CHAPTER 22: SENT FIRST
By the middle of the week, something had changed.
Not enough for anyone else to notice.
Not enough for Liora to worry about.
Just enough to exist.
Quietly.
Like background music.
It started during chemistry.
Which was unfortunate.
Because chemistry already required more concentration than Liora was willing to give it.
Their teacher stood at the front of the classroom explaining something involving formulas, numbers, and the destruction of everyone's happiness.
Half the class looked confused.
The other half looked unconscious.
Kai raised his hand.
Immediately a bad sign.
The teacher sighed.
"What is it this time?"
"If chemistry is everywhere in life..."
The teacher narrowed her eyes.
"...then technically failing chemistry is also chemistry."
The room exploded with laughter.
Even the teacher looked offended.
"Out."
"But—"
"Out."
Kai stood dramatically.
"I am being silenced."
"Leave."
The classroom nearly collapsed from laughter.
Liora wiped tears from her eyes.
Mira was wheezing.
Jaden looked like he regretted knowing any of them.
Without thinking, Liora reached for her phone beneath the desk.
Then paused.
A smile slowly appeared.
Because she knew exactly who she'd tell later.
The realization lasted only a second.
Yet it lingered.
Just a little.
After class, the story spread through the school at record speed.
By lunch, even students from other classrooms knew Kai had been exiled from chemistry.
"History will remember me."
Kai took a dramatic bite of his sandwich.
"It won't."
"It will."
"It absolutely won't."
Kai pointed at Mira.
"You're jealous of my legacy."
"I'm jealous of your confidence."
The argument continued.
As always.
Liora laughed.
Listening.
Watching.
Enjoying the moment.
Yet somewhere in the back of her mind, a small thought appeared.
Rowan would find this funny.
Nothing more.
Nothing important.
Just a passing thought.
The kind she was having more often lately.
That evening, rain clouds gathered over the city once again.
The weather had become strangely predictable.
Sunny mornings.
Rainy nights.
Liora sat beside her bedroom window.
Homework spread across her desk.
Music playing softly from her speaker.
Her phone remained beside her notebook.
For almost twenty minutes, she focused entirely on studying.
Which was a personal achievement.
Then she finished an assignment.
Looked up.
And instinctively reached for her phone.
No notification.
She blinked.
Then laughed softly at herself.
Why had she checked?
She didn't know.
A few seconds later, the screen lit up.
Rowan
survived school?
Liora immediately rolled her eyes.
Liora
speak of the devil
Three dots appeared.
Rowan
rude
Liora
kai got kicked out of chemistry
The response came almost instantly.
Rowan
what did he do
Liora
existing
Rowan
understandable
Liora laughed.
Then spent the next five minutes describing the entire incident.
Every ridiculous detail.
Every dramatic reaction.
Every terrible joke.
By the end, Rowan had declared Kai a public threat.
Which honestly wasn't entirely wrong.
The conversation drifted naturally afterward.
Music.
Teachers.
Food.
Homework.
Little things.
Always little things.
Yet somehow they never seemed to run out of topics.
That was what surprised her most.
Most conversations eventually died.
These didn't.
Not because they were deep.
Not because they were special.
Just because they flowed.
Like talking to someone she'd known longer than she actually had.
The next afternoon, something similar happened again.
Mira accidentally spilled juice on Jaden's notes.
Jaden looked devastated.
Kai looked delighted.
Mira looked ready to disappear.
The entire situation lasted less than five minutes.
Yet Liora found herself smiling about it hours later.
And once again—
a familiar thought appeared.
I should tell Rowan.
She froze briefly.
Then continued walking.
The thought wasn't strange anymore.
That was the strange part.
Because only a month ago, she wouldn't have thought that.
A month ago—
she would've told the group.
Or Evren.
Especially Evren.
For years, most random stories somehow ended up reaching him first.
Not because she planned it.
Because that's how things had always been.
Childhood habits.
Comfort.
Routine.
Now?
The thought felt different.
Not replaced.
Not gone.
Just... shared.
A little.
That evening, the five friends stopped near the bridge after school.
The sky glowed orange above the river.
Students filled the sidewalks.
The city felt alive.
Kai was explaining a business plan involving vending machines.
Nobody understood it.
Including Kai.
Mira looked horrified.
Jaden looked exhausted.
Evren stood beside Liora.
Hands in his pockets.
Listening quietly.
The familiar scene wrapped around them like a memory already being made.
For a moment, Liora raised her Polaroid camera.
Click.
The picture slid out.
Kai immediately posed.
Far too late.
"Delete it."
"It's a Polaroid."
"Burn it."
Laughter erupted.
Liora smiled.
Then looked at the developing photograph.
Five friends.
Golden sunset.
One ordinary evening.
A moment worth keeping.
For some reason, she took a picture of the Polaroid itself.
Then sent it.
Rowan
that's actually a really nice photo
Liora stared at the message.
Then looked at the photograph again.
A strange warmth settled in her chest.
Just the simple feeling of wanting to share something with someone.
And being glad they understood why it mattered.
Later that night, after homework and dinner, she lay on her bed scrolling through old photos.
Her phone rested beside her.
The room remained quiet.
A message appeared.
Rowan
goodnight photographer
Liora smiled automatically.
Then stopped.
Because she realized something.
The smile had appeared before she'd even finished reading the message.
She stared at the screen for a second longer.
Then typed back.
Liora
goodnight
Outside, the city lights shimmered beneath the darkness.
Inside, another ordinary conversation came to an end.
And neither of them realized it yet—
but Rowan was slowly becoming the first person Liora wanted to tell things to.
Not because he asked.
Not because he demanded it.
Not because he manipulated her.
Simply because he was there.
And sometimes...
that was enough.