Camp fire night in University
The night draped the campus in velvet darkness, the sky scattered with a thousand glittering stars. Fairy lights wound between the trees, casting soft glows that shimmered like captured fireflies. Small fires dotted the university garden, their flames licking the cool air, their warmth mingling with laughter and chatter.
At the farthest edge of the gathering, away from the circle of joy, Aira sat beneath a sprawling oak tree. Alone. Always alone.
The firelight brushed her pale face, but it couldn't melt the frost in her eyes. Her black coat hugged her slender frame, boots crossed at the ankles, dark hair tucked neatly behind one ear. She looked like a painting—distant, unreachable, untouchable.
Kai spotted her first, of course. He pressed a hand dramatically to his chest. "Look at her—the lone queen brooding under the stars!"
Valentina giggled, flipping her hair. "Should we bow, or just leave offerings?"
Bianca leaned forward, whispering loud enough to be heard. "Careful. Disturb her and she might set us on fire."
Rei wiped at his eye with fake tears. "I just wanted friendship… and she turned into a statue."
Ivy chuckled, tossing a twig into the flames, while Damian smirked like he was watching a comedy show unfold. Zane… Zane didn't laugh. He just watched. His black eyes caught every flicker in Aira's posture, every hesitation she tried to bury.
Kai groaned, throwing his arms wide. "We'll die of loneliness otherwise!"
Ivy cupped her hands, shouting across the garden. "Your Majesty! Come bless us with your presence!"
Aira blinked. Slowly. Her head turned, her cold gaze settling on them like frost spreading across glass. She didn't move. Her mind screamed—stay safe, stay away, stay untouchable.
And yet… something tugged at her chest. A small, terrifying ache. Are they serious? Are they… calling me?
She rose. Stiff, deliberate, each step toward them like wading through a storm. Betrayal clutched at her ankles, memories hissing in her ear. Don't go. Don't trust. Don't repeat the mistake.
But still, she walked.
Valentina's grin widened. "Wow. The queen actually moved."
Damian's voice was smooth, teasing. "Quick, make a wish before she vanishes."
Kai dropped to one knee, bowing theatrically. "Thank you for gracing us, oh mighty Ice Empress!"
The firelight painted Aira's face in gold and shadow as she stared at him, blank as stone. Then—one word.
"Idiot."
For one heartbeat, the circle went dead silent.
Then laughter erupted like a wave. Valentina bent over, gasping. Bianca clutched her stomach. Rei slapped the ground with his palm, wheezing.
Bianca choked out, "She talks! And she ROASTS!"
Rei nodded in mock solemnity. "Respect."
Aira's lips… twitched. A fraction. Almost a smirk.
They shifted, making space for her at the fire. And slowly, carefully, like stepping onto thin ice, Aira lowered herself into the circle. Her posture was stiff, every muscle taut—but she was there. With them.
The conversation spun naturally around her.
Kai's hair was declared "a bird's nest," which sparked him into a dramatic rant about how artists would kill for his messy look. Ivy threatened to poison Damian's coffee if he made one more dry pun. Rei declared eternal love for junk food and demanded to be buried with potato chips. Valentina outlined her plan to "conquer the fashion world before finals week."
Aira sat quietly, eyes drifting from face to face. Their laughter filled the night, their warmth brushing against her like fire she was afraid to touch. And yet, the armor around her heart… cracked, just slightly.
Zane settled beside her, closer than the others. His voice was low, meant for her alone. "Do you ever wish you could just… exist without feeling like you have to fight?"
The words slid into her chest like a whisper of truth. Aira stiffened, her eyes snapping to the fire. She didn't answer. She couldn't. Her throat burned with words unsaid.
The flames crackled. Silence sat heavy between them, but not uncomfortable—just charged, like the air before a storm.
Across the Garden
Hidden in the shadows of a tree, Mrs. Harper watched. Her eyes gleamed sharp and hateful as she saw Aira sitting there, saw laughter brush across her face. Even the smallest twitch of Aira's lips made Harper's blood boil.
Her jaw tightened. "Not for long, Aira. You won't have this. You won't have anything."
She turned sharply, her heels clicking against the stone path as she disappeared into the night, hatred swirling behind her like a cloak.
Later that Night
Aira lay on her bed, the moon spilling silver through her window. The walls of her small room pressed in with suffocating silence.
Sleep fought her. When it came, it dragged her into the pit.
The nightmare returned.
Darkness wrapped around her. The basement walls. The shadows of her past pressing in. Her father's cold slap. Sana's cruel laugh. Liam's back walking away.
The voices clawed at her mind:
"You don't deserve them.""They'll leave you too.""You were born to be alone."
Aira curled into herself in the dream, shivering, her small hands reaching out—but they met only emptiness.
She screamed, but no sound came.
And then, Mrs. Harper's voice slithered through the dark: You deserve it, Aira.
She jolted awake, chest heaving, sweat dampening her skin. The room was silent except for the pounding of her heart.
Her whisper cracked in the dark. "Don't trust. Don't feel. Don't hope."
A single tear slid down her cheek before she buried her face into her pillow.
Elsewhere
Seven people lay in their own rooms, scattered across the campus.
Kai replayed her "Idiot" in his head and grinned like he'd won a prize.Valentina thought of how stiffly she'd sat, like a queen refusing to collapse.Bianca wondered if she should buy Aira hot chocolate someday, just to see her reaction.Ivy smiled to herself, remembering the almost-smirk.Rei scribbled in his notebook: She made a joke. Historic.Damian smirked into the dark, muttering, "Interesting girl."
And Zane… Zane stared at his ceiling, black eyes restless for the first time in his life. He didn't want to admit it, but something about her—the ice, the scars, the silence—pulled him deeper each time.
He wanted to know her. Break her code. Touch the frost without getting burned.
And somewhere, far away in her cold dorm room, Aira's heart cracked again—so softly, it almost sounded like hope.