The Girl Who Wasn't on the List
There were some things Nathaniel should have forgotten.
The old room was supposed to be one of them.
He had told himself that on his way home.
He had told himself again before going to sleep.
And he repeated it the next morning while standing in front of the mirror, fixing the collar of his uniform.
Forget it.
It was only a room.
Only an abandoned part of the school.
Only a girl.
Except—
he had never seen anyone look so comfortable inside a place that wasn't supposed to belong to anyone.
The piano.
The bed.
The books.
The four air conditioners running at once.
The monitors.
The strange silence.
And her.
Sakura.
Nathaniel stopped fixing his collar.
He didn't understand why her name had stayed in his head.
He barely knew her.
He wasn't even supposed to know she existed.
And that was exactly the problem.
By seven-thirty, Aurelia Crest Academy was already awake.
Students crossed the courtyard in groups, carrying books and unfinished assignments.
Someone was running because the bell had already rung.
Someone else was laughing loudly near the canteen.
The usual morning chaos had returned.
Everything looked normal.
Nathaniel walked through the main building with his hands inside his pockets.
He greeted a few students along the way.
"Morning, Pres."
"Good morning."
"President!"
"Hey."
It was easy.
Smile.
Nod.
Keep walking.
No one needed to know that the previous afternoon had left him with more questions than answers.
When he entered the Student Council office, Migs was already sitting on top of one of the tables.
Eating.
Again.
Nathaniel stopped.
"You're not supposed to sit there."
Migs looked down at the table.
Then at Nathaniel.
Then back at the table.
"I'm aware."
"Then why are you there?"
"Because the chair is occupied."
Nathaniel looked at the empty chair beside him.
"By what?"
"My emotional problems."
EJ snorted from the corner.
Adrian didn't even look up from the papers he was reading.
"Ignore him."
"I've been trying for three years," Adrian added.
Nathaniel almost smiled.
Almost.
Then Sera entered.
She carried several folders against her chest, a notebook tucked underneath one arm.
"Morning."
"Morning," Nathaniel answered.
She looked at him for a second longer than necessary.
"You look tired."
"I'm fine."
Sera raised an eyebrow.
"That's what people say when they're not fine."
Migs immediately pointed at Nathaniel.
"SEE? I SAID THE SAME THING."
"You said he looked haunted."
"Same meaning."
"It's absolutely not."
Sera laughed softly.
Nathaniel shook his head.
For a moment, everything felt normal again.
Familiar.
Safe.
Until EJ suddenly spoke.
"By the way..."
He turned his phone around.
"There really is a transferee."
Nathaniel's hand stopped halfway toward his folder.
Adrian looked up.
"From where?"
"Don't know."
"Name?"
EJ shrugged.
"That's the weird part."
Nathaniel slowly sat down.
"What do you mean?"
"I heard there was someone transferred into SHS, but apparently the information isn't being released yet."
Migs leaned forward.
"Secret student?"
"Maybe."
"Rich kid?"
"Maybe."
"Celebrity?"
"Definitely not."
Migs looked disappointed.
Sera closed her folder.
"Who told you?"
"A teacher."
"Which teacher?"
EJ hesitated.
"One of the faculty members."
Sera narrowed her eyes.
"That's suspicious."
Nathaniel remained quiet.
Too quiet.
Because suddenly, he wasn't listening to a rumor.
He was listening to something he already knew.
A girl.
A hidden room.
A school that had no record of her.
And now—
a rumor about a transferee nobody had seen.
Migs grinned.
"Imagine if she's super mysterious."
Adrian rolled his eyes.
"You're making a conspiracy out of a transfer student."
"That's because life is boring."
Nathaniel looked down at his papers.
He didn't join the conversation.
Sera noticed.
Of course she did.
She always noticed.
"Nat?"
He looked up.
"Hm?"
"You okay?"
He gave her the same smile he'd given everyone else.
"Yeah."
And for the first time in a long time—
Nathaniel lied to her.
During lunch, Nathaniel went to the administrative office.
He had a legitimate reason.
As SSC president, he occasionally had to review student records for council-related activities.
At least, that's what he told himself.
He didn't ask directly about Sakura.
That would be too obvious.
Instead, he requested the latest list of SHS students and transferees.
The staff member handed him a folder.
"Here."
"Thank you."
Nathaniel carried it to an empty table.
He opened the first page.
Names.
Sections.
Student numbers.
Nothing unusual.
He turned another page.
Nothing.
Another.
Still nothing.
