(Students in their classroom, casually settling in. The PA system buzzes.)
Speaker:
"Attention students: The Spring Cultural Exhibition will take place in three weeks. Club proposals are due this Friday."
(Stella perks up, already scribbling ideas in her sketchbook. Alex glances over at her, his expression unreadable.)
(Panel: Stella pins concept sketches to the wall as club members gather.)
Stella:
"What if we do an interactive mural? A visual story that changes as students walk by it?"
Student B:
"Ooh, that's unique!"
(Ren enters the room casually, holding a stack of color samples.)
Ren:
"I heard from another club your mural idea is already the talk of the school. Thought I'd help out."
(Alex, already there, looks up slowly from his drawing tablet.)
Alex:
"We're good. We've got the layout covered."
Stella:
"Actually, Ren's great with color theory. Maybe he could help with the shading transitions?"
(Alex pauses, but says nothing. He nods once, without looking at them.)
(Stella and Ren are organizing paint supplies. She laughs as she nearly knocks over a bucket.)
Stella:
"You've really changed, Ren. Back in middle school, you were so shy."
Ren:
"I changed a lot after you left, Stella."
(Small pause. He watches her for a second too long.)
Ren:
"…Actually, I never got to say it back then. But I really missed you."
(Stella freezes, caught off guard. Before she can answer—)
"Need more canvas boards."
(Alex stands in the doorway, eyes unreadable.)
(Stella walks quietly beside Alex. The mood is slightly tense.)
Stella:
"You didn't have to come all the way to the storage room…"
Alex:
"Didn't feel like waiting."
Stella:
"…Ren said he missed me. From middle school."
(Alex looks ahead, not breaking stride.)
"Figures. He talks a lot about the past."
(Beat of silence. Stella glances at him.)
"You sound annoyed."
"I'm not."
[ Alex's Thoughts]
"I don't even know what I'm feeling anymore. But I hate the way he looks at her
(Stella sits on her bed, sketching mindlessly, her thoughts drifting.)
[Stella's Thoughts]
"I should be happy. Ren is back. We're creating something exciting. But..."
(She flips to an earlier page: a candid sketch of Alex watching cherry blossoms fall.)
[Narration: Stella's Thoughts]
"...Why does it feel like I'm losing something, too?"
(Ren looking at Stella's sketchbook while alone in the clubroom, and Alex lying awake in bed, staring at the ceiling.)
"Things I should say… keep piling up."