CHAPTER 14: FUTURES WE DON'T SAY ALOUD
The first rumor of graduation arrived on a Tuesday morning.
Not through teachers.
Not through announcements.
Through panic.
"I heard they're putting university counseling forms in the office today."
Kai burst into the classroom like a man reporting war.
Mira looked up from fixing her hair in a compact mirror.
"You're loud before noon."
"This is serious."
Jaden calmly opened his notebook.
"It was always coming."
Kai pointed at him.
"Why do you talk like a wise old tree?"
"Because someone here has to."
Liora entered behind them, holding a drink in one hand and camera in the other.
"What happened?"
Kai turned dramatically.
"Our youth is ending."
She blinked.
"That sounds expensive."
Evren walked in last, bag over one shoulder.
"It means forms."
Kai looked offended.
"You reduce everything to paperwork."
"It usually is."
Mira gasped softly.
"Wait."
Everyone turned.
"Do we have to decide our future now?"
Jaden nodded once.
"Yes."
Silence.
Then Kai slowly sat down.
"…I need another childhood."
By second period, the rumors were true.
Their homeroom teacher stood at the front with a stack of pale blue forms.
University guidance.
Career interests.
Preferred cities.
Scholarship plans.
Dreams compressed into checkboxes.
"Take these seriously," the teacher said.
"You don't need all the answers today, but you do need to start thinking."
A nervous ripple moved through the class.
Forms passed from row to row.
When one landed on Liora's desk, she stared at it like it had personally insulted her.
Evren glanced sideways.
"You look offended."
"It's asking what I want to do with my life."
"Rude of it."
She lowered her voice.
"What if I don't know?"
"Then write that."
"That seems illegal."
He almost smiled.
"Then start with where."
"Where?"
"What kind of place."
She looked down at the page.
Preferred city.
Preferred field.
Preferred path.
Suddenly the paper felt much larger than it looked.
Lunch became a strategy meeting no one was qualified to lead.
Their usual table was covered in trays, drinks, and half-completed forms.
Kai pointed at the page dramatically.
"Why does it ask for a five-year plan?"
Mira leaned back in her chair.
"Because adults love suffering."
Jaden was already halfway done.
Everyone noticed.
"That's suspicious," Kai said.
"You finished already?"
"I think in advance."
"That's disgusting."
Mira peeked over Jaden's shoulder.
"Economics?"
"Yes."
"You were born thirty-five."
Liora was doodling tiny flowers in the margin of her form.
Evren took one look.
"You've written nothing."
"I'm warming up mentally."
"You drew petals."
"Creative thinking."
Kai leaned toward her.
"What are you choosing?"
She shrugged.
"Something visual maybe."
"Photography?"
Mira asked immediately.
Liora hesitated.
"Maybe."
Evren noticed the hesitation before anyone else did.
"You said maybe."
She stabbed rice with her fork.
"Because liking something and building a life around it are different."
The table quieted for a second.
Even Kai understood that one.
Then Mira placed a fry onto Liora's tray like an offering.
"That was deep. Have potato."
After classes, the sky turned pale gold.
Most students rushed home.
Some stayed for clubs.
Liora wandered to the art room corridor where old display boards lined the walls with paintings, sketches, photographs, and posters from past years.
Evren found her there ten minutes later.
"I knew you'd disappear."
"I'm not disappeared. I'm visible."
"You are standing in an abandoned hallway."
She was staring at a framed photograph from years ago.
A city street in the rain.
Blurred lights reflected in puddles.
People moving like ghosts.
"It's beautiful," she said softly.
"It is."
She looked at him.
"You didn't even see it."
"I saw you looking at it."
That shut her up for a second.
He stepped beside her and finally studied the photo.
"…Okay. It is beautiful."
She folded her arms.
"Recovering well."
He ignored that.
They walked slowly down the corridor, passing old student projects.
Ceramic bowls.
Fashion sketches.
Science fair disasters.
A cardboard volcano that looked ashamed of itself.
Liora stopped in front of another board.
It held acceptance letters and university photos from alumni.
Cities.
Campuses.
Smiling faces.
Leaving faces.
"Ren," she said quietly.
"What."
"Do you ever think about everyone just… going?"
He glanced at the board.
"Sometimes."
"And?"
"And people go."
"That's depressing."
"It's realistic."
She looked down the hallway.
"But what if I don't want everything to change?"
He was quiet for a moment.
Then—
"It changes anyway."
She frowned.
"You're terrible at comfort."
"I'm excellent at honesty."
They ended up on the rooftop without planning to.
It had become their place in the way some places quietly do.
The city stretched beyond the school walls.
Wind moved gently across the open space.
Liora sat on the low ledge, camera beside her.
Evren stood nearby, hands in pockets.
"You know what scares me?" she asked.
"Many things, probably."
She threw him a look.
"Seriously."
He leaned against the railing.
"Tell me."
She looked out at the skyline.
"That I'll choose wrong."
He didn't answer immediately.
So she continued.
"What if I pick something safe and regret it?"
The wind tugged lightly at her hair.
"What if I pick something I love and fail?"
Evren watched her profile against the fading sky.
Then he said quietly—
"What if neither happens?"
She glanced up.
"What."
"What if you choose something hard, get scared, keep going, and become good at it."
She blinked.
"That sounded supportive."
"Don't get used to it."
She laughed softly.
Then looked at her camera.
"I like taking photos because… I don't know. Moments leave too fast."
He understood more than she realized.
"You like proof," he said.
She turned.
"Proof?"
"That something was real."
For once, she had no comeback.
Instead, she picked up the camera.
"Stand there."
"No."
"Ren."
"No."
"Please."
He sighed and moved two steps to the left.
The sunset caught the edge of his face.
Hands in pockets.
Hair moving in the wind.
Expression unreadable as ever.
Click.
The Polaroid slid out.
She watched it develop.
He looked unfairly cinematic.
"This one's staying."
"Burn it."
"Never."
On the way downstairs, they heard voices from below.
Students talking about applications.
Entrance exams.
Scholarships.
Cities far away.
Lives beginning elsewhere.
The stairwell suddenly felt narrower.
At the bottom landing, Liora stopped.
"If we all leave," she said, "what happens to us?"
Evren looked at her.
The question was larger than the hallway.
Larger than school.
Larger than either of them.
So he answered in the only way he could.
"We'll see."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only honest one."
She studied him for a second.
Then nodded slowly.
"…Fine."
They walked out into the evening courtyard where the last light painted everything gold.
Their friends were waiting by the gate.
Mira waving dramatically.
Kai eating something suspicious.
Jaden pretending not to know them.
Liora smiled at the sight.
Evren noticed.
Again.
Always.
As they crossed the yard together, none of them said what they were thinking:
That the future had finally stepped into the room.
And once it did—
Nothing ever stayed still for long.