The door to Hana Rivers' house closed behind them with a soft click, and for a brief moment, no one moved.
The warmth of the house lingered faintly in the air, quickly replaced by the cool calm of the evening. Streetlights had begun to glow, their pale light stretching across the road in long, uneven lines. The neighborhood was quiet in the way it always was after dinner, distant sounds of television and conversation leaking faintly through windows.
Hana remained at the doorway for a few seconds longer, waving with a smile that stayed steady even as the students began to drift away from the gate. Someone waved back. Someone bowed awkwardly. Noah nearly tripped over his own feet while turning around, earning a quick laugh from Chris.
Then, without anyone announcing it, the group began to move.
A short distance ahead, the street split into two clear directions.
One road curved gently to the left, wider and better lit, leading deeper into the neighborhood where many of them lived. The other branched to the right, narrower and quieter, its streetlights spaced farther apart, shadows pooling between them.
Noah was the first to point it out, lifting his hand as if presenting a discovery. "Well," he said, stretching the word slightly, "looks like this is where we split."
"Don't say it like that," Amaya replied immediately, frowning. "It sounds way too final."
Chris laughed softly. "Relax. It's just a road."
"For now," Noah added, earning a sharp elbow from Kai.
Small conversations broke out almost immediately, voices overlapping as people instinctively slowed, unsure whether to stop completely or keep walking. Someone checked the time on their phone even though there was no hurry. Someone else adjusted their bag strap twice, then let it fall again.
Tyler stood quietly near the center of the group, watching the moment stretch longer than it needed to. He could feel the shift even without thinking about it. This wasn't the end of anything yet, but it was the first clear line drawn between what had been and what was coming.
Gradually, the groups formed.
Kai stepped toward the left road first, hands in his pockets, posture easy but deliberate. Noah followed immediately, glancing back over his shoulder as if making sure no one was being left behind. Chris drifted that way as well, rolling his shoulders, already talking about something that had happened earlier in the day.
Luna hesitated for half a second before joining them, offering a small wave toward the others. Eris remained where she was, quiet and observant, eyes moving between faces rather than directions.
On the right side, Klein adjusted his bag strap and nodded once, already turning. Layla lingered near Aria and Amaya, talking in low voices, while a few others clustered loosely around them, unsure whether to say one more thing or let the moment pass.
"Well," Layla said finally, forcing a smile, "I guess this is good luck, right?"
"Yeah," Amaya replied. "Good luck."
"Don't forget us," Aria added lightly.
Chris raised a hand. "Like that's possible."
Kai glanced back, walking backward for a step. "We'll meet again then."
Noah pointed at Klein. "You're not allowed to disappear before that."
he shrugged. "I'll try."
The goodbyes were casual on the surface, filled with jokes and half-promises, but the pauses between words were longer now. Each group seemed to wait for the other to move first, as if motion itself might make the separation real.
Eventually, the left group started walking.
Tyler fell in naturally beside them, his pace unhurried. For a few steps, everyone talked at once, voices overlapping as if filling the silence before it could settle.
"So," Chris said, breaking ahead of the others, "new school. Think it's going to be worse or better?"
"Worse at first," Noah replied without hesitation. "Then better."
Kai nodded. "Depends on the teachers."
"And the class," Luna added. "That part always decides everything."
Chris glanced sideways at Tyler. "You're awfully quiet."
Tyler shrugged. "I'm listening."
"That figures," Noah said. "You always do that."
The group laughed lightly, the sound carrying easily down the road. Behind them, the right-side group lingered for a few more moments before beginning to move in the opposite direction, their voices fading as distance grew.
As they walked, the conversation shifted naturally toward what lay ahead.
"I just hope we don't end up in completely different sections," Noah said. "That would be annoying."
Kai nodded. "It probably will happen."
"Why do you say that so calmly," Chris asked.
"Because that's how schools work," Kai replied. "They like chaos."
Luna smiled. "At least it's the same building."
"That's something," Chris agreed.
A few steps behind them, Eris walked quietly, her hands clasped loosely in front of her. Luna noticed and slowed for a moment, turning her head slightly. "You okay?"
Eris nodded once. "Yeah."
Tyler saw the exchange from the corner of his eye. Without drawing attention to it, he slowed his pace just a little, letting the others drift a step ahead. Luna noticed immediately, hesitated, then quickened her pace instead, rejoining Chris and resuming the conversation as if nothing had happened.
The formation shifted naturally.
Kai and Noah walked in front, arguing about uniforms and whether backpacks would be checked on the first day. Chris and Luna followed just behind, their conversation drifting toward schedules and which teachers were rumored to be strict. Luna moved between them occasionally, adding a comment here and there.
At the back, Tyler and Eris walked side by side, the sound of footsteps softer now, the space between them filled with a quiet that wasn't uncomfortable but wasn't empty either.
The road stretched ahead, gently lit, carrying them forward without asking where they were going next.
For a while, neither Tyler nor Eris spoke.
Their footsteps matched naturally, neither speeding up nor slowing down, the rhythm steady against the pavement. The voices ahead of them blended into a low murmur, words rising and falling without clear shape. Streetlights passed one by one, casting brief halos of light over the road before fading behind them.
Tyler broke the silence first.
"So," he said, keeping his tone light, "how do you feel about the new school?"
Eris shrugged, her gaze fixed ahead. "It's fine."
"That didn't answer anything."
She smiled faintly at that, a small curve of her lips that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I guess it's just… different."
"Different how."
She hesitated, fingers tightening briefly around the strap of her bag before relaxing again. "I don't know yet."
They walked a few more steps.
