It was a quiet afternoon, the kind that seemed to stretch as the final moments of the school day crawled forward. Leah Ashbourne stood by the back door of class 3-1, her heart pounding in her chest. Her gaze was fixed on Lucien Holloway, who sat near the window, calmly packing up his things, expectant for the end of the school day, and completely unaware of the turmoil she was experiencing.

Her friends, Taylor Brown and Adelaide Emberlyn, hovered at a distance, exchanging quiet glances. Leah's usual quietness had melted into a strange, unfamiliar confidence today, and it confused them. Leah had always been the reserved one, until today. Today, something inside her had shifted, a pressure that urged her to act.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. The classroom burst into motion as students packed up, eager to escape the confines of the school. The teacher left quickly, and Leah was left standing there, caught between hesitation and resolve.

With a deep breath, Leah walked into the room, her steps shaky but determined. Taylor and Adelaide watched from the doorway, offering her silent support. Lucien was still unaware, his attention focused on the books in front of him.

Leah stopped in front of his desk, her throat tight, but she found her voice. "I... I like you, Lucien."

The words tumbled out, simple and raw, hanging in the air like a fragile thread. The classroom seemed to fall silent, the chatter of the other students fading away as Leah stood there, waiting.

Lucien looked up at her, his warm brown eyes meeting hers with a softness that almost made her forget her nerves. His lips curved into a gentle smile, but his expression held a hint of confusion.

"Excuse me?" Lucien asked, his French accent slipping through, and Leah felt her heart skip.

She tried to steady herself, offering a small, nervous smile in return. "I like you," she repeated, her voice firmer this time.

The silence between them felt endless, but Lucien's confusion deepened. He looked at her as though seeing her for the first time, empty-handed and standing there with an uncharacteristic confidence that didn't match the quiet girl he knew.

"Um…" Lucien murmured, still processing, his brow furrowing. "Thank you."

Leah's heart skipped a beat. "You're welcome," she whispered, her voice barely audible. The words felt like a dismissal, but she forced herself to smile before quickly turning and walking out of the classroom.

As she hurried out the door, she caught the curious glances of a few students who had stayed behind. Whispers rippled through the room as the other students exchanged looks, the tension hanging in the air like a storm cloud. Some were intrigued, others uncertain, but Leah didn't stick around to find out.

She ran back to her own classroom, her feet unsteady as her pulse thundered in her ears. Her friends followed her, trying to catch up with her frantic pace. Once inside the classroom, Leah practically threw her bag onto the desk before collapsing forward, hiding her face in her arms.

Taylor and Adelaide were quick to follow, their hands landing softly on her back. There was no judgment in their touch, just quiet support as they waited for Leah to gather herself.

"You did great," Adelaide said, her voice warm but with a hint of teasing. "That was bold."

Leah groaned into the desk, her embarrassment still fresh. "I can't believe I actually did that. What if he thinks I'm crazy?"

Taylor's hand landed on Leah's shoulder. "No way," she reassured, her voice steady. "You were honest. He'll respect that."

Leah slowly lifted her head, still trying to shake the feeling of humiliation. "I didn't expect it to feel like this," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. The weight of her confession pressed down on her, the uncertainty hanging heavy in her chest.

Lucien Holloway had been a mystery to Leah ever since he arrived at Sonoran Horizon High School two semesters ago. He was quiet, shy, and extremely smart. At first, his foreign charm had turned heads, and girls flocked around him in droves, impressed by his good looks and the mystique of his French accent. But the attention quickly faded. His lack of flashy confidence made him a loner, except for his one true friend, who was in a different class.

Leah had been captivated by him from the beginning. She'd watched him over the months, the way he pulled away from the others and became more of a mystery. She wanted to understand him, to know the boy beneath the surface. She had started to feel something more than just curiosity, a quiet longing that grew every time she saw him.

But now, with the confession hanging awkwardly between them, she wasn't sure if she'd gotten it all wrong. What if he didn't feel the same way? What if he thought she was strange? She didn't know if she could handle the idea of that rejection, not with everything she had been holding inside.

Leah pressed her palms into the desk, the cool wood grounding her, though it did nothing to calm the turmoil within. She could still hear Lucien's "thank you" in her ears, as if it echoed in the silence around her. It was polite. Simple. Nothing more.

It wasn't enough. Not for her.

Taylor's voice pulled her from her spiraling thoughts. "Leah, are you going to go back out there?" she asked, a playful note in her voice.

Leah sighed, running a hand through her hair as she sat up. "Maybe never," she muttered, her voice tinged with humor but also something else, a weariness that she couldn't quite hide.

Leah's confession wasn't just a random decision. It had been brewing for days, ever since she'd gone to the hospital for what she thought was a routine checkup. Lately, she had been feeling... off. Tired. Weak. Something was wrong, but she had pushed it to the back of her mind, hoping it would go away. She didn't want to face it. But when the doctor's words came, it hit her like a ton of bricks.

Leukemia.

The same disease that had stolen her father away from her years ago.

The shock of it left her reeling, her world spinning as she tried to grasp what the doctor had said. She hadn't been expecting it. But deep down, she knew. Something inside her had known.

The fear of facing an uncertain future without time to do everything she wanted to do gripped her tightly. It wasn't just the diagnosis, it was the weight of history repeating itself, the terrifying reality of seeing her father's slow, painful decline mirrored in her own future. She didn't know how much time she had left, but for the first time, it felt like time was slipping away faster than she could hold onto it.

That's why she'd confessed to Lucien. It wasn't rational, but it was real. It wasn't like her, but in that moment, she realized she had to take risks. She had to stop hiding behind the safe, quiet walls she had built around herself. She needed to live fully, even if it was just for a moment.

And now, as she sat at her desk, feeling the sting of embarrassment mix with the weight of her illness, Leah realized that she didn't regret it, not really. Maybe she hadn't gotten the response she wanted, but at least she had tried. At least she had been brave enough to speak her truth.

Leah's friends tried to pull her out of her funk, their laughter ringing through the quiet hallways as they playfully tickled her, oblivious to the weight she carried. They didn't know about the diagnosis, the leukemia that had been gnawing at her since that fateful visit to the hospital. Her mind still felt like a maze, each thought clouded by a lingering sense of dread she couldn't shake. But her friends, Taylor and Adelaide, were her constant, the ones who had never seen her as anything other than Leah, the girl who shared their childhood. They left the school grounds together, but they soon parted ways to head to their respective homes, Leah's world felt quieter, lonelier. Taylor and Adelaide had been with her as long as she could remember, they were practically sisters, their bond unshakeable since they were toddlers.

Taylor, with her auburn hair and warm brown eyes, was the first to speak whenever silence lingered too long. Adelaide, with her caramel skin and striking brown eyes, could always make Leah laugh when the weight of the world felt too heavy. Though both girls were undeniably gorgeous, they had never let their looks define them. They'd long ago embraced their quirks, their uniqueness that earned them the title of "oddballs" in school, a label they wore with pride. And Leah? Well, she always felt like she fit perfectly into their world, even as everything else seemed to slip through her fingers.