The classroom was its usual mess of voices, chairs scraping against the floor, and people yelling across the room before the teacher even arrived.
Serene walked in with her friends, laughing about something that had happened during the previous class.
Kairo was already there.
He was sitting near the window, talking to one of his classmates.
For a second, Serene's eyes landed on him.
She looked away almost immediately.
Not because she was angry.
It was just easier.
They used to talk every day. They used to sit together, share jokes, complain about homework, and know exactly what the other person was thinking.
Now they barely acknowledged each other's existence.
Serene put her bag down and joined her friends.
Across the room, Kairo glanced over.
He noticed her.
Then he turned back to his conversation.
No greeting.
No smile.
Nothing.
And Serene pretended she hadn't noticed.
During group work, the teacher assigned everyone different partners.
By some horrible coincidence, Kairo's group ended up working at the table beside Serene's.
"Can you pass me the ruler?" someone asked Kairo.
"Here."
The ruler slid across the table.
Serene needed it next.
She looked at the ruler.
Then at Kairo.
There was a perfectly easy way to ask him.
Instead, she quietly asked her friend.
"Can you pass me that?"
Her friend handed it over.
Kairo didn't say anything.
Neither did she.
It was almost impressive how two people who used to talk constantly could now spend an entire class sitting three feet apart without exchanging a single word.
At lunch, Serene passed by Kairo's table.
He was laughing with his friends.
She didn't look over.
Kairo noticed her anyway.
For half a second, his expression changed.
Not sadness.
Not longing.
Just recognition.
He knew things between them weren't what they used to be.
And, honestly, he preferred it this way.
He didn't want to give her the wrong idea.
So when she walked past, he simply continued talking.
Serene kept walking.
She didn't turn around.
The hallway swallowed her into the crowd.
And that was it.
No confrontation.
No dramatic confession.
No sudden realization.
Just another ordinary school day where two people who used to mean something to each other acted like strangers.
Tomorrow would probably be the same.
