Monday Morning – Homeroom 1-A
The classroom light flickered for half a second before fully turning on.
Emma Sinclair was the first one through the door, as usual. Bag in one hand, stack of neatly prepared student council documents in the other, and a look on her face that said, Today is already behind schedule.
She made a beeline to her desk.
And then she saw it.
That seat.
By the window.
Still empty.
Still his.
She sat down with a sigh, brushing her hair behind her shoulder. Papers fanned out like clockwork: attendance slips, council briefs, and the teacher's outdated lesson schedule she'd already corrected over the weekend.
Everything was as it should be.
Except it wasn't.
Because Jay wasn't there.
And no one had explained why.
The class filtered in slowly. Tyler stormed in mid-sentence, arguing with Noah about some manga plot twist. Miles walked by humming something suspiciously villainous. Amaya entered quietly, heading straight to her seat like always—though she cast a glance at the window row before looking away.
Nobody sat in Jay's seat.
Not even as a joke.
Not even for a moment.
"Still no news?" Emma asked Sofia as she dropped into the seat beside her.
"Nada," Sofia said, twirling a pen between her fingers. "No transfer papers. No expulsion. No resignation. It's like he just—poof."
"That's not like him."
"You sound worried."
Emma shot her a dry look.
"I'm concerned about my classmate, as any responsible Vice class rep would be."
Sofia smirked. "Oh, honey. That sounds almost convincing."
Flashback – One Week Ago
Valentine's week. Chaos. Chocolate. Confessions. All wrapped in sugar and side-eyes.
Emma had made it through unscathed. Mostly.
Until the very last day—when Jay had invited her to the aquarium. Just the two of them. And she'd said yes.
And it had been...
Fun.
She didn't let herself call it anything else.
But when she tried to text him after that weekend—
No reply.
No read receipts.
Just... silence.
Present – Class Begins
Mr. Brooks shuffled in five minutes late, holding a half-spilled coffee and wearing a hoodie with a suspicious tear in the sleeve.
"Morning, degenerates," he grumbled. "Try not to look too excited about another week of education."
Emma's hand was halfway up with three corrections before he could even start roll call.
"Sinclair, yes, I know I misspell 'recreational' on the club forms. We're not all robots."
"I'm not correcting that," she said. "I'm asking about Jay Markov."
That quieted the class.
Even Tyler stopped mid-chew of whatever suspicious snack he was hiding in his hoodie pocket.
Brooks looked up from his clipboard.
"Markov is... on leave."
"Medical?"
"Not listed."
"How long?"
"Unknown."
Emma's brow twitched.
"He hasn't contacted anyone."
"That," Brooks said slowly, "sounds like a personal problem. Not an administrative one."
The sarcasm landed like a stone. But it was a smokescreen—and she knew it.
Because for just a moment, his voice had softened.
And his eyes flicked toward that seat by the window.
Sofia sat cross-legged on the desk beside Emma's, typing furiously into the group chat.
Sofia: so… jay's not DEAD
Noah: THANK GOD. was gonna write a tribute rap
Miles: Did he get expelled for being too charming?
Tyler: I bet he's training in the mountains or something
Emma: Focus, everyone.
Sofia: you're typing that while biting your pen like a girl in a drama scene
Emma: I'm class vice rep. I care. That's all.
She didn't look up.
Didn't admit how many times she'd checked her phone this week.
Didn't say that she still hadn't deleted his chat.
Council Office – That Afternoon
Emma organized a stack of event forms, club approvals, and a student report on cafeteria price hikes.
She was halfway through reading a form on emergency budget usage when her eyes caught the date.
February.
She blinked.
That couldn't be right.
Because it had been Late-January the last time, she—
...
She didn't finish the thought.
Just reached into her desk drawer.
And pulled out a folded aquarium ticket stub.
She stared at it for a long moment.
Then tucked it back in with her planner.
Evening – Home
Emma's mother knocked once before entering her room.
"Dinner's ready, sweetheart."
"Be there in a minute."
"Everything okay? You're quiet today."
Emma looked up from her notes.
Smiled.
"Just thinking."
"About what?"
"...Nothing important."
Final Scene
That night, before bed, she opened her phone again.
Opened Jay's chat.
Typed:
Hey. Still alive?
Paused.
Deleted it.
Typed again:
Don't forget you owe me aquarium round 3. I'm charging interest.
Then deleted that too.
Instead, she simply sent:
Goodnight, classmate.
She turned off her phone.
And her eyes drifted to the calendar pinned to the wall.
An old photo of Class 1-A. All of them laughing.
Jay, off to the side, hand on his hip, smirking.
She stared for a while.
Then turned off the light.
She lay in bed, blanket pulled up to her chin, eyes still fixed on the ceiling fan spinning above like it could explain anything at all.
Why do I care this much?
It's not like we were dating.
He was just... annoying. And loud. And stupidly charming. And—
Her breath hitched.
She turned onto her side, hugging the pillow tighter than she meant to.
It's not supposed to feel like this. I didn't even like him that way… did I?
Her throat tightened.
She wiped her eyes quickly, annoyed with herself.
"Idiot," she whispered into the pillow. She wasn't even sure who she meant.
She curled up smaller.
And let the silence answer her.