The classroom was quiet. Too quiet.

Kenn sat at his desk, staring at the scribbled notes in front of him, but his mind was far from the lesson. His thoughts were elsewhere—always elsewhere. To the outside world, he was just another quiet, reserved student. But inside, something was different. Something he couldn't explain.

He didn't understand why he could hear everyone's emotions. At first, it was a soft hum—whispers in the back of his mind, fleeting and strange. But as the days passed, the hum grew louder, clearer. He could hear the fear in the eyes of his classmates, the envy in the softest of glances, the love hidden beneath the surface of polite smiles. Everyone was so… transparent. And yet, none of them knew it.

It wasn't always helpful. In fact, it often made things harder. What was the point of pretending when you could hear the truth? When you could feel the layers of emotions that nobody spoke aloud? The weight of others' feelings pressed on him, suffocating him with their intensity.

He didn't want this power. He didn't ask for it.

But the bracelet… the strange, pulsing bracelet that appeared on his wrist one day—he had no choice but to wear it. To endure its strange hold. To listen as the world around him became an open book, each person's emotions laid bare. The more he resisted, the harder it became to ignore.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the class. His classmates filed out of the room, laughing, chatting, their emotions as loud as ever. But Kenn didn't move. He couldn't. Not yet.

There was a shift happening, something deeper than he could understand. A pull at the edges of his mind, a sense that he was part of something much larger than just high school life. He didn't know why, but it felt like he was being watched, guided by an unseen force.

And then, there was Lynn. The one person who never seemed to hide her emotions from him. There was kindness there, warmth. She was a lifeline in a sea of confusion.

He stood up slowly, his eyes meeting hers as she lingered by the door. She smiled, as always, but there was something different in her gaze. Something that said she understood, even without him saying a word.

She was the only one who had noticed that something was wrong.

"Kenn," she said softly, breaking the silence. "Are you okay?"

For a moment, he hesitated. The words he wanted to say stuck in his throat. How could he explain the weight of what he was feeling, the confusion, the overwhelming flood of emotions from everyone around him?

He smiled faintly, a mask he had perfected. "Yeah. Just… thinking."

But Lynn's eyes didn't lie. She knew there was more. She always knew.

The truth was, Kenn didn't know how much longer he could keep pretending that everything was fine. That the bracelet wasn't changing him. That the emotions it forced him to confront weren't slowly twisting his perception of reality.

Something was coming. He could feel it.

And he didn't know if he was ready for what lay ahead.

But deep down, he knew one thing: the story of his life was about to change.