Then he reached the transferee section.
He read every name.
Once.
Twice.
Then a third time.
Nothing.
Nathaniel's fingers tightened around the paper.
There was no Sakura.
No Okinawa.
No new student matching the girl he'd seen.
He closed the folder.
Maybe he'd misunderstood.
Maybe she wasn't a student.
Maybe—
His eyes moved toward a smaller stack of documents beside the main folder.
"SPECIAL ENROLLMENT."
He paused.
He pulled it closer.
The first few pages contained ordinary information.
Students with special academic arrangements.
Students receiving private instruction.
Students under medical supervision.
Then he found a file with almost everything covered in black ink.
His eyes stopped.
Only a small portion remained visible.
"S. J. OKINAWA"
Nathaniel's breathing slowed.
Below the name:
STATUS: CONFIDENTIAL
Another line:
ACCESS: AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY
And beneath that—
DO NOT RELEASE WITHOUT APPROVAL.!!!!!
Nathaniel stared at it.
The room suddenly felt too quiet.
So Sakura *was* registered.
She wasn't missing from the records.
Someone had simply made sure nobody could find her.
He carefully placed the file back.
His hand had barely left the folder when his phone vibrated.
Once.
He looked at the screen.
"Unknown Number"
A message.
"You saw something that wasn't meant for you."
Nathaniel didn't move.
Another message appeared.
"Forget her"
His eyes slowly lifted toward the windows.
The administrative building overlooked part of the old library wing.
The same direction.
The same corridor.
The same locked door.
His phone vibrated again.
A final message.
"Some doors are locked for a reason."
Nathaniel stared at the words.
Then he locked his phone.
He didn't reply.
That afternoon, he walked into the Student Council office as if nothing had happened.
Adrian looked up immediately.
"Where were you?"
"Admin office."
"Why?"
"Documents."
Adrian studied him.
"For what?"
"Council work."
A pause.
Then Adrian nodded.
"Okay."
Nathaniel placed the folder down.
His hands were steady.
His expression was normal.
But something inside him had changed.
Someone knew.
Someone had been watching.
And whoever it was—
they knew he had seen Sakura.
He looked around the room.
Migs was arguing with EJ over something stupid.
Sera was writing an article for the *Crest Chronicle*.
Adrian was sorting paperwork.
His friends.
People who trusted him.
People he trusted.
None of them knew.
And Nathaniel suddenly understood something that made his stomach tighten.
He couldn't tell them.
Not yet.
Maybe not ever.
"Nat?"
Sera's voice brought him back.
He looked at her.
She was staring at him.
"You're doing it again."
"Doing what?"
"Going somewhere else while you're standing right here."
Nathaniel smiled faintly.
"I'm just tired."
Sera didn't look convinced.
But she didn't push.
"Okay."
She returned to her notebook.
Nathaniel looked away.
He hated lying.
Especially to her.
But somehow, keeping Sakura's existence a secret felt less like a choice now—
and more like a responsibility.
After dismissal, the school slowly emptied.
Nathaniel remained behind.
He told himself he had paperwork.
He told himself he needed to check something.
He told himself many things.
None of them were entirely true.
He found himself walking toward the old library wing.
The corridor was quiet.
The lights above him flickered once.
Then stabilized.
Nathaniel stopped in front of the door.
The same door.
The same room.
He didn't touch the handle.
He didn't knock.
He simply stood there.
Then—
music.
Soft piano notes slipped through the door.
The same melody.
The same quiet rhythm he'd heard the first time.
Nathaniel's eyes narrowed.
He should leave.
Instead, he stayed.
The music stopped.
Silence.
Then a voice came from inside.
Cold.
Flat.
Almost emotionless.
"You came back."
Nathaniel froze.
He hadn't spoken.
He hadn't knocked.
He hadn't even opened the door.
His heartbeat became suddenly loud in the silence.
Then—
the voice spoke again.
"Nathaniel."
Everything inside him stopped.
His name.
She knew his name.
But he had never told her.
Nathaniel stared at the door.
For the first time since discovering the room, he wasn't wondering who Sakura was.
He was wondering something far more frightening.
How did Sakura know him?
Inside the room, there was silence.
Then the piano began playing again.
As if nothing had happened.
As if his name had never been spoken.
Nathaniel remained outside the door.
Unable to move.
Unable to leave.
And completely unaware that somewhere beyond that locked door—
the girl who wasn't supposed to exist in his school records
had already known his name.
🌸 END OF CHAPTER 3