit sorry for Diana. Sitting next to someone like Ava could be overwhelming.
He glanced slightly in Luna's direction, his new deskmate, trying not to be too obvious about it. Before he could even register the details of her appearance, Luna's head snapped toward him. Her emerald-green eyes locked onto his like a predator catching prey, and a jolt of fear shot through him. His heart thudded painfully in his chest. He quickly averted his gaze, looking straight ahead at the play.
Yeah, he thought, his shoulders tense. Ava's friends were no exception.
Time seemed to crawl by. Daniel kept his eyes glued to the screen, even though the words of the play barely registered in his mind. He was too focused on keeping himself calm, on trying to ignore the sense of unease gnawing at him. The classroom felt suffocating, too many eyes, too much noise.
After a while, he felt something strange—almost like a burning sensation on the side of his face. His right cheek tingled with the unmistakable feeling that he was being watched. In his peripheral vision, he saw two large green eyes staring at him, unblinking, like they were drilling right through his skull.
Daniel swallowed hard, his heart pounding in his ears. He turned his head slightly, glancing at Luna out of the corner of his eye.
"What?" he whispered, barely managing to get the word out.
Luna didn't hesitate. "Your hair is too long," she said matter-of-factly, as though that was the most normal thing to say.
Daniel blinked, completely caught off guard. Before he could think of anything to say, Luna had already turned back to the play, her eyes fixed on the screen as if their brief exchange had never happened.
He sat there for the rest of the class, feeling his energy drain away. By the time the bell rang, signaling the end of the period, Daniel was utterly exhausted. The effort of sitting next to someone he didn't know, of trying to make sense of Luna's strange comment, had left him drained.
He grabbed his bag, avoiding any eye contact with Luna, and shuffled out of the classroom. His mind was buzzing with confusion, and all he could think about was getting through the rest of the day without any more unexpected surprises.