Chapter 5
Chapter 6: The Echo in the Classroom
Middle school brought taller lockers, harder math, and a chaotic, vibrating energy that Ethan navigated with quiet observation.
He had grown into an empathetic, perceptive twelve-year-old. He didn't talk much in large groups, preferring the periphery, but he watched everything. And because of his past, Ethan saw the world with a different lens.
That was how he noticed Leo.
Leo was a transfer student, a boy with messy hair and a habit of wearing long sleeves, even when the heating radiators hissed loudly in November. But it wasn't the clothes that caught Ethan's attention. It was the eyes.
During a group project in history class, a heavy textbook slipped from a desk and slammed onto the linoleum floor. Half the class jumped and laughed.
Leo didn't laugh. He flinched violently, his hands instinctively coming up to protect his face. His breathing turned shallow, and his eyes darted toward the classroom door. It was a visceral, deeply ingrained reaction.
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Ethan felt a strange, chilling recognition. He was looking at a mirror image of himself from three years ago.
When the bell rang, Ethan packed his bag slowly. He watched Leo hurry out of the room, keeping his back to the wall, avoiding the center of the hallway. The social karma of middle school dictated that you minded your own business. But Ethan knew what the cost of silence looked like.
