The Empty Seat
The morning air at school felt heavy, like the atmosphere before a thunderstorm. Fay stood by the school gates, her fingers nervously twisting the strap of her bag. She had checked her phone every three minutes since she woke up. No texts. No "Good morning, Mrs. Luz." No calls.
"She's just running late," Fay whispered to herself, forcing a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "She probably overslept because of the festival."
But as the first bell rang, the seat next to Fay remained empty.
During second period, Fay couldn't focus. Every time the door creaked open, her head snapped up, hoping to see a messy head of dark hair and a tired, predatory smirk. But it was always just a teacher or a late student. By lunch, the silence from Kei's side was deafening.
The Truth at the Gates
Fay didn't eat. She ran to the administrative office, her heart hammering against her ribs.
"I need to check on Kei Luz," Fay told the registrar, her voice trembling. "She's my… she's the Student Council's priority. She hasn't checked in."
The registrar looked up, her expression shifting from busy to deeply sympathetic. It was the look people gave to someone about to receive bad news. "Oh, Fay. The Luz family… they withdrew this morning. Her mother came in at 7:00 AM."
"Withdrew?" Fay's voice went thin. "What do you mean? For a holiday?"
"No, honey. They dropped out of the district. Permanent withdrawal. They didn't leave a forwarding address for the transcripts."
Fay felt the world tilt. She didn't wait for permission. She turned and ran. She ran out of the school, past the gates, and down the familiar streets until she reached the corner where Kei's house stood.
The Orange Warning
Fay skidded to a halt in front of the house, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
The house looked like a corpse. The windows were hollow, the curtains gone. But it was the front door that broke her. Taped over the lock was a bright, neon-orange sheet of paper that glowed like a warning fire in the afternoon sun.
NOTICE TO VACATE. PROPERTY SEIZED BY ORDER OF THE COURT.
Fay walked up the porch steps, her legs feeling like they were made of water. She hammered on the door. "Kei! Luz! Are you in there?"
Silence.
She looked at the lawn. A single, crushed plastic flower from the Marriage Booth lay in the dirt, abandoned. Fay picked it up, her fingers shaking. This was the world Kei had been hiding from her, the "dirt" Kei had refused to let her see.
She pulled out her phone and dialed Kei's number.
"The number you have dialed is no longer in service."
Fay let the phone drop to her side. She realized then that Kei hadn't just lost her house. Kei had decided that Fay was part of the life she had to leave behind.
The Waiting
Fay sat on the top step of the porch for hours, the plastic flower clutched in her hand. She watched the sun go down, waiting for a shadow that never came.
"You said we'd have a real arch," Fay whispered to the empty street. "You told me to call myself Luz."
She reached up and pinched her own cheek, hard, trying to mimic the way Kei used to do it. But there was no warmth, no laughter, and no dark-eyed girl to pull her into a hug afterward. There was only the sting of the cold air and the realization that the Sun had just been left in the dark.
Fay stood up, her eyes red but her jaw set. "I'm not leaving, Kei," she vowed to the silent house. "I'll be at school tomorrow. And the day after. I'll be right where you left me."
She didn't know that miles away, Kei was currently on her hands and knees in the East Wing of a mansion, scrubbing a floor until her knuckles bled, intentionally burying the memory of Fay's face so she wouldn't break.