"You've been quiet today," Tyler said. "More than usual."
Eris let out a soft breath. "I'm always quiet."
"Not like this."
She slowed, then stopped altogether.
Tyler noticed immediately and stopped as well, turning slightly to face her without blocking the path. For a moment, she didn't speak, her eyes fixed on the road ahead as if deciding whether the thought was worth saying out loud.
"It's stupid," she said finally.
"Try me."
She glanced at him, then looked away again. "What if I don't fit in."
Tyler blinked.
"That's it?" he asked gently.
Eris flushed slightly. "I know it sounds dumb."
"It doesn't."
She frowned. "It does. Everyone says middle school is exciting. New people. New classes. But what if everyone already has friends. What if they don't want another one."
Tyler felt something loosen in his chest.
He almost laughed, not out of mockery, but recognition. This is it, he thought. This is what being eleven feels like.
"That's not stupid," he said. "That's normal."
She looked at him again, surprised. "It is?"
"Yes."
"But you don't worry about that," she said quickly. "You're always calm."
Tyler shook his head. "That's just how it looks."
She waited.
"When things are new," he continued, "they feel bigger than they are. You imagine everything at once. First day. First class. First impression. You forget that none of it happens at the same time."
Eris listened carefully, her steps resuming as they walked again.
"You don't have to belong immediately," Tyler said. "You just have to show up."
She frowned slightly. "That doesn't sound very comforting."
"It is," he replied. "Because it means you're allowed to take your time."
They passed another streetlight, its glow catching briefly in her eyes.
"What if I mess up," she asked quietly.
"You will," Tyler said without hesitation.
She stared at him.
"So will everyone else," he added. "That's how friendships start most of the time."
A small laugh escaped her before she could stop it. "You make it sound easy."
"It isn't," he said. "But it's survivable."
She thought about that for a moment, then nodded slowly. "I guess… I was just thinking too much."
Tyler smiled. "We all do."
Before she could reply, a voice rang out from ahead.
"Eris!"
Luna had stopped a few steps forward, pointing toward a side road. "Our house is this way. Or," she added teasingly, "do you want to go to Tyler's house instead."
Eris startled, then laughed. "I'm coming."
She turned back toward Tyler, hesitating for a heartbeat.
She didn't speak.
Her lips moved silently instead.
Thank you.
Tyler read it easily and lifted his hand in a small wave. She waved back, then jogged ahead, rejoining Luna and disappearing down the side road with the others.
The group thinned again.
Only Tyler and Chris remained walking straight, their footsteps echoing more clearly now that the road was quieter.
Chris broke the silence first. "I've decided something."
Tyler glanced at him. "That sounds dangerous."
Chris laughed. "I'm joining the soccer club."
"Really."
"Yeah," he said. "Figured I should actually do something instead of just talking about it."
He nudged Tyler lightly. "You should join too."
Tyler considered it. "I'll think about it."
Chris grinned. "New school, new faces, new friends. You excited?"
The question lingered longer than it needed to.
Tyler's steps slowed, not enough for Chris to notice, but enough that the world around him dulled slightly, as if the road ahead had blurred while something else came into focus.
A different hallway.
A different year.
He remembered the first day she arrived.
No announcement. No warning. Just a sudden hush spreading through the room like a held breath. Heads turning. Chairs shifting. Even the teacher pausing mid-sentence, eyes lifting with faint surprise.
She had stood there, polite and composed, sunlight catching in her hair in a way that didn't feel fair. Not loud. Not arrogant. Just… effortlessly present. When she smiled, it wasn't sharp or teasing. It was gentle. Practiced. The kind that made people feel noticed.
Everyone fell a little.
Tyler remembered lying awake that night, staring at the ceiling, replaying the day over and over. He told himself it was nothing. Curiosity. Interest. He was good at labeling things carefully.
They became friends easily.
Too easily.
She spoke to him the same way she spoke to everyone, with warmth and casual kindness that never promised more than it gave. They walked together sometimes. Talked about classes. Shared small jokes. Tyler mistook comfort for closeness, familiarity for meaning.
He remembered the day he asked.
The words had come out awkwardly, rehearsed too many times in his head and still wrong when spoken. He remembered her pause, the way her smile faded into something apologetic.
"I'm sorry," she had said, gently. "You're… not really someone I see that way."
Not cruel. Just distant.
It hit harder than he expected.
After that, things changed. Conversations shortened. Eye contact became brief. He tried to act normal and failed at it repeatedly. And still, he couldn't stop thinking about her. Couldn't stop hoping the distance meant hesitation instead of refusal.
He tried again later.
Different place. Different year. Same outcome.
This time the rejection came with laughter from others nearby, and a shove from someone who stood a little too close to her. Tyler remembered the taste of blood, the heat of embarrassment, the way the world narrowed to a single, stupid thought: Why isn't this ending.
By the time university came, the illusion had finally cracked.
He learned she was dating someone else. Saw them together once, hands intertwined, easy and unthinking. The pain was duller then. Manageable. He had already stepped out of that delusion by the time he arrived there.
It didn't hurt the same way.
The memory loosened its grip as Chris snapped his fingers sharply in front of Tyler's face.
"Hey," Chris said. "You listening?"
Tyler blinked, the road reasserting itself beneath his feet. "Yeah."
Chris grinned. "I said, it's going to be fun. New school. New people. Way more interesting than primary."
Tyler looked ahead, the streetlights reflecting faintly in his eyes.
His blue pupils caught the light, something subtle flickering within them.
"Yeah," he said, a small smile forming. "It's definitely going to be interesting."